Peaceful home that’s cosy in winter and sunny in summer

PEMBERLEY, in Thorne Close, a gated development off Greys Road in Henley, has cosy benefits in winter and is also a suntrap in the summer.

The owners have lived in the four-bedroom detached house for 16 years, carrying out an extension and adding solar panels and underfloor heating.

They say: “We’ve been here since April 2009 and essentially we’ve been very happy. We’re on the edge of the town, Gillotts Corner Field is very close and you can walk around it.

“When we had the house extended 10 years ago, the builders said it was one of the quietest areas that they had ever happened to work in. So it can be very quiet, even when the regatta is on. Being a mile and a bit out of the town you’re not really aware it’s on at all.

“The house is very comfortable. We’ve got solar panels, which in the summer months certainly help. We extended it 10 years ago. We sold the conservatory it had on eBay and then we got a builder to build what we call a sunroom.

“It’s L-shaped, we’ve got the kitchen to one side and it’s quite a big room. We’ve got a sofa and two comfy chairs, it’s a dining room as well. We’ve also got a formal dining room at the front of the house and a sitting room.”

With three reception rooms on the ground floor, the double-aspect living room has French doors to the garden. Upstairs there is a galleried landing.

The property has three bathrooms, two of which are en suite. One of the bedrooms has a Juliet balcony. There is a boarded loft with ladder for storage.

“Upstairs we’ve got three good-sized bedrooms and one slightly smaller which is probably a double as well, in fact we’ve got a railway in it at the moment,” add the owners.

“There’s a double garage and we’ve also got a very comfortable summerhouse in the garden, which would make an ideal games room, office or whatever.

“It’s plumbed, it’s got a loo in it and it’s got electrics. We had that put in as soon as we got here and it was refurbished earlier this year.

“The solar panels were put in a few years ago and they’re on the garage roof.

“The garden faces south-east. In the summer months the sun is right overhead and we can see the sunset from the kitchen window. In the extension part, so including the kitchen, the new room downstairs and the utility room we’ve got underfloor heating, where we had a new wooden floor earlier this year.

“When you walk on it when the heating’s on it’s very pleasant underfoot, toasty feet. We have two cats and you see them ‘floorbathing’ occasionally when they find a hot spot.” Outside, the main lawns are south-east facing, with mature borders and a shed for storage.

The block-paved driveway leads to a double garage with electric up-and-over doors.

The owners add: “The driveway will park several cars, probably two in front of the garage and a parking space just on the left as you drive in. We’re a good distance from Greys Road so that helps with the quietness and we’re not really too conscious of road noise.

“We want to downsize and move closer to families and friends. It’s a comfortable house and we’ve been very happy here — it will be a bit of a wrench to move but needs must.”

Thorne Close, a private gated development of five properties, is about one mile from Henley town centre.

Pemberley has a guide price in excess of £1,250,000. For more information and to arrange a viewing, call Davis Tate on (01491) 412345.