In The Heart Of  The Bedfordshire   

Dating from 1825, this quintessential blue-plaque Georgian English townhouse has an interesting history, having once housed the largest observatory in England. Observatory House has a swimming pool, croquet-and-tennis lawn and home cinema (with free Netflix), and with 6-8 bedrooms and extra bed spaces also available it is large enough for several families to stay in together. Ideal for large group reunions and special occasion weekends with friends and family.

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With a large garden Observatory House could be situated miles into peaceful countryside, and yet it is extremely convenient for the town centre (5 minutes' walk) and river, for London (37 minutes by train) and Cambridge (45 by car or just over an hour by very convenient and comfortable bus).

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With the run of the house and garden, in the summer guests have the use of the pool, tennis court and croquet. In winter there are open fires and a lovely warm range in the kitchen; also the conservatory, dining and drawing room and home cinema. Lots of space for your group to spread out, room for everyone to eat together the beautiful 300 year old oak dining table can seat up to 20 (more with the insertion of another table).

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The bedrooms are flexible with additional trundle and sofa beds for extra guests - please get in touch to discuss your group configuration.

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Please note that the owners live here too with their pets - 2 cats and Great Dane! The house has proved so popular (and it can accommodate so many so comfortably) that we now accept bookings when we're at home, retaining a few bedrooms for our own use while leaving the rest for you, making the house available for almost all the year. This means we are on hand to show you around, open the pool for you, show you how to use the cinema.  We have an upstairs kitchen for our own use.

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• Large kitchen with 4 oven range and a table to eat around if you'd prefer a more informal setting. Excellent use of cooking facilities.

• Stunning dining room for a more formal setting.

• Large drawing room with open fire and grand piano. Smaller sitting room with cinema screen and cosy coal fire.

• Home cinema and excellent sound system in the smaller sitting room.

• Excellent mobile reception and very fast WiFi (200 Mbps).

• Tennis, croquet, badminton and many other outdoor and indoor games.

• Huge wood fire in the large drawing room and a coal fire in the smaller sitting room.

• Traditional 4-oven 2-plate range in the kitchen for cooking, (and, for the summer, two electric ovens and a 4-plate electric hob)

• Large bedrooms including doubles, twins, 1 en suite, a large attic room for 6 and a downstairs study sofa bed for less mobile guests. Foldaway beds.

• All bed linen and bedroom towels provided. Please bring your own swimming towels.

• A combination of single toilets, full bathrooms, a shower and 1 en suite.

• Stair lift to the first floor and a wheelchair ramp.  Downstairs study bedroom with loo next door. Not fully equipped for disability so please contact.

• 2 cots and 2 high-chairs. Please contact us about safety: we have a pool and a pond and various animals.

• 1/3 acre garden with amateur lawn tennis, croquet, badminton and lots of other games; outdoor seating, spit barbecue and large fire pit barbecue.

• Salt swimming pool (no chemical chlorine) 28 foot by 17 foot (5 metres by 8.5), entirely solar-heated.

• There is parking for up to a maximum of 7 cars depending on size of vehicles and skill of parking!

• No smoking anywhere on the premises. Please tell us if this would seriously compromise your enjoyment: we can make arrangements for a designated area.

• We welcome pets among our guests. Please contact us for more details.

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Location

A lovely street within walking distance of the town centre of Bedford and the railway station. A 40 minute direct train journey to London and a 45 minute drive to Cambridge.

Sainsbury's corner shop at the top of the street and several supermarkets only 5-10 minutes drive.

Many local pubs and restaurants.