Herringbone House,
St Jude Street,
N16

''As soon as we stepped through the door, we knew we wanted to live in Herringbone House . We had seen another period property in Islington, with some very cool modern additions and were interested, but the design and unique lifestyle that Herringbone House offered blew us away.

On that first visit, we loved the way the gate closes behind you and places you immediately somewhere peaceful and undisturbed. You’ve got all the great facets of a modern architecturally designed house, but with the warmth of a home. It's minimalistic but cosy.

The house was built in 2014 by architectural designers Chan + Eayrs, the striking façade gives the house its name, formed of ornamental herringbone brickwork. We’ve never stopped appreciating the simple beauty of what was created with building materials, textures and natural light

This house has been our home now for seven years and the defining quality of it has always been the light. A network of skylights and pivoting floor-to-ceiling windows, along with the two private walled courtyards, means that whatever time of day or year it is, our home is bathed in a gorgeous, soft daylight.

We added one thing to the living space, a suspended, eco-friendly bio fireplace called a Cocoon. It’s designed by Federico Otero and is stunning aesthetically, whilst bringing extra snugness and warmth to our downstairs open living space, and especially to our late nights on the sofa watching films on the projector.

What we have loved here is evenings and weekends with friends and family coming over, and the way everyone can move freely between the living area and kitchen. It’s an extraordinarily sociable home and everyone can be together with no one hidden away in the kitchen preparing food.

But our absolute greatest pleasure has been bar-b-ques on summer and autumn days with the living space opening on to the main courtyard through the full-height bi-fold doors that essentially just disappear when they’re open. It’s like removing a wall, so the downstairs is all one big, unbroken, daylight or starlight filled space.

There’s a unique little detail here that we’ll miss and that’s the electric skylight in the principal bedroom with an electric blind and being able to lie in bed and look at the stars or at a blue sky. The other thing I feel about this house, looking back, however strange it might sound, is that it is a very inspiring home. It has all this natural light and positivity, and I feel that the creative vision that went into designing and building has rubbed off on both of us, on our work and habits. The house has inspired us.

We are very fortunate to be on a quiet road in a peaceful corner of what I’d say is one of the most exciting parts of London you could live in. We like to go for walks, especially to Clissold Park, Highbury Fields and Victoria Park. And this area is perfect for our love of a good brunch. Our go-to is Brunswick East, which is a two-minute walk from here. And we love Angelina’s on Dalston Lane. Perilla is really good too, on Newington Green. We are minutes away from Dalston’s bars, pubs and restaurants and, of course, Ridley Road Market.

The best way to explore this neighbourhood is just to walk around. We are still discovering new things all the time. It’s an exciting area because it's so vibrant and it changes a lot but also has many businesses that have been here for decades. There’s a lot of creative people in this area so it is very inspiring and cool to live here.''

Interconnecting Living Rooms

First Floor Landing

Principal Bedroom and En Suite

Bedroom

Shower Room