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Reinventing the bungalow: single-storey showstoppers that redefine low-rise luxury

This four-bedroom home in Shepperton, Surrey, has a wraparound terrace accessible from all the main rooms, offering views from its elevated Thameside position. It is £1.595 million with John D Wood - Nick Ayliiffe
This four-bedroom home in Shepperton, Surrey, has a wraparound terrace accessible from all the main rooms, offering views from its elevated Thameside position. It is £1.595 million with John D Wood - Nick Ayliiffe

After 47 years in the same home, Ann and John Eldridge are doing exactly what the Government wants the older generation to do – selling their farmhouse, downsizing, and freeing up a family home.

Their advancing years – both are in their late 70s – means they need a smaller, single-level home with a manageable garden. But after months of dispiriting house hunting, the couple had come up blank.

“I am sure there are some nice bungalows – but not where we wanted one,” says John, a retired businessman. “They seem to be very small, and they are crammed together.”

I hate the word ‘bungalow’ – it is a single-storey house and a marvellous place to bring up a family

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Since the first British bungalows were built in Westgate-on-Sea in Kent in around 1870, they have quietly become the most derided of all homes. Often prefabricated, and frequently designed with a splatter of pebbledash or a mock Tudor flourish, bungalows boomed between the wars.

Despite aesthetic shortcomings, the convenience of these homes for those who don’t want to tackle stairs and a shortage of supply means they often sell at a substantial premium. Ed Bennett of Wilson & Betts estate agency estimates that a three-bedroom bungalow in Norfolk’s Downham Market would cost between £200,000 and £350,000, while a three-bedroom house would go for around £180,000 to £300,000. But they are rarely a pretty sight.

Headlands - Credit: Hawkes Architecture
Headlands, the Eldridges’ leaf-topped bungalow Credit: Hawkes Architecture

The Eldridges, who have three adult children, decided they were not willing to compromise. The couple’s current home is a farmhouse, within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and they decided to make use of one of their fields to build a showpiece bungalow. They hired architect Richard Hawkes, founder of Hawkes Architecture, to draw up the plans. The house, currently under construction, is extraordinary – a playful, innovative home inspired by nature. Its open-plan core has a zinc-clad roof designed to resemble a leaf.

Like a real leaf, it is slightly tilted to channel rainwater along its “stem”, which will be used to feed a series of ponds and streams on the site. This space will act as kitchen, dining room, living room and study, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows offering panoramic views. The bedrooms are in a second wing, more pared down and discreet. Its green roof and timber and Cotswold stone cladding will help it merge into its bucolic surroundings.

Work began last summer, and by October the Eldridges hope to be able to move into the property, which will cost around £1.25 million to build.

The Eldridges are among increasing numbers of self-builders struggling to find a retirement property they like.

the lanes - Credit: David Butler
Mole Architects extended The Lanes, a single-storey home near Cambridge Credit: David Butler

These homes are not always built at huge cost from the ground up. Some retirees buy a conventional bungalow and then remodel it. With a budget of £114,000 (excluding VAT and professional fees), Mole Architects transformed a mean-looking little bungalow in the village of Over near Cambridge into a larger and quite unrecognisable home for a couple who wanted a future-proofed home.

To reinvent the bungalow, Mole extended it by around 10ft across the front façade, clad the front in slender cedar boards to make it look taller and more elegant, and linked the separate garage to the house. They also altered the conventional existing roofline, creating a series of pitches along the front of the house, creating another illusion of height.

Bungalows take up a large footprint, and therefore their cost per square metre is much higher to developers

“The bungalows designed in the Fifties were – mostly – practical, but not very enlightened,” says Ian Bramwell, a director at Mole Architects. “But they do have huge potential. Generally they are quite large and you can get a fantastic sense of space and long views through the house. The problems tend to start when you step outside and look at the house, but it is possible to work with that long, low façade and make [the property] far less dull and drab.”

A stylish bungalow on the market is a rare beast, for a perfect storm of reasons. Britain’s ageing population is increasing demand, and supply is declining because mainstream developers tend not to build them.

“They take up a large footprint, and therefore their cost per square metre is much higher to developers, so on most new developments they are excluded,” says Bramwell.

surrey
Set within stylish south-facing gardens, this six-bedroom family home in Surrey is £3.75 million with Knight Frank

In 1996, seven per cent of new-builds were bungalows, according to the National House Building Council (NHBC). That has since slumped to just two per cent. If this trend continues, the Papworth Trust, which helps people with disabilities to live independently, predicts that no bungalows at all will be built in 2020.

Savills director Sarah-Jane Bingham-Chick says bungalows are also often extended into conventional homes, slowly whittling away existing supply. “Some people buy them and then convert the loft – that is really quite common,” she says. “They then call it a chalet bungalow, but that is really just another name for a house.”

A rare beast they may be – but not quite extinct. Knight Frank is selling a Queen Anne-style bungalow in Windlesham, Surrey. The five-bedroom property has luxuriously modern interiors – all blonde wood floors and marble bathrooms – and the master bedroom leads directly onto a large terrace overlooking the garden. It is on the market for £3.75 million.

In nearby Shepperton, John D Wood is selling a knockout of a bungalow built beside the River Thames. The four-bedroom home, for sale at £1.595 million, is encircled by a wraparound terrace so that all the main rooms lead out onto the deck, while the almost fully glazed gable wall adds both visual impact and daylight.

Sunninghill
A palatial pavilion in Sunninghill, Berkshire, covers 5,910 sq ft and is £3.75 million with Knight Frank

Jerry Tate, a partner at Tate Harmer architects, became a fan of the bungalow after working on a project near Aldborough, Sussex. Hired by a London couple who wanted a home for retirement, he opted for a chopped up version of a traditional barn, clad in blackened charred larch. The building has a main section with a diagonally sloping roof attached to a lower section, whose roof tilts up to meet it.

The 1,500 sq ft, three-bedroom house was built in 2015 at a cost of £290,000 (excluding fees; VAT is not charged on new builds). Although it looks youthful and contemporary with its concrete floors and open plan living space, it has also been carefully future-proofed. It is wheelchair accessible, with level-access showers, and is highly energy efficient to protect against high winter fuel bills.

Of course not everyone moves into a bungalow when they retire. Chris Grad, 67, and his wife Resi, 66, are taking the reverse approach. They moved to their palatial bungalow – owned by the actress Diana Dors in the Sixties – in Sunninghill, Berkshire, in 1976, and brought up two sons there.

Charred House - Credit: Kilian O'Sullivan
Charred House, designed by Tate Harmer, cost £290,000 to build Credit: Kilian O'Sullivan

Chris, who founded a logistics company, and Resi, an interior designer, are now retired and are selling the four-bedroom bungalow to move to an apartment nearby. With a home in Spain, and five grandchildren to visit, they want a lock-up-and-leave property, not a 5,910 sq ft house with a pool, tennis courts and gardens. The house is on the market with Knight Frank for £3.75 million.

“I hate the word ‘bungalow’ – it is a single-storey house and a marvellous place to bring up a family, we used to have great sports days with the children when they were young,” says Chris. “The advantages are the convenience, it’s like living in a very large flat – and the panoramic views.”

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