Rich with original Georgian features, this three-bedroom garden apartment lies within a Grade II-listed townhouse on Old Gloucester Street, Bloomsbury. It spans some 1,174 sq ft across two floors, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a reception space adorned with fine period panelling. A courtyard garden lies at the rear – a private, sequestered retreat amid the building’s central location. Bloomsbury’s revered pubs, restaurants and shops are close, along with the greenery of Russell and Brunswick squares. For travel across the city, the Central line runs from nearby Holborn station.

Setting the Scene

Bloomsbury’s development increased in the 19th century, when the Duke of Bedford oversaw a scheme of planning and building by developer James Burton. It encompasses Gower Street, the home of University College London since 1828 and the birthplace of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Arguably, however, its name is most synonymous with the Bloomsbury Group, a collection of artists, writers and intellectuals who lived in the area during the early 20th century.

The apartment occupies the lower part of a large Georgian townhouse dressed in the traditional pairing of stock brick and stucco. It was built in the early part of the 18th century, though its frontage was refaced soon after. Grade II-listed, the building has a wealth of exquisite period features, many of which lie within this apartment. Of particular note are its panelling, a communal open-string staircase with twisted balusters, and the black-painted railings that separate it from the street in front.

The Grand Tour

Occupying the ground and lower-ground floors of the building, the apartment is accessed via an original canopied doorway set within a stuccoed wall. A grand hallway with an exceptionally fine Georgian stairway lies ahead, with the home’s private front door on the left.

The apartment’s main reception spaces are beautiful and of particular note for their remarkable original Georgian panelling. Lining the walls of two, handsomely proportioned rooms, the panelling is punctuated by a later classical-revival archway thought to have been incorporated at a later date. Finished in a clean, Farrow and Ball ‘School House White’, the spaces are filled with natural light from dual-aspect windows overlooking the front and rear of the plan. An original Georgian fireplace provides a focal point for the front reception room, while the rear is home to a later, more utilitarian kitchen grate.

Adjoining the lateral reception spaces is a small, perfectly formed kitchen overlooking the quiet courtyard garden.

Stairs descend to the lower-ground floor, where the primary bedroom sits at the front of the plan. Filled with natural brightness from a lightwell at the front of the building, the suite comprises a large bedroom, a walk-in wardrobe and an en suite.