If you're looking for a house you've got to be looking for a feeling, says Shelagh Barron. "I walked in the front door and it just felt like home. It just had that lovely homely feeling."

She is talking about the Cumbrian longhouse she shares with her husband Bob in Langrigg. "At the time it needed work, it was a bit unloved and had been empty for a while, but I could see how much potential it had, and the garden too."

Shelagh bought Beech House in 2000 and two years later met and married Bob. She had been working in Birmingham but, being a Geordie, wanted to come back north so got a job in Carlisle.

"I saw the house advertised in the Cumberland News - it is just lovely. It's a traditional longhouse type of style full of atmosphere, which is part of its charm. It's got loads of character.

"It was quite clear that although the house was beautiful, it had no facilities. There was a downstairs bathroom and very small kitchen and shed, all running along the back of the house so I had these taken away and designed an extension, which was put on in 2003.

"Now it has a big kitchen-diner on the back which is nice and light and airy with lots of space. There's also a cloakroom and a back porch and utility area. We put the bathroom upstairs - it's dual aspect and quite large with a walk-in shower and toilet and there's also a separate wc up there."

Beech House has three reception rooms and three bedrooms and Shelagh has tried to keep the original features, including a bell in the porch from when the property was the village shop.

"The room we spend the most time in is the living room as it's the first one you go in when you open the front door. We've got a multi-fuel stove in there on a black granite hearth and because it's in the centre of the house it's really warm.

"The house has lots of character; all the doors are the original wooden doors and the front door opens into a little porch where there's a bell that people would ring to get attention in the shop.

"We have thick walls and all the windows are recessed with very deep windowsills which could be window seats. Every downstairs window has shutters which we don't use but they could be brought back into use. All the front windows face south and let lots of light into the rooms."

The house is roofed with beautiful green Lake District slate sourced specially to fit in with the rest of the building, and Shelagh has done lots of work to the garden.

"It is a really good size and a lovely place to relax," she said. "There's room for a vegetable patch, a lawn, some deep flowerbeds. I have it as a cottage garden and have found some original plantings. There's a large greenhouse which is good for growing tomatoes or raising seedlings, and two seating areas."

The Barrons are moving as they fancy a change, having both now left work but still young enough for lots of living.

Shelagh points out that although Langrigg may seem remote, it actually has very good road access via the A596.

"You can easily get to Carlisle or Maryport and Workington. There's very easy access to the Lake District - Keswick is only half-an-hour away in the car - but there's the lovely beach at Allonby about six miles down the road.

Walking along the shore at Allonby and going for an ice cream at Twentyman's is a local tradition. It's a lovely rural setting but you can go to all these other places."

Beech House, Langrigg, Wigton, is for sale at £250,000 from Cumberland Estate Agents, 01228 403222.