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Wales Online
Wales Online
Lifestyle
Joanne Ridout

Family home with 'open-plan ensuite' in master bedroom raises eyebrows

From the outside this smart, handsome property, with attractive two-tone brick and render facade, suggests a light and spacious home that can offer the facilities a busy family needs. Inside, the detached property in a Monmouthshire village has a family-friendly layout that is a major advantage of being a recently built abode.

There's a spacious lounge at the front that connects to the sociable kitchen diner that spans the rear of the house with French doors out to the garden. Off the kitchen is a handy cloakroom and a utility room that also has a door to the outdoor space.

The integrated garage is a bonus feature that could easily be converted into another reception room such as a media room or playroom and subject to planning consent, as there's room for parking for up to three vehicles on the curved front drive.

READ MORE: The £1.4m dream home in a Welsh seaside town with a secret hidden under the floor

Lounge flows into the impressive kitchen diner (Rightmove)
Open-plan kitchen diner with doors to the garden and a cloakroom and utility room at the end (Rightmove)

The rear garden is a pretty, enclosed space and offers a sunny terrace for socialising and a hot tub in the corner for soaking that can welcome up to six lucky occupants.

Up the stairs there are four double bedrooms to discover, three with built-in storage, and a family bathroom that on closer inspection offers a bath with jets - an inside alternative to relaxing in bubbles to the garden hot tub.

Sociable garden with six person hot tub in the corner (Rightmove)

The interiors of the home are modern, with a neutral colour palette of creams and greys combined with natural materials to produce a peaceful backdrop for pops of colour, tactile textures and accessory personality.

It is widely stated by estate agents that kitchens and bathrooms sell properties, so the more places to bathe that are offered in a home, the more appealing to a potential buyer.

And where space is a premium, even though this home is well-designed and offers spacious rooms throughout, every corner of every room needs to be working hard to offer its worth to the overall package of features and facilities. And it's in the master bedroom that this house offers something that maybe some house hunters might expect - an ensuite.

But some people on social media have noticed that this shower room is lacking something; a wall between the bedroom and the facilities, so the shower and toilet are in direct view of the double bed.

A bed with a view (Rightmove)
A curtain, half-wall or full wall might be an answer for anyone too shy to visit the facilities (Rightmove)

On Twitter, one person jokes: 'Got an AMAZING property for you, Twitter. First glance, all seems normal, very modern. But it's the main bedroom where things get DIFFERENT. THE SHOWER IS IN THE BEDROOM. THE TOILET FACES THE BED. NOTHING BUT COLD EYE CONTACT WITH YOUR PARTNER AS YOU S***'.

Another person commented: 'Nooooo!!! What if one of you stinks it up? No candles going to solve that one!'

A few people on social media also wondering how the storage cupboard is opened with the TV in the way - it's probably on a movable mount (Rightmove)

One comment points out that a statement bath in the bedroom is becoming more commonplace, but that hasn't extended to a toilet, saying: 'I’ve seen lots of “en suite” bathrooms which is just a freestanding tub in the bedroom, but I’ve never seen a toilet in the wild like this. Although there was one episode of a tv property show I saw where there was a toilet in the kitchen, just next to the back door.'

The addition of a curtain could be a temporary and easy solution for anyone who is a bit shy. But with some redesign work, such as making the shower smaller, coupled with planning consent, it shouldn't be too much of a bother to hide the bog behind a newly constructed wall.

But an open-plan ensuite is not as unusual as some people might think. Also shared on social media was a property in London that offers a shower, sink and toilet in the corner of the bedroom, although at least this one is tucked around the corner and has a tiled floor.

Another house with another open-plan ensuite - is it the next big interior design trend? Unlikely. (Rightmove)

The Monmouthshire house is for sale for £429,950 with Davis & Sons, Caldicot, call them on 01291 427000 to find out more.

And don't miss the best dream homes in Wales, auction properties, renovation stories, and interiors – join the Amazing Welsh Homes newsletter which is sent to your inbox twice a week. You can also join the Amazing Welsh Homes Facebook group for all the best property content posted by us and by you.

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