An old rectory as pretty as Burghfield in Berkshire is virtually recession-proof, even if priced at £4.5million for 16 acres. Buyers will always be there because you are only five minutes from the M4, or a 15-minute drive to Reading station.

Although Burghfield is a large, sprawling village, the grounds of the Old Rectory back on to the immaculate 14,000-acre Englefield estate, ensuring that your outlook should remain unspoilt for years to come.

The house was bought in 1950 by a brilliant industrialist, Ralph Merton, of Alginate Industries. His late wife, Esther, was described by the gardening writer Robin Lane Fox as “one of the best gardeners I know”. Every bed and border brims with unusual flowers and shrubs.

The charm of the Old Rectory is that it is a sandwich of two houses, a gabled 17th-century house at the back with an intensely pretty doll's house Georgian front. The rectors were evidently men of means: the likely builder of the enchanting new front is the Rev William Robinson, who lived here until 1801.

The house is built of warm red brick, here largely in mint condition with the original lime pointing intact. The Georgian front opens into a broad entrance passage lit by the fan-light over the front door. This opens on either side into a perfectly proportioned Georgian drawing room and dining room with tall sash windows and lofty ceilings. The handsome marble fireplaces were introduced by Merton. The spacious, stone-paved staircase hall has early Georgian panelled doors and chunky glazing bars.

The back of the house has cosier lower ceilings, notably the library, which also opens out on to a garden terrace. At the back, the Victorians added a ballroom in matching red brick. The ceiling has been removed to open up the rafters, making it ideal for parties. On the first-floor landing a trio of arches leads to the main bedrooms. On the second floor there are attractive children's bedrooms, with the eaves timbers exposed and mirrors placed in the sides of the dormer windows to double the amount of light. There is a staff flat in a wing and an attractive range of stables that could be turned into a studio office.

The great boon of this house is the sophistication of the planting, which will provide colour all year round. There is a well-kept vegetable garden behind the house. Merton planted the two parallel yew hedges, which shelter a pair of impressive deep borders. Behind the hedge on one side is a large croquet lawn, on the other a swimming pool with temple pavilion.

Nothing ennobles the grounds of a country house as much as a few fine trees, and on the lawn at the Old Rectory stands a superb Cedar of Lebanon. The grounds in front of the house open into a meadow, which with just a few more trees will pass for a proper park. Although Savills says that the house is in need of modernisation, I would be tempted to move in straight away and improve it gradually.

So why is Merton's son Andrew not coming to live here after his father's death six months ago? Simple. With his American wife, Laura, he is building a house on the shores of a lake near Montreal.

Fast facts

What you get: Grade II* listed 17th and 18th-century rectory in 16 acres of gardens, four bedrooms and four more in attic. In all, 9,427 sq ft.

Where it is: Six miles from Reading, from where train services to London Paddington take 27 minutes; three miles from Junction 11 of the M4; 30 miles from Heathrow; 45 miles from Central London.

Price: £4.5million via Savills, 020-7499 8644, savills.co.uk

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