Given the green light

A new-found love for space, quiet and Nature is driving growth in the prime countryside market

- Penny Churchill

IT’S an ill wind that blows nobody any good. As we wipe the misery of the past nine months from our collective memory, who would have thought that the big winner to emerge from the pandemic would be the British countryside? Whatever economic and social problems lie ahead, there is no doubt that many more homeowners will want to go where others led in 2020 and seek a cleaner, greener future without the grinding pressure of the dreaded daily commute.

A multi-generational family with lofty ambitions can find the best of town and country at Trout Grange, near the picturesque wooded hamlet of Coldharbour, five miles from Dorking, on the southern slopes of Leith Hill—at 965ft above sea level, it’s the second-highest point in south-east England. Set in more than 19 acres of private gardens and grounds within the Surrey Hills AONB, the 4,368sq ft main house and its 3,200sq ft converted barn and pool house are for sale through Knight Frank in Guildford (01483 617919), at a guide price of £3.75 million for the whole, or £2.35m for the main house alone.

Approached down a long, winding drive off a small country lane, Trout Grange was built in the 1980s on the site of a historic former farmhouse that had fallen into disrepair. The house is laid out over four floors with an impressive cinema/games-room complex on the lower ground floor. The ground floor offers a large formal sitting room, a triple aspect dining room, a study and a kitchen/ breakfast room. There are six first-floor bedrooms, with two further bedrooms on the floor above, and four bathrooms in all.