6 Bed Detached House, Single Let, Staines, TW18 1SB £2,495,000

The dining room is positioned centrally within the ground floor plan, just off the entrance hall; a glass-paned door with side lights is set in the rear canted bay, opening to the garden terrace. This room is believed to have been the home’s original entrance hall at one time, and carriages would pull up to the rear of the house to deliver guests. The room has limestone flags underfoot and a fine oak bolection chimneypiece grounds the space.

This room connects to the spacious kitchen and family room, set within a later single-storey addition that spans the entire depth of the plan. The bespoke wood-panelled cabinetry is by Martin Moore, with slabs of granite resting atop. A navy enamel Aga rests in the hearth, and a central island unit sits beneath the pitched glass roof lantern. There is a further utility room to the rear of the room, while there is space for dining and further seating beside the French windows, opening to the garden.

Ascending to the first floor and sleeping quarters, the winding oak staircase is set within its own hexagonal tower to the rear of the house, with a decorative oak handrail and barley twist balusters; an original pitched glass cupola set above floods the staircase and landing spaces with light, with two further roundhead windows set at each mid-point.

Two spacious bedrooms are set to the front of the first floor, with shuttered windows overlooking All Saints Church, each with a pretty fireplace. A further bedroom and bathroom with subway tiles and traditional design chrome brassware are set to the rear. The uppermost storey is home to three further charming and spacious bedrooms, and an additional bathroom of a more contemporary design, with limestone tiles and modern chrome brassware.

The Great Outdoors

A flagstone terrace spans the width of the entire house to the rear, looking out to a box hedge parterre garden and the expansive lawn beyond. The garden has integrated lighting within the design and looks wonderful when lit at night. The garden is well stocked with a brilliant variety and seasonal shrubs, plants and flowers, and has very mature trees at its end.

An extended pergola runs along the western edge of the garden, festooned in white wisteria and roses in springtime, and leads to a one-time potting shed, cleverly concealed behind yew hedging and now converted to a comfortable home office, with an underfloor heated brick-tiled floor, butt-and-bead panelling-clad monopitch roof and its own WC.

Additionally, there is a large, detached games room adjacent to the rear of the garage and to the west of the garden terrace. Handsome in design, it has a black and white marble tiled floor and oak wainscotting, with a separate bar area. The space could also make for an excellent studio or for occasional overflow guest accommodation.

Further garden structures include a summer house with glass double doors to the rear of the garden, and a charming open seating pavilion to the east of the terrace. Service entry to the garden is either through the garage or a side path around the west range of the house.

Out and About

Laleham is located beside the River Thames, a riverside community with many fine 18th and 19th-century houses. Located in the Borough of Spelthorne, in Surrey, the peaceful hamlet is surrounded by open fields to the north and south, with the Laleham Conservation Area encompassing most of the area. Village life centres around All Saints Church, directly opposite High Elms. Believed to stand on the site of a former small Roman temple, it dates back to the 12th century, with the tower built later in 1732.

The village is brilliantly positioned, with open fields to the north and south, Queen Mary Reservoir to the east and the River Thames to the west, just a one-minute walk from High Elms. The village has two pubs within walking distance, The Three Horseshoes and The Feathers. Laleham also has its own primary school and a very active residents’ association, which has thoughtfully compiled a brilliant guide to historically focused walks.

Laleham is located near Chertsey, a picturesque town in the Runnymede borough of Surrey, positioned on the River Thames and the River Bourne. The nearby towns of Virginia Water, Ascot and Windsor also offer a further broad range of shopping and dining opportunities. All three have excellent national and independent shops, while the university town of Egham has further comprehensive shops, cafes and restaurants, including a large branch of Waitrose.

There are countless outdoor spaces in the area, including Laleham Sports Ground and Laleham Park, both on the nearby river. The National Trust’s Runnymede park and gardens are to the north of Laleham, and the 5,000-acre Windsor Great Park is just 15 minutes’ drive away. IRacing can be found at Ascot, Windsor, Epsom, Kempton and Sandown Park, while polo clubs include the Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park itself, The Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club is in Winkfield and Cowdray Park . Golf aficionados are also well catered for with some of the best courses in the country, including Wentworth and Sunningdale. The Surrey Canoe Club and Littlejohn Sailing Club are also very nearby just to the south of Laleham, along the river.

Excellent nearby schools include the brilliantly convenient Laleham Primary School, St John’s Beaumont Preparatory School, Eton College, St George’s School in Windsor, and St Mary’s Ascot. Royal Holloway University of London, housed in a magnificent building modelled on the French Château de Chambord, is also nearby.

Transport links are excellent; High Elms is just a five-minute drive from Staines’s train station, with direct services to London Waterloo taking just 30 minutes. Chertsey, Shepperton and Ashford train stations are also nearby. The M25 is easily accessible, as well as the M3 and M4; central London can be reached by car quickly, around 40 minutes’ drive away. Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 can be reached in just 15 minutes.

Council Tax Band: H