1960s Roger Dyer midcentury modern house in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
This 1960s Roger Dyer midcentury modern house in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire isn’t the architecture you expect of this area.
But this is here, the work of a man who was far from a traditional architect and a name that has featured on these pages before. In fact, I believe this house was up for sale in 2014 and another Roger Dyer from the 1970s was featured in 2015.
This house is perhaps more interesting, as it really seems like it should be on the other side of the Atlantic.
That’s no accident either. This house, described by the Cheltenham Civic Society as ‘an excellent example of 1960’s Modern architecture’, was inspired by the Eichler concept in the US.
Roger Dyer worked in California for Eichler Homes for a time and on his return to the UK, he designed something very similar to that kind of home here for himself, mimicking the detail right down to the trademark beams. Looking around I don’t think much has changed.
Well, it has and it hasn’t. The architecture hasn’t changed much and the key details of the property are still in place too. Hardly surprising as the house has had just two owners since Dyer.
But the finish is generally more contemporary, which was also the case last time I featured it. In fact, outside of some furnishings, not a great deal has changed in the last four or so years.
I suspect the original design has more natural wood and exposed brick finishes, but in recent years, the design has gone all white. So white for the wood ceilings and beams and white for the walls and partition walls, although some exposed brick still survives. as does the full height glazing.
The house itself is set well back from the main road and sits on a large, private plot. Enter in and you access a large central living space. All rooms and spaces lead from this central, light filled hall.
On the left is the reception area and to the right the bedrooms. A door leads to the large living room with original white painted brick walls and feature wall of blue-black engineering bricks, which carries through to the outside.
Beyond the central hall are three distinct (but open plan zones), those being the kitchen, the day room and the dining area all with a slate floor and combining to create a natural entertaining space. The kitchen also access a utility and separate WC.
On the right of the central living space you will find the bedroom wing. The master bedroom suite has built-in cupboards/dressing area and an en-suite bathroom. There are three more bedrooms, two of which have built in cupboards, plus a family bathroom. Note that all the bedrooms overlook the gardens and many original features have been retained both here and elsewhere, including the full height doors, storage and ‘carefully preserved’ light fittings.
The agent adds that the house was ‘comprehensively renovated and refurbished’ in 2003, which added in more energy efficiency, including a high specification roof with additional insulation, external insulated render system, on external walls, Nu-Heat warm water under floor heating and Velfac windows and roof lights.
So the best of the old and the new here. If this is your dream home, the price has barely changed over the years, but still not a cheap option at £1,000,000.
Images and details courtesy of Perry Bishop. For more details and to make an enquiry, please visit the website.
