SHE COUNTS THE ROOMS
one more every night
Room 1 of 4
The parlour
Listed as Reception room one: open fire
The chair has always faced the fire. Nobody has ever moved it back.
For sale
13 Vesperwood Lane
Ashcombe, Hollin’s Cross · Freehold · Detached
Offers in excess of £485,000
Pencilled in the margin of the particulars: Ask about the room under the stairs.
- Bedrooms
- 4
- Bathrooms
- 2
- Reception rooms
- 2
- Plot
- 0.8 acre
- Possession
- Vacant
A handsome double-fronted family home at the quiet end of Vesperwood Lane, set back behind its original railings and a copper beech that was already old when the house was new.
Original features throughout: picture rails, open fires in both reception rooms, a staircase of solid oak and the deep sash windows nobody builds any more. The kitchen keeps its walk-in pantry; the garden runs down to the stream.
Offered to the market for the first time in over a century, a home that has been in one family since 1921.
The vendor is motivated and will consider all reasonable offers. Early viewing is strongly advised.
Photographs
Inside the house
Twelve rooms over three floors, most with their original fittings. A selection is shown below; the rest can be seen at viewing.
-
Kitchen: range, walk-in pantry, door to the garden. -
Parlour: open fire, west light in the afternoons. -
Principal bedroom: dual aspect, fitted wardrobe. -
Bedroom four: a sunny, south-facing nursery. -
First-floor landing: four doors off. -
Not pictured at owner’s request.
Floor plan
Ground floor
For illustration only. Not to scale.
Before you go further
A note on what follows
From here, the listing becomes a film. What follows contains themes of grief, a missing child and sustained peril. Nothing will jump out at you and there is no sound. You can stop at any time.
The house
She counts the rooms
Every family that has lived at Vesperwood Lane has written on the walls. Hold the lantern up to them.
- Tom, 3
- Tom, 4
- Tom, 5
- Tom, 6
- Tom, 7
- Tom, 41
- Tom, 72
- Tom, 103
KEEP THE BOARDS UP
he is still growing
Room 2 of 4
The nursery
Listed as Bedroom four: sunny, south-facing
The boards were put up in 1948. The height chart has been kept up to date ever since.
1
2
3
4
5
COUNT AGAIN
there were four this morning
Room 3 of 4
The landing
Listed as First-floor landing: four doors off
Someone has numbered the doors in chalk. The numbers are renewed every week.
THIS ONE IS MINE
Room 4 of 4
The room under the stairs
Listed as Not listed
It does not appear on any plan before this autumn. It is warmer in here than anywhere else in the house.
Floor plan, revised
The vendor has asked us to update the plan in the particulars. We have been unable to reach the vendor to confirm the change. Plan redrawn at the vendor’s request.
Found pages
Left in the bureau
Typed on the backs of the old particulars and folded into the drop-front bureau in the parlour. The last owner was Ruth Calder. She did not leave a forwarding address.
-
14 September
Tom asked again why the landing has more doors at night. I told him it is the shadows from the banister. He said the shadows do not have handles.
Measured him against the nursery frame tonight. Just over three foot four. Wrote it in pencil under Mother’s marks and Grandmother’s.
-
3 October
Something has been moving the parlour chair to face the fire. I put it back by the window twice today. Both times I found it turned round by supper, and the cushion warm.
Struck out: I am going to ask the agent to come and look.Written over it: There is no point asking anyone. It has always been like this. -
19 October
Counted the rooms this morning: twelve, as on the deeds. Counted again at dusk and made it thirteen. The new one is under the stairs, where the gas meter used to be.
The door is very small. It is not locked.
Struck out: I have not opened it.Written over it: I have not opened it yet. -
28 October
Tom’s mark on the frame is higher than mine now. He is seven.
Someone has written our names under the stairs, in a hand I know from the deeds. Grandmother’s. Mother’s. Mine. Then a line left empty, as if for whoever comes next.
-
31 October
If you are reading this, you have bought the house, or you are thinking of it. Please do not count the rooms.
Struck out: She only wantsWritten over it: She is very patient.
Lantern Hill Pictures presents
Vesperwood
Some houses are never empty. They are only waiting.
In cinemas 31 October
Running time 1 hr 47 min