The wide-open spaces of Cumbria were the attraction for Riccardo and Iona Giagnoni when they moved here from the south east and when they found Middle Croft, their ideal home, the size of that was also a winner.

"We loved the sizes of the rooms, especially the living room and the master bedroom," said Iona. "We also loved the size of the garden and the amount of space that there is between the houses.

"We moved up from Buckinghamshire and the houses there now seem to us to be on top of each other. We didn’t know the area at all, apart from Riccardo coming to the area since he was a lad to walk. We looked around Cumbria and liked the Cockermouth area the best."

That was 13 years ago and since then Iona, who works for a local estate agent, and Riccardo, who has his own electronic engineering company, have made their house a real home, sharing it with middle son Kieran, an apprentice classroom assistant, our daughter Lottie who is still at school.

Iona said: "We've redecorated and put in new windows throughout - the old windows were wooden and had huge gaps between the windows and walls. It’s amazing how much warmer the house is now.

"We have also made the kitchen and dining room into one. It’s opened up the dining room as it had no natural light in it before."

Middle Croft was built around 25 years ago and is a large detached home on a generous plot set well back from the road. Although a modern build, it is full of character features such as ceiling coving, exposed floorboards and beams, quarry tiled floor, dressed brick wall, traditional staircase and fireplace.

The large lounge is a delightful room with triple-aspect windows, a feature dressed brick fireplace with wooden lintel and housing a double cast-iron wood-burning stove. This room is one of Iona's favourites as she loves snuggling up in front of the fire.

Across the hallway a door leads to the open-plan dining kitchen which is almost 27ft in length, with a bespoke range of units complemented by Corian work surfaces.

For the cook there is a Leisure triple-oven range cooker with five-ring gas top and electric hot plate. Ceiling beams are exposed and there is a ceramic tiled floor.

The dining area has laminate flooring and a utility room leads off the kitchen, giving access to a cloakroom. A sun room currently used as a family study completes the ground-floor accommodation.

Off the landing, which has roof access, is an en-suite master bedroom with built-in wardrobes and three further double bedrooms which share the spacious four-piece family bathroom.

Externally at the front is a lawn area with shrubs and bushes and a large gravel driveway/turning area. The back garden is a good size for a family with patio/seating area: "I love this as it's a real suntap," Iona said.

She added: "The gardens are large with a rose hedge (David Austin Roses) running along the left, a flower border to the right and also a small herb garden.

"I’ve planted lavender bushes round the patio area, there's a small vegetable plot and a wilderness garden at the bottom with a pond."

The garden also has two sheds, one of which could be used as a loose box for a horse or pony.

Iona said: "We really love it here but for family reasons we have put Middlecroft on the market and hope that another family will buy it and love it just as much as we do. It’s a fantastic family house."

Middle Croft, Tallentire, is for sale at £375,000 from Smeatons Estate Agents.