Allenby Road, Forest Hill

Beautifully-renovated three double bedroom semi-detached Victorian home, with an incredible professionally landscaped garden (by award-winning Georgia Lindsay Landscape and Garden Design), side access, and off-street parking. Find your dreamy and no-expense-spared new house in a leafy residential spot within Perry Rise Conservation Area, just an 11 minute walk from Forest Hill Station and town centre, and close to many popular schools and nurseries. Having enjoyed the first impression of the tiled front path, your welcoming hall seriously impresses from the off, with very pretty stained glass to your front door, herringbone floors (which flow throughout your ground floor), high ceilings, and coving, picture rail and dado detail. It is a right from the hall for your traditional double-reception. A notably big and bright through-room with large bay window onto the front garden, and delightful French doors (Juliet balcony here) to the rear.
Both rooms have more period detailing plus original fireplaces which are graced with classy marble surrounds. The front room is over 14 feet each way and has ornate coving. The rear room is a natural formal dining room, of over 12 feet each way, with alcove shelving. Down a few stairs and at the foot of the hall you have a door to your left which takes you down to the substantial lower ground floor (more on this storey later), then a door straight ahead opens into your kitchen/diner. This is a cool, calm, double-aspect room with exposed brickwork, a wood-burner, and sleek modern matt white units. Open the back/side door from here to the shingled and paved wide side-return space, with classic ferns, and a fixed timber bench. A paved terrace area beyond is perfect for entertaining guests, then a big and generously-bordered lawn dominates before your second seating area, which has custom cast concrete curved seating, and a Solus gas firepit (so you can continue to happily chat and party on with your pals post sunset). The garden has been creatively and skilfully planted to provide year-round interest. A glass greenhouse and a London phone box which is fitted out as your outdoor bar(!) completes your garden tour. Up the stairs and from the half-landing you have a windowed w.c. and your first double bedroom up ahead, to garden vistas. This is double-aspect, and over 15 feet by over 10 feet. From the landing proper, you access your master suite. Your principal twin-sashed bedroom is set across the whole width of the house. It is over 18 feet by 12 feet, with a bank of bespoke wardrobes, plus en suite access to an oversized and luxury bathroom, which was formerly a double bedroom (all bathrooms by Amberth Studios). This has to be one of the best bathrooms we have ever seen – we are particularly taken by the steam-room function on the large walk-in shower! Up the stairs again and you have a sleek contemporary windowed shower room, and your third bedroom, of over 15 feet by over 10 feet, with a double-aspect, and a feature fireplace. If you so-desired you could extend into the large loft as many neighbours have done. For now it is an excellent space for storage, as is your lower ground floor. Heading down there... you have a huge store area under the living room, then a w.c. (original, with a wooden throne seat), then a plumbed utility room and another store next door. There are four wee windows down here in total, on two external walls. This lovely and leafy location puts you really close to a cluster of little convenience shops on Perry Vale, Forest Hill’s town centre, and to good schools and green spaces – examples are Horniman Gardens (with its fancy new cafe), One Tree Hill, Hilly Fields Park, and Dulwich Woods. Forest Hill has a nice Victorian public library next door to a modern leisure centre (with retained Victorian facade), and good restaurants, cafes, pubs and services. It has an easy to navigate centre, with a large Sainsbury’s store and loads of independent offerings besides. We particularly rate St David Coffee House. The Foresters has ’Fauna’ own-brewed beers, and The Sylvan Post is a quirky real ale place with good food in an old Post Office building. We like Big Cheeks for Thai, and Bona for authentic Italian pizza. In nearby Upper Sydenham, on Kirkdale, we like The Moustache cafe/bar and Mont58 for coffee.
Your neighbouring walkable town centres are Sydenham, Honor Oak and East Dulwich. Bus or cycle to Peckham, Camberwell and beyond. Tenure: Freehold
Council tax band: F
Borough: Lewisham