‘Soaring ceilings, original timber beams and wooden flooring, flooded with light from floor-to-ceiling sash windows at both aspects’ 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

THE MODERN HOUSE: Brilliantly located in Hoxton, this 19^th-century former print house is now a three-bedroom house of exceptional character, scale and versatility. It is arranged across five floors with over 3,700 sq ft of internal living space, including a cinema and artists’ studio, and has two large south-facing terraces.

The house is accessed via a gated front courtyard and entered through an intimate cloakroom. The ground floor is predominantly open plan with the living room and kitchen separated by a wonderful wall of timber-framed stained glass. Painted-brick walls and original timber beams unite the two spaces with wooden floors in the reception becoming concrete in the kitchen. The latter is an enormous space arranged around a large island unit, with a dining area and, beneath a series of pitched roof lights, a six-oven Aga.

From the reception, a concealed door leads to the lower-ground level; a flowing warren of spatial ingenuity comprising steam room, office, utility room, guest WC, and a beautifully finished cinema with seating for seven.

A staircase with timber-panelled walls ascends to the first floor. Here, a dramatic library with soaring ceilings, original timber beams and wooden flooring is flooded with light from floor-to-ceiling sash windows at both aspects. A gas stove and its chimney stack are the only interruption to a towering wall of custom-made bookshelves. Incorporated into the cabinetry, a tropical fish tank offers a distorted glimpse into the room beyond; an elegant guest bedroom with painted-panel walls, a free-standing bath and an excellent walk-in shower with mosaic-tiled flooring and exposed-brick walls.

Reached via an elegant open-tread staircase from the library and occupying the entire second floor, is the master bedroom, with dressing room and en-suite bathroom. An exposed-brick patina on one wall is matched with painted brick on another, all set against dark wooden floors and punctuated with a sculptural free-standing copper bath. With a south-facing window and French doors that lead onto a wonderfully large terrace, this is one of the brightest rooms in the house.

The third floor is a recent addition to the house and is similarly bathed in natural light from walls of Crittall at both aspects; from the north-facing balcony of the artists’ studio, a south-facing landing and a bedroom with gas stove, currently used a room for reading. Steps lead from the studio through an electric roof light and onto an excellent roof terrace, with far-reaching views in every direction.

Read full article