Michael Road, Bushwood, London, E11

You’ll find this lovely, light-filled three-bedroom Victorian house on a tree-lined street in the popular Bushwood area, just a few minutes’ walk from Leytonstone High Road and within walking distance of both Underground and Overground services.

Inside, Farrow & Ball paintwork and high ceilings meet thoughtful design details such as louvred window shutters and bespoke joinery for an updated period home that’s perfectly suited to modern life.

Set behind a low, painted wall, the house greets you with a pretty, restored London Stock brick frontage, with decorative arched red-brick lintels to the uPVC sash windows and stone columns to the bay. A path leads past a paved front garden to an arched porch and the front door, painted pale sage, with colourful stained-glass panels and a numbered transom.

INSIDE – CUSTOM-MADE COMFORT

Light filtering through the stained glass creates lovely patterns in the hallway, where walls painted in the gentle stony tones of ‘Skimming Stone’ by Farrow & Ball rise to a coved ceiling with a ribbed prismatic glass pendant. Restored sanded floorboards flow through a panelled door with a tactile matt-black handle (a stylish touch that repeats throughout the house) into the dual-aspect living room to your left.

The walls painted in Farrow & Ball classic ‘Wimborne White’ are bathed in light from a front-facing bay window and tall window at the rear, both with full-height white timber louvred shutters. Fantastic bespoke storage features throughout the house, and here you’ll find custom-made shelving and cabinetry in the alcoves, and a window seat with a blue fabric cushion. The coved ceiling features a pair of pendant fittings. There’s also a pair of modern radiators, and a fireplace with a floating oak mantle and a log-burning stove.

Returning to the hallway, you’ll pass an understairs WC, with grey-green tiles, a corner sink with a chrome tap, and a loo.

Continue into the kitchen and dining space, where the floorboards switch to walnut-look luxury vinyl tiles. In the kitchen, walls in ‘Downpipe’ by Farrow & Ball provide a stylish contrast to glossy white handleless cabinetry, paired with a solid oak worktop and white metro-tiled splashback. A stainless-steel sink and drainer with a chrome mixer tap sit below a side-facing window, and floating oak open shelving echoes the worktop. There is a Smeg range cooker with a steel Bosch overhead extractor, as well as space and plumbing for a freestanding fridge-freezer, dishwasher, washing machine and wine fridge.

Light spills into the dining area from a large timber-framed Velux skylight to the vaulted ceiling, with the white walls further brightened by wide French doors that open to the garden beyond.

Returning to the hallway, a white-painted staircase with neutral loop carpet and black stair rods leads to the first floor. The carpet continues into both bedrooms.

In the primary double bedroom filling the front of the house, a pair of sashes fitted with custom honeycombe blinds draws in the sun. The off-white décor scheme of Farrow & Ball colours ‘Wevet’ and ‘Ammonite’ creates a restful vibe, complemented by bespoke joinery, including cabinets and shelves in the alcoves and a bank of full-height double wardrobes along one wall. You’ll also find a pendant light fitting and a radiator with a cover.

The second double bedroom lies adjacent and has a similarly calm feel, with walls in ‘Oxford Stone’ by Farrow & Ball. A radiator sits beneath a tall garden-facing timber sash. A bespoke wardrobe fills one alcove, and bespoke shelves and cabinetry the other.

You’ll find the large bathroom towards the rear, with white walls and grey floor tiles. A freestanding bathtub with chrome taps sits below a large frosted sash and is perfect for long leisurely soaks. White tiles laid in a herringbone pattern form the backdrop to a roomy walk-in rainfall shower with a Crittall-style glass screen and a separate shampoo attachment.

Further details include an illuminated mirrored wall cabinet and a tall white column-style radiator, in addition to a separate heated towel rail. A close-coupled loo and a luxurious double oak-look vanity with a pair of countertop basins and chrome taps complete the suite. 

Take a second staircase ­– similar to the first, to the loft, where a fabulous skylight lights the hallway.

To the front, with white paintwork and inky blue feature walls, you’ll find a peaceful double bedroom, where sunshine streams in through a triple casement window with a modern radiator beneath. The neutral looped carpet continues here, and the room is kept beautifully cool in summer thanks to the addition of air conditioning.

A spacious shower room, bathed in light from a large Velux skylight to the angled ceiling, sits to the rear. The monochrome scheme pairs charcoal floor tiling with white walls and metro tiles. Sanitaryware includes a basin with a white storage vanity and a chrome tap, a close-coupled loo, and a walk-in rainfall shower with a frameless glass screen.

OUTSIDE – SECRET GARDEN

Outside, the leafy garden is enclosed by timber fencing and extends to 82 feet. From the kitchen, walk out onto a decked seating area – ideal for entertaining and barbecues – leading to a grassy lawn with an apple tree and a carefully maintained bramble bush that yields seasonal blackberries.  The borders contain mature plants including David Austen roses, sedum, silver thyme and hydrangeas, while raised planters are filled with wildflowers, including mature lavender. To the front, a herb garden is well established with sage, oregano and rosemary.

A willow-green painted timber shed sits to the rear, while a sleeper-edged raised planter filled with wildflowers and lavender denotes a second, ‘secret’ pebble-laid seating area. Wonderfully private, the current owners report it’s a real suntrap in the summer.

A NOTE FROM THE OWNERS 

‘This home has grown with us, and we will be so sad to leave. We bought it as a young couple, got engaged in the kitchen, survived lockdown together (by watching films with a projector on the back patio), got married, and then brought our two children home. We particularly love the light, the stained glass in the front door, and sitting in the garden in the morning with a coffee, listening to the birds. It has been the most wonderful home and holds some very special memories for us.’

GETTING AROUND

Leytonstone Tube (Central line) is a six-minute walk, and Overground services are reachable in nine minutes at Leytonstone High Road.

IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

Bushwood has a wonderful mix of long-term residents and newer arrivals, who are quickly welcomed into its vibrant community. Just a two-minute walk from High Road, with its cluster of local favourite hangouts, you’ll never be short of places to wine and dine. The current owners particularly recommend The Red Lion pub, Leytonstone Tavern, Wild Goose Café and Homies on Donkeys for the best tacos in London. Other top spots include Forno (try the Maritozzi), as well as Bushwood’s excellent local tavern, The North Star. M&S Foodhall is around a five-minute walk away.

Don’t forget to try Panda Dim Sum and Yard Sale Pizza, as well as Bocca Bocca for authentic Neapolitan pizza, J’Adore for its French pastries, Back to Ours for coffee, and the Stone Mini Market for your fair-trade and organic provisions.

Less than a 5-minute walk takes you to Pure Gym and the Fitness Hub East London, both on the High Road. A park run takes place every Saturday on Bushwood fields. There is a friendly community feel, with organisations such as Bushwood Area Residents Association (BARA) keeping the residents informed of all local news and events.

The property is also close to Wanstead’s bars and restaurants (stop by Provender and The Duke) and Forest Gate (check out Ramble). Only moments from home, you can explore Wanstead Flats, with Henry Reynolds Gardens a short walk away. The Olympic Park and Hackney Wick also offer many family-friendly activities and retail shopping opportunities.

Local sellers also recommend Hollow Ponds for boating and ice cream; The Hitchcock Hotel for cocktails and now pasta with the recent addition of the notable local restaurant Arte e Pasta; Good Shepherd Studios for films, cultural events and both adult and baby classes; and Shake The High Road – a fun music festival in Leytonstone that gets bigger year after year.

SCHOOLS

Nearby schools include the Ofsted-rated ‘Good’ George Tomlinson Primary School (three minutes’ walk), Our Lady of Lourdes (21 mins), and the ‘Outstanding’ Davies Lane Primary School, seven minutes on foot.