At £130,000, is this green hut Yorkshire’s most sought-after property?

The tiny timber holiday home, which is up for auction with a guide price of £75,000 to £130,000, offers buyers a real escape to the country.

The property, which has been owned by the same family since 1948, has no mod cons but its idyllic location in the North York Moors National Park, near Scarborough, has sparked interest from all over Britain.

The secluded one-bedroom chalet offers a back-to-basics lifestyle and sits in its own 1.5 acre field surrounded by natural beauty with a glimpse of the sea.

Tom Watson, of Cundalls estate agency in Malton, said: “The phone hasn’t stopped ringing because this place is a one-off. The location is superb. It’s close to the coast and also very private. It’s the perfect rural hideaway. There are people who live in the area who don’t know it is there.”

The chalet is thought to date from the 1930s and was bought in 1948 as a holiday home by a couple in York. It now belongs to their grandchildren David and Philip Hopwood.

“My grandparents bought it 66 years ago for the family and my brother and sister and I spent every holiday there. Back then it was next to a working farm. We used to milk the cows and I can remember the horse-drawn plough and helping with haymaking,” said Mr Hopwood.

“It’s an idyllic place. It’s a 20-minute walk through the woods to the cove at Hayburn Wyke, a couple of miles to Ravenscar Hall and you can walk or cycle on the old railway line to Scarborough, which is eight miles away.”

Built from timber with shuttered windows, there is a living area with a sofa bed and a kitchenette with a camping stove. A separate bedroom has a set of bunk beds and outside there is an earth toilet and a storage shed. Bottled water has to be brought to the site and there is no electricity but there is easy access for vehicles from a B road and you can drive over the field to the door.

“It has been very well maintained. My dad was very practical and so is my brother, so they did most of the work, including putting a concrete floor in.

“It’s very comfortable and completely dry,” said Mr Hopwood.

Although many would want to keep the chalet just as it is, there is a possibility that the National Park Authority might consider a modern replacement.

“There was a similar property on the market a few years ago and the buyers got permission to replace that with a log cabin, so that may be an option,” said Mr Watson.

“But there are some people who wouldn’t change a thing. The idea of getting away from it all in every sense is very appealing.”

Philip Hopwood added: “There is no television here. It’s just walking, reading and peace and quiet. Sometimes on an evening I’ll just sit outside in the deckchair and watch the owls and look at the stars. The skies here have no light pollution so the stars are bright and incredibly beautiful.

“It’s one of the reasons I am sad to be selling but we are getting older and it’s time to let the chalet go to someone else.”

The chalet is for sale at auction at The Hayburn Wyke, Staintondale, on September 3 with Cundalls, Malton, www.cundalls.co.uk