Taymount Grange X
Taymount Rise, London SE23
Architect: G. Bertram Carter
Register for similar homes“A rare opportunity to acquire one of the largest apartments within the iconic Taymount Grange”
Taymount Grange, one of London’s best-preserved modernist housing estates, occupies a beautifully peaceful position in the heart of leafy Forest Hill. It’s also the setting for this expansive three-bedroom apartment, with its sought-after dual-aspect configuration and far-reaching views. Sensitively updated in recent years, the current owners have chosen a pared-back aesthetic to allow the bones of the original building, designed and built by George Bertram Carter between 1935 and 1936, to sit centre stage. Immaculate communal gardens with allotments surround the entire estate, while the best of Forest Hill, including great coffee spots and the Horniman Museum and Gardens, is only a short walk away.
The Building
Taymount Grange is instantly recognisable by its white-painted stucco façade and striking mint green-framed Crittall windows. Its communal areas are in great condition and retain many original features. Smart lifts and richly carpeted stairwells hint at the glamour of the building’s early life, when a restaurant and lounge occupied the lower floors. The apartment has a caretaker, an intercom system for access and plenty of bike storage. Expansive lawns surround the building and residents have access to their own allotments. For more information on Taymount Grange, please see the History section below.
The Tour
An exquisite example of art moderne architecture, the apartment retains all the key hallmarks of the style, from original Crittall windows to the slim-plank pine floorboards and picture rails, which feature throughout.
The apartment is on the ground floor and is easily accessed via a series of well-preserved communal areas. The front door is opposite a galley kitchen with understated white cabinetry and matching countertops. Cool slate tiles underfoot ground the space and stand in contrast with the cabinets. Designed for modern living, there is plenty of storage; an original pantry cupboard sits next to the kitchen while additional wardrobe space can be found in the hallway, all with original brass fixtures and door furniture.
An expansive living and dining area leads from here, where impressive original Crittall windows illuminate the room and frame a view of luscious tree canopies. The dining area is partly separated by a wide, open doorway allowing for an easy sense of flow between these spaces. Floorboards installed during the building’s construction have been carefully retained and stripped back, bringing warmth to a decorative palette of predominantly white-washed walls.
Three well-proportioned bedrooms and two bathrooms fan out from the central hallway. The dual-aspect configuration of the main bedroom allows an exceptional quality of natural light to pour through while providing sweeping views across the immaculate communal gardens. As with the rest of the apartment, the two bathrooms are decorated with a gentle palette, making use of sleek oblong tiles in either slate grey or a soft off-white. The slate grey bathroom also has a bath with a step-in shower and both are replete with chrome fixtures.
Outdoor Space
All residents of Taymount Grange enjoy the use of communal gardens to the front and rear of the building. These tranquil spaces include a shared barbecue area and established allotments with a variety of fruit trees.
The Area
Taymount Grange is located close to the Horniman Museum and Gardens. It’s well-placed for the shops and restaurants of Dulwich Village and East Dulwich, as well as the open spaces of Sydenham Woods and Dulwich Park. Local highlights include Bona, Pantry, and Aga’s Little Deli, while St David serves excellent coffee.
All of the amenities of Forest Hill, including its railway station, are approximately five minutes away on foot. Regular trains run from Forest Hill to London Bridge, with a journey time of 12 minutes. The station is also a part of the London Overground, with services running to Dalston via Canada Water (Jubilee Line), Shadwell (DLR), Shoreditch High Street and Whitechapel (District, Hammersmith & City and Elizabeth Lines).
Tenure: Leasehold
Lease Length: approx. 103 years remaining
Service Charge: approx. £5,400 per annum
Ground Rent: approx. £100 per annum
Council Tax Band: B
Please note that all areas, measurements and distances given in these particulars are approximate and rounded. The text, photographs and floor plans are for general guidance only. The Modern House has not tested any services, appliances or specific fittings — prospective purchasers are advised to inspect the property themselves. All fixtures, fittings and furniture not specifically itemised within these particulars are deemed removable by the vendor.
History
Taymount Grange was built in 1935 to designs by English architect George Bertram Carter. Carter had studied at Blackheath School of Art between 1911 and 1915 before joining the Royal School of Art. He worked at Edwin Lutyens’ office as a student before setting up his own practice in Clifford’s Inn in 1929. Prior to Taymount Grange, Carter was responsible for two large factory designs in Tottenham and Whitechapel respectively. Carter designed both Taymount Grange and Lichfield Court, Richmond, in 1935.
Taymount Grange sits at the top of Taymount Rise in Forest Hill, on the previous sites of Taymount, a 19th-century house, and Queens Tennis Club. It embodies the ‘style moderne’ aesthetic that stemmed from the art deco movement during the 1930s. Unlike art deco, style moderne – also known as ‘streamline moderne’ or ‘ocean liner style’ – prioritised clean shapes, long horizontal forms, and a lack of ornamentation.
In his thesis The Servant Problem Solved: Modernist 1930s Residential Blocks, Damian Minto describes the history of Taymount Grange:
“[It] is built on the site of the original Queens tennis club. An important similarity with many modernist schemes was the fact that the existing earlier building (often a detached villa) was to be demolished to make way for the new block of flats. The site’s natural contours made it an ideal location for panoramic views of the London docks and rural edges of suburbia, a feature of which the flats take full advantage. The aimed new tenants were the middle classes – an important similarity with all modernist British residential schemes.
“Facilities available for residents included guestrooms, lounge, restaurant, terrace, landscaped gardens, swimming pool, seven tennis courts and a putting green. Taymount Grange was also fully staffed with everyone from porters to domestic help.”
From the expanses of white-painted stucco to the handsome metal windows and chrome-handled entrance doors, Taymount Grange has retained its unmistakably 1930s details that give it a romantic and modernist appeal.
