There are lingering thoughts of home every time Portsmouth estate agent enters a modern estate at the bottom of Portsdown Hill.

It’s not because he once lived there but because the roads in the estate are named after Scottish islands. Colin Shairp, although he has been a fixture in the Portsmouth property scene for about three decades, was actually born on the island of Luing (pronounced Ling) and grew up, like many people working in Portsmouth, by starting his day with a ferry crossing to the mainland.

“I always get a little homesick when visiting the estate and accompanying viewings to the spacious family property in Skye Close will probably set me thinking of home when I get back to the office,” says Colin, director of Town and Country Southern estate agents in Havant Road, Drayton.

“The architecture on the estate is rather grander than I was used to growing up because Luing is dominated by the low, croft house style that offered less resistance to the frequent rain and gales and was, frankly, easier to heat as well.

“With a modern home like the one in Skye Close, featuring double glazing and gas-fired heating, the wind whistling round the eaves doesn’t mean putting on another three layers of jumpers, as it did back home!

“This a comfortable home that has been well maintained by the current owners – in fact this year they have refitted the cloakroom and replaced floor coverings.

“Set back behind a lawn and driveway, the property has an integral double garage to one side at the front and the living room to the other, each flanking the central entrance hall, which has double doors into the living room, where further double doors open out to the dining room.

“Across the rear of the house is a kitchen / breakfast room that’s superbly well-equipped and, like the dining room, has double French doors onto the south-west facing rear terrace.

“On the first floor there are four double bedrooms. The master bedroom has an en-suite bathroom with the useful bonus of a double shower cubicle as well as a bath, while the other three bedrooms are served by a family bathroom with a shaped bath and double handbasins.

“The rear garden has a raised terrace adjacent to the house, set above a retaining wall protected by railings and with central steps down to a lawn that provides good play space.

“The house is convenient for access to the wider area, good schools, and the Queen Alexandra Hospital. The position is ideal for access to the top of Portsdown Hill and the wider countryside beyond, heading up through the Meon Valley into the South Downs national park or east along the hill towards West Sussex and its appealing villages.”

Guide price is £469,950 (EPC Band D). For more information, contact Town and Country Southern on 023 93 277 288 or email sales@townandcountrysouthern.co.uk

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