You can't help but notice this house on Thunder Lane in Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich - because it has a castellated front so looks like a mini castle with a turret. But you now really can be king of your own castle because the house is for sale for a guide price of £585,000. Property editor Caroline Culot went to visit.
It was a case of 'sliding doors' when I visited this property. If you've seen the movie with Gwyneth Paltrow, you'll know what I mean. I viewed this house, built in 1900, several years ago when it was for sale and my son was probably eight or nine. At that time I was living in Thorpe and I just fell in love with this property because for me, at that time of my life, it offered everything I wanted; lots of space for my son to play, period features, a private garden at the rear and yet it was easy to commute into the city from and close to the railway station.
Sadly, I couldn't afford it then and it was one of those houses I really wanted to live in yet had to let go. I imagined how life would be and I could really see us there; you know when you fall in love with a house, you see your life playing out in its rooms in your head? I did that with this house. However, of course, I never lived there and my life actually took a different turn and I ended up moving out of the city completely.
So it was strangely nostalgic to go back and see it all these years later. It was a house I could have lived in and how different things would have been. Yet it was another family who did and they have improved it so beautifully - I'm not sure I could have actually achieved quite the same result!
The house is an oddity (a gorgeous one) on Thunder Lane in that it's the only one built with that castellated, box bay window front. It's unusual in that it also boasts extensions and alterations which span the decades - most evident are additions in the 1930s and 1950s, so you get a mix of architectural styles. I particularly like those lovely oval shaped windows and there are several original Art Nouveau stained glass panels depicting the classic tulip design of the Edwardian period.
However, the owners have really improved how this house looks; they told me they had painted rooms either a colour or white and so there are some really gorgeous, rich shades which bring the house to life. The drawing room, for example, has been painted a midnight blue which really looks fantastic next to the original fireplace and this room boasts some parquet flooring which the owners uncovered under a carpet and have restored.
The house is spacious with a large hallway, off which is also the kitchen/dining area going into the 1950s extension at the rear and overlooking the garden, which is private and enclosed, so perfect for children. You've also got a third reception, which could be a formal dining room, but is currently a playroom and then upstairs, there is a master bedroom, in dark green with painted white floorboards and then four more bedrooms with a bathroom and cloakroom.
What I really liked when I was looking at this house before, is that there is a little landing off the main landing which leads to a shower room and bedroom at the rear, ideal for a child. I was impressed by what the current owners have done - in one of the upstairs bedrooms, there is the imprint of a fireplace and flames in fabric, where the fireplace would have been. Very creative. It's a house that could, if circumstances had been different, been my own - who will take it on next, I wonder?
I couldn't find out much more about this property - who it was built for originally and why it has that distinctive front? If anyone knows please email caroline.culot@archant.co.uk
For more information on the property, contact Brown & Co on 01603 629871 www.brown-co.com
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