Manygate Lane in Shepperton was once home to the likes of Tom Jones and Julie Christie – and it still swings
When Tim Bubb first stepped inside his two-bedroom terrace in Shepperton, Middlesex – one of Swiss architect Edward Schoolheifer's 1964 masterpieces – years of house-hunting came to an end. "I knew within seconds that we'd buy it," Bubb, 36, says. "It was so exciting, standing in this iconic house I'd desperately wanted for so long, with its original features intact."
Bubb, who runs a mid-century furniture business had lusted after Schoolheifer's radical terraces in Manygate Lane since he first set eyes on them in 2010. Previous residents include Tom Jones, Julie Christie and Marlon Brando, who bought or rented them while filming at the nearby studios. (There is a great photograph of Tom Jones posing on a Jag outside his pad.)
All the homes have built-in car ports, reflecting the growing importance of the car in the early 60s. Built to a high specification, the homes were originally sold for £7,695 each, a considerable sum at a time when the average price for a similar house in London was £3,500. The estate was designated a conservation area in 2002.
"It's so unusual to see such bold, modernist residential architecture in England. It looks more like something you'd find in Copenhagen," says Bubb, whose passion for the period was ignited as a teenager after watching an early James Bond film. "I love the elegant design, with all that glass, with the landscaped quadrangles that surround the houses."
Bubb and his wife Akiko had already looked at two other houses on the street, but these had been modernised. "One owner had even taken out the mezzanine floor, which was bizarre, because it was an integral part of the design," Bubb says. The search became urgent when the couple found themselves homeless just after Akiko became pregnant with their first child. They had been renting a 1950s house on the Eric Lyons-designed Span estate in nearby Ham. Houses rarely come up in Manygate Lane, but in desperation Bubb rang round estate agents one last time. One of them did a leaflet drop and found a seller; the couple moved in with three-week-old Alex just before Christmas in 2011.
The house has three open-plan storeys, with the entrance hall and kitchen on the ground floor, a spiral staircase to the sitting room and second bedroom, and a further staircase to a mezzanine floor with the master bedroom and bathroom.
It had not survived the 50 years since Schoolheifer unleashed his experimental design upon Middlesex completely unscathed. The teak and beech stairs and doors were buried beneath years of gloss paint, and the sitting room's pine ceiling had been removed.
"My first task was to strip the stairs back to their original wood," Bubb says. "I started with the spiral staircase and set myself a target of two steps a week." Reinstating the pine-clad ceiling was easier. "The hardest part was staining the wood the right colour to make it look as if it had been there for 50 years. I made countless trips to Homebase for trial pots of stain."
So it has been hard graft. "But then I lie down on the sofa, gaze out at the trees and the sky, and it's worth every aching muscle." Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.
When Tim Bubb first stepped inside his two-bedroom terrace in Shepperton, Middlesex – one of Swiss architect Edward Schoolheifer's 1964 masterpieces – years of house-hunting came to an end. "I knew within seconds that we'd buy it," Bubb, 36, says. "It was so exciting, standing in this iconic house I'd desperately wanted for so long, with its original features intact."
Bubb, who runs a mid-century furniture business had lusted after Schoolheifer's radical terraces in Manygate Lane since he first set eyes on them in 2010. Previous residents include Tom Jones, Julie Christie and Marlon Brando, who bought or rented them while filming at the nearby studios. (There is a great photograph of Tom Jones posing on a Jag outside his pad.)
All the homes have built-in car ports, reflecting the growing importance of the car in the early 60s. Built to a high specification, the homes were originally sold for £7,695 each, a considerable sum at a time when the average price for a similar house in London was £3,500. The estate was designated a conservation area in 2002.
"It's so unusual to see such bold, modernist residential architecture in England. It looks more like something you'd find in Copenhagen," says Bubb, whose passion for the period was ignited as a teenager after watching an early James Bond film. "I love the elegant design, with all that glass, with the landscaped quadrangles that surround the houses."
Bubb and his wife Akiko had already looked at two other houses on the street, but these had been modernised. "One owner had even taken out the mezzanine floor, which was bizarre, because it was an integral part of the design," Bubb says. The search became urgent when the couple found themselves homeless just after Akiko became pregnant with their first child. They had been renting a 1950s house on the Eric Lyons-designed Span estate in nearby Ham. Houses rarely come up in Manygate Lane, but in desperation Bubb rang round estate agents one last time. One of them did a leaflet drop and found a seller; the couple moved in with three-week-old Alex just before Christmas in 2011.
The house has three open-plan storeys, with the entrance hall and kitchen on the ground floor, a spiral staircase to the sitting room and second bedroom, and a further staircase to a mezzanine floor with the master bedroom and bathroom.
It had not survived the 50 years since Schoolheifer unleashed his experimental design upon Middlesex completely unscathed. The teak and beech stairs and doors were buried beneath years of gloss paint, and the sitting room's pine ceiling had been removed.
"My first task was to strip the stairs back to their original wood," Bubb says. "I started with the spiral staircase and set myself a target of two steps a week." Reinstating the pine-clad ceiling was easier. "The hardest part was staining the wood the right colour to make it look as if it had been there for 50 years. I made countless trips to Homebase for trial pots of stain."
So it has been hard graft. "But then I lie down on the sofa, gaze out at the trees and the sky, and it's worth every aching muscle." Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.