Villiers Road, Watford, WD19 4AL

On Villiers Road, in the heart of Oxhey Village and a short walk from Bushey Station, where the fastest trains reach London Euston in as little as 17 minutes, sits a two-bedroom Victorian terraced house of remarkable proportions. At 1,104 sq ft, it is larger even than many of the three-bedroom houses around it, and it uses every foot well. The façade sets it apart before the door is even reached. Where much of the village is built in yellow stock brick or painted white, this house belongs to a short run in warm red brick, its windows and front door framed by buff brick quoins and crowned with white stucco lintels, each set with a dark keystone. It is a front with more craft in it than most, and it gives the house a quiet presence on the street. The front door opens onto a hallway, and from here the house unfolds as few terraces do. The staircase rises between the two reception rooms rather than out of either, so each room keeps its own character, and the plan feels less like a first home than a lasting one. To the front, the living room is calm and neutral, with coving, pale wooden floors and a fireplace, and room for a sofa and a separate love seat: a quieter space, set a little apart from the life of the house. Beyond it, the dining room is the heart of the home and its most Victorian room, where a cast-iron fireplace with tiled inserts sits within a reeded white timber surround. Under the stairs, a cupboard holds the practical things, and an open nook makes room for a bookcase. To the left, an archway leads into the covered side return, brick-walled and roofed in translucent panels so the daylight falls straight through, with its own way out to the garden and ample room for storage. To the right, an open doorway leads into the kitchen, finished in cream cabinetry with handleless J-pull fronts, the wall units curving gently at their ends rather than stopping at a right angle. Black worktops, an off-white tiled splashback and a freestanding double-oven cooker complete the room, and beyond it lie a utility room and a downstairs cloakroom. Upstairs, the landing turns at a right angle, with a storage cupboard behind. The principal bedroom spans the front of the house, above the living room but wider still, as it reaches over the hallway. The second bedroom looks over the garden and keeps a period fireplace of its own. Along the side of the house, and reached from the landing rather than through a bedroom, the family bathroom is a generous room, its walls tiled in grey from floor to ceiling, with a freestanding bath, a walk-in shower enclosure and a vanity unit with ample storage. A pump has been fitted for good water pressure, and an upstairs bathroom of this kind is not a given in the village. Outside, a paved patio sits beside the house, alongside a traditional brick-built store reached from the garden. Beyond, the garden is laid largely to lawn, edged with planting and a red acer, and it ends at a timber outbuilding with its own electricity supply. It is used for storage today, but with a little attention it would make an excellent gym, studio or place to work from home.

EPC Rating: D