This large farmhouse, which dates from 1740 and is thought to have been built with stone from Hadrian’s Wall, is a charming family home in a popular and convenient village.

One of three listed properties in Great Whittington, Ian and Stephanie Railton have lived there with their two teenage children for the past seven years.

“The size, space and wonderful character of the house was a real draw,” Stephanie said. “But it’s also in an great location - such an idyllic rural village in the Tyne Valley, yet close to good schools with easy links into Newcastle and elsewhere.”

Her home is full of character with period features. It has a large farmhouse kitchen, two further spacious reception rooms, five bedrooms - three of them with en-suite facilities - and a sunny, sheltered back garden.

“We have decorated and carpeted throughout, done some re-modelling of the kitchen, including fitting a bespoke island, and fitted a fantastic multi-fuel stove in the living room,” she said. “We’ve also updated the electrics and fitted a new boiler.

“The kitchen is without doubt the hub of the home but my favourite spot in the house is by the window looking out over the village green – it is sunny all day there and you can look out and watch the world go by.”

The house has a entrance hall leading to an inner hall with exposed stone walls. The living room has a feature open fireplace housing the multi-fuel stove, dual-aspect windows and a ‘priest hole’ linking the room to the inner lobby.

The dining room has a cast-iron fireplace with open fire, exposed beams and a door to the kitchen. This room would make an ideal snug or playroom.

The kitchen is a large room with solid wood flooring and an excellent range of fittings, with a range-style cooker, integrated appliances, beams, stonework and a window seat. A utility room has further units and a rear lobby has doors to the side of the property and into the garage.

Of the five bedrooms, four are doubles and the smallest is currently used as a study.

As well as improving the house, the Railtons have also transformed the gardens of Town Farm House.

“We remodelled the rear garden, making it more grown-up and a far more useable space,” Stephanie said. “It was originally laid to lawn but we found it was wasted as our kids actually preferred playing on the village green, which our house overlooks.

“There was previously an oil tank situated in what is the sunniest part of the garden so we relocated that out of the way, and now have a wonderful afternoon sun-trap. We also have a a further side garden.

“The small front garden is a good place to sit and chat to people walking around the village.”

Although their children are still at school, she and Ian have already made their plans for the future: “It’s going to be a wrench to move but we’re not going far so in some respects we don’t feel we’re leaving the house behind at all,” Stephanie said.

“When we moved here we knew this was the place we wanted to stay for the rest of our lives but at some point the kids would leave home and we’d downsize.

“There is a smaller house in the village in need of much modernisation and we often talked about that being our retirement home. When it came on the market we snapped it up. So we’re actually moving into our retirement home, albeit about 10 years early!”

Town Farm House, Great Whittington, is for sale at £495,000 from Andrew Coulson.