PAUL Flint had always admired Hartford Bridge House having passed by many times when walking his dog in nearby Plessey Woods. So he jumped at the chance to buy it when mother-in-law Elaine Hewitt spotted an advertisement in The Journal homemaker five years ago.
Thanks to Elaine, who owns half of the house, Paul, 38, is now happily ensconced in his dream home with wife Ceri, 37, son Max, four, and dog Jasper while Elaine splits her time between Hartford Bridge and her other property in Bamburgh. “We’d already sold our house in Whitley Bay as we were going to buy a different property,” explained Ceri, a sales merchandiser for Waterstones. “But we changed our minds when we saw this house.” Over the past five years the couple have restored the Grade II listed property to its former glory, re-plastering walls, replacing ceilings, sanding floors and uncovering old fireplaces. Although most of the house has been beautifully finished, there are still a few rooms for new owners to get their teeth into, including the dining room, one of the five bedrooms and the downstairs cloakroom. There’s also scope for converting the stable block into a three-bedroom, three-bathroom house. Ceri said: “We found a photo that showed the stable block used to have extra rooms in the roof, and that helped us get planning permission. Although the house is listed, the stable block isn’t.” Ceri believes it would also make a good holiday let or even two smaller cottages, as there is plenty of parking space. The Flints’ Georgian home comes with just under an acre of land and river frontage. Dating back to 1836, it was formerly a pub and home to the estate manager of nearby Hartford Hall. It is bursting with original features such as panelled doors, sash windows with shutters, cornicing and open fires. Ceri loves the size and flexibility of the living space. There are three main reception rooms; a drawing room with solid fuel open fire, sitting room with original inglenook and dining room. There’s also a snug with double doors to the conservatory. There’s five living areas in total. The kitchen is Ceri’s favourite room and the hub of the house. “I probably spend the most time in there,” she admitted. “It’s great for family life as Max can sit at the table drawing while I’m cooking.” There’s also a laundry room, rear lobby with storage for all muddy boots and a propagating room. Upstairs the five bedrooms are all doubles and four have cast-iron fireplaces. Completing this floor is the refurbished bathroom with freestanding roll-topbath and a new shower room with Travertine-tiled walls. Although the village is fairly quiet with no pub or shops, it’s by no means in the sticks. It’s just a few minutes from the A1 and 20 minutes into Newcastle. As both Ceri and Paul travel a lot for their jobs – Paul is area sales manager for Bells Trucks - the location is very handy for transport links around the region. It’s also a short journey into Cramlington, where Paul grew up. The couple originally put their home on the market just over a year ago to help their chances of getting Max into Morpeth First School four miles away. However, Ceri admits there’s less urgency to sell now. “We’ve had a couple of interested buyers but they need to sell their homes first,” she said. “If we don’t sell it doesn’t matter. We’ll be happy either way.” Hartford Bridge House, Hart- ford Bridge, near Morpeth, is for sale through Rook Matthews Sayer at £650,000, tel: (01670) 511711. | 
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