The neighbours are a bit noisy – you can hear them hissing at each other. They go out every night, come home at all hours and never acknowledge you. And you paid them the compliment of naming your house after them.

It’s enough to make you spit feathers – and the gang next door are probably doing exactly that.

Home owners Geoff and Brenda Stoddart said: “We called our house Owl Barn, which is a twist on barn owl, because barn owls used to nest in the actual barn before it was converted.

“The builder put a nest box in the tree at the bottom of the neighbouring garden and the owls still nest there every year. We hear the birds hissing in the box and see them flying out, it’s really nice. They come back every year.”

Home is a spacious barn conversion at Stoneknowe near Scaleby. It’s one of just nine properties and has lovely countryside on the doorstep.

Geoff, Brenda and their son, James, have lived there since the building work turned the former bull pen and piggery into a welcoming family home.

Geoff said: “It was converted in 2006. I used to pass by this and saw there was a conversion going on so bought it before it went on the market.

“That way we had a say in the final fit-out. We were able to put our own touch on it and we’ve not needed to do anything to it since.”

Owl Barn has a huge entrance hall, almost a room in itself with stairs to a galleried landing and French doors to the rear.

More doors lead to two ground-floor bedrooms, a bathroom and the large dining kitchen. This has windows overlooking the front of the house and French doors to a patio and garden at the back.

“The kitchen is one of my favourite spots in the house,” said Geoff, “but my absolute favourite has to be the living room. It’s upstairs and is huge, 26ft. It has a vaulted ceiling and looks out over the countryside and all the trees, it’s really nice.

“James’s favourite room is his bedroom which has a vaulted ceiling with low-level windows where he can sit and look out. It has a sofa in so it’s a chillout room for him.”

As well as the large living room there are two more double bedrooms, a Jack and Jill shower room and a separate toilet.

Outside a block-paved courtyard at the front provides parking for several cars while the back garden has two patio areas, a lawn, vegetable plot and 20ft timber shed.

“Stoneknowe has nine properties so it’s a little community. There are houses around but it does feel very private,” said Geoff.

“From the garden there’s a gate into a lane which goes about half a mile into the countryside and the landowner has given us permission to walk down that so there are local walks directly from the house.

“The location is the best of both worlds, it’s really rural and quiet yet less than 10 minutes from Kingstown where I work in construction, and shops, the M6 and just a few more minutes into town.

“It’s also handy for going to Brampton and getting on the A69 to go across to the North East, which is where I come from. If anybody’s commuting, it’s easily commutable – just over an hour to the A1.

“There’s a really good local primary two miles away in Smithfield called Fir Ends and the senior school is William Howard at Brampton. Buses pick up almost from the house or certainly from the road end, which is great.”

Geoff and James will be sad to leave the property, which they describe as a great family home, but feel that the time is right for a new start. If necessary, they will move into rented accommodation straightaway so that another family can begin to enjoy Owl Barn.