Stanmore agent Anthony Breslauer is looking for a buyer with the “vision and passion” to refurbish a five-bedroom art deco house in Valencia Road, Stanmore, Middx. The property has been in the possession of three generations of the Italian family who bought it in the 1930s. The story begins with Attilio Azzali, who moved to London’s Kings Cross in 1926 to escape a famine in the Apennine region. From small beginnings, Mr Azzali opened the first of his three London restaurants close to Victoria Station in 1929. Eager to provide his wife Elvira and baby Bruna with larger accommodation and a more peaceful environment in the suburbs, he took a train ride to the newly opened tube station at Stanmore in 1932 and fell in love with the place.

In a field opposite the station, an architect was building a small number of detached art deco family homes. Later, Harrow Council would protect these houses with a conservation area designation. Mr Azzali liked the villagey area, the style of the property and the easy access to central London. He bought number 4 Valencia Road.

In 1955, Attilio’s daughter Bruna married Alfredo Rastelli, the son of an ice-cream entrepreneur from Warrington in Cheshire. Shortly thereafter, Attilio and his wife retired to Italy and Bruna and Alfredo raised three sons at the property. The Rastellis went on to own and run three restaurants. Bruna and Alfredo passed away in 2004 and 2007 and the property is now owned and occupied by their surviving sons, Lorenzo and Leonardo.

The 2,200-sq ft home has an entrance hall, dining room and reception room and two bathrooms, a 130ft garden, a garage and driveway parking. Asking price for the freehold is £995,000.