Old Park Avenue, London, SW12

The huge footprint of this magnificent, detached and double-fronted house Victorian house (c.1890) with a substantial, southwest-facing garden (62’ x 45’) effortlessly provides a floor area more than most families require with potential for even more (c. 5000ft+ once basement is dug). This is a wonderful, well-renovated, long-term, family home retaining elegant proportions and beautiful original features throughout. It is located on a quiet and prestigious crescent Between the Commons, close to good schools, Clapham Common and its tennis courts and only 500 m from Clapham South’s Northern Line tube station.

Old Park Avenue is an exclusive address. The street, constructed in the early 1890s, is mostly made up of handsome and substantial semi-detached properties, plus two impressive detached properties, one of which is double-fronted – this one. This unique property, built in Queen Anne revival style, boasts an outstanding frontage of 45’ - a lateral width which will set most buyers’ pulses racing - and a wonderfully large and sunny, south-west facing, rear garden (62’ x 45’), about which most buyers’ children can only usually dream.

Once inside, the property continues to seriously impress - arranged around a welcomingly wide entrance hall, with marvellous galleried staircase, are the three receptions, all with high ornate ceilings, lovely large windows, original marble fireplaces and hardwood floors; two are very large and sit at the front, either side of the hall, the third, at the rear, makes a beautiful study with doors opening onto the terrace and garden. The kitchen has been extended out at the rear and is well fitted with a range of modern storage units, granite worktops and integrated appliances. There is further scope to extend right across the back of the house now, connect to the study and add on a few hundred extra square feet in the process. Completing the layout of the ground floor is a further storeroom/large pantry off the kitchen with an additional basin, and a separate cloakroom/WC off the hall.

Below is a decent-size cellar, ideal for wine and with good head height. In our opinion, there are few locations where converting a basement is an obvious choice, but this is clearly one of them – the property’s amazing footprint, combined with the large rear garden makes undertaking such works (STPP) a thoroughly worthwhile investment here - the end result would, doubtless, be exceptional and the house’s total floor area, once completed, would almost certainly pass the 5000 sq ft mark.

The rear garden is a gem; gloriously sunny and with an open, southwesterly aspect over other large gardens and trees. Presently the upper terrace has artificial grass and a paved area for outside dining. This leads down a few steps into a very large lawned rear section, ideal for children.

All of the six double bedrooms are generous enough in size to dispense with any sibling altercations, although one has the added lure of a shower room en suite and another, the largest first floor bedroom, is currently used as a teenager TV/games room and has doors to the property’s full-width, front-facing balcony. The large principal suite on the top floor has a sumptuous bath/shower room and a wall of built-in wardrobes. There is also a third family bath/shower room on the first floor, with separate bath and shower cubicle. There are two loft spaces with hatch access, providing good storage and these may offer scope for further extension of the property within the roof space, possibly via mezzanines, subject to the usual consents. The utility room is cleverly positioned on the first floor close to the kids’ bedrooms.

The house is ideally located near to the Nightingale Lane end of this quiet, tree-lined and exclusive crescent, where parking tends to be plentiful. Clapham Common’s open spaces, tennis courts and other recreational facilities are 200m-300m away and the house is less than 500m from the Northern Line station at Clapham South which has frequent direct services to The City and West End. Wandsworth Common mainline station is a little over 800m away and has direct trains to Victoria. There is an established café/patisserie and a Sainsburys very close by on Nightingale Lane, with more extensive shopping facilities and a street market located nearby in Northcote Road, in Bellevue Road and at nearby Clapham South, whilst the Balham Waitrose is a short distance away in addition to the other main supermarkets. The area is also renowned for its wide choice of quality restaurants, bars and coffee houses. There is also an excellent selection of schools in the area for all age groups in both the private and state sectors.