1960s Ryder and Yates modernist house in Woolsington, near Newcastle

Grade II-listed modernism

1960s, Modernist, United Kingdom

1960s Ryder and Yates modernist house in Woolsington, near Newcastle

Sympathetically updated, this 1960s Ryder and Yates modernist house in Woolsington, near Newcastle is a wonderful piece of architecture.

The house, which is grade II-listed and goes by the name of Trees, was the work of the Ryder and Yates practice back in 1968.

In fact, the house was designed for Gordon Ryder and his family, the last of seven sharing a ‘rectilinear plan’ and the most ambitious, as well as the most complete in 2019.

The house has appeared in many publications, making the front cover of the RIBA publication ‘Ryder and Yates’, as well as being featured in the 20th Century Society book 100 Houses 100 Years (the 1968 entry), and was also prominent in the Brutal amd Beautiful Exhibition organised by English Heritage at the Quadriga Gallery in 2013. So a house of some pedigree.

Trees was taken on by the current owners around 20 years ago, who have overseen that sympathetic restoration and it is respectful of the original design too. Yes, there are some parts of the house that are more 21st century than 1960s, but that’s not really an issue. The design itself and many of its features have been respected.

That includes a layout the same as the original, with separate children’s and parents’ accommodation – the children’s section on the ground floor and the parents’ bedroom and living space on the first floor.

Of course, you can’t miss the glazing in the sitting room, complete with ‘grey-green’ panels framing the wonderful views and emphasising the double-height space. An amazing gallery section too, also benefitting from that view and a separate one via a porthole window.

There’s also an original curved hessian wall in the dining room, plus Peter Yates stencilled timber wardrobes and a high walled roof terrace leading from the master bedroom to appreciate, as well as all of those clean, white finishes, some exposed brick, the odd design classic (unlikely to be staying) and the effortless flow from one section of the house to another. Lovely stuff.

Talking of the space, there’s no shortage of that, both inside and out.

The ground floor starts with a reception hallway with cloakroom/WC. Beyond that is the galley kitchen with utility along with the designated children’s area.

That is made up of a family room, four children’s bedrooms (currently configured as two bedrooms and two study areas) and a shower room/WC. A boiler room completes the lower layout.

The parents’ area too, of course. That comprises of the dining room with patio door to the garden, that wonderful sitting room with paraboloid ceiling and picture window overlooking the fields, a mezzanine upper lounge with a ’bridge’ from the hallway and a hobby/music room (which has been used as a twin bedroom in the past).

Also here is a double bedroom with en-suite shower/WC and the master bedroom with the original stencilled wardrobes, en-suite bathroom and access to there walled roof garden.

But that’s not quite all the space. Of course, you get the double integral garage too, but the current owners have also added in an Ecospace garden office/studio complete with a sedum roof. Very useful and an incredibly stylish addition to the site.

In terms of the site, that is a mature garden site with lawns and trees of around 0.6 acres, with a wide gated entrance plus a driveway for eight cars. According to the agent, it’s a ‘haven’ for birds and wildlife is that’s your thing.