Back in the late 2000s, retired businessman David Paynter, an accomplished artist, and his wife, Lynn, a poet, had sold their house in Woking, Surrey, and were living in rented accommodation as they searched for a pristine woodland site on which to build a Huf House — an architect-designed, eco-friendly, post-and-beam house built in Germany by the Huf Haus Group founded by Johann Huf in 1912 and now run by the fourth generation of the Huf family.
In 2009, the Paynters found their dream location, a hidden seven-acre site surrounded by National Trust woodland in the Marley Heights area of West Sussex on the border of Surrey, near Haslemere, within the South Downs National Park. The house they created turned out beautifully — and now it is for sale, at a guide price of £3.75m, through David Carter of Surrey-based House Partnership.
The price quoted at first was ‘extortionate,’ recalls Mr Paynter. The owner, a developer, had been granted planning consent for a Huf Haus, but was unable to proceed when the crash came in 2008; a year later, the Paynters acquired the site from the receivers at a much reduced price.
By 2011, fresh planning consent was confirmed and a contract signed with Huf Haus. Meanwhile, the new owners had already embarked on the creation of Whitehanger’s wonderful gardens, which are open to the public under the National Garden Scheme and provide a dramatic setting for the ‘Art & Soul’ exhibition, which showcases the work of some 20 guest artists and sculptors in summer each year.
The Paynters were greatly impressed by the efficiency of the Huf Haus team, who hit the ground running the moment they arrived. ‘It took them a month to build the main structure and another two months to fit it out,’ Mr Paynter reveals.
The owners love their light, bright and adaptable house, which they have named Whitehanger. It offers 3,738sq ft of impeccably designed, mainly open-plan living space, comprising an entrance hall, sitting room, dining room and music room, a kitchen overlooking the garden, a utility and plant room, a principal bedroom with a balcony and en-suite bathroom, two further bedrooms, a family bathroom and study/fourth bedroom with a dressing room and balcony access.
Triple-glazed throughout, with a ground-source heat pump and underfloor heating, the house is not only eco-friendly, but functional, affordable and easy to maintain. Nevertheless, the constant upkeep of their beloved garden has begun to take its toll, hence the owners’ decision to downsize.
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