Kingston Ridge, Kingston, Lewes, East Sussex

The Shieling is a splendid five-bedroom detached home with delightful gardens and views across the surrounding South Downs countryside. The property features a flexible layout with the potential to be arranged as two self-contained dwellings. Built in the 1920s, the house retains many original features of the Arts and Crafts style of the period.

The ground floor features a kitchen with bespoke wooden units, with space for a dining table and French doors opening onto the Southeast-facing gardens. The adjoining utility room offers further storage space and access to the front and back gardens. The sitting room has a fireplace with a Clearview log burner and a conservatory with French doors opening onto the gardens. The conservatory has a kitchenette and could be used as a summer kitchen or a utility area. There is also a double bedroom with a dressing room/study, which could be used as an additional reception room if required. The spacious family bathroom has an extra-long bath tub and a separate shower cubicle.

Upstairs there are four double bedrooms, including the large principal bedroom with its kitchenette, which could be used as an additional open-plan sitting room and kitchen if required. One of the first floor bedrooms has an en suite bathroom, with the first floor also offering a shower room and a cloakroom.

At the front of the house, the gravel driveway provides parking for several vehicles, as well as access to the integrated garage at the side. The garage is at present used as artist’s studio and has a three phase electricity connection. The front area is formally laid out as a potager garden with Corten steel-edged beds and gravel pathways, growing a variety of soft fruit and ornamental plants.

At the rear, the Southeast-facing gardens welcome plenty of sunlight throughout the day and afford views across the stunning South Downs beyond. The garden is designed to benefit wild life and features Downland flower meadows, a large pond and cloud-pruned hedges and topiary. Behind a screen of hazel shrubs is a vegetable garden with raised beds and a large Rhino greenhouse. There is also a spacious summerhouse/studio, a second lean-to greenhouse with rainwater tank, and a large shed providing further space for garden storage.

The current patio area for al fresco dining has planning permission for a two storey extension. The foundations and part of the walls have already been constructed. (LW/10/0875/NP)

The property is situated within the South Downs National Park in a picturesque setting just to the Southwest of Lewes and on the edge of the village of Kingston. The village has a primary school and a popular pub, while the historic county town of Lewes provides a choice of shops, restaurants, cafés and leisure facilities, as well as supermarkets and a mainline train station (Victoria/London Bridge in approximately 64 minutes). There is a good state secondary school, as well as the renowned independent Lewes Old Grammar School.