I ARRIVE at Gable House more than 20 minutes early. Fortunately Rob Drye is pottering about – and waves me in through the open garage door.

“You overestimated the time it would take to get here, then?” he says with a laugh. Indeed I had. It had taken just 14 minutes to get from the very centre of York out to Rob’s house in the village of Deighton.

“A lot of people do that,” Rob says. “It’s one of the things we really liked about the house when we first came to look at it.

“It is in a quiet village setting, surrounded by open countryside, but you are literally a few minutes from the A64 and you can be in York in no time at all.”

Deighton, for those like me who are geographically challenged, is a tiny hamlet sitting off the York to Selby stretch of the A19, a little after Crockey Hill and before Escrick. It is certainly a peaceful spot. As I arrive on a fresh blue-sky bright morning, there is a murmur of a breeze and a chirrup of birdsong.

“I’ve just thrown down the breadcrumbs,” Rob laughs again. “No, I didn’t really – it’s that countryside thing again.”

That rural aspect is indeed ever present, I am to discover. Virtually every window – and certainly those to the rear of the house – provides open views across green fields.

The extensive lawned rear garden stretches down to a fence beyond which there is a rolling paddock that, up until fairly recently, provided the engaging spectacle of equestrian sports in the shape of children’s gymkhanas.

Beyond that there are rolling fields and tall trees stretching out into the distance.

But location, location, is not the only thing that Gable House has in its favour. Because this is a house which has been completely – and lovingly – refurbished in the nine years that Rob and his partner Helen have been here.

“It’s actually easier to tell you what we haven’t changed,” Rob says as we step from the garage, past a big utility room and into the first of many highlights, a stunning breakfast kitchen.

“Very much at the centre of the house,” is how marketing agents Hudson Moody describe this space – and they are absolutely right.

It’s a warm room, with a contemporary mix of light ash wall and base units and black granite work surfaces, a Toledo Rangemaster double oven and hob, a large Amana American fridge freezer and a range of integrated appliances – all set off by impressive display cabinets around areas of exposed brick and with a stylish breakfast bar to one end.

It’s a natural open plan flow from here into an equally impressive garden room, a mix of more exposed brick walls and arches, wood beams and deep windows and doors opening to the garden.

“I prefer the idea of a garden room to a conservatory,” Rob says. “It is warm in the winter and not uncomfortably hot in the summer – it’s a great room, especially when you throw open the doors and let the garden in.”

It’s an enticing vision. The idea of summer barbecues, sitting on the sun terrace or patio area, cool drink in hand, surrounded by those country views… But we don’t want to wish away our time, summer will come soon enough. Instead we turn back on ourselves and go through a brick arch into a stylish wood-floored dining room.

The floor, Rob tells me, is oak – as are the internal doors and the other exposed floorings including that in a spacious hallway at the centre of which is a double staircase leading to the first floor.

First, however, there is more, much more, to see on the ground floor, including a hugely impressive formal lounge, bright and light thanks to windows to front and side aspects and a set of French doors opening to the rear garden.

At the heart of this room is an open log and coal burning fire in a feature wood surround and mantel.

“I do love this room,” Rob says. “We spend a lot of time in the kitchen and garden room but this is a fantastic room. We get a fire going and it’s so warm and comfortable – it’s a big room but it still feels very cosy.”

Which is something that actually could be said about the whole of this property – it is a big house and in many ways a grand house yet it still manages to feel, as Rob puts it, comfortable and cosy.

And certainly that applies to the next room we visit. This is across the way from the lounge, facing front, a large space which has been given over to entertainment… there is a huge flat screen television and a full size pool table and an inviting leather sofa in which to flop out.

Entertainment, incidentally, is a feature of this house. Rob, who works in IT, made sure that it was fully wired for sound – every room is linked to a sophisticated media system including Sky television.

“Boys will have their toys,” Rob says.

They do, but there’s also a room on the ground floor for more serious pursuits – Rob has a beautifully kitted out office, ideal for the home worker, with workstations, drawers and shelves and storage space - and with another great view of the mature trees in the garden for when you want to rest your eyes.

That’s plenty space on the ground floor then, but there is also a lot of space upstairs, too – this is a house with six bedrooms and four bathrooms.

They are laid out cleverly, too, with two bedrooms to one ‘wing’ each having en-suite shower rooms and fitted wardrobes. Across the galleried landing there is a big bedroom which is in use as a gym.

There are two further bedrooms either side of a house bathroom – and then comes a stunning master bedroom suite which sits over the garage.

This is a huge room with a walk-in wardrobe and a stunning en-suite bathroom which includes a walk in shower and am amazing full hydrotherapy massage and jet air bath (oh and there is a television inset on a long mirror to watch while you are being hydrotherapised, if that’s the right word).

So, there you have it… a quite brilliant house in a superb rural location yet close to commuter routes and York city centre.

What more could you want? Well, did we mention the excellent White Swan pub that’s just a minute’s walk away…

AT A GLANCE

Gable House, Deighton Village.
Reception rooms: 5
Bedrooms: 6
Bathrooms: 4
Gardens: Large lawned rear garden with terrace and patio areas and open country views.
Wow factor: Brilliant open plan run of luxury kitchen, garden and dining rooms – and
those fantastic countryside views.
Price: £800,000
Contact: Hudson Moody. Tel: 01904 650650.