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The Househunter Room by Room

We left the capital  last week for a countryside break and while it’s still hot in the city (name that tune and show your age) I couldn’t resist this two bedroom apartment in a listed building in Streatham, south London. It’s on the market for £375,000 via The Modern House.

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There are two bedrooms and it’s located at the back of the building away from the road. Built in the 1930s it’s one of the finest examples of the Modernist housing movement in the UK and inside has painted concrete floors and stripped Crittall windows. Perfect for these hot sultry days*.

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The building was designed for young professionals who wanted a “country retreat* from the smog and each flat came with a wireless (!), a gas fire and a built in ice box. The residents’ community is still very active with summer barbecues and Christmas parties held in the grounds.

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I’m just fantasising about lying face down on those cool concrete floors at the moment but take a moment to note the dark door frames and how they add a bit of definition to the large white space. As does that dark chest of drawers below. I wonder if they’ve remembered to stock the ice box….

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*Typing that so you can guarantee it will be raining by the time you read it. But I don’t care because I have found THIS. Still in London (sorry/notsorry) it’s a four bedroom house created from a Victorian school building that has nine homes in all.

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This is the largest and is set over three floors. It’s on the market via Aucoot for £1,250,000 but there’s a two bedroom house for £800,000. The selling point is clearly the Plain English kitchen painted in Little Greene’s Obsidian Green. I tried that colour for the bathroom but it was too dark on the walls. On the cupboards however….

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I am now eyeing my dark grey/almost black kitchen cupboards and thinking. Nay scheming. Perhaps I’ll wait until we can afford the Carrara marble worktop and splashback before I buy another tester pot. So don’t hold your breath….

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There are two double bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor, the largest one has an ensuite and mezzanine area and is on the floor above and the fourth (also double) is on the top floor with a utilities area.

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Which one is it for you this week? North London or South London? Modern Rustic or Modernist? Start those fantasy lottery balls now.

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

6 Comments

  1. That kitchen/diner is awesome, love the high ceilings too; they make the room seem much bigger than it probably is!

  2. They are both really nice but for me the first one is too bland inside.
    The second one has some character and nice features and is dressed more to more liking.
    Can’t afford either, lol.

  3. Lovin’ Spoonful, she thought wistfully…..it’s the first one for me – all that light & white!

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