Character detached house in SW London for exchange with Vancouver in 2027

Description

Our house is in New Malden, a cosmopolitan neighborhood about 20 min by rail from Waterloo station in central London. It was built in the 1930’s and is full of character including hardwood floors and original doors and picture rails. It has 3 reception rooms downstairs: a lounge, a separate dining room, and a drawing room with fireplace, TV and piano (the drawing room sofa converts to a sofa-bed). The spacious kitchen has a four-ring gas hob, a double electric oven, a fridge-freezer and is well-equipped. It adjoins a downstairs cloakroom with toilet and washing machine and there is a tumble-dryer. Off the kitchen is our ‘garden room’, a lovely airy space with seating inside for 4-6 and patio doors that fold right back so it opens onto the garden. Upstairs is laid out as 4 bedrooms, but we currently use two as offices. We have a double bed in the master bedroom (with ensuite shower, toilet and basin); a double bed in the guest room; and a spare single bed in storage that we can set up if you need it. The family bathroom has been recently refurbished and has a bath, over-bath shower, toilet and wash-basin. There is wi-fi and gas central heating throughout. Outside, patio doors lead onto the terrace and mature garden. Garden furniture will allow you to enjoy drinks and meals outside and there are trees for shade (and a parasol) if its hot and sunny. The front drive will have room for one car off road, but you can also park on the road for free. We use bicycles a lot to get around and could negotiate use of our bikes. We could also discuss use of our hybrid family car while we are away. It is only a 2 minute walk from here to the High Street with loads of cafes and restaurants as well as grocery stores (M&S; Waitrose; Lidl). The great things about New Malden are (i) its diversity, enriched by people from South Korea, Hong King, Sri Lanka and other communities; (ii) it’s accessibility to central London – a 5 min walk to the station with trains every 10-15 minutes; (iii) easy access to Wimbledon and Kingston with good shopping centres, cinemas, theatres etc; (iv) Richmond park , Bushy Park, and Hampton Court Palace are only a short distance away; (iv) the A3 main road out of London is <5 min away giving access to the Surrey Hills and beyond. We are a ‘mature’ couple looking for a home near the UBC campus in Vancouver from May to July 2027. We are attending a course on the UBC campus from the first week in May, so need to be in Vancouver then. We’d need our exchange home in Vancouver until the end of July but could let you use our home until about the end of August (TBC) while we travel further afield in Canada, if required.