This desirable three-bedroom, end-of-terrace house was built in 1961 by the renowned development company Span. It was designed by the architect Eric Lyons, whose work has been celebrated at an RIBA retrospective.

The house has 990 sq ft of internal accommodation, and a south-facing landscaped garden at the rear. There is also a separate timber-clad outside studio, recently built, which could be used as a fourth bedroom.

The current owners have sympathetically upgraded the house to a high standard, while being careful to maintain its original features, including parquet flooring on the ground floor and timber sliding doors. The kitchen, formerly situated in a smaller space at the front of the building (now a study), has been relocated to the rear to take advantage of the space and of views over the garden. There are also very good views from the bedrooms at the rear on the first floor.

The house is located within easy commuting distance of London. The
nearest station is Ravensbourne, a short walk from the house, from
where trains to London Blackfriars take approximately 25 minutes and to
London Victoria approximately 28 minutes. Beckenham Junction station is
also within walking distance, from where trains run to London Victoria
in as little as 18 minutes. There is a tram service to East Croydon.

West Oak is a tranquil turning off The Avenue, which is a long, quiet
residential road. At the western end of The Avenue is a supermarket,
and also Beckenham High Street. Beckenham benefits from a wide variety
of local shops and restaurants, as well as a cinema. There is also an arts club, some public swimming baths with leisure facilities, and a good library.

Eric Lyons’s Span developments are all about maximising natural light, and blurring the edges between the indoors and the outdoors. Lyons paid great attention to the surrounding landscape, designing and building houses around existing splendid mature trees and creating communal areas that encourage residents to mix.

Span built 30 housing estates in total, between 1948 and 1984. West Oak is one of the smaller and lesser-known ones, consisting of 21 houses (of type T8 and T7) and 12 flats. There is an attractive area of meadow and woodland on the estate, which is for the use of all residents. It is worth noting that the owner of this house also owns a one-nineteenth share of the land at West Oak.

In an article in The Sunday Times, Hugh Pearman outlined the advantages of living on a Span estate: “What you very soon appreciate, having entered Span country, is the feeling of community. Most private estates in the post-war years parcelled up the land jealously, one slice per house… In ‘Span-land’, the distinctions blur. There are landscaped areas to which everybody has a right. Every development was set up with strict, legally enforceable design and noise-restricting codes.”

Tenure: Freehold
Service charge: currently £768 per annum

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.