Description

Currently moored on the edge of a quiet, idyllic farm in the beautiful Norfolk Broads, overlooking a large and stunning wetland wildlife reserve (Carlton Marshes https://www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/carlton), our beloved Manoah (Hebrew for “resting-place”) is up for sale after 8 happy years as our family home.

As featured on George Clarke's Amazing Spaces (https://www.channel4.com/programmes/george-clarkes-amazing-spaces/on-demand/60244-008 - from about 8:35), we lovingly converted this working Humber Keel from an empty hull into our family home in 2014, and have since raised two young children onboard.

This would make the perfect home, holiday home, or business. Whilst moored in London we ran a successful AirBnB business out of the barge, and there are similar barges in this part of the world being rented out for up to £2,500 a week in the Summer to holiday-makers.

Just a 5-minute boat ride or car journey away – or enjoy the blissful 20-minute riverside walk along the Waveney – popular market town Beccles has everything you need, including fantastic bakeries, coffee shops, supermarkets, and antique shops.

Go another 20 minutes by car and you have any number of glorious beaches on the Norfolk and Suffolk Coasts, including Southwold, the little-known Covehithe beach, and Lowestoft. A little further afield you have the unparalleled North Norfolk Coast.

You can enjoy the peace of the river from Manoah’s palatial (and unusually flat) deck, perfect for BBQs and parties.

Step inside, and it’s the spaciousness that hits you. "It's bigger than my house!" is a comment we often hear from visitors. At 75ft x 15ft, and good head height throughout, it’s difficult to find a barge as roomy as this.

The other thing that impresses visitors is the sheer abundance of natural light. The kitchen-diner gets sunlight from 5 directions - we put a large rectangular skylight in the roof of the upstairs and you're surrounded by light from the windows and French doors.

We also managed to secure 13 vintage Rostand portholes off a decommissioned US Navy ship. The reflections of light off the water up onto the ceiling on a sunny day are simply delightful.

You enter the wheelhouse from fore or aft doors to the kitchen-diner, with oak flooring, butler sink, and cooker and white goods included. Step downstairs and again, the vastness of the living room hits you. Oak flooring, large multifuel stove, portholes and skylights bring warmth and brightness to this serene, relaxing space.

The bathroom features a cast iron roll-top bath with shower, tumbled travertine tiles, heated towel rail, and Victorian washstand sink.

All three large double bedrooms have portholes and deck prisms for added natural light.

There is underfloor heating throughout the downstairs.

We did all conversion work in 2014 out of the water, including lots of new steel plating and blacking (Jotamastic 87) and two surveys (before and after the works). The deck and wheelhouse were brand new in 2014. The original iron-riveted hull had already been totally replated in welded steel.

The Broads Authority toll 2023-24 has already been paid in full.

Boat Safety Scheme certificate valid till October 2024.

Kitchen-diner (12ft x 24ft) - five windows to the walls, skylight to the ceiling, French doors fore, brand new hardwood door aft, oak flooring, butler sink, gas cooker plumbed in, white goods currently plumbed/plugged in, Combi boiler (Worcester Junior), beech worksurface, stairs down to:

Living room (14ft x 24ft) - large multifuel stove, oak flooring, portholes and large rectangular skylight, leading off to:

Master bedroom (14ft x 14ft) - portholes and deckprisms (round skylights), carpet to floor;

Second bedroom (11ft x 8ft) - porthole and deckprisms, carpet to floor;

Third bedroom (14ft x 9ft) - portholes and deckprisms, floorboard paint to floor, bed built over where the engine used to be;

Bathroom (12ft x 6ft) - cast iron rolltop bath, sink with mixer tap in Victorian washstand (new taps recently fitted), plumbing for flushing toilet if desired, heated towel rail.

MOORINGS: Please note that whilst there is every possibility of the current mooring arrangement with the farm being taken on by the buyer of the barge, this is by separate negotiation: if anyone is serious about buying the barge and wants to keep her where she is, we can put them in touch with the farmer who will be happy to discuss.

If the buyer wishes to take the barge somewhere else, we brought her here from London four years ago via the North Sea and would be happy to advise on towage options (we don't have an engine, allowing for more living space inside). The journey from Twickenham to nearby Lowestoft Harbour took 24 hours.

Specifications

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