A chance to own a piece of Sir Tom’s Swinging Sixties
THERE aren’t too many people who can claim to be living in a Welsh icon’s former home.
But if the walls at this party pad once owned by Sir Tom Jones could talk, they would no doubt tell colourful stories of A-list celebrity parties and gossip from the time when the boy from Pontypridd became a superstar and bought a swanky Surrey dream home that, at the time, was a high-end contemporary abode.
The singer lived on the funky Manygate Lane estate with his wife Linda and son Mark in the 1960s before they moved to Sunbury. Such was the status of this estate near Shepperton Studios that it was not unusual for it to attract a range of celebrity homeowners, so maybe Marlon Brando, Dickie Valentine or Julie Christie popped in at some point.
In his autobiography Over the Top and Back, Sir Tom describes many stars gravitating to the area with its “nice houses”, “privacy” and location “within striking distance of the city” as it’s just 15 miles or so from London.
The two-storey open-plan houses were designed by Swiss architect Edward
Schoolheifer and built in 1964 by the Lyons Group. At the time the modernist design was considered radical and included large windows, wood panelling and flat roofs, with the homes clustered around two landscaped quadrangles.
The open-plan living areas were designed to blur the boundaries between the house and the outside, with both front and rear gardens visible from many vantage points inside – a feature popular in modern homes today.
Many people like to rummage around in their home’s past to find out about its background. Imagine finding out a Welsh
legend used to sleep, eat and surely sing in the shower at your current home!
But the current owners of Sir Tom’s Shepperton home, Adam James and his partner Brynn Robinson, had no idea they were purchasing a slice of property history. Only after the sale had completed did the couple find Sir Tom’s name on the original paperwork as a past owner.
After much discussion the couple decided they had to bring Sir Tom back into the house in some way. Adam joked they discussed creating a “Tom Jones shrine in the toilet” but settled on some large black and white prints of Sir Tom relaxing in the home which are now displayed around the house.
Adam said: “This was his first family house he bought. Green, Green Grass of Home was released and rumour has it that he had green carpet laid upstairs in the house. When we moved in we found a bit of it under the wardrobe when we were clearing out upstairs.”
Since then this strip of green carpet has become famous, appearing on The One Show during a feature about Sir Tom.
The house now has sophisticated interior design that oozes retro elegance. It retains many classic 1960s features including huge windows, wood-panelled ceilings and New Zealand Jarrah wood floors.
The couple’s interior design taste is influenced by the decade, with clean lines, strong accent colours and a
1960s-style sofa as the living area’s centrepiece. The ground floor offers a spacious reception room that spans the width of the house and connects to the garden via a wall of glass floor-to-ceiling windows and doors.
Open doorless walkways flank the central kitchen that looks out over the rear garden and front door from its forwardfacing units. This central zone of the ground floor also houses a cloakroom and two handy storage rooms. Upstairs are three generous bedrooms and a bathroom with a stylish monochrome design scheme.
Adam and Brynn found Sir Tom’s house in 2000 by accident when Adam visited two friends who were renting on the estate. Adam said: “It was quite dark when I arrived but the whole estate was lit up. It was like I had just arrived in the Hollywood Hills. This is California living in the suburbs.”
The pair were smitten with the estate’s authentic retro cool and seized the chance to bag this gem.
Back in the 1960s the house probably set Sir Tom back about £8,000 but now you’re going to need to find £650,000 down the back of the 1960s-style sofa.
If you can afford it, it’s a small price to pay to bag a property to call your very own green, green grass of home – and whether you decide to fit it out with green carpet or not is totally up to you.
For more information, contact The Modern House on 020 3795 5920.