My dry cleaners are Indian my wine bar is run by Greek Cypriots and many of the

My dry cleaners are Indian, my wine bar is run by Greek Cypriots, and many of the shopkeepers know me by name. Everything is to hand, within reach, in a manageable unit – manageable emotionally, not geographically,” she says.Most of what is to hand consists of a huge number of mostly ethnic restaurants in an amiable melting pot: “Crouch End is diverse ethnically but it all works well. I certainly identify it as a distinct community,” says Penny, a partner with solicitors Lewis Nedas in Camden Town.The village-like flavour has numerous components: “Crouch End is an urban, not rural village You don’t feel anonymous. Alexandra Park, home to Alexandra Palace, is nearby, as is Parkland Walk, a former railway spur, now trackless and genuinely rusticated.”Crouch End feels self-contained, and when you enter from Crouch End Hill, it suddenly appears almost dramatically in front of you. Her two eldest sons and her husband have long left the nest, and her youngest is a gap-year wing-flapper who, recently returned from an extended trip to the Middle East, has his sights set elsewhere.
Nestled in the Underground-free zone in north London between Archway, Highgate and Finsbury Park, Crouch End still blends urban ambience with pastoral pace.

Now, thoughts about grandchildren would not be inappropriate. Instead of around pounds 320,000 he would price it at less than pounds 300,000 “People don’t want to inherit someone’s else character. But they’ll pay through the nose for something clean and neutral.”Sasha Waddell’s house is on the market at pounds 320,000 through Foxtons (0171 565 4000) Her design company, with Charles Codrington: 0171 498 9960.. When Penny Muir and her then husband were house-hunting in the early 1980s, they insisted on an area that was urban and also suitable for raising three young sons The order was tall, perhaps self-contradictory It was resolved by Crouch End.

But it was also architecturally interesting, going right up into the roof space. It also has a roof terrace and third- floor extension which they wouldn’t be allowed to put in today.” So how much for this Seventies gem? According to James Bailey, 95 per cent of people would rip everything out and start again. A lot of brown, grey and cream swirls and, of course, brown and orange. The main bedroom has silver wallpaper and deep mirrors on the wardrobes. “From the moment you arrive at the front door with its plastic awning you are taken back more than 20 years It was like walking into a film set. But when can you charge a premium for a complete look and when does it become a drawback?James Bailey, of Douglas & Gordon, recently found himself walking into a Seventies time-warp. He has created an authentic setting for the furniture with an original fireplace, stained glass windows and black and white wooden floors Even the hinges on certain doors were tracked down.

Wood has on its books a flat that the owner has spent years turning into an art deco treasure. It has black painted floors and stark white walls with sliding screens of etched glass. But if the buyer doesn’t like the black drawing- room floor, which has been taken back to the boards, it is easily covered up.”In west Hampstead, John D. Peter Young describes a Victorian house with a Japanese interior that is currently on the market for pounds 1.9m as “an enormously stylish blend of cultures. We didn’t sell the house.”If a style is easily reversible, there will normally be no problem finding a purchaser.