A STUNNING HOME IN VICTORIAN VILLA

By Judy Marriott - Friday, April 18, 2008

Oak Villa, in Mill Hill Road, Cowes, a Victorian villa with original features. Picture by JENNIFER BURTON.
Scroll down for more pictures.

PROPERTY OF THE WEEK
RESPLENDENT with lovely stained glass and tiling, the magnificent entrance to a Cowes home indicates right from the off this is a special property.
And sure enough, the spacious detached Victorian villa, towards the lower end of Mill Hill Road, has plenty to attract the eye, including original fireplaces, doors, picture and dado rail. But it is not just the decorative period details that make the generously proportioned family home so appealing.
Owners Jeremy and Kate White have given it an impressive new lease of life, making it into a stylish property, well geared-up for comfortable family living and entertaining.
A butler’s pantry and laundry room take care of the more practical side of life, leaving the kitchen an uncluttered space great for both cooking and gathering in.
This fabulous room, with vibrant red walls, bags of storage and a granite-topped island seating up to five is part of the home’s much used and stunning focal point — an open-plan living room, kitchen and dining room.

Housed in an ultra-bright rear extension, added nearly two years ago, the 17ft by 13ft dining room is nearly as large as the adjoining kitchen and has windows on three sides, plus additional natural light streaming in through skylights.
Linked to the kitchen, on the other side, is the large, front-facing living room and together these three flowing spaces, with decking accessed from the dining room, are perfect for integrated living and hosting parties, celebrations and gatherings with friends.
The Whites have lived there for ten years, having turned it back from flats and bedsits into one brilliant family home.
Laid out on three floors the house has four first-floor bedrooms and two more on the second floor — one of them with fantastic panoramic sea views seen when opening a Velux window.
As keen sailors, the couple find the top floor handy for putting up crew, as well as overspill space for visitors.
Even an avid hoarder is unlikely to run out of storage space since there are cupboards aplenty, a cellar running under the whole of the house and lots of storage in an original Victorian conservatory, extending along one side and partly along the rear.
Only a five-minute walk from the town centre and Red Jet link, Oak Villa has front and side off-road parking for up to four cars, plus a garage.
A fine patterned quarry-tile path leads through front gardens, with large shrubs to an open porch with ornate tiling and lovely stained glass to the front door and side panels.
In the spacious hallway, with attractive slate flooring, is a decorative archway, dado and picture rail and a wide original staircase sweeping up to the first floor.
The drawing room and living room opposite are both good-sized rooms, with a feature fireplace and a front bay window, and from the drawing room are double doors to the Victorian conservatory.
A wide opening links the living room to the 17ft by 14ft kitchen, which has a range of oak wall and floor units, topped with dark granite, plus a tall bank of glossy black lacquered pull-out storage units.
Stainless steel drawers are integrated into the central island with a granite top, and there is a butler sink, a further sink and a range cooker with gas hob with hood within an alcove.
Stripped pine flooring features in the kitchen, while the dining room has smart neutral porcelain flooring, with underfloor heating.
It looks out over the rear garden and has two large sliding doors with side panels to a split-level deck with lighting.
An attractive ornate fireplace is the focal point of a useful downstairs playroom.
Off the kitchen is a slate-floored lobby, with doors to the rear, a butler’s pantry with floor and wall units, Corian work surface and a built-in gas hob and oven and a laundry room with ceiling airer and plumbing for a washing machine
From the laundry room is access to the Victorian conservatory, which has a bathroom off.
Upstairs are four spacious double bedrooms, each with an ornate cast-iron fireplace.
The master bedroom has a front sea glimpse, a walk-in dressing room and a contemporary-style en-suite shower room, with a shower cubicle/steam room, bowl-style hand basin set on a storage unit and WC with concealed cistern.
Sea glimpses can also be seen from 17ft by 14ft bedroom two, while bedroom three is a sunny side and rear-aspect room.
Bedrooms two and three share access to an attractive modern shower room and also upstairs is a luxurious family bathroom, with a Victorian claw foot bath, step-in shower cubicle, ornate cast iron fireplace and tiled and pebble-style flooring.
Stairs lead up to the two third-floor bedrooms, each with an arched-top window and one of them with stunning sea views seen when standing within an opened Velux window.
The well-enclosed back garden is lawned with cherry, pear, apple and plum trees, a workshop and garden store.

HOME FILE
Location...Cowes
Bedrooms...Six doubles
Price ...£675,000
Agent...Creasey Biles and King
Tel...01983 282222

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A STUNNING HOME IN VICTORIAN VILLA

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