Tearoom memories in a refurbished cottage

Anyone who remembers the Cherry Orchard tearooms will be pleased to hear that the place, although carefully renovated, has remained unchanged since Maeve Sutton served her cream teas in the garden. The four-bedroom cottage-style house, The Cherry Orchard, and large garden complete with preserved tearooms, will be auctioned by Jackson Stops & McCabe on September 28th. Selling agent Gordon Lennox is suggesting a price between £300,000 and £350,000. The present owners instructed their architect to retain as much of the old house as possible and the house itself has a very pleasant old-fashioned feel. There is an original mosaic-tiled hallway leading to a library area with quarry tiles on the floor.

The livingroom has a polished timber floor and period fireplace with tiled insert and hearth. A large diningroom is also wood-floored and has a period fireplace. There is a big country kitchen with the oil-fired Raeburn cooker set into a tiled alcove. Custom-built pine cupboards have a Belfast sink with brass taps and a marble worktop. The floor here is of original quarry and old red ceramic tiles. An old-fashioned scullery has been converted to a laundry room. Glass doors lead from here to a sunroom and thence to the garden.

Two of the bedrooms and the family bathroom are downstairs. The main room has a timber panelled ceiling, a dressingroom with fitted wardrobes and an en suite bathroom. The second bedroom has a polished wood floor. The two upstairs bedrooms are reached by a ship's ladder from the kitchen and would be a child's delight. Most of the large garden is at the back of the house and is very secluded. There are two main lawned areas and an ordered profusion of flower beds, acacia and eucalyptus trees. A stream runs through the grounds and the old tearooms awaits a nostalgic purchaser willing to reopen.