Loft living goes west in a mews home with style
FINDING hip, loft-style homes in west London can be rather tricky – Notting Hill and Fulham are hardly rife with the kind of ancient industrial buildings that made east London so fashionable in the Nineties. What the west does have lots of is mews streets – quiet, attractive, frequently cobbled little spaces that once housed the stables to the grand mansions and townhouses of the main roads and squares. Those old stable buildings have proved highly adaptable for those searching for something a little different in areas where the postcode starts with a W, and June’s Property of the Month is a case in point.
On the market for £4m, The Boatman’s Institute, on Junction Mews between Marylebone and Bayswater, was built in 1827 and was originally a meeting house for the boatmen who operated long boats up the canals that join at Paddington Basin. More recently the building became offices, and has now undergone a rather beautiful conversion.
There are four bedrooms over two floors, the star attraction being the master bedroom which occupies a mezzanine gallery space overlooking the main reception area. The living room is double height and tremendously bright and airy thanks to skylights inserted in the roof. With white walls and simple wood floors the style is fashionably minimalist, but it’s a cosy place too, with the old sloping ceilings and wooden beams adding character and atmosphere.
For fans of tech-savvy modern living the place is wired up to be adapted to the latest house-wide audio-visual systems, and a media room in the basement has been designed for luxurious film viewing.
Wedged between the elegance of Marylebone and Connaught Village, near the modern amenities of the sparkling Paddington Basement regeneration and the bustle of the Edgware Road, it’s in the heart of the action –?but being a mews cul de sac, it’s quiet and secluded too.
Call Simon Barnes Property Consultants on 020 7499 3434 or visit www.simonbarnes.com.