This striking Grade-II listed house, originally built in the mid-19th century largely in the French baroque style, was later restored in spectacular fashion by the renowned designer Niki Turner. The home unfolds over 3,500 sq ft with a wonderfully voluminous kitchen and dining room in the old billiard hall, as well as five generous bedrooms. The house is just beyond the centre of the popular Gloucestershire town of Stroud, set back from the road behind an electric gate. The garden is now home to a picturesque ‘folly’, perfect for eating outdoors.
Setting the Scene
Originally a large cloth merchant’s villa, the building is now divided into two semi-detached properties. It has beautiful external detailing, including a Welsh-slate mansard roof with moulded eaves cornicing and circular oeil-de-boeuf windows. This elaborate architecture has been since offset by the simple, spacious interiors. For more information, please see the History section.
The Grand Tour
There are three front doors to the house, one opening straight into the library and living room, where floor-to-ceiling bookshelves line the left-hand wall. A wide square arch flanked by engaged columns divides this space from the sitting room, which is bathed in light throughout the day through an elegant canted bay window. A woodburning stove warms the room during the winter months. Exquisite period detailing – such as the panelling lining the arch, and the cornicing – remain.
Next door is a huge open-plan kitchen and dining room. An exceptional double-height space, the soaring ceilings are capped with a large glazed lantern. The kitchen features slate worktops set against black Valchromat cabinetry. A black wood pellet three-oven range cooker sits to one side of the room, while a separate oven with hobs above is opposite. The dining area opens onto a small conservatory leading out into the garden. The space in this room has been utilised with a mezzanine study area above the kitchen. A brilliant pantry is tucked away under the stairs.
At the rear of the ground floor is a versatile studio space with skylights currently used by the owner as an upholstery workshop. There is also a useful utility area and WC, clad in tongue and groove panelling, and a glazed entrance porch designed by Turner. Steps lead from the studio to a cellar, currently used for storage.
The first floor features three bedrooms, the largest of which also has a vast bay window, echoing the floor below, with far-reaching views over Stroud. There is also a family bathroom on this floor, notable for its bespoke fittings, formed from copper piping, that Turner also designed.
On the second floor are two further bedrooms, one with a beautiful circular oeil-de-boeuf window and a shower room. Again, there are lovely views from this floor, across the Slad Valley to the rear of the house.
The Great Outdoors
The front of the house is home to a flourishing garden thoughtfully designed and planted by the current owners. Espaliered pear and apple trees are growing along one wall, while sweet-smelling Kifsgate roses are draped over a handmade oak pergola, disguising the parking space below. Thriving climbers include honeysuckle, wisteria, clematis and a climbing hydrangea.
A Corten steel water feature is found at the foot of the garden, complete with a long rill. Behind is the garden folly, hand-carved by French stonemason Sebastien David from Lepine limestone, the same material used in the restorations of Gloucester Cathedral. He echoed the Tuscan columns on the original portico of the villa’s west façade. Featuring reclaimed Gothic stained glass windows, the folly provides a cool spot to dine in on a summer’s evening. There is ample space for keeping chickens.
A gravelled lane leads down the side of the house to the side entrance.
Out and About
The Gloucestershire town of Stroud stands at the meeting point of the Five Valleys and is surrounded by the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in all directions. The house is located in a residential area of the town, within easy reach of its shops and cafés – Waitrose is within 10 mins walking distance. Stroud also has a national award-winning farmers market and numerous highly-regarded schools. The music scene is vibrant in this artistic town, with venues across town, such as The Subscription Rooms, supporting a variety of performances year-round.
There are many brilliant independent restaurants, shops and pubs, including Wilder in Nailsworth, the popular 300-year-old pub, The Woolpack in nearby Slad, perfect for a rural amble and a pint, and interiors shop Object Story.
The larger town of Cheltenham is 12 miles away, and the house is a 30-minute drive from junction 15 of the M4. Bath and Bristol are also both under an hour from the house by car. The railway station, where direct trains run to London Paddington in approximately one and a half hours, is a 10-minute walk away.
Council Tax Band: F
History
With its earliest origins as an outlying area of Bisley, Stroud as a separate town began to emerge in the 13th century. It was originally recorded as “la Strode”, referring to the marshy territory where the River Frome and Slad Brook join.
Despite its watery terrain, the earliest houses of the town appear to have been built on the well-drained slope at the end of the ridge, on the edge of Slad Brook. The river Frome started to be known as Stroudwater, hence the name Stroud.
By the 16th century, Stroud was seeing rapid growth. The Cotswolds has always been well-known for its wool trade, and Stroud’s position next to a myriad of streams meant it was perfect for mills. As such, the town became a hub for the woollen cloth and clothing industry.
The town was described in 1714 as ‘the metropolitical town . . . for the clothing trade’ and in 1757 as ‘a sort of capital of the clothing villages’, its name now synonymous with high-quality richly-dyed broadcloth.
By the late 18th and early 19th century, roads improved, and the canals linked Stroud to the Severn and Thames, creating even more industry. Its position as the focus of an important industrial region was recognized in 1832 when it was made the centre of a parliamentary borough.
This particular time of expansion which saw broad and elegantly streets appear in the Georgian and neo-classical style. The Subscription Rooms (1833-34), likely built not long before this house, provided a prominent social focus for the new part of the town. In 1845, the Great Western Railway line came to Stroud, providing the town with infrastructure for industrial growth, bringing new wealth.
The cloth industry had lost dominance in the parish by the end of the 19th century. Still, the adaptation of the mills to a variety of light industrial purposes maintained the growth of the population during the 20th century.
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