Wallwood Road, Upper Leytonstone, London, E11

Spacious and bright, this welcoming Victorian house is full of lovely details, from four double bedrooms and a sunny kitchen with bespoke cabinetry to abundant storage and an exceptional garden. All this within walking distance of Underground services and open green spaces.

Renovated throughout in recent years, the well-proportioned rooms have been tastefully decorated in a considered palette of Farrow & Ball, Mylands and Little Greene colours, adding personality and playfulness, while textural features such as whitewashed exposed brick chimney breasts and engineered oak flooring give depth and character.

The house greets you with a handsome refreshed London Stock brick frontage, featuring white stone lintels and sills to the sash bay windows. The driveway is bordered by planting including an Acer, rosemary and peonies, and is suitable for off-street parking for one car. In 2023 the owners added a 7.4Kw EV compact charging point to run an electric vehicle. Solar roof panels (which repeat above the loft and at the rear) generate around £700 of income per year on current FIT. A Victorian monochrome checkered path leads to a porch with transom and traditional dove grey timber front door with colourful stained glass panels.

INSIDE – SPACE, STORAGE AND SUNSHINE

Light filters through the stained glass into the wide hallway, which welcomes you in with beautiful plank engineered oak flooring and white walls that rise to an intricate coved ceiling with rose and opal glass pendant.

A door to your left opens to the dual-aspect double reception. Illuminated by a tall bay, the seating area to the front features calm Farrow & Ball ‘Wimbourne White’ paintwork, with bespoke cabinetry and a discreet bar to one alcove, beside a whitewashed brick fireplace with black stone hearth and log burner. The rear of the room, currently used as a dining area, overlooks the garden through a top hung window and has been painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Blue Gray’.

Returning to the hallway, a door beneath the stairs opens to the 21-foot-long cellar, ideal for storage. You’ll also find a coat cupboard off the hallway and a utility with a Butler-style double sink, storage and workspace, with a door leading out to the side return.

Off the utility room is a WC with loo, corner sink and playful monochrome and ochre Mountains: Sunrise wallpaper by MissPrint.

Continue through to the kitchen, fully refurbished in 2023 and designed to maximise the feeling of space while retaining light and flow. New graphite aluminium bifold doors connect to the garden for an inside-out vibe on sunny days. A butler-style sink sits beneath a side-facing window for a leafy view.

Bespoke handmade tulipwood in-frame cabinetry in gorgeous Ultramarine blue by Mylands includes a pantry, open shelving and plenty of drawers; contrasting nicely with quartz stone worktops and a white metro-tiled splashback. There is a Rangemaster oven with matching extractor, alongside a Bosch dishwasher and space for a freestanding fridge-freezer.

Take the stairs to the first floor. The engineered oak flooring transitions to neutral looped carpet in the three double bedrooms here, which also all feature attractive column-style radiators.

Dusky mauve painted walls give the primary bedroom a wonderfully restful feel, warmed by the light from a bay and front-facing sash. The exposed brick chimney breast echoes the one downstairs, and is framed by a pair of traditional-style double wardrobes, offering plenty of storage.

The uplifting green tones of ‘Lawnmower Green’ by Little Greene brighten the walls of the adjacent second bedroom, which includes a bespoke wardrobe and shelving and looks out to the side return courtyard through a sash window with white Venetian blinds. The third double at the rear enjoys garden views, and is painted a creamy-neutral shade.

You’ll find the larger-than-average family bathroom in the centre of the plan. Natural light pours through a pair of large, part-frosted sashes, the pale grey floor tiling, white metro wall tiles and sky blue painted walls combine for a fresh, airy scheme. There’s a freestanding bath with clawed feet and an additional large walk-in rainfall shower with glass screen, as well as a close-coupled loo and a sink with white vanity and chrome mixer tap.

A second staircase with striped grey and charcoal carpet leads you up to the loft, where the engineered oak flooring continues into the fourth bedroom. Currently used as a home office and snug, with walls painted in ‘Dorchester Pink’ by Little Greene, a front-facing Velux and a wide triple window offering a fabulous slice of skyline to the rear.

Clever bespoke shelving painted in ‘Basalt’ by Little Greene, hugs the chimney breast, while discreet doors lead to storage in the eaves. Additional loft storage can be found in the second loft, which runs the length of the eaves space above the first floor bathroom, landing and rear bedroom, and is accessed via a drop-down ladder hatch outside the bathroom. This is also where the boiler, immersion heaters and solar converter are located.

Beside the bedroom, lit by a long Velux, you’ll find another bathroom with white walls and dark grey floor tiles. There’s a shower with glass screen, a close-coupled loo, and a wall-hung sink with chrome taps to complete the suite.

OUTSIDE – SECRET GARDEN 

Landscaped and planted with obvious love and care, the garden extends to over 36 feet. With a barbecue area and shed, the paved patio and side return segue to a shingled area with brick and tiled stepping stones leading past raised beds edged with tanalised Spruce and Corten steel. At the rear, we’re told the angled deck (made from C24 carcassing timber) is a brilliant sun trap, enjoying almost day-long sunshine during the summer months.

The current owners are keen gardeners, and it shows – unusual, structural and colourful planting of note includes a Braeburn apple tree, Rowan, fig, fatsia Japonica and sambuca, as well as an established honeysuckle on one side, and scented David Austin climbing rose and blackberry on the other.

A NOTE FROM THE OWNERS

‘Our family life centres around the kitchen. The space makes us smile and whether cooking or crafting2 is super practical for family fun, with joyful garden views making the busyness of life recede. Our favourite chill space is the snug/office in the loft conversion at the top of the house – we love the views out towards Hollow Ponds and the dramatic big skies over towards Epping Forest. This is the house we built our family in; from getting engaged, planning and organising a wedding, to having our son and shortly, our second child. It's truly been more than just a house to us – it’s been a wonderful home.’

GETTING AROUND

Wallwood Road occupies a convenient spot in Upper Leytonstone, just ten minutes’ walk from Leytonstone Underground (Central line – 24 hours at weekends) and around 17 minutes from Leyton Midland Road station. Alternatively, hop onto the A12 and head down to Stratford to shop and enjoy sporting events and concerts at the London Stadium. From there, you can continue to Canary Wharf or take the A11 into the heart of the city.

IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

The town centre is close by, where you’ll find several favourites on the High Road, such as The Red Lion pub, Wild Goose Bakery, Panda Dim Sum, Yard Sale Pizza, and plenty more. Local sellers often suggest a trip to the International Market and a friendly local fruit bowl stand for fresh fruit and veg, plus TFC supermarket for delicious olives, hummus and authentic feta. The current owners are particular fans of Forno, No.23, J’Adore for coffee and pastries, Eat My Pizza, Sunflower café and Out of the Woods on Colworth Road.

Local sellers also recommend Perky Blenders for great coffee and brunch; The North Star, Filly Brook, or the Heathcote & Star for drinks; Homies On Donkeys for Mexican fare; Yardarm for wine, and Bocca Bocca for delicious pizza; as well as Gail’s Bakery, The Ginger Pig and Harvey’s greengrocers in nearby Wanstead.

Other local stand-outs include Nirvana Brewery and Decanteur for drinks, Burnt Smokehouse, the bar and restaurant at the Sir Alfred Hitchcock Hotel (check out the regular pop-ups), San Marino Café for great breakfasts, Fitness Hub Leytonstone for community-based exercise classes, the friendly local newsagents for essentials, Primrose Florists for flowers and plants, and Noted Eel and Pie House.

Some fantastic open green spaces within walking distance include Hollow Pond (15 minutes on foot) and Henry Reynolds Gardens (13 minutes), with Wanstead Flats and Park beyond.

SCHOOLS

Barclay Primary School (rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted) is a 14-minute walk away. You can also reach ‘Good’ schools such as Gwyn Jones Primary in just four minutes, Leyton Sixth Form in 13 minutes, or Leytonstone School in eight. Noah's Ark Community Preschool is also only minutes down the road.