The Conduit, Bletchingley £975,000

Red Gables was built in the early 1900’s as a convalescent retreat for affluent Londoners. The development was built in the Lutyens style - Sir Edwin Lutyens was one of Britain’s most respected and versatile architects, famous for his country houses and particularly prominent in Surrey early in his career.

Red Gables Lodge was built as a separate dwelling to accommodate the medical staff. Following the outbreak of the First World War, Red Gables was taken over as a recovery home for troops returning wounded from the trenches. Our vendor has photographs of Red Gables stretching back to just after it was built, including one taken in WW1 showing the recuperating soldiers and medical staff on parade outside the house.

Red Gables is a group of four houses set on the south facing scarp slope of the North Downs and in the heart of the Surrey Hills. This is an outstanding landscape whose distinctive character and natural beauty are so precious that it’s considered to be in the nation’s interest to safeguard. It’s one of 33 areas with this designation throughout the whole of England.

The original entrance to Red Gables was from Hextalls lane but this was later changed to access through The Conduit. The entire development was originally lit by gas generated in the Acetylene house adjacent to Red Gables Lodge. This has now been converted to form the neighbouring Tip’s Cottage.

In readiness for construction of the M25, the entire Red Gables land was bought as a block by the department for transport but the route was finally set to the south of the property and the land was parcelled up and sold off in four lots. Red Gables Lodge is the primary plot, with title to the drive and land north stretching to Hextalls Lane. The remaining three houses have land stretching south towards the M25 and west.

Since initial construction, Red Gables Lodge has been extended in two stages. The first, a single story added to the south west of the main building in the 1950’s, now forms the guest annex. Subsequently a double story was added to the east of the main building in the 1980’s. This now forms the kitchen, dining room and master bedroom.

Under the title deed, the land owned by Red Gables Lodge includes a small paved courtyard to the south, a formal garden to the north, the drive area in front of the entire Red Gables development and woodland with glade running north to the boundary with Hextalls Lane.

The local road network is a mixture of private streets and bridleways managed by the Whitehill Residents Association, which is run by the local residents. A voluntary annual charge is made to cover maintenance and insurance. This currently stands at £300 per annum. The property also benefits from FTP (fibre to the property) with download speeds of 50 Mb/s and upload of 20 Mb/s.

Sutton and East Surrey Water installed a new water main to the house in 2015 as part of a major upgrade to the area. Sewerage is managed through a sceptic tank shared between five households. This is situated some distance from Red Gables Lodge to the rear of 4 Red Gables and is cleared by Tandridge District Council every six months at a cost of £30 per household. As this is off the mains grid, no additional charge for sewerage is made by Sutton and East Surrey Water.

Red Gables Lodge is off the beaten track with most of the passing traffic on horseback. Thanks to the location, security in the local area is really good and to ensure it stays that there is an active Neighbourhood Watch scheme in place.

One of the most striking features of the area is the abundance of diverse mature trees. Amongst many other species, the land attached to Red Gables includes twelve magnificent beech trees laid out in a horseshoe. Nine of these are on land belonging to the Lodge.

The location is perfect for accessing the North Downs Way, one of sixteen national trails, which is less than half a mile up the hill. Caterham View point, one of its highlights is less than a mile away. In addition, cycle trails run in all directions.

The local wildlife is prolific and includes badgers, foxes and deer, which have been known to stand on the front lawn in Christmas day snow. Although there is good access to the M25 and M23 motorways, the closest public transport is the local busses in Bletchingley or Caterham, both 2 miles away, or the station in Caterham (far end of Network Rail’s Zone 6). There are other local railway stations at Merstham and Redhill with good bus links. Gatwick airport is 10 miles away within a 25 minute drive.

Red Gables is surrounded by highly regarded independent and state run schools. Caterham School – one of the top independent schools in the country is just a mile down the road, as is Oakhyrst Grange preparatory school. Widen the range to 2 miles and you include The Hawthorns pre-prep / preparatory and Bletchingley Village Primary.

A word from our vendors:

Back in 1994 we owned a lovely 3 bedroom home in a quiet road close to the station in Wallington but bringing up four young children in suburbia just didn’t seem to match the dream we aspired to.

Susan and I decided to move out from town a little in search of a family home a little less ordinary.

Having spent weeks searching, I caught sight of a picture of Red Gables Lodge in a local paper we’d picked up in our travels and added it to the “potentials” list straight away.

We’d been through the mill of 6 or 7 viewings a day for several weekends on the trot but from the moment we pulled up outside we were sold and the rest was a formality.

Yes, we’re 2 1/2 miles from the nearest station and as the children grew we had to put up with years of chauffeuring but what a childhood they had, playing in the woods after school with no worries over traffic.

We’ve spent 20 of the best years as a family here at Red Gables and Susan and I have absolutely no regrets.