A grand Victorian townhouse on Fremont street: a peaceful, horse-shoe shaped one way street in Hackney. The nineteenth century design provides quiet privacy within an otherwise bustling area of fashionable East London. The house sits within the Fremont and Warneford conservation area and forms part of an impressive terrace characterised by London stock bricks and sash windows dressed in white stucco. Decorative iron railings and gateway border stone steps which lead to a wooden panelled front door with elegant pilasters and cornice.
The house has been sensitively, yet thoroughly renovated by a heritage builder specialising in East London properties. Included in his works was re-roofing and the addition of a connected security system.
The entrance hall is archetypically Victorian with its faded Persian runner and vista of long wooden staircases and a neat sash window in the downstairs lavatory. Here the reclaimed floorboards, hand-restored by wood specialist Vinda Saax, are introduced and continue through the house. The authentically reimagined Victorian interior decoration of the house proudly declares itself with the ring of an antique brass pulley bell.
The walls and woodwork have been prepared to a high standard and painted with a range of considered Farrow and Ball tones. Quality reproduction radiators in a Victorian style have been fitted throughout the house, along with antique finished light switches and power outlets set on period oak pattresses. These painstakingly fitted features have created an overall finish of noticeably high quality.
The ground floor has a decadent double bay living room with a custom designed, built-in library and office at the rear. This sophisticated nook is panelled in oak and has ox-blood red leather floors by Grace Spooner. These rooms have deep skirtings, ornate cornicing and wide sash windows that are adorned with handmade green velvet curtains. In the central bay of the living area is a red marble fireplace with a stone hearth and brass fender. To maintain the Victorian nature of the living suite, a wooden cabinet for a large screen TV has been built into the front bay.
On the ground floor is a sweet loo, fitted with Albion Bath Company fixtures, useful bespoke cabinetry and playfully decorated with a blue and white striped paper and matching handmade Colefax and Fowler roman blind.
The lower ground floor has a bespoke Plain English kitchen painted in a neutral palette with stone flooring, a gas AGA and an electric stove finished with a Moroccan tile backsplash. It also has underfloor heating. Adjoining the kitchen, in an open plan, is the dining room, currently housing an impressively long dining table with an antique chandelier suspended gloriously above it. A unique metal wood burning stove warms the room and double glazed doors lead to the back garden. To the right of the dining room is a cute utility room fitted with plenty of storage cupboards, a combined washer and dryer and a Miele dishwasher. There is also a wine cellar off the kitchen on the lower ground floor.
At the front of the first floor, overlooking the street, is the spacious master bedroom, with an ornate fireplace and two sash windows draped in handmade curtains by Watts of Westminster. Adjoining is a whimsical en-suite bathroom papered in a romantic Anna French Blue Toile wallpaper. The room has cosy underfloor heating, a deep freestanding roll top bath with an elegant antique shower and circular rail. Albion Bath Company Bathroom fixtures have been used again, including a vast sink. Joining the en-suite and the bedroom is a dressing room with bespoke fitted wardrobes with copious drawers and useful lighting, painted in neutral Farrow and Ball tones.
At the rear of the first floor is an understated yet exquisite family bathroom, decorated in a muted green colour palette with an original iron fireplace and a deep free-standing copper bath fitted with reclaimed antique brass taps and mixer shower hose. Another quintessential William Morris print, ‘Pomegranate’, has been used for the blind at the sash window and an intricately patterned gold and green paper border finishes the room. Opposite, on the landing, is another set of functional, bespoke fitted cupboards, adding to the plentiful storage in the house.
On the second floor of the house are two bedrooms. The front bedroom is painted in a fresh white tone with a panel boarded ceiling, a pair of sash windows and a further iron fireplace with a tiled hearth of small glossy green tiles and a simple wooden surround. William Morris’s ‘Garden Tulip’ print in a blue colourway has been used strikingly to paper the entirety of the rear bedroom; along with a matching blind, deep blue painted fire surround and glass art deco lampshade, glowing golden in the deep blue hues, this room has a fabulously nineteenth century ambience.
This city house is lucky enough to have a private garden with a little selection of mature trees and shrubs overhanging wooden decking and a set of steps. This tranquil space creates a leafy vista from the dining room and is accessed via wide glazed double doors.
Victoria Park and London Fields are both a five-minute walk from the house. Weekend markets take place at Victoria Park and Broadway Market – famed for its abundance of independent shops and cafes. Some of London’s most exciting restaurants are within easy reach, notably Cafe Cecilia, Elliot’s, Sune and Bruno. Nearby Netil Market is a bustling creative hub, with its own independent radio station and rooftop restaurant.
Cambridge Heath and London Fields Overground stations are equidistant with fast trains running to Liverpool Street. Bethnal Green Underground station is a pleasant ten minute walk through Victoria Park.
