1960s Malcolm Macdonald midcentury modern house in Lymington, Hampshire
One I covered previously, but this 1960s Malcolm Macdonald midcentury modern house in Lymington, Hampshire, looks much better now.
Annoyingly, for my own reference, as much as anything, this was back in 2014 – a time when I didn’t use a lot of images in articles. So, it’s hard to contrast properly, especially with the old listing no longer available with the agent. But from memory – and from what I can see – Slate Cottage has been lifted considerably.
The house dates back to 1968, the work of local architect Malcolm MacDonald (not the footballer), and although designed originally as an artist’s studio, it is a house that has aged well over the decades. Yes. the house has been updated, but the design here is a house that works just as well in the 21st century as it did back in the middle of the 20th century.
Once again, that’s down to good design. It’s a house with character and a house for living in. A great location and 1.3 acres of land on your doorstep help, too.
There is plenty of natural light (as you would expect for an artist’s dwelling), angled ceilings, beams, wood-clad walls, some exposed brick, an open-tread staircase, and easy access to the outside space – both from the upper floor and below. All the ingredients of good midcentury modern design.
Not that the house has stood still. As I said, the finish throughout looks fresher – and is pretty much ‘on the money’ for a retro dwelling in 2024 in terms of colour and finish.
Yes. some areas are updated. But features were updated when it was last listed a decade back. And the result is a fairly neutral finish throughout. Perhaps because the house has been used as a holiday rental (and a backdrop for photoshoots) in recent years. You can see why – this is a dream of a place to hang out in the summer.
But there’s nothing stopping you from pushing things along in a 1950s or 1960s style with some feature walls, a change of lighting fixtures and furnishings, and other decor throughout. The hard work has been done here. If you want to go totally MCM, that’s really the easy part.
As for the layout, a covered entrance porch with a step and front door leads into the spacious entrance hall with cloak cupboard and utility room access.
An inner glass door then leads through to the dining hall, with a further door leading to the ground-floor bedrooms and the bathroom. There are two bedrooms on this floor and an additional shower room.
From the dining hall, two steps lead down to a glazed walkway, which in turn leads to the family room (or an extra bedroom), which has a wood-burning stove and French doors leading out onto the main rear garden. This part of the house was originally the actual artist’s studio. There is also a small dressing/playroom or study.
The kitchen/breakfast room is modern, with all the storage, worktop space and appliances you would expect of such a space. See the listing for the full breakdown. Double doors open out onto the front enclosed garden.
Back to that dining hall, and the staircase leads up to the first-floor space, which, as you might have guessed, includes the main sitting room. A great space, it has those beams as well as plenty of space, plus a feature wood burning stove.
French doors open onto the roof terrace, offering you a view over all of your land. I’ll come to that in a moment. Leading off from the sitting room are two further bedrooms, one of which has an en-suite shower room.
And yes, the outside space. The house has a five-bar gate leading to the large gravel drive and a double garage. There is an area of lawn to the front and a patio which leads off from the kitchen.
To the rear, the private garden is mainly laid to lawn, with adjoining fields and woods to the rear. There are also two garden sheds, as well as a sheltered BBQ area and a gate accessing the paddock.
A lovely house, a great spot and the perfect place to spend the summer. It’s pretty cool in the winter, too. £1,290,000 is the asking price for this one.
Images and details courtesy of Caldwells. For more details and to make an enquiry, please visit the website.
