Stone worktops in Oakleigh Park

The line here runs through the Whetstone Tunnel, and although trains passed from the 1850s, there was no Oakleigh Park station until 1873. Barnet Council's local history notes say the station brought "substantial suburban houses" on estates such as the Oakleigh Park Estate. By 1898 the Ordnance Survey showed 52 houses and semi-detached villas, all lived in by wealthy families. All Saints Church followed in 1882, and its school in 1884.

Over time many of the large houses became too big to keep up; Sacred Heart School opened in one of them in 1936. If your kitchen is in a Victorian house, expect high ceilings, walls that aren't square and, sometimes, a kitchen moved into what was once a different room. Templating handles all of that: the worktop is cut to the shape of the room, not to a standard size.

In a period house, a honed marble or a natural granite often suits the room better than a bright, uniform surface.

The area around Russell Lane was built between the two world wars, keeping many of its trees and greens. These houses have more conventional kitchens, and many have been extended since. Replacing the worktops on existing units is often all that's needed to bring one up to date.

Some Oakleigh Park homes are flats, including conversions of older houses. If yours is, tell us the floor and the stairs, and check whether the lease needs the freeholder's agreement before kitchen works.