Colney Hatch Lane, Muswell Hill, N10
Light does a lot of the work here. High ceilings and wood floors run throughout, and the tall windows keep the rooms bright from the morning onward. The reception is the flat's natural centre: one open space with room to sit at one end and eat at the other. It is where the sellers begin most mornings and where they settle in the evenings, and it stays the coolest room through summer, which is exactly where you want to be when the day is warming up. It is also where they work from home, on Three 5G, with speeds up to 300 Mbps and no signal issues to speak of.
The principal double bedroom is at the front, with fitted wardrobes and room to move around the bed, and a second double bedroom alongside it. The bathroom has been refitted to a good standard, tiled from floor to ceiling with a full-size bath, and there is a separate guest WC, the kind of small thing that quietly earns its place on a busy morning. Water pressure is strong, and a gas boiler runs radiators in every room, warm through the day and cosy once the evenings close in.
The galley kitchen has been planned around real life. Purpose-built space for both a washing machine and a tumble dryer, plus an integrated fridge and dishwasher, keeps the laundry and bulk out of sight and the worktops clear. It is compact, but it earns every inch, which is what you want when the rest of the flat is given over to living.
Outside, a shared garden with the neighbours has never really felt busy. The sun arrives in the early afternoon and stays until early evening, long enough for coffee at the garden table in the morning and a drink there at the end of the day. In practice it has been a barbecue spot, a place for a quiet glass of wine, and somewhere the children simply spill outdoors to play.
The setting is a good part of the appeal. Halliwick Park is an easy walk, the kind you do without thinking. Holybella is where locals go for coffee, brunch, and all-round good food, and The Maid of Muswell is the local for a pint or a meal. Muswell Hill Broadway keeps its own character, with independent shops like Dunns and Beam alongside a Waitrose and an M&S for the everyday. Alexandra Palace is around the corner when you want the London skyline laid out in front of you, and the Everyman makes for an easy date night close to home. This corner of Muswell Hill falls within reach of some of the area's outstanding schools, Coldfall Primary and Alexandra Park Secondary among them, which is what brought the sellers here in the first place. Highgate station on the Northern Line is the closest for getting into town, and the A406 is straightforward when you need it.
Ask the sellers what they will miss, and it is not any one room. It is the community, the closeness to school, and a home in a part of London they were never in a hurry to leave.
Disclaimer: One room has been digitally staged to show its potential as the principal bedroom. Furnishings shown are for illustration only.