Old Road, Headington, Oxford, OX3

On the market for the first time in nearly 60 years, a pretty Edwardian detached house with four bedrooms, two receptions and unusually generous gardens. Some modernisation required, great potential, and no chain.

Headington is a suburb of Oxford on the Eastern side, with a vibrant and growing population. The main employment sectors are medicine, education, and research, and in the centre are a number of shops, pubs, caf?s, restaurants, and other services. The area also includes the main campus of Oxford Brookes University, Ruskin College, and the city's main hospitals, including the John Radcliffe, Nuffield and Churchill. Open spaces are generous, including Headington Hill and Bury Knowle parks with Shotover Hill, a heath and woodland area with views over Oxfordshire, and listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. C S Lewis and J R R Tolkein are just two of the world-famous residents to have lived there. In all, it's a great place to live.

47 Old Road is one of those delightful scenarios that warms the heart. Bought by our client's parents in the early Sixties, it cosseted them through their early married years, growing careers and growing children, right through to retirement. We heard the story over the phone, and when we visited we were not surprised. It's a classic Edwardian design, simply elegant with lovely proportions and high ceilinged rooms with large sash windows, plus an absolutely charming garden. Of course having been in the family so long it's a bit of a timewarp, but pleasingly there's evidence of good quality ongoing maintenance throughout, even our trusted builder's cursory inspection tells us the works required appear mostly cosmetic. With some tlc and a little advice from contractors who are experienced in such things (we know the right people! Please ask), it will become the centre of the universe for another family for decades to come.

The part-glazed door opens into an internal porch with terracotta flooring typical of the era. Another door leads into a light hallway, with a stair rising on the left behind white-painted spindles and a thick timber rail. The living room is on the right, a large and inviting space that feels positive with its bank of windows in a box bay to the front that makes up almost the entire wall, and there are shelves built along the side wall. The elegance of this era comes at least in part from design touches such as a high-level picture rail, above which the white paint lifts the ceiling. Further down the hall, the dining room is a similar proposition, albeit without the box bay but including a glazed door flanked by two further sashes that offer a lovely view down the garden. To the left of the hall, the breakfast room is almost dead-on square hence perfect for hosting a large dining table and chairs. Here, too, the large sash windows offer that same lovely view to the rear. Next door, the kitchen is relatively compact for today's tastes, however we suspect most will open up kitchen and breakfast room as the combination of the two will be a really excellent modern family space. Adjacent to the kitchen there is also a cloak room, a utility space and a side lobby with a door to the driveway. And completing downstairs is a generous larder, complete with a charming throwback to the days before fridges - a stone cold shelf!!

Upstairs, the theme continues. The stairs turn back on themselves halfway up, and at this point a pair of windows flood the stair and landing with light. All four bedrooms range off here, with the smallest on the left a good single/ study. Ahead to the left the first of three doubles is wide, with wardrobes built in on the left wall and large windows to the rear. Next door, the largest is a significant size at over 15 feet in length, complete with wardrobes and overlooking the garden. And the last is almost dead-on 13 foot square, perfectly proportioned. It overlooks the frontage, opposite which there are no other houses, just one of the University of Oxford campuses and a wealth of lovely, mature trees. Serving the four is a bathroom with a white suite, and next door to this is a separate wc.

Outside, the house sits in an elevated position back away from the road, hence it is better separated from passing traffic than might be expected, and this is reinforced by the thick, mature hedge. The front is mainly paved for ease of maintenance but also includes a good array of shrubs and flowers. From the road, a driveway leads down the left side of the house, narrowing and eventually coming to a single storey garage which also includes two coal stores/ sheds behind. Here the path leads to the rear of the house. The terrace spans the width of the house to the rear, beyond which the most marvellous, mature stretch of beautiful lawn is flanked all the way down by meandering borders on both sides, with several trees. It is also enclosed by Victorian red brick walling all round. The overall effect is of a large, very peaceful but also very private space that is rare to find inside the City limits; the venue for children to play safely, family parties, or just a quiet place with a book on a Summer Sunday...