Property spotlight: Arts & Crafts houses

The Arts & Crafts style conjures up thoughts of William Morris in England and Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Scotland. It was inspired by the perceived decline in standards and quality of design created by mass-production and machine making. Perhaps there’s a need again now for a similar movement.

In looking for genuine Arts & Crafts houses currently on the market, I was dismayed to find so many of them so ‘modernised’ that they’ve completely lost their aesthetic identity. The three we’ve chosen below have been sympathetically brought into the 21^st century. In addition, The Old Lodge has the most envy-inducing outdoor kitchen, incorporating an Argentinian Asado grill.

£475,000 – Blythbank, St. Abbs Road, Coldingham, Eyemouth TD14 5NR

A rare opportunity to purchase a magnificent Edwardian Arts and Crafts house, which has stunning period features… This stunning home has been sympathetically upgraded without losing any of its charm…

• Detached Edwardian house
• Stunning Art & Crafts features
• Outbuildings, parking & garage
• Large gardens & summer house
• Coastal village location
• Award-winning beach nearby
• 4 bedrooms, bathroom & WCs
• Breakfast room & kitchen

£600,000 – The Old Lodge, Hamsterley Hall, Hamsterley Mill, Rowlands Gill, County Durham NE39 1NJ

Originally constructed in stone under York stone tiles circa 1900, The Old Lodge is a striking Arts & Crafts home with beautiful mullioned windows, parquet wood ﬂooring and a mix of cast iron and stone inglenook fireplaces.

• Charming period lodge
• Exquisite interior décor
• Fantastic outdoor entertaining areas
• Grade II listed
• Elegant & inviting accommodation
• Gardens & parking
• Beautiful parkland surroundings

£6,500,000 – St Georges Road, Twickenham TW1 1QR

This original Arts and Craft property, built in the late nineteenth century, is believed to be the first house constructed on the road, and it certainly befits that status. There is expansive and elegant accommodation laid out over the ground floor, offering an array of formal and more open plan reception areas. Over the top two floors, there are six bedrooms complimented by three bathrooms.

• 6 bedrooms
• 5 reception rooms
• 3 bathrooms
• 0.35 acres
• Communal garden
• Conservatory
• Detached
• Garden
• Parking
• Patio
• Single garage
• Private parking
• Cellar
• Lake view

Designer Desire: Dorrie Nossiter

Born in Aston, Birmingham, jewellery designer Dorrie Nossiter (1893-1977) worked in the Arts & Crafts and latterly Art Deco styles.

Nossiter is another designer I discovered from a recent auction catalogue; it included the rock crystal necklace at the top of our montage above – simple elegance!

She studied at the city’s Municipal School of Art from 1910 to 1914. During the 1930s, she exhibited her work a number of times at Walker’s Gallery in London.

She created rings, earrings, brooches and necklaces in gold and silver using gemstones such as amethyst, aquamarine, citrine, garnet, peridot and tourmaline.

As well as at auction, you’ll find a handful of examples of her work for sale at any given time on eBay and Etsy.

As Dorrie Nossiter never signed her work, it has often been mistaken for her friend and contemporary, Sibyl Dunlop – perhaps we’ll feature her in next week’s Designer Desire slot.

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Additional image credits:
The Peartree Collection | Sotherbys | Sworders

Let’s get Radical!

We have two lots of Radical decorative coasters (6 in each set) on offer this month – so two chances at winning!

Radical Tea Towel was initially founded when one of the owners (Beatrice) saw a gap in the market for – you guessed it – radical tea towels. Back in 2011, she was looking for a useful and practical birthday present for a left-leaning family member and thought a political tea towel would be a great idea. Alas, absolutely nothing turned up after a Google search. Not long after, Radical Tea Towel was born.

One of the collections up for grabs boasts half a dozen different Arts & Crafts textile designs by William Morris, each emblazoned with a quote from his socialist writings.

The other set features a series of colourful illustrations advertising, commemorating and celebrating the suffragette movement.

To enter, tell us what your favourite tipple is – alcoholic or non – that you’ll be resting on your brand new coasters. As per usual, we’ll draw the winners at random; the first name out of the hat will win the William Morris set, the second will win the suffragette coaster collection. Good luck everyone!

Win a coaster collection from Radical Tea Towel

Designer Desire: Eric Gill

Eric Gill (1882-1940) is probably best known for his typeface designs – most famously, the influential Gill Sans and another created for WH Smith’s shop signage. He was also the creator of Prospero and Ariel, the sculpture that sits above the entrance to the BBC’s Broadcasting House and the Stations of the Cross (the preparatory drawings for them are pictured at the top of our mosaic) in Westminster Cathedral.

He founded the Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic, a religious Arts & Crafts commune in Ditchling, Sussex. The community embraced self-sufficiency and shunned modernity and mechanisation. He was obsessed with Catholicism and sex in equal measure; he is infamous for his extramarital affairs and sexual relations with his sisters and daughters. Despite this abhorrent behaviour, I agree with art critic, Ben Lawrence:

To separate art from the artist, to abhor his work because of what he has done, is to close your eyes to the endlessly joyous possibilities of artistic endeavour.

Prints of many of his original works are available on art.co.uk and eBay.

Image credits:

The British Museum | Tate Galleries

H is for Home Harbinger

Tag: Arts and crafts