2 St Margaret’s Place, Kings Lyn, Norfolk. £995k


Kings Lyn is one of my favourite places.  I love the quality of the light and the stunning architecture.  When I visited in 2014, almost everyone I passed in the street was an Eastern European, speaking in his or her native tongue.  I’m not sure if this is still the case after the Brexit vote.  Back then one could acquire a Georgian town house in need of restoration for about £250k.  But no. 2 St Margaret’s Place is in a different league, possibly the Hanseatic League, according to Savills.  It is listed grade ii*.

I seem to think we might have accidentally strolled through the gateway to the court yard at the back, when we did our perambulation of the town, one very hot evening after an afternoon on Hunstanton beach.  We were following a lovely Persian cat, who kept calling to us.
https://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/1912/kings_lynn_st_margarets_con_area_leafletpdf.pdf


Wouldn’t it be lovely to come home into this beautiful, pillared reception hall, with its limestone floor and sunlight pouring down the stairs.  The regency table in the middle is just the thing.  I hope it’s rosewood.  


https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72142471.html




 In American novels they always have bureaux in their bedrooms.  Anne Tyler, for example often features women organising their things in their bureaux, I also noticed it while reading ‘The Group’ by Mary Mc Carthy, only the other day.  Do they mean actual writing bureaux, like this beautiful, burr walnut example from the early 18th century? I can’t imagine keeping under wear in the top drawers, rather than paper.  Having said that I found a walnut and burr walnut bureau of the later 18th century on eBay last year for £30, whose burr walnut was rather blistered and cracked.  I ironed the blisters and injected more animal glue where they still wouldn’t lie flat, and put it in my youngest daughter’s bedroom and she keeps her under wear in it.  (I invented new words to the song ‘The Very Thought of You’ while I was attempting this amateur restoration:  “The mere idea of you, the burr veneer of you, the way you bubble and you blister, and resist my glue...”)


The kitchen is the only room in the house I don’t entirely drool over.  I’d like to see a big sycamore topped table in here, with painted greyish green legs.  And as you know I find fitted kitchens generally rather irritating to live with what with the constant bending down and rummaging about required to find things which could be kept easily, at a height one could see them at, in a free standing, or wall cupboard.  I love the floor in here, though.


Do you like the regency, mirrored chiffonier next to the log basket?  Would you keep this beige, fitted carpet, or go for floorboards and rugs, if you were going to be burning coal or logs?  I can’t really imagine burning coal in such an exclusive sort of town house in Norfolk.  Perhaps a small log fire, more for the appearance of the thing than the heat, would be all that was really required.



Isn’t it wonderful to see. well stocked library?  When I imagine libraries in old country houses as they occur in works of fiction, I think of them as rather dark and gloomy places, but this is more like an orangery with built in book shelves. It is bright enough to see to read in.  Do you imagine the books to be arranged alphabetically by author, or also grouped by subject?



I love the bathroom, but I always imagine how unpleasant it would be to bump into the corner of one of these rectangular, marble baths while struggling to get some awkward garment over one’s head when one’s body is still rather damp. Or just imagine the dreadful consequences of bashing one’s head against it, if one were to stumble.  Claude Debussy is supposed to have removed all the sharp corners from his furniture, to prevent these kinds of accidents. Have you noticed this is another rare example of a period house decorated with excellent taste and style, but that it doesn’t contain a piano?  At least not in the rooms one can see.  Perhaps if the owners were more familiar with the music of Debussy they would not have installed such a potentially dangerous bath. 


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