If you love period details then this authentic Georgian property, which has changed little in over 250 years, could be yours for £2,850,000
Dating from circa 1750, this Grade II-listed four-bed family home may just be the oldest house in Islington.
It’s certainly one of its best preserved, right down to the fixtures and fittings that remain remarkably intact.
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These weathered kitchen units have stood the test of time
Original features include wooden cornicing in all but one of the main rooms, huge sash windows, an 18th-century picture surround and an unashamedly ostentatious marble rococo fireplace. These last two features can be found in the grand first-floor dining room (main photo), which wouldn’t look out of place in a period drama.
Indeed, very little evidence of the march of modernity can be found within the house’s walls, antique furniture looks right at home and framed portraits on the walls are like a family gallery. If Jane Austen herself were to pop by for tea, you would barely bat an eyelid.
Situated in a blind alley, known as Terretts Place, off Islington’s Upper Street, the house is deceptively large. Its humble one-bay façade belies what lies behind.
Inside, generous accommodation is spread across four floors, while to the rear a 55ft enclosed rear garden has two outbuildings, one of which is currently used as a piano room, no less.
At the time the house was built, this part of north London was something of a country retreat for the wealthy residents of London, who came here to unwind in the many tea rooms, alehouses and pleasure gardens.
At one point, hundreds of similar houses would have been dotted around the parish of Islington.
Today, the area has a somewhat bohemian and artsy vibe (though there is no shortage of wealthy residents), with a cool market along Camden Passage, plus lots of bars and chic independent shops on and around Upper Street, as well as cultural powerhouses such as Sadler’s Wells and the Almeida Theatre, neither of which were here when the house was built.
Islington is one of the most sought-after of London’s boroughs, with average asking prices in the region of £600,000 for one-bed properties, making the £2.85m asking price for this museum palace seem not too bad, in comparison.
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