WOODSIDE is a trophy house if ever there was one. It is a triumph of the 1930s Modern Movement and the only example of its kind in Bath. This sparkling white, ultra-streamlined building was designed by a pioneer woman architect, Mollie Taylor, and stands in a superb position in a former quarry at the top of Bathwick Hill in 1½ acres of garden.

Woodside is rather like a Mondrian painting. It’s a brilliant exercise in three-dimensional geometry that looks different from every angle. The most thrilling view is from the steps at the back of the quarry, where the drum-shaped staircase tower dominates, complete with a vertical picture window revealing the flying stair within.

The house looks bright even on a dull day, but as soon as the sun comes out it glows, with its flat cornices casting deep shadows to match the black trim of the metal Critall windows. The latter, in best Thirties style, wrap round every corner. The front door opens directly into the soaring staircase. The chrome balustrade is original. The whole property has been restored by its owner, Mike Rosser, who has built up a successful business restoring Georgian terrace houses in Bath. He has cut the stair carpet into the new marble steps, a detail that he took from John Paul Getty’s 1929 yacht Talitha G.

Rosser says the kitchen was his biggest challenge. He’s used 20mm slices of black and white marble for the central island, cleverly matching the external livery of the house. He’s especially proud of the stylish vertical radiators. “Guess where they came from — B&Q, £1,800 the pair”. The showpiece of Woodside is the double-height 45ft-long drawing room. Rosser has placed radiators in pairs at the corners and introduced ceiling pipes, hidden in the ceiling cove, to counteract the effect of heat rising. He has also put back the lighting that can change colour. Another slick detail is the mirror ceiling to the master bedroom shower. “Everyone says ‘kinky kinky kinky’, but it’s highly practical. Steam peels paintwork and mirrors avoid the problem,” he says.

He’s introduced more changing coloured lighting in the garden, making it the perfect place for Los Angeles-style summer parties looking down on the lights of the city. By day newly planted palms, white marble chippings and an abundance of decking complete the Mediterranean feel. MARCUS BINNEY

Details: Knight Frank 01225 325999

. . . or a £5 million 18th-century castle with 35 acres of parkland in the Cotswolds?

IT IS in many ways the chance of a lifetime. Midford Castle, three miles south of Bath, is for sale for the first time in almost half a century. Viewed from the air it is shaped like an ace of clubs. It is built on a plinth, with battlements, arched gateway, gatehouse, towers and flagpole, making it every inch the child’s vision of how a castle should look. But this castle has never witnessed shots fired in anger or been attacked by marauding invaders.

In fact, there could probably be few more peaceful settings than the eccentric Midford Castle estate, with its graceful views over the Limpley Stoke valley, and its 35 acres of parkland and 11 acres of woodland. The three main floors each have three large rooms, all opening on to a diamond-shaped central hallway. In the main house there are three reception rooms, seven bedrooms and three bathrooms.

There are also basement rooms, outbuildings, two cottages, a ruined two-storey summerhouse — complete with tower — and, hidden away on the wooded slopes of the estate, a rustic hermitage. If the hidden delights of the wood aren’t enough to keep you occupied, try the ruined chapel, the croquet lawn or the swimming pool. The estate itself is in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Midford Castle was built in 1775 for Henry Disney Roebuck, who had reportedly just come into money from a gambling win on the turn of a card. As the story didn’t surface until 125 years later, it’s unlikely to be true, but that needn’t detract from the sheer romantic beauty of this elegant, trefoil-shaped home. The current owners of the house, Michael Briggs, the chairman of Bath Preservation Trust, and his wife, the novelist Isabel Colegate, bought it for just £15,000 in 1961. Over the years they have improved and repaired it, adding parcels of land and nurturing the woodland. With their three children now grown up, Michael and Isabel have decided that the time has come to downsize. TIM BULLAMORE

Details: Humberts 01249 444555

FACTFILE

The average house price in Bath is £245,624, according to the Nationwide, 223 per cent higher than a decade ago (against a rise of 280 per cent in Bristol). Prices have risen 12 per cent in a year, outperforming the UK market, which was up 9.5 per cent, the Nationwide says. Properties are 70.4 per cent owner-occupied, against the UK average of 66.2 per cent. Buyers need to spend an average of ten times income, compared with eight times nationally, according to www.mouseprice.com.

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