The scene around elegant Archway House on the north side of verdant Clapham Common has changed little since it was built, between 1714 and 1720, by carpenter John Hutt as part of a terrace of fine, early-18th-century houses. Unusual in scale, being seven bays wide with 7,433sq ft of living space, the interior of the house is remarkable for the pristine state of its original architectural features, fireplaces, sash windows, panelling and staircase. The garden to the rear is an impressive 103ft in length and the formal garden to the front is set behind delicate period railings.
A large drawing room with a splendid Queen Anne fireplace occupies the full depth of the house and has views of both front and rear gardens. Two more panelled rooms complete the ground floor. The lower-ground floor consists of a kitchen-cum-family dining room with access to both gardens, a charming formal dining room, a larder/ wine cellar and utility rooms.
The first floor houses a grand reception room with antique parquet flooring, two more elegantly panelled rooms and an antique fitted library. The second floor has a master bedroom suite and two further bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms. The third floor, accessed by a ‘Chinese Chippendale’ staircase, has two spacious bedroom/sitting rooms, one leading to a roof terrace, with both having en-suite shower rooms.
Currently for sale through Savills (020–3430 6900) at a guide price of £8.5m, Archway House has been the cherished family home of the accomplished keyboard player Linda Nicholson for the past 30 years, providing a showcase for her extensive collection of period musical instruments and a stage for her regular recitals, which draw audiences south of the river from far and wide.
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'A bluff, honest man in the trappings of greatness': The extraordinary story of the Foundling Hospital, and the sailor who saved the abandoned children of LondonA remarkable charitable endeavour to save abandoned children on the streets of London has a touching legacy in the form of the The Foundling Museum in the very centre of London. John Goodall tells its story; photographs by Will Pryce.
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The elegant country home of a motor racing daredevil who drove round the world in a 1936 Bentley and crashed a Range Rover into his own front porchPeasemore House, with its collection of barns, workshops, stables and more, is an ideal home from which to plan an adventure — something that was a passion of its present owners. Penny Churchill explains more.
