The house that time forgot: pink Art Deco mansion almost untouched since 1930s is for sale in Essex for £1.5m

The six-bedroom house was built as a country home for the Crittall windows family in the Essex village of Great Easton.
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A pink Art Deco mansion, which has changed little since it was built in 1934 for a steel window magnate, is for sale for £1.5 million.

The house is in the Essex village of Great Easton where it presents an unlikely contrast to the Norman church and 15th century half-timbered houses.

The home was built as the country residence of Walter Crittall, known as ‘Pink’, whose father founded the company making the steel-framed windows that would become the enduringly popular Crittall brand.

Pink was very involved in the design of the house working with London architecture firm Messrs Joseph with significant input from Sir Owen Williams, an eminent architect whose best known designs include Spaghetti Junction, and the Boots building in Nottingham.

The most striking feature of the two-storey house is the central glass tower, which shows off the Crittall windows to fine effect and houses the staircase, complete with the original red enamel hand rails and glass orbs.

Further original features still remaining include the house’s pink-painted brick exterior – presumably a tribute to its original owner’s nickname – which was described as “surprising” by architectural writer Nikolas Pevsner, and the emerald green-painted Crittall windows.

Original features: the main reception room still has its original 1930s wallpaper

The main reception room still has the original 1930s Chinese wallpaper and door handles, among other touches.

Across the hallway is an octagonal dining room with a serving hatch connecting it to the kitchen, which has a larder and pantry.

The master bedroom has a balcony overlooking the gardens and an en suite bathroom. A laundry room, also on the first floor, retains all its original cupboards.

There are also several outbuildings at the property, which sits in five acres of grounds. A guest annexe with floor-to-ceiling windows was originally built as an art studio and there are also a garage and storage rooms on the site.

Art Deco: the house is packed with historic features

The gardens are kept much as the Crittalls originally laid them out with a paddock, two orchards, a vegetable garden, tennis court, badminton garden and a laundry garden in different parts of the grounds.

The Crittall family also built the Essex model village of Silver End, nowadays considered a modernist landmark, for the workers at the nearby Crittall factory and Walter Crittall was closely involved with the design of the village.

The house is for sale through The Modern House for £1.5million.