This wonderful four/five-bedroom house can be found on Thistlewaite Road in Clapton. It has a private south-facing garden, an independent studio apartment and a sunken garden room. Arranged over five levels and reaching 2,690 sq ft internally with an artfully-composed glazed extension on the ground floor, this handsome Victorian townhouse has been extensively remodelled to create a series of warm and expansive interior spaces.

The Tour

Thistlewaite Road is a quiet street a few minutes’ walk from Clapton Station. The house is set back behind a front courtyard with separate access leading down to the studio apartment, while the front door is approached from the upper-ground level. The voluminous Victorian interior spaces have been thoughtfully curated to create a sensical plan that is well-adapted to modern life. Original details have been retained and restored throughout, with beautiful cornicing in the living rooms and larger bedrooms, ceramic floor tiles in the hallway, and stained glass in the wood-framed sash windows. The contemporary interventions take a gentle approach, introducing natural materials and a soft colour palette that lends the house a sense of quiet retreat from the city.

A large living room occupies the bay-windowed front of the house, with original wooden floors underfoot and a new woodburner set within a marble fireplace. Beyond this is a music room. Elegant wood-framed double doors open onto an internal Juliet balcony that looks through the dining room to the garden beyond. The south-facing rear of the house is flooded with light, and the glazed extension acts as a lightwell for the interior spaces. Restored woodblock floors run underfoot, and the kitchen is fitted with white cabinetry. Stairs lead to the lower-ground floor, designed to function as an independent studio apartment if needed.

Inside the house, an unusually wide staircase ascends to the upper levels. On the first floor are two double bedrooms and an expansive bathroom with bare-plaster walls and a freestanding bath that overlooks the garden. There is an office space and separate WC on this level, with another bedroom and shower room up a half-level. The third-floor bedroom is a wonderful retreat, with a walk-in wardrobe and en suite bathroom. The bright space has been softened with wood-panelled walls, and jute carpets run underfoot.

Outside, beyond a herringbone-brick patio and at the end of the manicured garden, is a large home office that is currently used as a photography studio. Slightly sunken, it has soaring mono-pitch ceilings, concrete floors and soft bare-plaster walls. Skylights above let in wonderful levels of natural light and there is mains electricity, plumbing and underfloor heating.

The Area

This coveted corner of north-east London has a wonderful village atmosphere. There are fantastic places to eat and drink, notably P. Franco, Charles Artisan Bread and My Neighbours The Dumplings on nearby Lower Clapton Road. Local favourite The Clapton Hart is just across the road. There is a weekly food market on Chatsworth Road, which is home to a lively gauntlet of independent shops, cafes and restaurants such as Jim’s Cafe, and specialist suppliers L’Epicerie, London Borough of Jam and Hackney Draper. A short walk to the west is Stoke Newington.

There are bountiful open spaces and parks nearby. Local Millfields Park connects Hackney Marshes to the south and Lea Valley Park and Walthamstow Marshes to the north.

It is an eight-minute walk to Clapton station for London Overground services. There are good bus connections and cycle paths that run south towards Liverpool Street.

Please note that all areas, measurements and distances given in these particulars are approximate and rounded. The text, photographs and floor plans are for general guidance only. The Modern House has not tested any services, appliances or specific fittings — prospective purchasers are advised to inspect the property themselves. All fixtures, fittings and furniture not specifically itemised within these particulars are deemed removable by the vendor.