YORK is blessed with some of the finest period homes to be found in Yorkshire, a legacy of its grand Victorian forefathers – and those Victorians knew a thing or two about grand and elegant styling.

Here’s a selection of some of the period homes on offer in and around the city.

Haxby Road, York. A simply stunning, big and beautiful period treasure with an enormous amount of charm and character.

This home is superbly presented with period styling including high ceilings, coving and cornicing, feature fireplaces, stripped wooden floors and bay windows.

It’s also a house on a grand scale with an awful lot to offer; starting on the ground floor, which has a splendid lounge to the front, a dining room and brilliant breakfast kitchen through to a sun room opening onto a rear garden.

On the first floor there are two bedrooms and a house bathroom with a grand drawing room (or this could become a further bedroom).

You might not need more sleeping space, however, as on the second floor there are two more bedrooms sharing another bathroom.

Super example of its kind.

Price: £400,000. Contact: Naish (01904 653564).

2 First Avenue, Heworth.

Another superbly presented home, with a wealth of period touches, set off by a very light and airy styling throughout – it has been skilfully modernised and improved to provide a blend of contemporary styling with a nod to its traditional past.

Highlights include two elegant reception rooms, one of which is warmed by a cheery woodburning stove set in an Inglenook fireplace.

This room is open to a delightful kitchen/dining room with a range cooker and bespoke wall and base units with solid wood worktops and large format tiled floor.

Both of the latter rooms have French doors opening onto a courtyard garden. Upstairs there are three double bedrooms and a house bathroom.

Price: £295,000. Contact: Your Move Anscombs (01904 621532).

21 Princess Road, Strensall.

This is a beautifully presented rarity – a town house in a village.

Rambling gently across three floors, it offers high ceilings, cornicing and coving, decorative architraving, original period fireplaces, stained glass windows and mosaic tiled flooring – while at the same time boasting a large contemporary kitchen and smart modern bathroom.

On the ground floor there is a sunny lounge to the front, a dining room/study/family room, a delightful kitchen with a range of bespoke cream-coloured wall and base units and granite worksurfaces which runs into a breakfast/dining room that in turn opens onto a professionally landscaped courtyard garden.

On the first floor there is a master bedroom with built-in wardrobes, a second bedroom and bathroom.

There is another large bedroom to the third floor.

Price: £299,995. Contact: Stephensons (01904 625533).

Merton Dale, East Parade, Heworth. The beauty of this property is that it has retained much of its period charm but has been skilfully improved to include luxurious contemporary comforts.

The breakfast kitchen, for instance, is presented in a modern farmhouse style with a range of hand-made units with granite work surfaces and served by a luxurious Lacanche range cooker.

It is a spritely light and bright area, too, sunshine from Velux windows overhead dancing on the Indian stone floor underfoot and with double doors opening out onto the rear courtyard adding to the room’s airy feel.

Next we have an elegant sitting room with character touches provided by stained glass windows and a central multi-fuel stove set on a stone hearth.

Sitting between this room and the kitchen there is also a day room, while a ground-floor cloakroom and a utility room provide the hard working spaces.

Upstairs there is a smart master bedroom with a walk-in dressing area with his and hers wardrobes and an en-suite bathroom. There is another, smaller but very pretty bedroom to this floor, while on the second floor there are two further bedrooms.

There is a forecourt to the front and a decent-sized couryard garden to the back, complete with built-in pizza oven!

Price: £398,500. Contact: RM English (01904 697900).

SMART BUY...

Forest Grove, Stockton Lane.

Fantastic, extended and improved traditional semidetached home in a sought-after location. It has four bedrooms and two bathrooms (including a marvellous master bedroom with en-suite on the second floor). On the ground floor there is a sitting room and separate sitting area – and a to-die-for dining kitchen and family area with double doors leading out onto a pretty garden. Price: £325,000. Contact: Hudson Moody (01904 650650