It’s not often that we feature overtly modern houses in Country Life. When we do, it’s generally because they offer something really very striking and different.
That could certainly be said of this house close to Hampton Court Palace in south-west London, a contemporary home on Matham Road that’s for sale via Knight Frank at £2.495 million.
From the outside, number 9 is a pleasant building, but it's only when you go past the front door that you realise it's a very stylish home indeed.
The present owners clearly have a strong vision that they've been utterly confident in making real, and it's hard not to admire the great strokes both in design and decoration.
This extends even to the colour-co-ordinated bookshelves. We've always been slightly suspicious of those who arrange their books like this — if they're to be used rather than for show, shouldn't they be on the shelves via theme or author? — but you can't deny that it looks pretty marvellous when done on this scale.
Among the highlights of the house are the two enormous bi-folding doors which open out at an oblique angle from the living/dining/family room out onto a garden laid out by a Chelsea Flower Show gold medallist.
There's even a garden studio (with power and even broadband, for working-from-home purposes) in a pretty open space which runs all the way down to the River Mole.
Once you get to the water, there is still another feature. There is no small jetty with an apologetic rowing boat; instead you find a beautiful wooden gazebo with a huge dining table beneath. It's not hard to imagine the long summer evenings enjoying a glass of wine by the water.
Matham Road offers a majestic amount of space for its semi-urban setting, with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, five reception rooms and the aforementioned 34ft by 34ft open-plan kitchen/dining room.
The house is finished to an exceptionally high standard with all sorts of modern toys. There is a sound system throughout, a cinema room and underfloor heating.
Upstairs, meanwhile, the four bedrooms are equally bold — and the large master bedroom with separate dressing room area and en-suite enjoys views down the garden.
Matham Road is for sale via Knight Frank at £2.495m — see more details and pictures.
Credit: Strutt and Parker
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