Beautifully presented period home in the centre of York

THIS week we thought we would try something a little different...

Our property of the week is a delightful mid-terraced house in Nunnery Lane, ten minutes walk from York city centre and a two-minute stroll to the uber trendy Bishopthorpe Road shops and cafes.

In brief it has a through lounge dining room, a kitchen with breakfast room, two bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor and a further bedroom to the top. It has a walled garden with views of the city walls. It is on the market with a guide price of £315,000.

Now, consider another house. This one has an extremely similar layout in both shape and size and with a very similar garden. In fact the two are almost identical with the only difference being the top-floor bedroom here having an en-suite shower room.

The asking price is, however, more than a little different. It is one million pounds. That’s because, we suppose, it is situated in Battersea, London.

Why, you are asking yourself at this point, are we bothering with this comparison.

Well, bear with us and we shall explain all...

Alan and Sue Hook are the proud owners of the Nunnery Lane property.

Some years ago they lived in Beverley but Alan found the long commute to London where he often worked as a consultant both tiring and vexing. So the couple upped sticks and headed south, to Berkshire. Where, they found, the commute to the centre of London took almost as long as it did from Beverley.

After two years they were headed back north. They finally settled in Nunnery Lane a little over six years ago.

Today Alan can walk to York railway station in ten minutes and board a train which will reach the capital in one hour and 50 minutes.

And then return to a home every bit as smart as that million-pound place in Battersea.

Small wonder we are now hearing tales of Londoners making their way to York in search of cheaper houses and a better quality of life.

The Hooks’ home certainly provides that – and more.

Alan and Sue have made huge improvements to the Nunnery Lane house in their time here, fitting a new kitchen and bathroom, creating extra space for the breakfast room and installing carefully-crafted period-style pieces such as new windows, shutters and cupboards and wardrobes.

And, thanks, Alan freely admits, to Sue’s sense of style and eye for colour they have presented it all in a quite beautiful manner.

It’s a gloomy day when we arrive to take a look around, a spiteful spit of rain drizzling down from gun-grey skies.

Inside the house, however, it’s light and bright and warm and cheerful. It’s roomy, too, with living room and dining room flowing from one to the other and then on to the kitchen and breakfast room in a seamless style.

There’s a lot to admire in the front reception room in particular. It has, like most of the ground-floor rooms and the stairway, solid oak flooring which sparkles under a high ceiling, ornate coving and deep, double- glazed sash windows.

There are deep alcoves to both sides of a period-style mantel with contemporary inset.

A period mantel and fireplace is at the heart of the dining room, too, this one housing a living flame gas fire and with built-in book and music shelves set into shallow, curving alcoves.

Next comes the kitchen and breakfast area, possibly my favourite spot. The Hooks created this space by knocking down walls, sweeping away an old lean-to and introducing a paned interior window to one side, Velux window above and French doors to the rear. Underfoot you find attractive Indian stone flagged flooring.

More recently they completed replaced the kitchen, bringing in a bespoke set of high-white wall and base units and new integrated appliances including oven and hob, microwave and dishwasher and fridge and freezer.

It’s a super, cosy and comfortable spot and, what’s more, it has a great outlook, peering out to the walled garden with flagged terrace and raised seating area, scenic potted plants and dangling greenery and with a useful storage shed – oh, and views of the city walls.

“It’s a lovely space to sit and watch people walking the walls,”

Sue says. “We wave at them – and quite often they wave back.” Alan smiles. “Either that or they rush off thinking we are mad...”

We leave this jolly thought and head up the oak-flighted stairs to the first floor where that sense of space and style continues. Here there is a double bedroom with plenty of room for double bed, wardrobe and inset alcove space.

Along the way there is a refurbished bathroom and a separate WC, and then comes the master bedroom, another big room and this one with another of the tasteful improvements the Hooks have introduced.

The room contains a series of built-in cupboards, wardrobes and drawers, all of which have been ingeniously crafted to fit the period style of the home and yet providing the kind of storage space you don’t often find in Victorian houses.

And after this there is a final flight of stairs taking us up to a third bedroom, its sloping ceiling and eaves spaces creating a characterful feel. Presently it is in use as an office/study and, tucked away up here as it is, it is a great get-away spot.

Which brings us back to location, location. It is true that this house is bordered on both sides by roads, Nunnery Lane to one side, Prices Lane to the other. So if you are super sensitive about traffic noise this may not be the place for you.

On the other hand, its location is also one of this house’s great advantages. As we say, two minutes to “Bishy Road” and ten at the most into the city centre.

And if you fancy a relatively easy commute to London then you can do it, if you get your timings right, in a smidge over two hours. While saving a fortune in property costs along the way...

40 Nunnery Lane, York

Reception rooms: 3 (including breakfast room)

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 1 plus separate WC

Gardens: Forecourted garden behind iron fencing to front, pleasant walled garden to the rear

Wow factor: Beautifully presented and improved period home

Price: £315,000 Contact:RM English.

Tel: 01904 697900