Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012 7:24 p.m.

After posting my room-wanted ad on spareroom, an old man called me saying he and his wife had a room in a historic property built in the 1850s. Thornhill Square popped up in my mind immediately but I wasn't entirely sure. When they sent me the address I knew it was it - it's the place where we had an orchestra rehearsal a few months ago.

So in this sunny afternoon I hopped onto the tube, changed to overground at West Hampstead and carried on Eastbound. Very crowded train - that's one thing I dislike about the overground although I have heard people saying good things about it. Got off at Caledonian Road & Barnsbury, walked down Caledonian Road (also called the Cally by locals and livelier than I expected), turned into a side street where the handsome library was standing, then the same church that I went before. The terrace was supposed to be very old but it's surprisingly well-maintained.

The old lady greeted me into her house. So many things in the house, a bit of a mess, but I suppose it's because her husband had been packing and preparing for a long business trip to Mongolia. But the foyer-kitchen was massive with a little sitting area at the end attached to a big garden (and a WOOD behind it). Very high ceiling and classic things like the fireplace.

A very classic-looking living was located on the first floor, the kind of lounge room you could find in some museum converted from a historic house... Red upholstered lounge chairs huge bookshelves with leather-bound books and all that....

Then on the top floor you could find two small bedrooms, rather basic decorations but the views were nice - city view for one and trees for the other. A pantry/sitting room next door, and a decent bathroom. They might have a guest or two staying in one of the rooms occasionally, but otherwise, the whole floor including the bathroom and the pantry would be entirely yours.

After finishing seeing the rooms I asked if I should stay until her husband came back and she said yes of course. So we sat in that little room next to the garden and chatted for quite a long while. 'Did you see the square on the map? It's so funny! It's in an egg shape!' and she giggled. So cute.

The old man came home to join the conversation a little later. They were both very kind and interesting people - I am too tired to explain but they were quite humorous. When it came to the rent, I said I could only offer that much - that's the maximum I could afford. The husband asked the wife if she was happy with it. She said yes. Then he said, 'Can you shake hands?' So we shook hands. When we finished, the husband went back to packing and the wife said, 'Don't panic.'

The square

The church

The house with the white door