Old home where trains still rumble past every hour for sale

By Filipa Gaspar

A trainspotter's dream home has gone on the market — and trains still rumble past the front door every hour.

The £365,000 (nearly $500,000) property sits on the tracks of the 39-mile Tarka Line that runs between Exeter and Barnstaple in Devon.

Named The Station House, it was bought by the current owner Jacqueline Saint, 70, back in 2017 for around £200,000 ($272,600) as she and her husband "fell in love with it straightaway."

The Tarka Line remains a working railway, with trains passing the former station roughly every hour.

At the time, the property was in a "very bad state" and required extensive renovation, but the couple immediately saw its potential.

The couple spent the following five years renovating the building, and created a two-part property, with one half used as their home and the other as a holiday cottage.

But while the work was extensive, the couple were determined to preserve the character of the former railway building and create a home that worked for them.

Following the passing of her husband, Jacqueline is now selling the unique property through agents Stags.

She said: "I'm very sad to be leaving the property, because even though it's only been since 2017, it does have, by now, a lot of sentimental value.

"Because my husband and I renovated it in a style that we wanted it to be — and it's still home.

"If you're going to sell a place, you have to just come to terms with that one year."

Built for the London and South Western Railway around 1850, primarily of stone under a slate roof, Eggesford Station was opened by the North Devon Railway on Aug. 1, 1854.

It was built on permission from the then landowner, the Earl of Portsmouth, whose country seat was situated within an estate near to the site of the station.

Jacqueline and her husband bought the property through an estate agent's bidding process, offering just over £200,000 ($272,600) and winning the highest bid.

The couple moved into the cottage section as soon as it was habitable, while the other half was eventually opened as holiday accommodation.

The main cottage currently has a large kitchen and living area, utility room and bathroom downstairs, with a dining room and three bedrooms upstairs.

The annex has its own independent access from the outside or could be incorporated within the main house by utilizing the door through to the main kitchen.

It offers a double bedroom with an en-suite shower room and a living room with a wood-burning stove.

The unfinished building, the former station master's office, at the end of the station offers further potential, Jacqueline explained.

Jacqueline and her husband had started renovating it with the intention of creating another holiday cottage, with a bedroom, living room, separate kitchen and large bathroom.

But the project was never completed, and it has instead been used as a workshop.

The Tarka Line remains a working railway, with trains passing the former station roughly every hour.

Jacqueline said: "It's a very scenic railway and some people think it doesn't run anymore but it does.

"The trains run past every hour. But it's a very used line that people who live in that valley use it to get to work on, kids to go to school and university in Exeter.

"It is a very valuable train line."

And while some buyers might be put off by living next to a working railway line, Jacqueline said the trains quickly became part of everyday life.

She said: "I think you're used to it. It's never been anything that we thought, 'oh no, not another train going by' because it's just fine.

"Trains don't stop at every station along that line, but they do stop at a dedicated station, so that was one of the things that we considered when we were thinking about buying it.

"If every train stops, then they're going to slow down and stop, so they don't come by at a very fast rate, and just all stop outside."

Jacqueline now hopes a buyer will see the same potential that she and her husband saw when they first walked through the door.

"It makes a wonderful home," she said.