Breathtaking views and gardens that run down to the water's edge at this delightful home in Cornwall

Polruan-by-Fowey, Cornwall, is the very archetype of the Cornish coastal settlement. This ancient seafaring and ship-building village is surrounded by water on three sides, and clings to the hillside on the east bank of the River Fowey, just inside the entrance to Fowey harbour. Polruan’s association with the sea goes back to at least the 14th century, when it was recorded as having sent a ship and 60 men to join the siege of Calais in 1346.

Today, people come not to build ships or cross the Channel to take part in the Hundred Years’ War. Instead, it’s the lifestyle that is the big draw: ‘It’s all about the view across the water,’ says Oliver Custance Baker of Strutt & Parker, joint agents with locally based May Whetter & Grose in the sale of The Garden House, in a quiet Polruan road whose very name evokes some of those long-ago conflicts: Battery Lane.

Launched onto the market in today’s Country Life with a guide price of £3.4 million, this charming stone-built house is set in more than an acre of walled gardens that run all the way down to the water’s edge.

There is direct access to the beach and harbour, the famous sailing waters of south Cornwall and lots of wonderful coastal and inland walks, many of them owned by the National Trust.

The Garden House, which dates from the 1880s, has been owned for the past 31 years by the same family, who renovated it throughout when they first bought it and have since extended it to the rear. According to the agents, it was bought as their UK home when they lived in Hong Kong and has been their primary residence in recent years.

In all, the house offers some 4,000sq ft of light-filled living space on three floors, including, on the ground floor, three good reception rooms, a kitchen/breakfast room, wine cellar, walk-in larder and laundry.

The first floor provides three double bedrooms, one of which could be used as an office, while the principal bedroom suite has a large panoramic bay window, with wonderful views across the water.

Also on the first floor are a home gym and a family bathroom, while there are two further bedrooms on the second floor.

Outside are a summer house, greenhouse and off-road secure parking for three vehicles in a double garage and on an adjoining platform.

And one more thing to mention: the new owners can rest assured that they won’t be the only newcomers. The house next door — an 1877 property called The Old Vicarage, despite being built for a local sea captain — found a buyer last year after coming to market with a guide price of £2.5m, also through Strutt & Parker.

The Garden House is for sale via Strutt & Parker and May Whetter & Grose. See more pictures and details.