Family home will make you smile

Go to the bottom of the garden at this bungalow in Gomersal and look back at the property, and you won’t be able to stop yourself smiling. It’s all thanks to the white bricks above the windows, which give the bungalow the appearance of eyebrows. And a house which makes you smile will undoubtedly be a great place to live.

It certainly suited the current owners who have lived here for nearly three decades. And they haven’t stopped smiling.

“I was trawling around streets with two small children in back of car looking for houses I had missed in our 18-month search. We had by then sold our existing house and were pretty soon about to be homeless. I went down the drive and there it was!”

‘There’ was this detached bungalow with three bedrooms – the master having an en-suite – lounge, kitchen, breakfast room, utility, family bathroom, and beautifully-tended gardens.

“It was all a matter of location, location, location and garden. We loved it as soon as we walked down the drive and before going into the house.”

“We have been here since Christmas 1985 – almost 28 years.”

The bungalow was built by the previous owner, a builder, for his own use around 1963/64 and it is a charming property in a very popular area.

“Our first job was to modernise the bathroom. The original bathroom suite was black and the walls were tiled in pink!”

When they had been here three years, they added two bedrooms and created an en-suite to the main bedroom.

Another couple of years on, they took out all the 1960s floor-to-ceiling windows and put in double glazed windows. Next came the pitched roof on the garage which was converted into the dining room, the big old central heating boiler was taken out and replaced by a modern combi boiler, and a new fireplace was constructed in the sitting room.

“If we have to choose a favourite room it would probably be the breakfast room which gets the morning sun, but the sitting room is also a favourite as it is south-facing and gets lots of sun all day.”

The gardens have changed quite a bit over the years. “Trees which were only two feet high when we moved in grew too big and had to be removed. New bushes were planted to create a ‘hide and seek’ area for our children and are now a ‘jungle’ for our young grandchildren.

“It is a wonderfully child-friendly garden which has been used for tennis, football, climbing frames and water slides. There is plenty of space for barbecues and it is wonderful for parties and, as proved by our neighbour, there is also ‘room for a pony’.

“The garden, which is very spacious and mainly lawned, is used on an almost daily basis by adults and children alike, but there is plenty of scope to create whatever type of garden takes your fancy. For instance, there is plenty of room for growing fruit and veg.”

The bungalow would appeal to families, gardeners or those who want a quiet spot in a special location which is close (but not too close) to motorway networks (M62/M1), good schools and not too far from the cities of Leeds and Bradford.

“We will miss the lovely neighbours and friends and that special feeling as we turn down the drive but are looking forward to moving to the seaside and taking with us many happy memories.”