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Ripley

Price Guide: £399,950    SOLD

If location really were everything, this property would be at the top of many people's list of dream homes. Once part of the Dunsborough Park estate, the cottage hugs the edge of Ripley Green in a rare old-world setting that is at once patrician, rural and almost traffic free. Ripley Green itself is a rarity - unlike most village greens, it's not hemmed in or even touched by main roads, but is hidden away behind the High Street where it stretches at great length in many directions. Indeed it is reputedly the largest green in England. Dunsborough Cottages are on the far side of the green and the approach is via a private lane that leads past the impressive Dunsborough Park mansion (origins go back to the fourteenth century) to arrive at a small cluster of properties fronting open fields that extend to the far horizon. You could be in remote hamlet in Suffolk or Dorset, rather than less than twenty-five miles from central London.

It is believed that Dunsborough Cottages begun life as a Tudor barn, built sideways on to the lane, and surrounded by other farm buildings on the estate. It was later used as the laundry to the "big house" and subsequently converted into two cottages around 1905 - the reason why this cottage has such good ceiling heights. The exterior is red brick, beneath a clay-tile roof and with the type of large windows that were so popular around 1900. A lovely Edwardian front door, containing decorative stained glass, is set in a deep recess.

Inside there is a surprisingly deep hallway with original black and tan quarry tiled floor and a dado rail. Much of the interior woodwork has been stripped, including the period panel doors. Off the hall, at the front of the house, is a square-ish sitting room (14' by 13'). Two features vie for attention in the room - a large, double sash window, wide, tall and low, which has a wonderful view across fields, and a brick chimneybreast with huge opening containing an Art Nouveau iron hood and fire basket. There are some fitted pine cupboards next to the fireplace. The large window and high ceiling give the room a spacious feel, much more akin to an Edwardian house than a country cottage.

The hall beyond the sitting room widens to accommodate the stairs and provide access to the rear rooms including a surprisingly large dining room (17'4 by 9'2). This room is a modern infill extension, with a glazed pitched roof (like a conservatory) and lots of glass along one wall. It provides a very light and airy space which, as it is immediately seen from the inner hall, opens up the house and provides an unexpectedly long vista. (The cottage is in fact exceptionally deep). Double glazed doors lead out from the dining room to the patio garden.

The kitchen is a decent size (15'8 by 10'2) and has windows on two sides, looking onto a barn and a small patio. A stable door leads out to the patio. It is very much a country kitchen with an old Aga ( but also a separate hob) and a central chunky ceiling beam. The current units are rustic-style pine, but they are in the process of being replaced with modern white cupboards. There is enough space at one end of the kitchen for a small table and chairs.

A third reception room lies beyond the dining room. This room (12'7 by 12') has no external window of its own but borrows light from the bright dining room, via glazed double doors and a small internal window. A bathroom leads off this third reception room and this also serves as the downstairs cloakroom. There's a bath, sink and wc, all in white, and a small window featuring a beautiful old stained glass picture of a sailing boat.

From the third reception room a small staircase leads up to a bedroom (12'8 by 8'10 max) tucked under the eaves, and with steeply sloping ceilings. The joy of this room is the view from its small window across the glass houses of the Dunsborough estate. It is a rare view - the huge glasshouses are Edwardian and dotted around the gravelled paths are period gardening paraphenalia - wrought iron etageres, old-fashioned potting benches and proper cold frames. Beyond the glasshouses the horizon is occupied by grandiose trees, which form a backdrop to a distant statue of a regal lion standing on a tall plinth ( Dunsborough Park is noted for its outdoor statuary). Although this room would make a good guest bedroom, or teenage den, it could also be a wonderful study.

Back in the hall, the main staircase has stripped pine balusters with big ball-topped newel posts. It leads up to a very, very spacious landing, almost a room in itself. A window above the stairs provides light and there are some narrow linen cupboards behind four stripped pine doors. The main bedroom ( 13'4 by 10'6) is at the front on the house and features a large double sash window with view across the green. There is also an attractive little period iron fireplace and a built-in wardrobe. Bedroom number two is 10'4 by 8'6 and has sloping ceilings and small window - no wardrobes. The bathroom is spacious and has recently been refitted with bath, sink and wc. There is no shower cubicle in the house, but it may be possible to re-arrange the bathroom to incorporate one, despite the presence of sloping ceilings. Although there are sloping ceilings, the upstairs rooms in the main part of the house have very good head-height.

Of all the suprises of the house, perhaps the biggest one is that there is no garden - just a very small enclosed patio. On the plus side, the patio does has space for a table and chairs and a barbecue, as well as some pots and it should get the sun in the summer. The house is obviously therefore ideal for people who do not want to do any gardening or the maintainance of outdoor space, and yet they would have the advantage of immediate access to acres of open land at the front (paradise for dogs). It would make the perfect weekend retreat.

It's not strictly true to say there is no garden soil at the property, as at the front there is a low box hedge and some shrubs and climbers including honeysuckle and rose. A wide grass verge separates the property from the unmade-up lane, beyond which extends the green. Parking is available on the lane. Surrounding buildings, including the adjoining cottage and barns, were once also part of the Dunsborough estate. The current owner of the property has recently converted an adjacent former milking parlour into a house which he intends to move into. Access to the new property runs beside the cottage and its patio which could affect the privacy of the latter, although this could be overcome with screening.

A cluster of other properties are dotted along the futher reaches of the private lane, but basically it is a very rural setting with immediate access to wonderful walks including picturesque stretches of the River Wey and the atmospheric remains of Newark Priory. Yet, in the opposite direction, and also in walking distance lies Ripley High Street which provides some shops, olde-world pubs and a choice of good restaurants. For more serious shopping, Guildford and Woking are within approx 15 minutes' drive. There is no station at Ripley, but the M25 is just five minutes away - although it seems to belong to a different century.

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