Villa-style home in top Leeds village
Dyneley Close, Bramhope Price: £1.2m www.davidphillip.co.uk
Completely hidden in a private idyll in the centre of one of Leeds’s most desirable villages, this 4,000 sq ft house has an interesting architectural history.
It started life as a small
1930s bungalow. In 1981, a large extension was added and the result is a property that now resembles a Spanish villa. Inside, all the rooms in the house are super-size and the hall is 43ft long.
Kit Hemsley and her husband, Richard, bought the property 14 years ago, after spotting the opportunity to remodel the house to suit family life. It has proved perfect for them and their children.
“It was the size of the house and the location that attracted us. It’s not conventional looking but it works really well for a family and it is right in the centre of the village, though because it is surrounded by a walled garden, very few people realise it is even here. It’s also really easy to get into Leeds city centre and to Leeds Bradford airport from here,” says Kit.
Another selling point was the amount of natural light in the property thanks to its picture windows and glazed patio doors.
“There were 13 sets of patio doors originally, which was a few too many, so we whittled that down to nine,” says Kit, who also had one of the two double garages converted into a ground-floor sitting room.
Outside, the south-facing walled garden has been transformed into a beautiful oasis and is a former Leeds in Bloom winner. It now features everything from palm trees to mimosa and a fig tree along with a flagged terrace.
The garden is also home to
Kit’s pottery studio. She is a wellknown ceramicist whose work reflects her childhood on the coast, near Whitby.
A move back to the coast is the reason why she and Richard are now selling their family home.
“Our children are grown up now and so we are renovating a house at Runswick and plan to buy a smaller house here in Leeds as a base but we will have happy memories of living here,” says Kit.
The house has a sitting room, an enormous living kitchen, a hobbies room, utility room plus four bedrooms and two bathrooms on the ground floor. The first floor has a large sitting room and two bedrooms with balconies, and two bathrooms.
■ Kit Hemsley’s work can be found at www.kit-designs.co.uk and on this weekend’s virtual North Yorkshire Open Studios tour, www.nyos.org.uk