Greenhithe: English accent

A Greenhithe home transports you to another time and place, writes Catherine Smith.

3 Kingfisher Grove, Greenhithe. If you yearn for the English country houses featured on the TV programme Escape To the Country, this huge, traditionally styled house in one of the most desirable streets of Greenhithe fits the bill. From the moment you motor up the rose and buxus hedge lined drive and knock at the leadlight front door, you are transported to another time.

"Tony and I have built many houses in England and around Greenhithe," says owner Joanne Heywood. "We come back to these classic details in the style of grand English houses, or the east coast of America."

It's hard not to be distracted by Joanne and Tony's eye for design and colour, as their pretty country furnishings, china, books, even horse brasses, complete the picture. A classic Irish Waterford enamelled stove heats the family room. The kitchen, in warm yellows, is panelled and moulded in the old English style. Only the modern stainless steel gas hob and wall ovens, and the butler's pantry with its row of shiny appliances hidden from view, hint at modern ease. The dishdrawers and even the laundry appliances in the adjoining utility room (which doubles as a catering kitchen for big parties) are thoughtfully disguised in traditional joinery.

All the downstairs reception rooms open on to each other, radiating from the heart of the large sunny kitchen and family room. The formal living room, with a gas fire, opens into a cosy library or study. This would make a perfect a home office as it also opens straight off the double height entrance lobby. A second computer workstation hides behind doors in the family room. The couple, with their two daughters aged 18 and 15, built the house in stages after removing a cottage from the 2101sq m site in 1996. Joanne reckons it was a real labour of love: Tony detailed clever storage and shelving, Joanne searched for the right fabrics and finishing touches. The family room and main bedrooms all feature window seats for curling up with a book and soaking in the tree top views which surround the property. A self-contained guest suite has had plenty of use from visiting friends and family, and is now a pretty garden room.

The drapes, blinds and window seat cushions - all newly made from Designers Guild and Anna French fabrics - and the chandelier lights can stay, giving new owners a start on building their own traditional look.

In the garden, a playhouse cottage was the girls' favourite hideaway, and stays with the property. A pond, complete with tiny bridge, completes the fairy dell effect. The rest of the garden is easy-care. Joanne and Tony inter-planted the native bush and ponga with deciduous English trees for spectacular autumn colour and plenty of winter sun, bedded in no-work bark. A neighbour's waterfall provides the sound effects.

Joanne and Tony are now packing up to go back to England. They're settling in the Cotswolds, where they have plans to work on yet another beautifully detailed English house - albeit minus the warmth, sunshine and convenience of their Greenhithe facsimile.

Vital Statistics

SIZE: Land 2101sq m, house 380sq m.

PRICE: $1.395 million.

INSPECT: Sunday 12-1pm, or by appointment.

CONTACT: Alison Middleton, Premium, ph 021 983 533.

FEATURES: Eight-year-old brick and tile home styled like a traditional English country house, with period features such as mouldings, French doors and high ceilings. Formal living room with gas fire, open plan gourmet kitchen and family room with Waterford fire, formal dining room, upstairs sitting area, library/study. Garden features native and deciduous trees, water feature and extensive decking. Double garage with internal access.