THE Guardian has had a preview of luxury houses that are about to be unveiled in Chigwell.

Four houses have already been built on the 18-hectare Chigwell Grange, off the High Road, with the cheapest being put on the market at about £1.95million and the most expensive of the four, which will have an indoor swimming pool, expected to go for about £3million.

Head of sales and marketing for the development, Warren O'Callaghan, who showed the Guardian around the development's show home, said he did not expect to have any trouble selling them, despite the recent dip in the housing market.

“The top end of the market has come back to what it was in about 2007 and over the past year, it's got considerably better,” he said. “We will keep the prices for the first four pretty competitive, though, because we want them to go.

“We've got about 100 people coming to the launch in October and we have 800 people on our mailing list.”

Although Chigwell estate agent Phillip Leigh, who will be selling the houses, regularly finds homes in the area for Tottenham Hotspur footballers, Mr O'Callaghan said he did not know of any who were interested yet.

“Looking at people who have bought houses of this sort of price in the area, there has been one or two of everyone,” he added. “There's been footballers, retired chief executives and bank managers and overseas investors, so it could be anyone.

“I see them being family homes because of the parkland and the schools nearby.”

For the £2.5 million show home, buyers will get six bedrooms and be able to entertain their friends with a bar, games room, gym and sauna in the basement, as well as relying on the security of a gated community and having a computer to control their atmospheric lighting and air-conditioning.

But as they sip champagne from the balcony of the master bedroom, they will be able to see clearly into next door's garden and the views of Epping Forest from the front of the house could soon be interrupted by the 28 other houses that the developers plan to build once the first four are sold.

Mr O'Callaghan said the architects had worked hard to stop the development looking like a standard suburban estate, by making each house different and adding a sculpture surrounded by grass in the centre.

He added that parkland near the former Grange Farm holiday park would be open to the public, with a visitor centre being built by developers Byrne Estates.

The homes will be open for viewing from October 2 and details are available at www.chigwellgrange.com