The Avenue, Richmond upon Thames, TW1 1QP

If you know this part of St Margarets, you’ll understand straight away why houses like this don’t come up very often.

On paper, it’s a generous detached family house with a really sensible layout — two reception rooms, a proper family kitchen, a wide entrance hall and four good-sized double bedrooms upstairs, including an en-suite and a family bathroom.

It works well as a family home as it is, but there’s also plenty of scope to extend into the loft, to the side or at the rear, subject to the usual consents, if someone wanted to take it further.

But that’s not really what makes it special. What the owners have always loved is the direct access from the garden into the St Margarets Trust Grounds.

You step out of the back gate and you’re straight into this completely private, leafy space — around 12 acres with open green areas, a lake and tennis courts, only accessible to the handful of houses backing onto it.

It’s a real hidden gem and has played a huge part in how the family have lived here, especially with children growing up.

You don’t really see it from the street, and unless you live locally you probably wouldn’t even know it exists — which is part of the charm.

The garden also has a separate office pod which has been incredibly useful for home working, and just adds to that feeling that the house has been set up around day-to-day family life.

From a property point of view, it’s rare to find a home that offers this level of privacy, green space and long-term potential in such a well-connected part of St Margarets.

It’s the kind of place people buy into and tend to stay far longer than they expect — and that usually says it all. EPC Rating: D