Architecture Wednesday: East London Renovated Victorian

This week we have a grand Victorian townhouse on Fremont street in London: a peaceful, horseshoe-shaped one way street in Hackney. The nineteenth century design provides peace and privacy within an otherwise bustling area of fashionable East London. Decorative iron railings and border stone steps lead to a wooden paneled front door with elegant pilasters and cornice. 

The entrance hall is typically Victorian with its vista of long wooden staircases and a neat sash window in the downstairs lavatory; there are reclaimed floorboards and the walls and woodwork have been painted with a range of soothing tones. 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.

The ground floor has a double-bay living room with a built-in library and office at the rear, paneled in oak with ox-blood red leather floors. 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. Also on the ground floor is a bathroom, fitted with bespoke cabinetry and decorated with a blue and white striped wallpaper. 

The lower ground floor has a Plain English kitchen painted in a neutral palette with stone flooring, a gas AGA and an electric stove finished with a Moroccan tile backsplash, and underfloor heating; there is also a wine cellar off the kitchen. Adjoining the kitchen, in an open plan, is the dining room, with a unique metal wood burning stove and double-glazed doors leading to the back garden.

On the first floor, overlooking the street, is the spacious master bedroom, with an ornate fireplace and two large windows; adjoining is a whimsical en-suite bathroom papered in a romantic Anna French Blue Toile wallpaper. The room has cozy underfloor heating, a deep freestanding roll top bath with an elegant antique shower and circular rail. Joining the en-suite and the bedroom is a dressing room with fitted wardrobes. 

At the rear of the first floor is the family bathroom, decorated in a muted green color palette with an original iron fireplace and a deep freestanding copper bath. On the landing outside the bath is another set of functional, fitted cupboards, adding to the plentiful storage in the house. 

On the second floor are two bedrooms. The front bedroom is painted in a fresh white tone with a panel-boarded ceiling, a pair of sash windows and another iron fireplace with a tiled hearth. In the second bedroom William Morris’s ‘Garden Tulip’ print has been used to paper the entire room.

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. Victoria Park and London Fields are both a five-minute walk from the house. Weekend markets take place at Victoria Park and Broadway Market and some of London’s most exciting restaurants are within easy reach.

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