The factory that once fuelled the Victorians' insatiable appetite for pianos has become a set of gorgeous, characterful apartments

Most of our musical instruments have many centuries of history, handed down by countless generations. The violin and its variants have been with mankind for half a millennium. The guitar dates to medieval Spain. There are trumpets in the bible, and drums are almost as ancient as humankind: examples from 5500 BC have been discovered by archaeologists.

The piano, however, is a little different. While the ancient Greeks had pipe organs and Henry VIII probably composed Greensleeves on a harpsichord, their heir, the piano is a very different instrument to either of those, both in mechanism and sound. The first pianos date to the turn of the 18th century, and the upright piano didn't come into being until the 1780s.

When it came, though, it was a sensation. It's no exaggeration to say that pianos changed music, with its dynamic range, versatility and ability to shine either as part of an orchestra or on its own. Is it a coincidence that Bach, Beethoven and Mozart all emerged after the piano's invention? Probably not, and all three composed on the then relatively new creation. Its rise coincided with the Industrial Revolution, and by the middle of the 19th century, pianos were being made by the tens of thousands each year.

In Britain, London was the epicentre of this wave of production, with all but a handful of the nation's piano makers being based in the capital. All things pass, however, and the rise of pre-recorded music in the 20th century meant that the poor piano was yesterday's instrument, and many of them were considered junk — even to the point that the appalling new 'sport' of piano smashing briefly emerged in post-war Britain.

Almost two centuries on from the peak years of piano making, several of these London factories in now-sought-after locations such as Primrose Hill and Camden have found other uses. A few years ago one of the old Chappell & Co buildings on Belmont Street completed its journey from pianos in the 19th century to photography in the 20th century — David Bailey's studio was here — to loft apartments in the 21st century. Now, another of Chappell & Co's old factory buildings right around the corner has been turned in to swish homes: the old piano factory on Ferdinand Street in Chalk Farm, right between Camden Town and Hampstead, is now Piano Studios.

The developers, it must be said, have done a beautiful job on the place. The 19 flats — which are being sold via Knight Frank between £650k and £1.95 million — have all sorts of original architectural features retained, from exposed wooden beams and brickwork to the high ceilings and sash windows you'd expect of Victorian architecture.

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That said, this is very definitely a 21st century home: the lighting is — and this is not a word we use much at Country Life — pretty damn cool, with some installed at skirting board level, some hidden in at the edges of the ceilings, and shining from pendant lights that dangle above kitchen islands and so on.

The kitchens — at least of the five show flats we've seen — are a bingo card of features, from instant boiling water taps to polished metal countertops that sit alongside marble features and bespoke joinery, all within rooms warmed from below by under-floor heating. Most of the apartments also have access to either a balcony or roof terrace.

All this comes at a price: the smallest apartments, of under 600sq ft, are being sold at £650,000, and while we've not had confirmation of the service charge, we'd expect it to be enough that you'll have to double-check your sums before applying for a mortgage. But you can see the appeal of place that has more history to it than most anonymous north London blocks, and which — as Knight Frank's Raul Cimesa puts it, 'captures the essence of modern loft living whilst preserving the industrial heritage of the historic piano factory'.

Piano Studios are for sale via Knight Frank — see more details.