For sale: A gem frozen in time
1930s property ‘untouched’
IMAGINE sitting around a roaring fire and classic art deco 1930s fireplace, listening to the radio while catching up with the day’s Second World War news, as your partner cooked dinner in the small kitchen and children played in the back room.
That was family life in September 1939, when this iconic art deco detached home was built, and very little inside has changed since; even most of the furniture are original pieces from the era.
The keys to this distinct home in Cross Hands, called Heol Bryngwili, were handed over in the autumn of 1939 and haven’t left the family since, until now. The current owners are reluctantly moving as they need to downsize.
An art deco gem, it’s the most distinct house on the street. Once inside, it’s like stepping back in time; very little has changed.
You enter through the glass-panelled front door and the hall still has all the original woodwork, including a brilliant built-in telephone seat and storage area.
The stair rail, wood block flooring and door pelmet all promote the classic dark wood interior design of the era. Deep coving and skirting boards, and solid wood panelled interior doors throughout add to the 1930s touches.
Into the front reception room and one of the stand-out features are the two crittall windows. Multi-panelled and including a leaded classic “arrow” design in one panel, these windows are a must-have in an authentic art deco home.
Over the windows are decorative window pelmets incorporating classic stepped art deco design.
This attention to detail illustrates how important the design of the home was to the builder and the family who then owned it. The tiled fireplace with accent black horizontal tiling is straight out of a 1930s design book and has surely been the main gathering point for the family and visitors through the decades.
The arched alcove above the fireplace again shows that art deco design was, and still is, an important aspect of this home.
As was common decades ago, this front room would have probably been considered as the parlour, the posh room reserved for visitors and important family gatherings. The most used room by all family members would most likely have been the rear sitting room.
In this family room the atmosphere is more relaxed. The fireplace is arguably less flamboyant than the front room and the built-in cupboards suggest a multifunctioning family room.
This warm and cosy room still emanates the atmosphere of yesteryear and the life of a busy family using the space.
Decades ago this room would have been the heart-of-the-home, not the kitchen/diner as it is today.
Updated during the 1980s, the kitchen is small by today’s standards. Although perfectly usable, there is scope for a new owner to create a spacious kitchen/ diner at the rear of the property. There are a number of small rooms behind the kitchen that could be incorporated into the space.
Upstairs there are three bedrooms, with the master at the front of the house having direct access onto a curved balcony. But the star of the show is undoubtedly the bathroom.
There is an arched canopy over the bath, ceiling coving and a 1930s-style basin and taps.
The house is on the market for £230,000 with Clee Tompkinson Francis’s Carmarthen branch.