Browning Road, London E11

This two-bedroom terraced house sits in a picturesque pocket between Leytonstone and Wanstead Flats, with an interior aesthetic that furthers its out-of-town feel. A long front garden sets the house back from the curve of the street as it stretches on into open parkland, an arcadian streetscape unique to the Browning Road Conservation Area. Despite its pastoral appeal, the home is a seven-minute walk from Leytonstone Station, where the Central Line offers quick and regular links into the City.

Setting the Scene

Once known as Back Lane, the road was an important link between the High Road and Epping Forest; a historic inn here was frequented by highwaymen in the 17th and 18th centuries. A century or so later, the modest terraces of Browning Road were erected by Lord Wellesley, then owner of the Wanstead and Leyspring estates. These simple two-up two-down vernacular buildings were saved from extensive construction in the area through the formation of the Browning Road Conservation Area in the 1970s. The terrace was subsequently included on the council’s list of locally significant buildings. It is thought the street became Browning Road in 1900, in honour of the poet and author Robert Browning.

Grand Tour

The neat front façade is elegant and refined, with white-washed brick walls punctuated by timber sash windows in the Georgian style. A simple saddle-back roof of natural Welsh slates crowns the building. Domestic and intimate, Browning Road makes it easy to forget that the bustling High Road is within easy reach.

The pastoral charm continues indoors, with a bright living room painted in vivid Sanderson’s Crayon Blue and grounded by broad, warmly toned pine floorboards. The kitchen is finished with pinky-beige shaker-style cabinetry that contrasts with bottle green tiles and a large butler sink. From here, a double casement window looks out onto the rear garden.

To the rear, the well-appointed bathroom is a calm space, with a neutral palette and classical chrome fittings to a bath with a shower overhead.

Upstairs, both bedrooms have been decorated in soft, muted tones. The primary bedroom has a pastoral outlook along the linear front garden. Painted with the off-pink of Farrow and Ball’s ‘Setting Plaster’, the walls beautifully reflect the morning easterly light.

Great outdoors

The long front garden is a broad strip of green lawn fringed with perennials, some of which are productive: rosemary, bay, sage, and raspberries line a picket fence that leads to a small apple tree, bookended by a vigorous dog rose.

Tucked to the rear of the house, a secluded west-facing walled garden is bound by a verdant tumble of honeysuckle, ivy, winter jasmine, and climbing roses.

Out and About

Browning Road is a quiet residential road located a short walk from Leytonstone High Road and Leytonstone Underground station (Central Line). Leytonstone High Road station is slightly further away and runs London Overground services through east London.

The recently pedestrianised Francis Road is a 20-minute walk from the house, with its variety of independent cafés, bars, shops and restaurants (Marmelo and Yardarm are favourites of those in the know). Also close by is the celebrated Thai restaurant Singburi, which was recommended by The Guardian as one of London’s best restaurants. Closer to hand is Homies on Donkeys, the Filly Brook and the CAMRA award-winning North Star which serves Thai food and sourdough pizza.

A short walk or cycle gets you to the green spaces and facilities of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the canal-side restaurants, bars and workspaces at Here East, while the nearby Wanstead Flats make up the southern portion of Epping Forest, one of the largest expanses of common land in London, and begin at the end of the road. The Flats have several established walks, with wonderful views of the city. The Leyton boundary garden is also nearby, set up by a resident and is a real local treasure.

Council Tax Band: C