Schreiber House, 'the most significant London townhouse of the second half of the 20th century', is up for sale

What do you picture when you think of Hampstead? Perhaps the Heath, with its sprawling woodland and meadows. It’s easy to see how it inspired C. S. Lewis to conjure up the mythical surroundings of his cowardly Mr Tumnus and merciless White Witch in his 1950 children’s novel, The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe.

Maybe you think of Keats House — the grand regency building and home of the poet from 1818 to 1820. He may have been living here when he first scratched onto a piece of paper mid-outdoor meander: ‘Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!’ — a line from his infamous Ode to a Nightingale.

Or perhaps you are thinking of another, more modern icon of the literary world: the hapless romantic Bridget Jones. The journalist, penned by Helen Fielding, strolls carefree across the heath in the latest film installment of her story, Mad About the Boy, unaware that she’s about to run into her newest, and much younger, beau when he rescues her from the branches of an old oak.

Whatever you picture, Hampstead brings to my mind visions of romantic scenes in classic settings. Which is why I was surprised when I came across Schreiber House. On the market with Savills for £10.95m, the word incongruous doesn't even begin to cover how this Modernist house opposite the Heath appears in its significantly rather more old-school surroundings. Nevertheless, after the initial aesthetic whiplash has worn off, it must be said that, as one of the few post-War houses to be listed Grade II, it does come without plenty of visual merits.

A furniture manufacturer born in Poland, Chaim Schreiber originally came to Britain to escape Nazi persecution, and his furniture company went on to be one of the biggest names in the industry. He commissioned the then young Scottish architect James Gowan to design the family home in 1963-4 — with almost an unlimited budget.

Flooded with natural light, which is a stark contrast to its rather austere exterior, Ellis Woodman, the director of the Architecture Foundation, described it as ‘the most significant London townhouse of the second half of the 20^th century’.

From afar, it gives the appearance of a tidy block of flats that has been dropped into the middle of luscious greenery. Inside, however, the Muhuhu hardwood floors give the living room a silky, 1970s feel. Throughout, copper rails on the ceiling give an industrial twist to an open, yet orderly, living space with white panelled walls.

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My favourite room, out of the 5,600sq ft of living space, is the dining room, where tendrils of green from the outside are visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making me imagine having a quick lunch before dashing out to the Heath for a dog walk or chilly dip in the Mixed Bathing Pond.

Complete with one master bedroom, as well as four smaller ones, and a playroom and study, Schreiber House is an entirely untraditional family home. And, although Modernist builds aren't to everyone's tastes, and elements of Schreiber House undeniably jar with its surroundings, it’s a three-storey London house like no other.

Schreiber House is for sale with Savills for £10.95 million. For more information and pictures, click here.