Into the woods

Eager to escape your urban outlook of concrete and other houses? Gwenda Brophy tracks down homes where your nearest neighbours will be trees

Living in or near woodland is becoming an increasingly rare privilege. The UK is now one of the least wooded parts of Europe with just 12 per cent of woodland cover according the Woodland Trust, which champions and protects what is left of the our ancient woods, the country's richest habitat for wildlife. Yet strolling in a sylvan setting, watching the sun's rays filtering through a canopy of branches with trees of awe-inspiring scale looming over us is an experience many people are drawn to; it is no coincidence that one of Britain's most popular hideaways, Centerparcs, set their sites deep within leafy forests.

It was a skyscape of towering trees that appealed to Ann and Colin Bridger when they were searching for a site to build a new home in the late 1980s. The resulting property, Honeywood House, is on a steep slope at Shotover Hill near Oxford. "It would have put off a standard developer", says Ann. "There was also a restriction which meant the new house could not take up a larger site than the burnt out chalet on the site". However, the location, the fact that both the Bridgers are both retired architects and had a head-start in the design department, "and the blanket of bluebells," says Ann, settled the matter.

A striking hexagonal three-story property with additional upper gallery, Honeywood House now looks well established among the trees which are protected by a preservation order. "We didn't want a timber house because of maintenance. There is some timber but we also used hand-made facing bricks from the old Shotover Kiln so that the property also incorporates local materials," says Ann.

The sun pours in through several full-height south-facing windows in the main rooms. "We often sit on a window seat or outside on the terrace watching the sunset and the wildlife, everything from rabbits and deer to squirrels." The wood is also a natural draw for birdlife from kites to - naturally - woodpeckers.

The property, which also comes with a one-bedroom annexe and indoor heated pool is for sale, offers in the region of £980,000 through agents Kemp and Kemp.

Despite its location, Honeywood House is only three miles from town, and this combination of woodland setting with proximity to town is also a feature of Honey Bottom Cottage two miles north-west of Newbury in Berkshire. The five-bedroom 19th-century semi-detached house features a huge conservatory overlooking around six acres of its own gardens and woodland, and is for sale through Hamptons International, priced at £695,000.

Hamptons are also selling Foresters Cottage near Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire. Built in the early 18th century, it looks the archetypal fairytale house in the woods with exposed timbers, thumb latch doors and picket fences around the garden. The outbuildings, which include a summer house, are dotted around the half-acre grounds where a well adds to the Goldilocks ambiance. The five-bedroom property is priced at £775,000.

But for those who really want to get away from it all there is Gold Y Gors - a contemporary-style house on the edge of a peninsula with its own private five-acre lake with islands and woodland. Set in the Welsh border countryside near the spa town of Builth Wells, it was created in the late 18th century by Welsh artist Thomas Jones, and is timber framed with the external walls in local stone and a Welsh slate roof. Since then it has been completely refurbished, and the windows, many of which overlook the lake, are triple glazed. The five-bedroom house with a 25ft maple and granite kitchen as well as upper balcony or sun-deck is on the market with a guide price of £595,000 through Knight Frank.

For the truly adventurous, historic Hatfield Forest, renowned for its wide range of native trees and lake, offers Forest Lodge, a Grade II-listed house and praised by Oliver Rackham in his book The Last Forest for its "beauty and remoteness". The three-bedroom property features a wood-burning stove, inglenook fireplace, as well as plenty of exposed timbers and studwork. The house is in need of some modernisation but it does come with paddocks, a barn, a stable with tack room and over two acres of land. However, it also relies on its own generator for electricity, and gas comes from low-pressure propane in tanks. It is being sold with 68 years remaining on the lease, and the guide price is £450,000 through agents Mullucks Wells.

There is, however, an alternative to becoming a permanent forest dweller. Joe Fielding runs Woods4Sale, a company specialising in the sales of small woodlands in England and Wales.

His customers are, "typically conservation-minded individuals and families who buy for recreational use." His small woodlands sell for around £10,000 to £30,000. He advises potential buyers to look at several woodlands "to see the different types available" and to do some background reading and research. He also warns that planning permission is always required for non-forestry uses of land and for buildings or development, adding: "It is extremely unusual to get planning permission for a dwelling in a wood." But buying woodland could still be a sound investment.

"Small woodland has already doubled in value in the past two to three years, and there is scope for further increases", says Fielding. "But most people who buy one do so simply because they love woodland and wildlife, and say there is nothing more special than watching it change through the different seasons."

Foresters Cottage, Hamptons International (01494 863134)

Forest Lodge, Mullucks Wells (01279 755400)

Gold Y Gors, Knight Frank (01432 273087)

Honeybottom Cottage, Hamptons International (01635 582111)

Honeywood House, Kemp and Kemp (01865 510000)

www.woods4sale.co.uk (01248 364362)