Napier Road, Leytonstone, London, E11

Clean lines, open spaces, and modernity characterise this imaginative, welcoming, and light-filled four-bedroom Victorian home. The subject of extensive improvements, this spacious house takes several creative and successful turns to deliver a captivating family residence.

Located on a quiet residential street just a short stroll from Leytonstone High Road and close to good transport links and green spaces, this sensitively renovated and extended home enjoys period details such as original floorboards and fabulous fireplaces.

These sit alongside stylish modern improvements such as a loft master suite, a kitchen with doors by Naked Kitchens, designer switches and sockets, new UPVC sash windows and aluminium bifold doors opening onto the private garden.

Shielded from the street by a low London Stock brick wall and hedge, the house features an appealing rendered frontage with a decorative stone porch arch, lintels, and foliage-topped capitals to the bay window – all painted a striking charcoal grey.

A path with lovely original Victorian patterned tiles leads to a timber front door with an overhead transom and brass furniture, including a charming fox-shaped knocker.

Enter the white-painted hallway, where the same Victorian tiles continue before segueing into sanded and oiled original floorboards in the open-plan living space through a door to your left.

Filled with light from a large bay with recently fitted UPVC sash windows, the living room walls have been drenched in Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue, creating a cosy feel. While an impressive working cast-iron Victorian fireplace with an original tiled surround, wooden mantle and granite hearth acts as a focal point, a vertical white column-style radiator provides extra warmth.

Bespoke sleeper-style shelves have been fitted to one alcove, while custom-made full-height open shelving works brilliantly as a room divider. This leads into a second, central living space used as a music and reading area, which could work equally well as a playroom. With white-painted walls and a vertical radiator and pendant light to match those at the front, you’ll also find doors to the understairs storage area here, with shelving and plumbing for a washing machine.

Step down to arrive in the versatile dining, cooking and entertaining space, with white paintwork, a column-style radiator, and practical hexagon terracotta floor tiles warmed by underfloor heating for extra comfort. It’s flooded with light from a long run of skylights, a rear window and anthracite aluminium triple bifold doors opening to the garden.

Fitted last year, the kitchen features an island with a beautiful bespoke wrap-around distressed copper surround, complemented by smoked copper switches and sockets by Dowsing & Reynolds.

Naked Kitchens unit doors in green Wiveton Fern and neutral Holkham Frost with cutaway handles pair with a marble-look stone composite worktop and a glossy baked ceramic tile splashback. Meanwhile, timber shelves and extra wall-hung storage keep everything to hand.

There’s also a butler sink with copper mixer tap, while integrated appliances include an AEG induction hob with overhead extractor, a CDA microwave and slide-and-hide NEFF oven, an integrated Indesit dishwasher, and a Bosch fridge freezer. The boiler, fitted 18 months ago, is also housed here, controlled by a smart meter.

Bulkhead and adjustable wall lights from Dowsing & Reynolds and Industville provide well-thought-out mood lighting, and a Louis Poulsen-style pendant hangs over the dining area.

Returning to the hallway, the stripped original timber treads on the staircase flow into floorboards on the first-floor landing.

Fitted with bespoke vintage fabric-trimmed Roman blinds, the large second double bedroom (formerly the master) fills the front of the house. Fresh white walls and dark-stained original floorboards complement the exposed brickwork chimney breast and smart cast-iron decorative fireplace. There’s also a grey factory-style pendant light, radiator, and plenty of storage potential in the alcoves.

Bedroom three lies adjacent. A good-sized double with a charcoal grey feature wall, soft grey carpet and a pendant light, it’s lit by a garden-facing window with a made-to-measure ochre Roman blind, while a modern radiator sits beneath.

Beyond, you’ll discover the family bathroom, where a pretty stained-glass window with a sunray design fills the space with colourful light. There’s a second, frosted window, the walls are painted a warm taupe grey, and stone-look tiles run underfoot.

Glossy white metro tiles in brick formation surround a cast-iron bath with a wall-mounted shower and frameless screen, while a traditional-style Victorian pedestal sink with chrome taps and a close-coupled loo complete the suite.

You’ll find the fourth bedroom at the rear of the house. It offers an engineered wood floor, fresh green walls, and a rear-facing casement window with a bespoke Roman blind in a leafy fabric, reflecting the garden below. There’s also a cream factory-style pendant and a radiator. Currently used as an office and music studio, it would work equally well as a child’s room, nursery or guest bedroom.

Take a second, neutral carpeted staircase – past exposed brick detailing – to the loft. Here, the white-painted dual-aspect primary bedroom is filled with lovely light from both a rear window with garden views, fitted with an ochre Roman blind and with a radiator beneath, plus a pair of front-facing Velux. Throw these open to enjoy a pleasant breeze in the summer.

There’s plenty of practical storage, with built-in wardrobes and drawers, doors to storage under the eaves, and positionable wall-mounted bedside lights to complement the ceiling spots.

The primary suite also includes a luxurious en suite bathroom with similar floor and wall tiles to those used downstairs, a walk-in shower with sliding doors, a vanity basin, a heated towel rail and a close-coupled loo, all lit by two clerestory windows.

Outside, brick walls and timber fencing surround the west-facing courtyard garden. The current owners tell us it’s a real sun trap, enjoying sunshine all day, particularly in the afternoon and evening.

Sleeper-edged planters filled with mature plants, herbs and flowers chosen for scent and colour (such as mint, phormium, roses, Choisya, Forsythia, hydrangeas, honeysuckle bay and rosemary) frame a central patio paved with warm-toned red brick laid in a herringbone pattern. You’ll also find a useful tap, outdoor-rated electrical point, and attractive Industville bulkhead wall lights to mirror those indoors.

A NOTE FROM THE OWNERS

‘In the 19 years we’ve lived here, we’ve loved growing our house from a two into a four-bedroom home, making it a property where we are proud to have lived and brought up our children. It has a lot of history and is now ready for its next chapter. This growing and supportive community will be hard to leave, but it's time for new adventures for our family.’

IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

Napier Road is part of a quiet pocket of Victorian streets between the lower end of High Road Leytonstone and the wonderful Wanstead Flats – a walking, jogging and mountain-biking paradise that acts as a gateway to Epping Forest. Langthorne Park is also at the end of the road, with pools and wildlife to explore, basketball courts, a play park and an outdoor gym.

The popular Jenny Hammond Primary School is just three minutes’ away and rated Good by Ofsted. Davies Lane Primary School is a short walk away and is rated Outstanding. You'll also find a couple of nurseries nearby.

Within a 5–10-minute walk is the lovely Leytonstone Tavern (check out the fantastic burgers and roasts), as well as El Cafecito (serving Aussie breakfasts and coffee), Kotch for pizza, and The Rookwood Village pub with its stylish interior, deck, and electronic darts. Stroll a few minutes further to explore Winchelsea Road's artisanal food and drink scene, including The Wanstead Tap, Arch Rivals and Wild Goose Bakery for custard tarts.

The High Road is only a few minutes' walk away and has many cafés and convenience stores at its southern end, along with Leytonstone High Road Overground station. If you like traditional Neapolitan pizza, check out Bocca Bocca.

Other local favourites include Sunday roasts at the Holly Tree pub, Singburi for famously good Thai food, after-work drinks at Mammoth taproom, the Leytonstone arts' trail and the weekly local farmers' market beside Cann Hall Park, with its coffee shop, play areas and recently built skate park. The current owners also recommend Asado, Mora, Here East, and the Heathcote and Star.

Leyton Underground for the central line is just a short walk away. With the Elizabeth line available in the other direction at Maryland rail station - also reachable by foot. From here, it's just a short journey to Liverpool Street and one stop from Stratford's major interchange with the DLR, Central and Jubilee Lines, along with shopping, cinema and food at Westfield and East Village. Various local bus stops run regular services to Stratford, too. Leytonstone High Road (Overground) is also close by.