Mickling Barf with detached garage

Mickling Barf with detached garage

A family home designed by Rex and Jennifer Critchlow for themselves and their family around 1962, built in three phases between 1962 and 1982. The building is listed at Grade II.

The house has painted brick exterior walls with large sections of glazing and timber cladding to the eaves. The design is based on a 30/60 degree geometric grid, evident throughout in the angles of the building. The plan is cranked with two main wings and an adjoining annexe.

The exterior is single storey throughout, with white painted brick walls and deep overhanging eaves of stained timber. Full-height glazing at regular intervals alternates with smaller windows, all in wooden frames. The main door is at the northern point, set in a recessed porch with a glazed entrance door and side light. The porch floor is laid with hexagonal Dennis Ruabon tiles, which continue throughout the interior of the house. The walls facing the adjacent driveway are largely blank with small windows and utility access, forming the effective rear of the house.

At the garden side, an end wall protrudes into the garden to provide enclosure. Beyond this, the kitchen, dining and living areas feature full-height glazed sections with doors opening to the exterior. These are divided externally by a tall chimney connected to the living room fireplace. Beyond are bedroom windows, including a low horizontal window to the main bedroom. Adjacent to this is a large oculus in the wall which provides an enclosed courtyard space off the main bedroom. The final annexe phase includes a further protruding wall to delineate both external and internal spaces.

The interior makes extensive use of hexagonal Ruabon floor tiles and timber for doors, with sterling board cupboard fronts and built-in fixtures. Walls are generally painted brick, and full-height internal doors have top lights. Ceilings are clad in timber.

The main door opens into a small lobby with an adjacent WC. Beyond is the main living space centred on a sunken hexagonal living room with steps down to the living area. This contains a low fireplace with copper hood, and a slightly battered chimney which provides internal division between living and dining spaces and extends to the exterior. Behind the living space, in a corridor divided from the living room by a curtain, is a built-in telephone seat.

The dining area connects with the kitchen, which retains its original Formica work surfaces and built-in fixtures. A corridor from the living space gives access to bedrooms and a utility room. A triangular skylight illuminates the mid-corridor area. All bedrooms retain their original fittings. In the principal bedroom, the low horizontal window positioned behind the bed has sliding shutters which close to act as a headboard. The en-suite bathroom retains its sunken bath and original fittings.

In phase two, an additional bedroom, study and games space features a rectangular skylight, with a second bathroom containing a GRP pod adjacent. Phase three comprises a large library or annexe with a small kitchen area.

The detached garage is constructed of brick with timber cladding matching the eaves of the house. An extending brick wall denotes the location of the planned canopy link originally designed to connect it with the house.