The nearest thing you'll find to a tropical lodge in London? This exotic home is right on the Thames, and 10 miles from the centre of the city
The aptly-named River Haven is for sale in Thames Ditton, and it's a gorgeously exotic home.
Toby Keel
Thames Ditton has been called one of Surrey’s hidden jewels. There are parks and reservoirs, golf clubs and railway stations offering easy access into London, which is just over 10 miles away. For the lucky few, there’s something else: direct access to the River Thames. Few places in Greater London’s urban jungle can offer such a mix. And in the case of River Haven, one of the village’s finest riverside homes, there’s an almost literal slice of jungle on offer: this £2.6 million house has palm trees, exotic flowers in the garden, a characterful wooden house, a tiki-bar in the garden and the sort of verandah where you’d expect to find Ian Fleming or Somerset Maugham writing their latest work on a vintage typewriter.
River Haven is a charmed spot, right on the water, with its own a slipway and a private mooring for a boat. The landscaped rear garden slopes down to the river and a terrace overlooks it, offering the ideal place for moments of quiet reflection or the perfect spot for social gatherings.
The aforementioned verandah is even better: this elevated decking area on the first floor provides riverscapes from a different viewpoint, looking across the water to the parkland that surrounds Hampton Court.
The interior is designed to make the most of these graceful watery perspectives, while the exotic furnishings and fittings (beautifully curated by the current owners, it has to be said) really add to that tropical getaway feel — not bad for a house well within the M25.
But as beautiful as it is inside, it’s the river that remains the star, and everything guides you this way, with the open plan main living space leading straight out onto that terrace. ‘There’s a nautical feeling throughout, which nods to [River Haven’s] spectacular waterside setting,’ says the agent.
For sleeping arrangements, we suspect you’ll be sorely tempted to just string up a hammock in the garden once the sun sets, but for the winter months there’s always plan B in the shape of four bedrooms. There’s a double on the ground floor, two more on the first floor, and one on the mezzanine.
The latter is currently set up as a study, and thus the ideal place to bring your own vintage typewriter (okay, laptop) to keep on working on that tropical thriller once the weather gets too cold.
River Haven is for sale via Hamptons at £2.6 million — see more details.
