Gwydyr House.
Location...Ryde
Bedrooms...Four doubles
Price...£369,000
Agent...Seafields
Tel...01983 812266
FAMILIES will want to stay forever in a capacious Ryde period home, where Queen Victoria is thought to have made fleeting visits.
Since the Queen reputedly took tea on three occasions at huge Gwydyr House, the property has been divided but number 4 comprises a large and characterful part of it, with big, lofty-ceilinged rooms and a secluded garden.
Hidden from view at the end of a shrub-lined driveway, off Binstead Road, the three-storey home has features including cornice, deep skirting and stripped pine doors.
All four bedrooms are doubles and older children will love to tuck themselves away in two lower ground-floor bedrooms, which are served by a shower room.
From the two first-floor bedrooms are sea views and glimpses.
Downstairs are living spaces on a grand scale, with a lovely, re-fitted kitchen.
Well-used all year for dining and entertaining is an impressive, high-roofed, P-shaped conservatory with access to the kitchen. This airy space comes into its own in the summer, when doors can be opened to a raised deck.
The sunny deck has plenty of space for al-fresco dining in privacy and the lawned garden beyond is ideal for children to play in. It is about 160ft long, with tall shrubs around the edges, providing screening, with apple and cherry trees, a shed and a shady patio.
Iron gates open to a block-paved parking area with space for about four cars.
Steps rise to the front deck and in the adjoining 25ft-long conservatory is tiled flooring, a cupboard with plumbing for a washing machine, doors and windows to the kitchen and a door to the entrance hallway.
As well as a study area beneath stairs to the first floor and a deep coat cupboard, this has oak flooring flowing into the kitchen/breakfast room.
Natural light streams into the 20ft by 18ft drawing room through a front bay window and a side window. Features include cornice and cast-iron surround to a fireplace, with a woodburning stove.
The kitchen is fitted with old English white units and beech worksurfaces. It has a butler sink, an integrated dishwasher, built-in microwave, range cooker with extractor hood and space for an American-style fridge-freezer.
Through an archway are stairs to the modern shower room and two bedrooms on the lower ground floor, one with extensive fitted wardrobes and the other with a walk-in wardrobe.
A split-level area on the main stairs leads to two landings. Leading off one is the lofty-ceilinged master bedroom, with cornice and panoramic views over The Solent through a side window and a deep walk-in bay window.
In the bathroom next door is a period-style white suite.
The other landing leads to a separate WC and a lofty-ceilinged bedroom with cornice and views to the sea.