The house is entered by a (painted in "heritage" colours) common hallway at street level from the stoop (i.e., in British English, "the steps") on the street. Straight ahead is the internal front door to the top flat. Each flat retaines some of its period features, such as marble mantelpieces and cast-iron fire-places (non-functional, we emphasize). Both flats are fully furnished and house many volumes from the eclectic academic libraries of Hugh and his father (supplemented over the years by tenants) as well as a wide variety of oil paintings, watercolours, antique maps, engravings, and some of the famous London Transport posters (very cheerful these!).  There are good collections, in each flat, of contemporary fiction, of popular reading, and of guide-books and maps to London, England, and Europe. 

Tenants who find something lacking are encouraged to buy it at our expense (after duly clearing the purchase with us), if it is ordinary household ware. For example, we hadn't acquired an electric toaster downstairs, probably because Margaret was so fond of the salamander on the gas stove (RIP summer 2001, after which the lower kitchen was totally renovated), until tenants asked to buy one in 1995.  Margaret was converted late, but enthusiastically, by microwaves -- with which each flat is now provided.  In retrospect, we regret bankrolling one tenant for buying a carpet in Chapel Market after we discovered that she could have bought an oriental rug more cheaply from Criterion Auction Rooms on the Essex Road -- check them out!   By now, we think we can say that both flats are very well furnished with kitchen ware, linens, and  homey furnishings. 

    The shared hallway to the two flats contains a Victorian oak bookshelf with a collection of guide books in it for both flats to borrow (and, we hope, leave behind for the next tentnts), a selection of neighbourhood maps and Victorian photographs, politically incorrect remnants of Hugh's family's past in the raj (a crocodile, antlers, the enormous snout of a sawtooth fish) and copies of paintings of the house  --- all this was elegantly repainted in summer 2002. In summer 2004 the wall-to-wall carpet was replaced by wood laminate flooring and now boasts a handsome oriental rug woven on an engagingly irregular village frame.  But, it must be emphasized, the house is full of sturdy, not fine, furniture. As to prints, the best is a very fine copy of the water-colour of 70 Great Percy Street by Jean Elrington, who will be happy to provide prints for tenants which are quite indistinguishable from the original. Jean is our architect and her water-colours (and copies of them) grace both flats. We defy our tenants to tell originals from copies!       

See neighbour's plan for dimensions of the rooms.  From the shared hall-way at street level, two doors open into the garden flat  --- an unusually pretty and cozy flat. The first door issues into a study which overlooks the street; the second opens into an internal landing from which one can go straight ahead to enter the master bedroom or turn right to descend the stairs to the garden floor (in realtor-speak, the "lower ground floor").  Windows and doors opening to the outside are well-protected by security locks and other devices.

On the street floor, parlour and bedroom interconnect through large wooden double-doors which can be opened (into the parlour) or closed easily as need arises. (These doors represent an architectural feature dating from the construction of the house in ca 1825.) The study (14x14) looks out on the street (from which it is separated by the light-well (the "area") of the bottom, garden floor). It contains an antique mahogany Victorian wardrobe:  very capacious: it contains facilities for hanging clothes, two large and two small drawers, and four wide shelves for accommodating pillows, linens, shirts etc; the top can be used for accommodating comforters/duvets behind the deep cornice  ---  as well as, for some tenants, suitcases.  But there is also a space between the wardrobe and the wall for storing suitcases).  There is also in the parlour armchairs, bookcases, and a chest of drawers.  Venetian blinds, a telephone, and a wireless "hub" for the whole house.

The bedroom off the study (14x11) has been restored in to its original dimensions of ca. 1825.  Wall-to-wall carpets have been replaced by wood laminate floors.  There is a fine selection of oriental rugs displayed upon them.   Completely modernized and enlarged in 2004 (with the elimination of a large cupboard formerly housing water tanks rendered unnecessary by the introduction of a streamlined "combination boiler"  --- a "combi" ---  in the kitchen), This bedroom now contains a QUEEN-SIZED BED (that's a wow around here, large drawers for linen storage in its base), two nightstands, two bookcases, and a chair.  There is a full complement of bed linen and duvet covers in the drawer under the bed. A handsome window overlooks the garden and is framed by a small laburnum tree. As its dimensions will suggest, the bed-room is not large  --- although it is in fact not small by London big-city standards --- and by opening the double doors one instantly achieves a sense of spaciousness.                                             

  Descending by the stairs to the garden floor, one passes (on the upper landing) a door to the new bathroom from the window of which the garden can be seen. One then descends to a kitchen, from which the sitting room opens out (ca. 16' x 20'.  There is a window to the "area" (the area below the sidewalk/street  --- actually at semi-ground level since the streets are built up). On the lower landing there is a large closet under the stairs.  (As in many houses in the neighbourhood, the rooms are somewhat trapezoidal rather than strictly right-angled.) The large front window opens onto the "area" which has been turned into small garden with an aralia tree, ferns, ivies, and rare alpine snapdragons. Egress to this garden (rarely necessary) can be attained through the windows, once you open the security locks. There is a large teak table (3x5, not including the flap which extends at the centre  --- set in underneath the table) with four chairs. New lamps sit on various surfaces.                                                       

In the ground floor living room, the gas fire in the mantle piece can, if necessary, be used to augment the central heating.  A typical, rather fine, Georgian mahogany bureau, two G-plan sideboards and two sofas make up the living room.   There is new colour TV.  (TV licences are not transferable, and new tenants will have to purchase their own "family" licence.)  There are two radios in the flat.  There is also a wireless DSL hub which is associated with the telephone number of the downstairs flat but which can be used by tenants in both flats.  Tenants share the (considerable) cost of the DSL subscription, which appears on the BT bill of the downstairs flat.

William Morris fabric curtains the flat and a sofa, the curtains being interlined for keeping out draughts from the windows.  The effect is quite nifty. There are matching cushions on the sofa.  There are also oriental rugs on the floors--more than you can see in the photos.

There are many paintings, original as well as reproductions. (If you wonder about our choice of Edward Hopper's "Drug Store," we should mention that the design of this quintessentially American corner store is identical to that of our house in Philadelphia, which was originally Wilsker's Quilt Store, a corner shop above which the proprietor's family lived and manufactured quilts.)

The kitchen contains a clothes-washing machine (no dryer) large fridge (by English standards), dishwasher (very good indeed -- please read the manual -- cabinets, a large larder/storage closet; iron and ironing board. A full complement of pots and pans, silverware, glasses, china.  A Bosch refrigerator was installed in summer 2004 (note that it sometimes gets it temperature knob turned too high when things are put in the fridge; somewhat lower than 3 is best).  We also installed, in summer 2004, concertina gates to the French doors which render the flat well-nigh impregnable.

TOP FLAT

See neighbour's plan for dimensions of the rooms on each floor, although the neighbour's is a single family house.  Our upstairs flat is a handsome one, featuring a beautifully proportioned living room and (above it) bedroom, comprising four rooms and a bathroom (with shower)  -- giving the impression of a small house. We had hoped to add a small balcony over the new bathroom in the garden flat -- with egress from the staircase -- but this was nixed as being insufficiently Georgian.  

After entering by the internal front door, one ascends an internal stair-case (amply illuminated by a large window with beautiful views) and finds off the landing on the second floor: to the right an eat-in kitchen (12"4" x 9')  -- no measurement is perfectly exact  -- and, straight ahead, the living room (15'5" x 14'3"). All of the flat, except for the kitchen, was repainted in 2002, and the windows were fitted in 2003  with Venetian blinds. See neighbour's plan.  New laminate "wood" floors were laid in the bedrooms and new linoleum floors in the kitchen and bathroom. The bedrooms have oriental rugs on the floors.  The photo does not show the new leather deco chairs and new G-Plan chest of drawers which have been substituted  for some of the furniture.  In 2005 we replaced the rather awkward Victorian mahogany table with a larger George III drop-leaf table constructed from better, earlier, virgin-forest mahogany.  This is more capacious both for seating diners and for word-processing. 

The kitchen contains a fridge/freezer (spacious by traditional British standards, purchased in 2002), a dishwasher, a gas stove, electric kettle, ironing board and iron, and unusually ample cupboard space. There is a full complement of pots and pans, silverware, glasses, and china. The kitchen table seats three to four comfortably.  There is also a new washer/dryer in the kitchen.

From the landing one ascends the staircase to the landing of the third floor (the staircase is amply illuminated by a large window which affords lovely views of a big sky and a lovely, chartreuse pseudo-acacia tree down in the mews). From this landing one turns right into a small bed-room or goes straight ahead into the master bedroom. A small staircase leads up to the cozy bathroom, under the eaves of the house, with standard British features.  In 2004 we installed an expensive new shower; it's not a power shower but its pump affords excellent pressure.  There's a nice window.  And a clothes horse for drying items of laundry. In summer of 2007, we repair and replaced the windows in this flat.

The small bedroom, the same size as the kitchen below it, contains a comfortable single bed made to convert into a comfortable double bed (i.e., two single beds side by side via a trundle)), bookshelves, and two foldout tables very suitable for computer working. Additional storage space is afforded by the fitted closet which contains a tank for the central heating system; this can also be used for drying laundry. This room serves for many tenants as a study. St. Paul's Cathedral and the Old Bailey are clearly visible from its window, and the view is magnificent. Since the elevation of the house is high, the vistas from the small bedroom and the staircase are particularly wide and pleasing with many trees and picturesque rooftops. Ed Copeland, who comes with his wife Meg Mathies, every two years has described the room as his "eyrie."  There are more oriental rugs and six nineteenth century engravings (of the neighbourhood) on the walls as well as a reproduction of "The Great Bear," a splendid parody of the Tube Map from The Saatchi Collection.  Very good bookshelf space.

A firm request for a lease should be accompanied by a month's deposit. When we exchange signed leases, another month's security deposit is required (used to pay utility and phone bills, etc. that arrive after you have left, with the remainder returned to you). Thus, when the lease is signed, two months' rent up front is required. The security deposit earns interest at the ordinary US savings-account rate and will be returned when all the bills come in after the tenant has left, while the other month's rent is used for the last month's rent. The first month's rent is then payable upon arrival.

In the event that you are unable to take up residency in accordance with the terms of a signed lease, we shall immediately endeavour to find an alternative tenant. In the event that we are successful, your monies will be returned (minus any administrative costs attendant upon the finding of a substitute). In the event that we cannot duplicate your tenancy, your first month's rent and security deposit will be pro-rated for any ensuing period of vacancy. Remember that (for purely selfish reasons!) we shall be actively looking for a new tenant.

Note that the lease itself has, over the years, acquired all kinds of Ptolemaic epicycles (most of the more complex provisions were generated by a single, very difficult tenant, since deceased and once familiar to many in English Lit) and we shall be happy to explain (or fine tune!) the lease again. It's not as fearsome a document as it may appear to the legally challenged. Indeed most of the clauses are no more than English legal boiler-plate.