When Neil Thomas was looking for a house in 1997, the investment banker had very specific requirements. “I told my wife to buy something within 15 minutes of Heathrow because I was traveling a lot for work, and make sure it has at least five 40-foot trees in the garden,” says Thomas. Coming from South Africa, he says, he was especially keen on ample outdoor space.
They found a property that ticked all the family’s boxes. Called Home Farm, it’s located in the Wentworth Estate in the affluent suburb of Virginia Water, some 12 miles from Heathrow and 24 miles from central London. “It just had the most wonderful feeling of both being in the country and being so close to London,” he says.