This handsome late-Victorian four-bedroom house with private garden is set within the coveted Stockwell Park Conservation Area, in South London. The home is arranged over two spacious levels with internal accommodation of 1,500 sq ft. Primary living spaces offer a brilliant marriage of historicism and modernity, with original plasterwork and joinery featuring in the principal rooms, while a light-filled contemporary addition has been built to the rear, housing a dining area that overlooks the verdant exterior space. The proximity to local amenities, including Stockwell underground station, is excellent, and the house also has a private parking space.
Setting the Scene
Stockwell Park Road forms the spine of the Stockwell Park Conservation Area on its northwest-to-southeast axis, connecting Clapham Road to Slade Gardens’ Park. This home is closest to the Clapham Road end, and was built around 1890 from London stock brick, with a Welsh slate hipped roof. Three bays wide and two storeys high, the house is wide set with the main elevation punctuated by two/two box sash windows. A large canted bay defines the ground level. Decorative brick cornicing and banding features horizontally at various levels along the façade, exemplifying the ornate high-Victorian architectural style of the time and adding a certain charm to the main street-facing elevation. For more information, please see the History section.
The Grand Tour
From Stockwell Park Road, the house is set back behind a low brick wall and clipped buxus hedging, with a private parking space set to one side. An iron gate opens to the front garden, with a paved path leading to the porch. Climbing roses wind their way around the entrance way and there is a gate to the side of the house, which leads to the rear garden and secure bicycle storage. The wood panelled front door is recessed within the porch with a transom light set above, opening to the spacious hallway.
The hallway is painted in ‘Mister David’, a brilliant yellow shade by Little Greene, and the staircase lies directly ahead, lit from above by natural light that pours in from the first-floor roof light. Engineered oak floorboards extend underfoot.
The bipartite and wide-set sitting room is painted in the wonderful ‘Bluebird’ by Paper and Paint Library, with excellent original cornicing framing the elevations and a large west-facing canted bay window. A chimneypiece of Regency design, after Thomas Hope, grounds the room, inset with a working fire and open iron grate with black veined marble slips. French windows are positioned to the rear corner of the room at an unusual horizontal angle and open to the rear garden.
The kitchen and dining room are set to the rear of the plan and overlook the garden; the dining area is a contemporary addition, illuminated by a large skylight set into the green ‘living’ roof above; quadripartite folding doors open to the garden itself. Moroccan tiles laid in a diagonal pattern extend underfoot and are warmed by underfloor heating. The kitchen furniture and elements are mainly freestanding, and a guest WC is set beneath the main staircase.
The first floor is home to sleeping quarters; it comprises four bedrooms and a spacious contemporary family bathroom, where laundry facilities are also currently housed.
The Great Outdoors
The walled garden is private and peaceful, mainly laid to lawn with a seating terrace, and surrounded by mature planting, including roses, foxgloves, salvias and ferns. A majestic plane tree is set to the very rear and allows for a feeling of seclusion when looking outwards from the house. There is also a weatherboard-clad shed with electric power.
Out and About
Stockwell Park Road is one of the most prominent residential streets within the Stockwell Park Conservation Area. The road leads to Stockwell Park Crescent and St Michael’s Church and grounds; the calm green space of Slade Garden Park is just behind, with its children’s play area, adventure playground and One O’Clock Club. The Stockwell Park Residents’ Association is very active and holds events throughout the year.
The neighbourhood known as ‘Little Portugal’ for its large Portuguese-speaking community is less than five minutes’ walk from the house and has a very good selection of pubs and restaurants, notably the Canton Arms; the nearby Landor is also of note. Nearby Brixton, a lively area known for its excellent food and bar scene, is within easy reach; Brixton Village, Market Row and Acre Lane are all highly recommended destinations. The Ritzy Cinema and Electric Brixton are much-loved local institutions, and there are also regular farmers’ markets in Brixton and nearby Oval.
The greenery of Larkhall Park is only a 15-minute stroll away. The beautiful Myatts Fields Park is also a 15-minute walk towards Camberwell, and for longer walks, the open fields of Burgess Park are a 30-minute walk east, and Clapham Common a 20-minute walk west. There are tennis courts, a café and a lake at Burgess Park, with further cafes, pubs and restaurants set around the expansive Clapham Common. Also within easy reach is Battersea Park, with an extensive frontage and riverside promenade to the Thames, where wide, tree-lined avenues meander around a large boating lake and through open lawned areas. It is adjacent to the newly opened Battersea Power Station development, home to an excellent array of high-end shops, restaurants and a cinema.
There is an excellent selection of schools in the area. State primary schools include the Ofsted ‘Outstanding’-rated Herbert Morrison on Hartington Road, Wyvil on Wyvil Road, Reay on Hackford Road, Ashmole on Ashmole Street and Henry Fawcett on Bowling Green Street. The neighbourhood comprehensive Platanos College (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) on Clapham Road is Ofsted-rated as ‘Outstanding’, as are the nearby Lilian Baylis (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) on Kennington Lane, Oasis Academy (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) on Westminster Bridge Road, Sacred Heart RC (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) on Camberwell New Road and Notre Dame RC (girls, ages 11 to 16) on St George’s Road in Kennington. Independent schools are mostly nearby to the west and south, and include Eaton House, Parkgate School, Emmanuel School, Thomas’s and L’école de Wix Lycée Français, Alleyns, JAGS and Dulwich College.
Stockwell Underground station is a five-minute walk from the house, with access to the Northern and Victoria lines (providing quick access to Central London) and connections to the overground at Clapham High Street. There are several buses that run into Central London along Clapham Road and Brixton Road.
Council Tax Band: G
History
Stockwell’s name was first recorded in 1197 and is believed to come from the woodlands or ‘stocks’ and from the presence of natural springs or ‘wells’. It was mainly agricultural land in the medieval period. In the 13th century, the now-demolished Stockwell Manor was built on the north side of the green at the centre of the settlement, with a well on the other side.
In the 18th century Stockwell Green became a retreat for wealthy merchants who built substantial houses. The area offered countryside and clean air within a short carriage ride of London. In 1838, development started in earnest in the Stockwell Park area, forming a high-class residential estate, comprised mainly of elegant classical and Italianate villas and representing the embracing of a more informal ‘Rus in Urbe’ (countryside in the town). Stockwell Park Road was first laid out slightly earlier in 1832, while Clapham and Brixton roads were laid out with houses built somewhat earlier, from 1802 – 1825, in the Regency style. Houses along Stockwell Park Road today present a multifarious union of various architectural styles, from early 19th century to late 20th century.
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