A chance to buy a late 1980s mews house on a Camden street offering a showcase of 20th-century architectural history, from Norman Foster to Threefold Architects.
The three(ish)-bedroom house – it features a flexible layout – is on Murray Mews, NW1, which has been described by architecture enthusiasts as a “cult classic”, where it is possible to chart changing architectural tastes throughout the second half of the 20th century from Modernism, to Post-Modernism and even elements of High Tech - within a 41-house stretch.
Construction of the mews behind the grander town houses in Camden Square was interrupted by the opening of the Midland railway line in the 1860s, with development only resumed after WWII, when recommended planning densities were raised.
Many architects snapped up plots on the mews, often for themselves and their young families to live in. As a result, Murray Mews is an architecture buff’s paradise, displaying a range of architectural solutions to the issues of daylight, privacy and height constraints arising from the narrow, overlooked site.
This particular brick property by the enigmatic David Roberts was built in the late 1980s, with an inventive split-level layout over five storeys, set behind a courtyard garden entrance.
The living space forms the central area of the property with a modern fitted kitchen-dining room with a space-saving staircase leading to a mezzanine-style sitting room.
Across from the living room is another mezzanine, in the glazed, pitched roof, which is currently used as a sleeping area.
Another two bedrooms and bathroom sit a half level below the kitchen space, while in the basement is a utility room/studio.
The architectural layout offers a surprising amount of living space on a small footprint of land, but the current owners also commissioned drawings to extend the space from the renowned Threefold architects (who also worked on another house in the mews), subject to planning permission.
The quiet residential street in the Camden Square conservation area has been a popular spot with architects since the 1960s and houses a host of small scale Modern residences by big names including Team 4 (Su Brumwell, Wendy Cheesman, Norman Foster and Richard Rogers), Tom Kay and Michael Lewis, with further projects by such young practices as Moxon Architects and Threefold Architects completed in the past few years.
Available for £945,000 from the Modern House.
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