New homes revive Arts and Crafts movement
The Arts & Crafts movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries inspired much of the traditional housing we see around us today. As a reaction to mass produced products of the period, the movement looked to create beauty through attention to detail and design. Niche developer Tillingbourne Homes has taken just this stance in creating unique, design-led properties inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement. The company has recently started marketing its latest project, Warwick Heights, located in the scenic, sought after town of Guildford in Surrey.
The Arts & Crafts ideals of high quality, crafted items, details, designs and structures are certainly to be welcomed, especially within a new-build housing sector where true quality is often overlooked for efficiency even at the top-end of the market. Warwick Heights is a substantial six bedroom family home boasting over 8,000sqft of living space plus a combination of high-quality interior fittings and a breathtaking countryside backdrop.
Director Annabel Bishop comments; “Our approach to designing and crafting new homes has always been inspired by the Arts & Crafts period. Influenced by Sir Edwin Lutyens and William Morris, Warwick Heights offers numerous examples of the kind of architectural detail that the design movement made popular among country mansion construction around a century ago. This is evident throughout the property from the striking external façade to the detailed hand-crafted interiors.”
With a majestic triple gabled façade providing an immediately striking feature, Warwick Heights has many features typical of traditional Lutyens buildings including copper guttering, brick window mullions and chimney owl box. Internal fittings have been extensively sourced specifically for the property with both modern and classical influences incorporated, including; Italian porcelain kitchen tiling, limestone Portuguese Mafra fireplace and tumbled Indian sandstone terracing.
Visitors to Warwick Heights are welcomed by a Millstone front step and triple height entrance hall overlooked by and Italian-sourced chandelier. A stunning 32 x 22 ft kitchen features a spiral 1,400-bottle underfloor wine cellar, Poggenpohl fittings, glacier white Corian worktops, multiple ovens and walk-in larder. The majestic lounge and dining rooms boast wood flooring and authentic wood-burning fireplaces. Upstairs, six generously sized bedrooms all have en-suite bathrooms with Hansgrohe raindance showers and Philippe Stark baths, whilst a galleried library area lies off the first floor and on the second floor a games/home cinema room is fully wired for multimedia.
Annabel adds: “Purchasers may believe a property of this size commands high running costs however we have designed Warwick Heights to be environmentally friendly through labour and energy saving technology. For example, efficient air source heat pumps provide hot water and underfloor heating as part of an innovative system that converts each 1kw input of electrical power to 3-4kw of output heat. While out in the garden there is a computer-controlled Watermatic garden irrigation system which uses rainwater collected from surface run off.”
Part of Surrey’s appeal is that it features more woodland than any other UK county, and the geographical advantages of this area are perfectly expressed by Warwick Height’s own stunning location. The property is literally at the edge of the countryside with nothing but sweeping views of the North Downs beyond the end of its own large landscaped garden and the natural scenery of Chantry Woods, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Pewley Down within walking distance. Each ground floor entertaining room includes French doors that open out onto a South-facing sun terrace spanning the width of the house, providing fantastic views of this wonderfully verdant landscape.
This provides an idyllic rural setting to unwind in, yet residents remain within moments of Guildford’s scenic town centre with its own range of bistros, bars and boutique stores. Renowned state and private schools serving all age groups are within easy reach, including the Royal Grammar School, Guildford High School, Tormead, Lanesborough and Charterhouse. Also within the town centre is Guildford station, providing a regular direct service to Waterloo in under 40 minutes. Additionally the town provides direct links to Heathrow and Gatwick airports in around 40 minutes by car and is within easy reach of the M25 and A3.
Warwick Heights is priced at £3.75million and is available through Hamptons, email guildfordcountryhouse@hamptons-int.com, and Hill Clements, email info@hillclements.com. Alternatively visit tillingbournehomes.co.uk.
