A home in Lanelli, Wales, with art deco influences is on the market after being in the same family’s ownership since 1939. Very little inside this detached home has changed since September 1939, with many original features, and items of furniture, remaining from the same era.
Stepping inside, you are immediately transported back to a time when families would gather around the transistor radio, listening to news of World War II after a hard day’s work.
This distinctive house is a real gem for period feature enthusiasts. The current owners have had to downsize, but hope that someone with the same passion for history will take over their home, without modernising the property too much.
The property, ‘Bryngwyn’, on Heol Bryngwili in Cross Hands, Llanelli offers period art deco features such as panelled windows, curved walls, deep coving and skirting boards. Most of the furniture dates back to the period and can be included with the property if wanted.
Very few alterations have taken place, other than in the kitchen, and stepping into the house is like stepping back in time.
When you enter the glass panelled front door, the hall still has all the original woodwork with a built in telephone seating area and storage underneath. There are solid dark wooden panelled doors throughout the property which are very in keeping for the time. One of the most iconic features is two Crittall windows at the front of the house with their original leaded classic ‘arrow’ design. Over these lovely windows there are deep decorative pelmets.
Moving on to the front parlour, there is a feature tiled fireplace with black horizontal design. In previous years this room would have been kept mostly for special occasions, visiting family or friends and unexpected guests. The kitchen/diner towards the back of the property would have been used as a sitting room by the family to relax in of an evening. It still has the original features but this warm and cosy room is less flamboyant and more multi-functional.
The kitchen was updated in the 1980s and is quite small in comparison to the more fashionable open plan living style of today. However, it is a perfectly usable space and there is room for the new owner to update this room further as a lot of the original features here have already gone. Behind the kitchen, there are other small rooms that could be used as utility areas or incorporated into a new kitchen design. There is even a boiler room and pantry, too. A pantry or walk in larder is one of the most desired property features in recent times as efficiency and bulk buying has become more fashionable. The current owners hope that whoever buys the property will choose their designs carefully to complement the current scheme.
On the second floor there are three reasonably sized bedrooms, with a master bedroom at the front of the house with access to a distinctive curved balcony.
The undoubted show stopper of the house is the bathroom, which is almost completely untouched. Indeed, few bathrooms offer tiling untouched since the 1930s. The original green design with horizontal dark accent tiles is stylish and although it looks like the bath has been replaced, the arched canopy above remains. The toilet is next door, so the bathroom feels really spacious.
Moving outside, there is a garden to the back of the property that is quite large considering its suburban location plus another lawn area to the side with a garage at the rear.
This unusual property could be loved and restored further so that it remains a home of distinction, but it remains to be seen whether this will be the case or whether it will be modernised. Bryngwyn’s current asking price is £230,000 and the house is being marketed by Clee Tompkinson Francis estate agent in Carmarthen.
Whether the property you are wishing to buy is a character home or a newer build, make sure you have a building or home survey from an Independent Chartered Surveyor.
Back to December 2018 NewsletterÂ
© www.PropertySurveying.co.uk
ME/SH/LCB