A six-bedroom family home for sale on sought-after Glisson Road in Cambridge
According to recent research carried out by Lloyds Bank, many of the most expensive streets to live on in East Anglia are, unsurprisingly, to be found in Cambridge. The survey listed the residential roads with the priciest properties in regions all across the UK and concluded that the costliest streets in our city are Storey's Way, Millington Road, Newton Road, Mingle Lane and Glisson Road.
Cheffins currently has a property on the market in Glisson Road, a six-bedroom Victorian terrace awash with interesting features and character.
The house is owned by a Mrs Edith Bor, a widowed lady in her late 80s who is moving to Sussex to live near her daughter. Her son Simon told the Cambridge Independent what he thinks makes the property – purchased by his parents in 1967 – special. “It was our family home for 50 years, basically,” he said. “It’s where we grew up.”
Simon continued: “It’s retained a lot of its original features so we’ve got things like the old electric bells, probably dating back to Edwardian times, or the 1920s – they’re still there. The toilet is probably the original toilet. It’s a Victorian floral toilet and even 50 years ago it seemed like an antique.”
The former Cambridge resident (he now lives in Devon) believes the house dates back to 1892 or 1893 and he himself was 11 when the family (mother, father, two brothers and a sister) moved in. “My father got a job at what is now Anglia Ruskin University, when it was the music department of the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology,” he recalled.
The biggest change the family made to the property was structural. “The main thing was the extension,” explained Simon, “which was done almost immediately after we’d moved in. It was a small kitchen with a dining room, so the dining room part was extended out towards the garden.”
The house certainly has plenty of space. Where did Simon like to spend most of his time? “During my time there I had a bedroom right in the attic,” he replied, “so that was a nice little domain. There are two bedrooms in the attic and my brother and I had one each, away from the rest of the house.”
The subject of Glisson Road being one of the most expensive streets in the region arose. “I’m sure that wasn’t the case in 1967!” said Simon. “I think it’s the closest area to the station to have fairly substantial family houses. There’s Tenison Avenue, Lyndewode Road, Glisson Road, and then on the other side you have places like Bateman Street. So with those houses there, you’re five minutes from the station but you’re also only 10 minutes from the centre of Cambridge. I think the location is the key to it.”
Simon has fond memories of Cambridge and has even documented them. “I’ve recently published a book,” he revealed “about some of the places in Cambridge that meant something to me over the time I lived there. It’s called Cambridge Lost in Time and the G. David bookshop in the centre of Cambridge is selling it.”
His childhood home seems to have been an idyllic place in which to grow up and Simon hopes others can get the same kind of enjoyment out of it. “It would be nice if it could go to a family,” he said, “perhaps a family that’s going to keep it for another 50 years – that would be great.”
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cheffins.co.uk
