Architects John Howard and Bruce Rotherham were among a chorus of international voices contributing to Britain’s architectural rebirth in the early 1960s, following the destruction of WWII. However, their five-storey North London project, Highgate Spinney, is the duo’s only completed partnership and is a coveted modernist enclave in a quiet pocket of north London.

Completed in 1964 on the site of four razed coach houses, the apartment building is a riposte to the brick scape of Victorian London and is a window onto the architects’ many influences, from Le Corbusier and Alison and Peter Smithson to Rotterdam’s work in Auckland with Group Architects.

The two-bedroom apartment is on the building’s third and fourth floors and is listed via The Modern House for £795,000. Much is original though interiors are repainted in a bright, minimalist scheme but retain the original dark Colombian pine staircase, which floats between levels and built-in shelving and storage.

The living room and kitchen open onto each other and are located at the rear of the floor plan, overlooking the communal garden below. The latter has been updated with new mid-century style cabinetry and underfloor heating while sliding doors open onto one of two balconies.

A horizontal skylight illuminates the landing above the fourth floor, where there are two bedrooms. The primary suite has the original cupboards and a private balcony at the front, with folding glazed doors that amplify light and views north towards Alexandra Palace.

Le Corbusier’s Marseille masterpiece turns 70 with an exhibition of reverent design

A whimsical Georgian townhouse rises over central Margate