Burnaby house instilled with the character of the queen of Khiva

Co Wicklow: €1.4m:This pretty, old world Greystones cottage is steeped in history, writes Peter Murtagh

Khiva is the sort of old world cottage they picture on tins of biscuits you give granny at Christmas.

It was, until her death not long ago at the age of 88, home to Maud Stone, one of the great characters of The Burnaby in Greystones, Co Wicklow. Maud, who managed the occasional game of tennis right into her 80s, had lived in the cottage since 1947 following her marriage and a two-year stint in India after the war.

Khiva, by the way, is not a throw back to the Raj but is rather the name of a city in Uzbekistan. It was bestowed on the cottage in memory of Col Frederick Gustavus Burnaby (he of the family), a sometime war correspondent of The Times(of London), as well as being a soldier, traveller, writer, pioneer balloonist and author of A Ride to Khiva, a record of his adventures in Central Asia in 1875.

The colonel spoke Russian, Turkish, French, Italian, German, Spanish and his book contains real gems from the Victorian era of travel. "The Turkomans," he observed, "sometimes decide the knotty point of who is to marry the prettiest girl in their tribe in the primitive manner. On these occasions the whole tribe turns out, and the young lady, being allowed her choice of horses, gallops away from her suitors. They follow her. She avoids those whom she dislikes, and seeks to throw herself in the way of the object of her affections. The moment that she is caught she becomes the wife of her captor. Further ceremonies are dispensed with, and he takes her to his tent."

Inside Maud's tent, as it were, there are four bedrooms, three reception rooms (family room, dining and drawing rooms), an entrance hall, kitchen-cum-breakfast room and pantry. The Aga, which still works, was given to Maud as a wedding present. The general state of repair inside the cottage is fair to good. Inevitably when lived in by the same family for so many years, it could do with a little modernising and some TLC. But it is clean and dry throughout.

Khiva, which also has a detached garage, is on a generous site of 0.33 of an acre on the corner of Whitshed Road and Pavilion Road. The original cottage (the part facing onto Whitshed Road) is believed to be around 250 years old and to have started life as a shepherd's cottage.

Khiva would make an ideal step-down home for a retiring couple with funds for some home improvements. But the property will also inevitably attract developer interest. Zoning in The Burnaby allows for one house per quarter acre and a generous, two storey family home could easily be built on the Khiva site, while retaining a good sized garden.

It would be nice to think that at least the name Khiva might survive... and with it, a little bit of local history. This is an executor's sale and, it is believed, the first time the property has come on the open market. Colliers Jackson Stops have put an AMV of €1.4 million on it. Auction on March 12th if not sold before.