Grenville Court, Crystal Palace SE19
Apartment block forming part of Dulwich Wood Park estate; winner of Civic Trust Award 1964
Architect: Austin Vernon & Partners
Year built: 1959

My search for a modernist property in the Crystal Palace area inevitably brought me back to the Dulwich Wood Park estate that I last visited a couple of months ago. This time I viewed two flats on the first and sixth floors of Grenville Court, Raleigh Court’s paler-coloured neighbour.

The two flats were identical in layout to one another and the flat I viewed in Raleigh Court last time: two decent-sized adjoining bedrooms, lengthy open plan living area with a steel-framed window spanning the length of the space, kitchen, bathroom. The only difference from the flat in Raleigh Court was the addition of a glazed partition separating the living area from the hall which was a nice design feature but made the space feel a bit more hemmed in.

Unlike the flat I saw last time in Raleigh Court, both of these flats had decent views facing out onto woodland rather than other blocks in the estate. The flat on the sixth floor obviously had the advantage of a high vantage point but the views from the windows of the first floor flat weren’t bad either.

In terms of decor, both flats had most of the original features intact (cupboard doors, window frames etc.) but the first floor had been given a recent mid century modern makeover, which made it the more appealing flat of the two despite being on a lower floor.

I put in an offer on the first floor flat for the asking price but was promptly outbid, which indicates competition for a flat in decent condition on this estate is rife.

More photos of the first-floor flat that wasn’t meant to be: