In the novel Ordeal by Innocence, Sunny Point is the home of Rachel and Leo Argyle. The house is rather modern, being built just before the war.
The house is described as being a "well-built, characterless modern house, gabled and porched". Its gate has a sign saying SUNNY POINT in Gothic letters.
The locals calls the place, on which the house is built, Viper's Point.
Dr Calgary is of the opinion that the house is unworthy of its view, which is magnificent. The river curves sharply around the point, almost turning back on itself, and there are wooded hills opposite. Upstream to the left, there is a further bend of the river, with meadows and orchards in the distance.
At the back of the house, there is a zig-zag path that leads through the trees, which leads down to the beach on the river below. Halfway down the path, there is a small summer-house, which is sheltered from the wind.
By the side of the house, there is a big magnolia tree. The children, and Micky Argyle in particular, used to climb the tree. Micky had often climbed the tree to get into the house by the landing window.
Mrs Argyle bought Sunny Point when the war began, to serve as a war nursery for children from the London slums. It could accomodate up to eighteen children, between the ages of two and seven. A few of the children were cripples, and Mrs Argyle engaged Kirsten Lindstrom as a masseuse, as well as two hospital nurses, to care for them.
When Dr Calgary first goes to Sunny Point, he gets the impression that the inside of the house is "vaguely hygienic", as if it could have been an expensive nursing home.
Inside the house, immediately to the left of the front door, is the room which Mrs Argyle had used as a sitting-room and office. Leo Argyle did his work in the library upstairs.
The library has a different atmosphere from the rest of the house. Dr Calgary gets the impression that this room is where a man lived, where he both worked and rested. The walls are lined with books, and there are also books lying on tables. There is a desk, and some "large, rather shabby, but easeful" chairs. There is a small room attached to the library, where Gwenda Vaughan does her typing.
Past the library, at the end of the passage, there is a suite, which is occupied by Philip and Mary Durrant, when they are staying at Sunny Point. It has a sitting-room, where there is a writing desk, and a bedroom.
There are several bedrooms in the house, including Hester Argyle's bedroom on the first floor, and a spare bedroom, which is occupied by Tina Argyle when she stays at Sunny Point.
Residents and staff of Sunny Point[]
- Kirsten Lindstrom - housekeeper
- Mrs Narracott - daily woman