WowHaus

This 1920s Peter Behrens-designed New Ways art deco house in Northampton, Northamptonshire has just hit the market.

It is a very special house and offers everything you would expect of a grade II* listed property, including a good amount of originality.

The house, as you might have noticed from the frontage, dates back to 1926, when it was designed by industrial engineer Peter Behrens for Mr W J Bassett-Lowke, who has a factory in Northampton specialising in the production of construction sets, and model railways, boats and ships.

I’m going for the term art deco as a catch-all, but this is probably more of an early modernist property, with the agent adding that the house is thought to have been the first property built in the UK in the German Expressionist style.

It was also listed in 1952 due to it being possibly the first modernist house in Britain.

There’s something else of interest here and again, in superb condition. Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed some of the internal features in this house and judging by the imagery, they look almost new.

But don’t expect to find the rest of the house as some kind of time capsule. That really wouldn’t be likely after almost a century. It does, however, maintain a lot of originality.

Looking around the place, the kitchen and bathrooms are obviously fairly recent. But beyond that, it looks to be just a case of fixtures, fittings and decor that have seen work. As I said, pretty much as you would expect.

That early listing status might well have protected this house from any more significant work, which is something we really do need to be thankful for. A house that really does need preserving.

Yes, it is a house rather than a museum and if you are looking for something in this style and in this era, you probably want to know about the living space and features within.

Go beyond that wonderful front door and access the entrance porch with glass panelling, which takes you into the reception hall.

The main hall has what’s described as a ‘grand central staircase’, a water feature and full height triangular window. Off the main hall is a study with ceiling rose and a sitting room with stone fireplace and tile inset, stained glass lighting panels and an art deco-style lantern light. Double doors lead to an outside loggia. There is a separate dining room, with further double doors accessing the loggia area.

A secondary hallway accesses a snug and kitchen/breakfast room, which looks to be a fairly recent upgrade.

On the first floor, there are five double bedrooms and two bath/shower rooms offering en-suite facilities to both bedrooms one and two. Fitted washbasins can be found in bedrooms four and five. There looks to be a good amount of originality in the bedrooms, with the bathrooms looking like they have been worked on more recently.

That’s not quite all the space, as the house also has a lower ground floor area, which is currently made up of a laundry room, cellar and stores. The agent points out the potential for conversion here if you need more space and you get the relevant permissions.

Outside space as well and significant too. Double wrought iron gates lead to a private driveway with off-road parking for a number of vehicles, along with a detached double garage. There is also gated pedestrian access.

The main gardens are at the rear of the house and are made up of a raised terrace for entertaining and dining, with steps to the main lawned area plus flowers and shrubs as borders. A paved pathway leads to a further ‘sunken’ garden with outdoor swimming pool area.

Fancy it? I’m sure a lot of you do. If you want to move into New Ways, you will need something in the region of £875,000. Not cheap by any means, but perhaps a little cheaper than you might think for a house of this size and significance. Oh, do check out the cover of Ideal Home below featuring the house too.

Images and details courtesy of Jackson-Stops. For more details and to make an enquiry, please visit the website.

Huge thanks to Andy for the tip off!