The Glen of the Downs is best known at the moment for the battle over its trees, but even with some of its woodland cut down for road widening purposes, it remains an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Up above the N11, not far from the Glenview Hotel, is The Downs Lodge, a picturesque Georgian home in a rural setting.

Although the house has four bedrooms, it is not particularly spacious at 1,400 sq ft. However, it is being sold with a detached period guest cottage next door. The two are to be auctioned as one lot by Gunne Residential on June 8th. The guide price is £750,000-plus. Set on 1.25 acres, the creeper-clad house is on a bend in the road. Double gates open on to a gravel driveway flanked by wrought-iron railings. Three granite steps lead up to a period front door and into an entrance hall with original flagstone flooring and shuttered windows with cupboards beneath.

The 200-year-old house is in good decorative order throughout and has a charming period ambience. However, it is narrow and the ceilings downstairs are low and may not appeal to anyone too tall.

It is an excellent example of smaller Georgian architecture and the number of original windows makes it brighter than many homes of this vintage. The livingroom stretches the width of one end of the house. It has the original granite fireplace surround inset with a marble fireplace and there is a door to the back garden.

Beyond this room, in a house full of nooks and crannies, are steps leading down to a small bedroom or study, with a sharply slanting ceiling. This room leads into a utility room and out to the garden again. The kitchen is off the ground floor corridor. It has a ceramic tiled floor and a range of pine fitted units, as well as a granite-effect worktop.

Steps leads down to the conservatory, used for dining. This room has a Norman Pratt cedarwood frame and a tiled floor, as well as a door to the garden. It is an exceptionally bright and attractive room in summer, with vegetation rushing into bloom from all directions, but it might be cooler for winter dining.

Also at ground floor level is a second bedroom, with a window looking into the conservatory. It has original timber floors and a pine fireplace with a cast-iron inset. This bedroom is a large single.

A lavatory, accessed by more steps, completes the downstairs accommodation.

Upstairs is the main bedroom, another room full of light with windows on either side and gently sloping eaves. A wardrobe is recessed into the thick gable wall and the windows have shutters. The second bedroom is also a double, while the family bathroom is large, with a bath and shower.

The rear garden is well-landscaped with herbaceous borders, shrubs and a wooded area, as well as a patio and wide expanse of lawn.

The guest cottage, called The Downs Hill Cottage, has a kitchen/diningroom with fitted wall and floor presses, a ceramic tiled floor and a stainless steel sink. The livingroom has a fireplace with a stove while there are three small bedrooms up a narrow staircase. The bedrooms all have sloping ceilings and dormer windows, but again, the low ceilings could cause a headache to anyone who is tall. They are likely to appeal most to children and there is some attic storage.

The cottage looks out over a large lawn bordered by a hedge leading into a small paddock with stables.