Turnavean Road, St. Austell, PL25

The view catches your attention first. The garden might be the reason you stay.

Elevated above the Gover Valley with woodland immediately behind the garden, this detached home occupies one of those positions that feels remarkably removed from everyday life despite being within easy reach of St Austell town centre.

It's a home with two very different outlooks.

To the front, the elevated position opens up far-reaching views across the Gover Valley and towards St Austell beyond. At the rear, mature woodland creates a wonderfully private backdrop to the landscaped garden.

The unusual reverse-level layout has been designed to take advantage of exactly that.

Rather than placing the main living accommodation downstairs, the principal rooms sit on the upper floor, where the outlook and natural light can be properly enjoyed.

The lounge is a particularly inviting space, with large windows effectively framing the landscape outside. The changing seasons become part of the room — lush greens through spring and summer giving way to the colours of the valley later in the year.

Alongside is a separate dining room, giving you a proper space for family meals and entertaining without taking over the lounge.

The kitchen sits conveniently alongside, with good storage and preparation space and a practical layout for everyday use.

Also on this level is an additional room that gives the house useful flexibility. Depending on what's needed, it could work as a fourth bedroom, home office, study or hobby room, with a shower room completing the floor.

Head downstairs and the atmosphere changes.

Here you'll find three comfortable bedrooms positioned away from the main living areas, creating a quieter part of the house for the end of the day. The principal bedroom includes fitted wardrobes, while a family bathroom serves the accommodation.

But there's another space at this level that's rather less conventional.

Opening directly onto the garden is a summer kitchen — and it's one of our favourite parts of the property.

Rather than constantly carrying food and drinks through the house when you're entertaining outside, everything can happen right beside the garden.

Open the doors on a summer afternoon and it becomes a natural extension of the outside space: somewhere to prepare food while friends are in the garden, grab drinks during a barbecue or sit late into the evening with the woodland behind you.

And if a summer kitchen isn't what you need, the space doesn't have to remain one.

Its position and proportions give it potential to adapt into an additional bedroom, office, gym, playroom or hobby space depending on individual requirements and any necessary alterations or consents.

Outside is where the current owners have made some of the most noticeable changes.

The rear garden has been landscaped to create a series of attractive, usable areas, providing space to sit, entertain and enjoy the surroundings without creating an overwhelming amount of maintenance.

More importantly, there's no conventional row of houses immediately behind you.

Instead, the garden backs directly onto mature woodland, giving the outside space an unusually secluded feel and creating a backdrop that changes with the seasons.

For buyers who value privacy, that's difficult to put a price on.

The owners have also extended the driveway at the front, creating generous off-road parking alongside the integral garage, which incorporates useful utility space.

Despite the greenery surrounding the property, you're certainly not isolated.

St Austell's schools, supermarkets, healthcare facilities, town centre and mainline railway station are all readily accessible, while the surrounding woodland provides opportunities to get outside without having to travel far from home.

And that's ultimately what makes this house interesting.

It's not simply about having three or four bedrooms.

It's being able to sit in the lounge and look out across the valley.

It's opening the summer kitchen onto the garden when friends come over.

It's having woodland rather than neighbouring gardens immediately behind you.

And it's having a layout with enough flexibility to change as family life changes.

If your priorities are space, privacy and an outlook that's a little different from the average residential home, this one is well worth another look.

HEATING

The property is heated via an electric ceiling heating system, providing individually controlled warmth without conventional radiators. While this differs from a traditional central heating system, the current owners have found it very effective and efficient during their time at the property and have commented that they would happily choose the same system again in a future home.