22, Ladywood Road, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham

Summary

A detached, suburban house designed by William Bidlake for Mr Yates and built in 1901-2. It is in an advanced style which owes few stylistic debts, but includes elements of Arts and Crafts design.

Description

A house, designed by William Bidlake and built in 1901-2 for HJ Yates. It was later extended by the addition of a garage block, in the period between 1905 and 1918. In 2005 a fire caused the rebuilding of the south and west fronts and parts of the service court, as well as internal alterations.

MATERIALS: hand-made, red brick laid in English bond, with stone dressings and a gabled roof of plain, hand-made tiles.

PLAN: The house has two and three storeys with cellars and is L-shaped, with a spinal range running east-west containing the principal rooms. A service court, which included garages and a stable to its east side, stood to the north-west corner (now demolished). The plan shown in Muthesius (see Selected Sources) corresponds to the general outlines of the principal block of the house today. This shows a central entrance hall with staircase hall to its south. The study and sitting room are to the east and the dining room to the west. The first floor has a large landing area at the head of the stairs.

EXTERIOR: The external brick faces of the south and west fronts were rebuilt after 2005 with handmade bricks and ashlar dressings which were a close match to the original materials. The north and east fronts were also re-pointed at this time and damaged bricks were cut out and replaced. Ashlar dressings have also been renewed.
Openings were boarded at the time of survey (May 2011).
The entrance (north) front has a three-storied, gabled bay at left. This has a two-light casement to the ground floor and a three-light window to the second floor. At right is the entrance which has a projecting brick porch with octagonal timber columns and stone pilaster responds and an arched hood. To the left of this is a window lighting the hall. The roof sweeps down low above this portion of the front, and the first floor window is a dormer with segmental head and three lights. To the right of this the service wing projects. It has random fenestration to its east flank, with windows of varying sizes set at different levels. Its northern end bears the triangular mark of the former gable end of the service courtyard.

The southern, garden, front has a projecting gabled bay at right, which marks the sitting room. At ground floor level this has a stone surround which joins a doorway at left and a four-light, mullioned window to its right. To the first floor above this are a two-light and a three-light window. To left of this is the garden doorway, with a plain brick surround, above which is the mezzanine window of the staircase. At left again is the six-light window of the dining room, with stone surround and mullions and above this is a pair of three-light windows with paired gables. The western slope of the gabled bay at right has a rooflight. The west flank has a gable at right and the mark of the gable end of the former, single-storey service wing at left, with random fenestration to the rest of the front. There are four rooflights, grouped as pairs. The east flank has a gable at left and a chimney stack which projects from first floor level and carries a diamond-shaped date stone which bears the date ‘1902’ (replaced 2010). This square stack terminates in an octagonal brick flue.

INTERIOR: The entrance lobby leads east to the study and west to the entrance hall, which has panelling below a plate rail and a fitted wooden bench beneath the mullioned window. A panelled ceiling has been removed pending replacement. The sitting room has a large square alcove to its south-eastern corner, which was formerly an inglenook fireplace. A later-C20 marble fire surround has been placed further to the west on the southern side and cornice and a ceiling rose appear to be insertions of a similar date. A band of moulded plaster ornament runs around the edge of the ceiling and appears to be part of the original decorative scheme. The dining room has panelling to the walls, below a plate rail and an ingle-nook with fitted benches at either side. The ceiling has cross-axial beams with exposed joists. The open-well staircase has a closed string and an oak handrail and square newels. The half landing has square wood columns which taper towards the top and have generous, flattened caps set at either side of the mezzanine window. The first floor landing has further similar wooden columns to the north end. Above is the rebuilt and exposed wooden structure of a groin vault, from which the plaster has been removed, pending restoration. Doors at first floor level are of two recessed panels. Plasterwork to the upper floors had been removed, pending restoration.

History

The house, which has also been known as ‘Yates’ and ‘Saint Winnow’, was designed in 1901 and finished in 1902 for Mr H J Yates. William Bidlake was the architect. At some time between 1905 and 1918 the same architect altered the coach house of the service wing to create a motor house and stables. At a later date the original kitchen, scullery and meat larder were joined to create a single kitchen space. The sitting room and study both had marble fireplaces inserted of French design and a cornice and ceiling rose were added to the sitting room. The doorway and the original inglenook fireplace were altered to form a lobby entrance to the sitting room. The original provision of one bathroom at first floor level was also augmented by the conversion of a dressing room. The service courtyard to the north-east of the house was demolished after 2012.

In 2005 the house suffered a fire which started in a purlin which was seated in the brickwork of a chimney stack. This resulted in a partial collapse of the roof in the central portion of the house. The fire caused considerable damage to the roof and to the floor of the attic and the ceiling of the landing at first floor level in this central portion, but the staircase and ground floor beneath were relatively unscathed. Restoration work has included the removal of much internal plasterwork and the loss of some fittings as well as the complete refacing of the brickwork on the south and west fronts. The north and east fronts have been completely re-pointed and repaired, using hand-made bricks and including elements of the old brickwork where possible. The great majority of the stone dressings have also been replaced on all of the fronts. Window surrounds which were formerly of painted pine with oak sills have been replaced by mahogany. The roof tiling has been completely replaced using a mixed combination of the old hand-made tiles and similar replacement materials. Rooflights have been inserted after 2011 – four across the west slope of the roof of the north wing, and one to the west flank of the projecting, gabled bay on the southern, garden front.

Reasons for Listing

22, Ladywood Road, a suburban house of 1901-02, designed for Mr H J Yates by William Bidlake is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Authorship: The design, which is by the significant Edwarding architect William Bidlake, is acknowledged as one his finest.

Architectural Interest: In company with several of the most avant-garde designs of the period it pares away stylistic allusions, whilst emphasising domestic comfort and a sense of ‘home’. It retains a clearly-planned interior which succeeds through the use of connecting spaces, proportions and decorative details, in communicating a feeling of spaciousness and appropriateness.

External Links

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