Raglan Gardens, Watford

Summer in the Garden. Winter by the Fire.

“Freedom.”

That was Katie’s reaction when she first saw 89 Raglan Gardens.

She and Chris were living in a two-up, two-down nearby. There was nowhere to park unless they got lucky, not enough room to do very much, and certainly not enough room for the family they planned to have.

Then they walked into Raglan Gardens.

There was space for two cars on the drive, an open-plan kitchen where everyone could gather, and a garden stretching approximately 220ft behind it.

They bought the house as a couple. Ten years later, there are five of them.

The kitchen is still the room where most of life happens.

Homework is done around the island. Dinner is being prepared while the television plays in the background. Children come and go, people catch up, and everybody somehow ends up in the same room.

In summer, the French doors stay open and the kitchen spills into the garden.

The pool comes out. The trampoline gets used. There is football, basketball and enough room for the children to bring their friends back without the adults being pushed into a corner.

The garden has also handled the bigger occasions. Around 150 people once gathered here for a family christening, with a marquee, caterers, a bouncy castle and goalposts all in use.

But some of its best moments are much quieter.

Stand outside with a coffee in the morning and the trees make it feel as though the house has been dropped into the edge of a forest. At the far end, the conifers create a hidden section that the children and their friends use for hide-and-seek. To them, it is less a garden and more a place to disappear into.

Then summer ends, the French doors close and the house changes completely.

Life moves into the front room. The open fire is lit, the Christmas tree goes up and the room that takes a back seat during the warmer months becomes the centre of the house.

It is almost like living in two different homes.

Summer belongs to the kitchen and garden. Winter belongs to the front room and fire.

Upstairs are three bedrooms. The third is the more compact of them and has worked perfectly well as a child’s room, but could equally become a nursery or home office.

Downstairs, alongside the open-plan kitchen and family space, there is the separate front room, a utility room and a shower room. Outside, the driveway comfortably accommodates two cars.

Chris and Katie have also made their own changes during their time here. They completed the driveway, repainted the exterior, redecorated throughout and modernised the downstairs shower room. At the far end of the garden, they cleared back the overgrowth, added fencing and returfed the ground so the whole garden could be used.

The house sits among the characterful Metroland-style homes of Raglan Gardens, within a conservation area where people tend to stay.

One neighbour has lived here for almost 50 years. Others nearby have been here for 20, 40 and more than 50 years. As that generation gradually changes, younger families are moving in and beginning their own version of the same story.

There is a genuine community here, but nobody forces it on you. The neighbours talk, children attend the same schools and local groups are there if you want them.

The location gives the family plenty to do without needing to get into the car every time.

Turn right and you are soon among playing fields, South Oxhey Park, tennis courts and the cricket club. The river and Ebury Way provide walks and family bike rides towards Rickmansworth, while the route towards Moor Park takes you through open fields.

Bushey station is around a mile away and roughly seven minutes by bicycle. Carpenders Park is closer, with London Overground services, while Moor Park provides access to the Metropolitan line. The M25, M1 and M40 are also within reach, along with routes towards Heathrow.

Chris and Katie describe the house as warm, welcoming and cosy — with a little chaos thrown in. - Property Ref : 4801.