An Arts & Crafts home

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When Andy and Karen Ward relocated to Berkshire they bought an Arts & Crafts home and were inspired to learn more about period style.

The thought of moving house can fill many people with dread, particularly when it involves relocating to a different county and trying to place your children in a good school in an unfamiliar area. Faced with these circumstances three years ago, Andy and Karen Ward decided that their new home would have to be one they could move straight into, without the need for costly and time-consuming renovations, so that they could focus all their energy on their family.

Karen recalls: ‘We had to move from Hertfordshire because Andy had been offered a job in Berkshire and he didn’t want to spend every day stuck in traffic on the M25. We’d been living in a modern property, and it had worked extremely well for us, so our list of requirements was pretty much the same: our new home had to have a large kitchen/dining room, a big garden with substantial areas of lawn for Anna and Christian to play in, and at least four good-sized bedrooms.

‘We were thrilled to find a period property that fitted the bill perfectly,’ she continues. ‘This house was built in the 1920s in the Arts & Crafts style; it’s well proportioned, very sound structurally and the design is relatively simple and understated.’

Thanks to the efforts of the previous owners, Karen and Andy were able to move in without doing a huge amount of work initially. They only had three jobs: repaint the exterior, update the utility room, and have some of the metal windows restored by a local blacksmith. Otherwise, the house was wallpapered and given a fresh coat of paint; the windows were dressed with pretty blinds and curtains; and Tiffany shades and other light fittings were chosen with care. Karen says: ‘We inherited many of our belongings and will try not to replace anything until it has completely worn out or needs to be changed.’

The family who’d owned the house in the 1990s, however, had made much more significant changes. Karen explains: ‘They knocked down walls to merge the kitchen, a scullery and coal cupboards, which created the large kitchen/diner. They also added a balcony off the master bedroom and replaced the windows with French doors; it’s above the flat-roofed loggia and really enhances the look of the house. Teak was used, so it was done with the highest quality in mind, and should last quite a while.’ Prior to that, the family who lived here in the 1980s had built a front porch to make more of the hallway, and added a small extension to create the utility area.

‘This house was in the original family’s hands since it was built in the 1920s until 1980,’ Karen explains, ‘which is probably why it has kept a lot of its period features. Everyone who has lived here since has really looked after it, conserving the main structure but subtly improving it in such a way that it’s still an appealing family home. For example, the people who added the extensions reused windows and doors that were taken out of the old kitchen and scullery (when the patio doors were put in off the dining area) and relocated them to the new utility and downstairs cloakroom.’

While the Wards may be content with the house for the moment, they do want to add their stamp at some point. ‘One of the next tasks is our en-suite bathroom,’ Karen explains. ‘It’s black and gold, and was installed in the 1980s; it’s not right for the house or us. We’d like a cherrywood kitchen, too; we had one in our last house and it looked lovely. And I’d like a black granite worktop – it would be easier to look after than the solid wood one we have now, which needs regular oiling.

‘In time, the only other thing we definitely want to do is put new fireplaces in,’ she continues. ‘We’re quite happy with what we have – they’re resin made to look like marble – but it will be much better to replace them with ones that are more in keeping with the Arts & Crafts style. I’d also like to contact the family who lived here when the property was built: with any luck the grandchildren might remember details about what the house looked like, and it would be good to find out what was here originally.’

Karen is taking a thoughtful approach to the outside space too. ‘We decided it would be sensible not to start work on the garden straightaway,’ she explains. ‘As we moved in during winter I wanted to wait to see what flowered here throughout the year.’

She has, however, tackled a major structural problem. ‘There was a wall around the sunken patio that was covered in ivy, and when I pulled that off it was clear the wall wasn’t stable, so we’ve had that rebuilt – and at a much lower level – so that you can see right down the garden. I’ve also put in a little vegetable patch so that the children can begin to understand how things grow; their school has recently built a vegetable garden, so we’re trying to support this project.

‘The rest of the garden isn’t in keeping with the house – it’s been changed massively over the years – so I would like to add more character gradually; I’ve got a list of Arts & Crafts gardens I’m going to visit for inspiration. We might create a feature in the middle of the garden because it’s just a large expanse of grass, but the children like to play on the lawn, so I don’t want to do anything too fancy.’

While Andy and Karen may have been looking for a home for their family that didn’t need any renovation work, it’s encouraging to hear that they have really embraced their first period property, and are keen to research its past so that they can look after the house and garden sensitively during their stage in its history. Karen says: ‘We wanted a simple house we could just live in comfortably; but this place has become a home we also genuinely feel an affinity with.’

Karen's advice on relocating: ‘When Andy started his job in Berkshire, I made it my full-time role to find a new home, arrange the move and get Anna and Christian settled into schools.

‘It was invaluable to have that time; you don’t meet quite so many people if you have to put your children into pre- and after school clubs. I’ve met lots of parents this way, and it’s helped me settle into the area.

‘Andy’s a keen rower, so as we’re near the River Thames it’s great for him – he’s joined the local rowing club, and I hope the children will get involved with water sports when they’re older. In the meantime, we’ve signed them up for all sorts of activities and associations so that they can make new friends.’

FEATURE NAOMI JONES STYLING SIAN WILLIAMS PHOTOGRAPHS BRENT DARBY
Featured in the May 2010 issue of Period Living