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The house was converted from an old London print works by the owners who are both architects. The street is extremely welcoming and neighbors talk in the street while tending their plants. Despite the fact it is bang in the middle of London this is the quiet Bloomsbury of Virginia Woolf's days.The Dickens Museum is just behind the house and the Hogarth and Handel museum are just across a Bloomsbury Square to which we have the key and where you can book tennis courts.
You wake looking over Georgian townhouses listening to birds, and then a few squirrels running through the enormous plane and fig trees in the gardens to the back of the house.
Our house is a microclimate due to these trees and the enormous 20 year old Virginia creeper and wisteria which filter the sunlight into the south west facing rooms onto the mews.
The house is full of our paintings books and quirky objects but being architects we are also fond of simply clear spaces so it does not feel cluttered. Many people have told us the house is definitely a tardis- it gets larger as you explore it.
From the street there is a straight stair taking you into the kitchen which has a small sofa and an upright piano in it as well as a large table and a well equipped kitchen. The bathroom looks over the fig tree and has a bath as well as an in bath strong shower. From here the house opens out to the back and an open stair takes you up to the bedrooms and the roof terrace beyond.
If you are here in summer you will want to live on the roof which is pretty secluded but has fantastic views over the neighborhood. Unless you have children under 7 you will love the roof otherwise it is a bit scary as the balustrades are stretched wires and the access is up a snail stair which sits on the back wall.
OK but the best thing is the wider neighborhood...this is a place which is connected to anything you might wish to do. 4 minutes to Russell Square tube which is the fantastic Piccadilly line going to Heathrow, Hyde Park.
The South Kensington museums are 15 minutes on the tube from here. The British Museum, Covent Garden and even the Royal Academy on Picadilly are a nice stroll. The British Library is 10 minutes away to the north next to the Eurostar. Waitrose and Leather Lane our local market are 4 minutes walk. There is a children's zoo and playground, 2 minutes from the house only accessible to children under 16 and adults if accompanied by them! |
