This versatile five-bedroom house with a separate studio occupies a secluded position on leafy Westhall Road in the western section of Warlingham, an elevated village in the North Downs. Completed in 2011, the L-shaped layout is arranged around a richly planted south-facing garden and extends to over 3,160 sq ft. Designed by the current owner, an architect, the design takes an exacting approach to light and space, with a focus on high-specification eco-credentials and efficiency to support sustainable modern living.

The Tour

The house sits within broad-leafed tree and hedge-filled gardens. It is concealed from Westhall Road behind a driveway, which contains private off-street parking and a double garage with a generous work area. The approaching elevations hint at the carefully considered material palette of white rendered planes, western red cedar boarding and pops of colour within.

Conceived to maximise energy efficiency, the house was constructed using a bespoke timber framing system that is heavily insulated and has double and triple glazed doors and windows.  There is also a whole house MVHR system and 17 photovoltaic panels generating electricity from solar power. Bauder green sedum roofs span the single-storey sections for additional insulation and biodiversity. The house is designed on a north-south axis to make use of passive solar gain in winter, when the sun angles are low.

A deep protective canopy, bounded on one side by an oversized oriel window, projects over the entrance.  This leads directly into a large hallway that provides circulation to all areas and retains a connection to the outside through the skylight and sandblasted ‘shoti’ screens. The beautifully light, south-facing living room is simply detailed, allowing the focus to stretch through the wide, glazed screen and towards the verdant garden.

The kitchen and dining room are arranged in a sociable open-plan layout, while carefully considered folding screens and a recessed breakfast bar area offer the option of separation and privacy when entertaining. The lofty dining room rises to one-and-a-half storeys, with an exceptional quality of natural light drawn in through ribbons of electrically operated clerestory glazing and walls of glazed screens. These fold open, resulting in a wonderful sense of flow with the sunny dining terrace. East, south and west-facing, this is the perfect spot for morning coffees, lazy lunches and evening drinks. From the kitchen is an interconnected utility room with plenty of storage.

The beautifully proportioned main suite is bathed in natural light and flows out to the garden. A central bedhead separates the sleeping area from the dressing area, creating a distinct area that maintains the garden views. It has an excellent provision of built-in storage and leads to a large en suite shower room with striking colourful hues. Flanking the stairwell is a family room, its long, low-set windowsill providing an inviting spot to rest and read. With direct access to an adjacent Jack-and-Jill shower room, this versatile space could be easily adapted as a second ground floor bedroom.

Three further bedrooms on the first floor have been individually designed to allow for flexible layouts. Each looks onto the bio-diverse sedum-planted roofs, with two of the bedrooms having direct access to a shared decked area. One of the bedrooms has an en suite shower room; a family bathroom serves the other two.

Outdoor Space

The house wraps around the private, Japanese-inspired garden, which was holistically designed and organised as a series of interlinking flowing rooms. It is an immersive celebration of evergreen biodiversity and teeming with flora and fauna. Bees are drawn to the abundant colourful planting and cordoned apple and pear trees; butterflies and dragonflies visit shallow ponds alive with lilies and reeds, while birds rest on the many species of trees, including orange and red maples. At the edge of the quarter-acre plot is a kitchen garden of raised beds, fruit canes, herb bushes, wisteria and hydrangea climbers.

Balau hardwood decked paths spill from all the ground floor garden-facing spaces and offer optional routes inside to outside, outside to inside and around the garden rooms. A focal octagonal seating area, located beside the water feature, is a lovely, contemplative spot to sit and enjoy the surrounding nature.

There is an additional large studio. Currently used as an architect’s workspace, this standalone building offers superb flexibility of use and could easily be adapted as a music studio or overflow accommodation. Its large storage room is laid out to suit a future kitchen and shower room installation.

Sitting on the forecourt, at the approach to the house, is a generous double garage. Replete with storage and shelving options, a handy workshop area and garden store are located at its rear and have a door that leads straight to the kitchen garden.

The Area

Warlingham is located on the east side of the Caterham Gap, in the North Downs area of Surrey. A pretty green lies at the heart of the village. It is ringed with an array of attractive shops, restaurants, a community-run library and the charming 16^th-century White Lion pub. Excellent restaurants include India Dining, Chez Vous and La Botija, as well as gastropub Botley Hill Farmhouse and micropub The Radius Arms.

The area is green and leafy, with swathes of the accessible Metropolitan Green Belt and protected woodland within easy reach. The leisure centres in Caterham-on-the-Hill and Oxted afford many sporting options, including swimming pools. Four major golf courses are within a 10-minute drive and three theatres are accessible within half an hour. For an evening of jazz, the superb Watermill Jazz club at Dorking buzzes. There are several nearby inland sailing clubs and the southern coastal resorts, Brighton, Worthing and Shoreham-by-Sea can all be reached within an hour.

There is a wide range of excellent schools. Whitgift, Caterham and Woldingham offer independent options, the grammar schools at Wallington are within the catchment area and there is a large selection of very good state schools in Warlingham, Oxted, Caterham-on-the-Hill and Riddlesdown.

Warlingham is close to the A22 and is approximately three miles north of the M25 (J6). It has easy links to Gatwick, Heathrow and the Channel Tunnel, approximately 20, 50 and 60 minutes drive away respectively.  Upper Warlingham station, an eight-minute walk, is on the East Grinstead and Uckfield line that connects to London Victoria in 28 minutes and London Bridge in 35-40 minutes. Whyteleafe, just over 10 minutes by foot, is on the Caterham line, which serves London Bridge. A daytime bus service operates between Warlingham and Whyteleafe and beyond, with a stop just 20m from the house.

Please note that all areas, measurements and distances given in these particulars are approximate and rounded. The text, photographs and floor plans are for general guidance only. The Modern House has not tested any services, appliances or specific fittings — prospective purchasers are advised to inspect the property themselves. All fixtures, fittings and furniture not specifically itemised within these particulars are deemed removable by the vendor.