A farmhouse originally owned by John Denby in the mid-16th century, after whom the estate is named, stood at the heart of Denbies.[1][lower-alpha 1] The lands were sold by William Wakefield (or Wakeford[2]) to Jonathan Tyers in 1734,[3][lower-alpha 2] to be developed as a weekend retreat.[5] Tyers was the owner of London's Vauxhall Gardens – known at that time as New Spring Gardens[6] – and was responsible for developing that venue into a "fashionable place of evening entertainment".[3] A simple two-storey house in the Georgian style was built by converting some of the old farm buildings.[1][7] Set on top of a hillside about two miles (3.2 km) northwest of Dorking, the house had views of the Surrey landscape[8] and backed onto Ranmore Common.[9] Tyers installed a well beside the house; a note in The Gentleman's Magazine of 1781 gives the well's measurements, recorded on 4 October 1764, as being six feet (1.8 m) in diameter and reaching a depth of four hundred and thirty-eight feet (134 m).[10] On that day it contained water to a depth of twenty-two feet (6.7 m) supplied from a spring.[10] The front of the house had a pediment in the central wing decorated with a coat of arms; the rooms were not large but were conveniently situated.[11] According to historian Brian Allen the house was not architecturally significant and scant information is available about it; the garden established by Tyers, however, gained notoriety.[12]