Fine & Country Feature Property - Elegance and Style

February 2008

One of Leeds’ most prestigious roads is the location for Heath House. At nearly 200 years old, the house has evolved into an elegant home that makes the most of its stunning surroundings.

“We’d viewed dozens of houses when we were looking to buy,” says the current owner of Heath House,” but as soon as we saw it we knew straight-away that this was the house for us. We’d always liked this Victorian period of property, but this house also had elegance and a style about it that felt absolutely right.”

But building on their initial love of the house, the current owners could see it had even more potential.” We loved the high ceilings and the beautiful cornices,” they remember,” but we felt the house had even more to offer. So over the years we’ve sympathetically extended the downstairs rooms to create a stunning living/dining room.  We felt that the house was quite inward looking so we’ve given this room full-length windows right across the back to really make the most of the beautiful garden and grounds.

“We’ve also fitted a brand new kitchen which has a really open plan feel to it. For us it all adds up to make this a wonderful house for entertaining! The kitchen and the downstairs space are great in the summer as you open up onto the patio areas for outdoor eating and parties. Or in the winter you can throw a formal dinner party in the main dining room or a relaxed supper in the more informal dining area.”

Upstairs, the owners have continued to express their style.” The bedrooms were so spacious that we’ve been able to give each one its own bathroom,” they explain. “We’ve fitted wonderful quality bathroom suites to each one and also created a dressing room for the master bedroom. This is now one of our favourite rooms, as once again, there are magnificent views of the garden.”

So what about the garden that’s become such a focal point of this house? “Well the main grounds are about an acre and a half in total,” say the current owners,” and  they’ve been professionally designed and landscaped to really complement the property. So there are different areas, including a rose garden, water gardens with ponds and lawn areas. There’s a mix of formal and wild areas and there’s a lovely woodland walk that goes the full length of the garden, taking you through the trees to the woodland area at the back. I often walk the path first thing in the morning or last thing in the evening and it’s great to see the fantastic colours of the garden and the wildlife. We recently had a 40th birthday party here with a marquee in the garden for 200 people and a professional firework display!”

Built in the 1820s, Heath House was originally called Heath Cottage, but has been extended over the years to create the house. Set back from the road, it’s one of the original homes in Ling Lane – in an extremely sought after road in Leeds.” And you can get right into city centre in about 10 or 15 minutes,” say the current owners, “even in rush hour it’s less than half an hour into Leeds. It’s a vibrant city with wonderful shops, bars and restaurants. Or if you need to go further afield the A1/M1 is only 10 minutes drive away.”

So what will the current owners remember about their time at Heath House? “Its warmth, its elegance and its luxury,” they say. ”There’s a wonderful relationship here between the style and almost opulence of the house and the beauty and space of the garden. It just feels right and we wouldn’t change a thing.”

To view the full sales particulars for the property please click here.