Now I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Bridge House in Trowbridge a few times and I still find it hard to believe that it’s not a listed building. Not that I’d say it should be, either. I know there are certain camps who’d be a bit resistant to the prospect of purchasing anything listed.
No, what I mean is, it looks like a far more historic building than its appearance suggests. At first glance, it looks every bit the authentic Georgian home, when in fact it was only constructed in 1910. And that’s my point: therein lies the opportunity to acquire a huge, solid building built with more modern construction methods. It offers living accommodation, investment or development opportunities, and income-producing assets right in the heart of a buzzing town centre, without the need to seek consent for anything that you would otherwise need for a similar building with listed status.
The current owners, Anita Taylor & Gary Sangster, both hugely influential figures in the UK, the US and Australian arts scene discuss the history, current and future plans along with the painstaking decision as to why it’s time to move on.
Simon: How did you arrive at living in such a unique home?
G&A: On returning from Sydney to take up a new role in Bath, a live-work space was needed close by. The historic housing available in Bath was not amenable to the kind of flexible, creative, and large-scale accommodation we envisioned, while nearby Trowbridge had a variety of interesting landmark properties that would lend themselves to our imagination.
When we first saw Bridge House, it was being used for counselling and education services, office and meeting spaces, but we could immediately see its creative and residential potential. We loved its light, layout, and airy spaces across four levels. It has exquisite art deco features from the carving above the front porch – Unity is Strength – to the plasterwork, leadwork detailing, bronze window and door fitments, the original parquet and travertine floors and, especially, the stunning, light-filled former Board Room, with 270-degree views of the neighbourhood (an artist’s studio in waiting!).
Adjacent to the train station, Bridge House is less than 20 minutes to the centre of Bath and on a mainline to London, Bristol, Bruton, Cardiff, Frome, Gloucester, Southampton… it is so well-connected and enabled us to expand Drawing Projects UK as a cultural centre by establishing studios, galleries, arts and educational programmes along with a small café, and living space on the two floors above a fantastic creative community.
Simon: What is your favourite memory associated with this home?
G&A: We have so many amazing memories here, from welcoming our friends and family from across the world, brilliant dinner parties, having a stunning space to host relatives, friends and artists on the upper floor, as part of our huge apartment.
Being interviewed in the studio for the film, Lucien Freud: Self-Portrait, would be a highlight; and/or bringing back memories for others about the building … a Trustee of the Jerwood Foundation telling us they started their career with the Wiltshire Working Men’s Benefit Society after a lunch we held to mark the last Jerwood Drawing Prize exhibition; the Director of ACE SW telling us about a speech he made in the boardroom in an earlier political career…but actually, the best memories are of simply enjoying our amazing hideaway!
Simon: What are your favourite local spots for dining, shopping, or entertainment?
G&A: Trowbridge has a number of cultural organisations from Trowbridge Museum, Town Hall Arts to Parade House, a Georgian house (and Drawing Projects UK of course). Our own café provides great coffee as does Cesar’s (Columbian cafe) over the road and craft gin can be found at Still Sisters. While good food can be found in Trowbridge, Gary is an excellent chef so we tend to entertain at home – when we venture out we head to Bath (no need to take the car!) to the remarkable Beckford Canteen or to the many culinary treats in nearby Bruton, including Merlin Labron-Johnson’s exceptional farm to table restaurant, Osip, and sister bar/restaurant, The Old Pharmacy, as well as the food and excellent bakery of At the Chapel, plus the renowned Roth Bar and new Da Costa, for Italian cuisine.
The Wiltshire/Somerset region has now developed a reputation of extraordinary hospitality, led initially by Hauser & Wirth’s world class Art Farm initiatives, and more recently the exceptional standards set by The Newt in Somerset with organic farm produce (a delivery service most welcome during Lockdown) and with beautiful gardens and hotel accommodations. Also, art dealer Max Wigram and renowned London chef, Margot Henderson, have recently teamed up to re-vamp the Three Horseshoes in Batcombe and, by coincidence, the Executive Chef there is Nye Smith, the son of one of our artist colleagues in London.
Culinary excellence is not in short supply across the region, as there are, in fact, five other gastropubs in the UK’s top 100 in the area, including: The Longs Arms, South Wraxall, Wiltshire; The Castle Inn, Castle Coombe, Wiltshire; The Black Swan, Devizes, Wiltshire; The Methuen Arms, Corsham, Wiltshire; and The Beckford Arms, Fonthill, Wiltshire.
Galleries like Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Messums Wiltshire, the museums, galleries and shopping in Bath or Bristol add to the cultural scene in the area. While Gary was a Trustee of the Arnolfini in Bristol, we found it very accessible to participate in cultural events across the city.
Simon: What inspired your home’s unique features or design elements?
G&A: This was a light touch conversion, there were so many fantastic features that just needed some TLC.
We were lucky to have been left a copy of the newspaper article about the opening of Holloway House, as it was then called, as the Wiltshire Working Men’s Benefit Society, and to be able to reflect the original space use in the signage throughout the building. We also sourced a copy of the article about the plans featured in The Builder magazine in 1927 – it was a very innovative and important building in its heyday – and was opened with great pomp by the Marquess of Bath with a service at the local Trinity Church and a luncheon at the Town Hall (we’re not sure why that wasn’t held in the very grand boardroom, then fully fitted-out deco style). The original design has wonderful carvings, plasterwork, bronze and leadwork detailing. Whilst a few features were lost in the conversion for the former occupants in the late 1980s, we still have the plaque commemorating its re-opening by Princess Alice of Gloucester.
We’ve installed a large family bathroom with original and vintage art deco opaline globe lighting, two huge windows, and Black American Walnut flooring (also in the main bedroom and gallery.) We found a complete parquet floor under the glued down office carpet on the top floor; we’ve rewired throughout, and renewed the heating system and were able to use all of the original radiators when we did this. We also retained the former Caretaker’s Quarters as a guest suite for family and friends within our overall apartment, recovering it from its use as offices and reinstating the original mixed use!
Simon: Have you ever experienced any unusual or unexpected events while living here?
G&A: After we hosted an exhibition Private View, we once accidentally left our main front door open and a friendly passerby nonchalantly popped in to see what was happening on the first floor (…we were holding an artist dinner party).
Perhaps the most unexpected experience for us has been the capacity of our varied exhibition programme to attract an international audience. We had always envisioned Drawing Projects UK as an international project designed for a regional community, yet overseas visitors have consistently added Drawing Projects to their South West itinerary.
Simon: What do you love most about living in this area?
G&A: We are located within the conservation area of an historic town which has astonishing architectural heritage and over 300 listed buildings (although ours is not). Architectural historian, Nikolaus Pevsner, famously described the town centre as a ‘row of palaces’. Some of these palatial 18th Century exteriors are just facades, covering earlier 16th and 17th Century houses. The recent £16.3M investment by Future High Streets fund will see the 19th Century Town Hall re-open after a major refurbishment in 2025 as a revitalised cultural centre with a focus on performing arts, adjacent to the People’s Park and Civic Centre. Almost everything is in walking distance; it’s a 5-minute walk to The Odeon or to the micro-cinema at historic Parade House if we want to see a film, and we can pop into a shop for food or other needs on the way. There is a monthly Weavers Market, a weekly produce market, and it’s a 20-minute ride to the Frome Independent monthly Sunday market too.
As the administrative centre for Wiltshire, we are just around the corner from the very elegant County Hall with its relatively new library extension that also houses a permanent wall work by Tania Kovats (Artist & Professor of Drawing & Making).
The continuously evolving and easily accessible cultural and hospitality offerings in the region are second to none.
Being next to the station gives us brilliant access to major cities and places, yet we have the most beautiful countryside on our doorstep. The M4 and M3 are close by for easy road access to the coast in Dorset, Devon and Cornwall and also to London, Bristol, Wales and to the North. It’s 50-minutes to Bristol Airport and under two hours to Heathrow when we need to fly overseas for work or pleasure.
And we really love the 270-degree views of Trowbridge from the Studio and 360-degree views from the top floor – almost a bird’s eye view of our neighbourhood.
Simon: What are your plans for the future, and how does selling this home fit into those plans?
G&A While we thought we would never leave our dream home, Anita became Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Dundee in October 2019; and while Bridge House provided a very effective Dundee-in-Trowbridge during lockdown, the demands of the 900-mile round trip have become less tenable for us. In addition, an historic building that could make a second version of what we have created in
Trowbridge has become available, and we would like to pursue our vision for a second version of Drawing Projects UK in Dundee – the only UNESCO Creative City of Design in the UK.
Simon: What do you think would be the most appealing feature of this home to a potential buyer?
G&A: The opportunity to live in a stunning and generously sized art deco building of very high-quality build and design, as well as the options the mixed -use space provides. The quality and quantity of space, its brilliant location, and self-contained walled site, give tremendous opportunity for flexible and adaptable use in a grand but highly functional building.
Location, location, location! With access to world class arts and hospitality provisions, and easy access to London, the South West, and beyond (by rail, road, air); excellent schools; reliable public services; what’s not to love!
The key features of the building have been retained while the main services have been upgraded and many features restored. Yet there is still opportunity for further upgrades if desired, the lower ground floor has a full walk-in safe and the original 1920s washrooms to refurbish; but, subject to planning, this could simply be a very large and lovely home, with a beautiful private garden enclosed by the stone boundary walls.
Simon: If you could give one piece of advice to a potential buyer, what would it be?
Be open to Trowbridge – it’s a stunning place with the most fantastic buildings, spaces and places served by excellent public transport, in close proximity to major centres. Identified as a developing Creative Cluster by NESTA in 2016 (in proximity with Bath and Bristol), it has an amazing creative community in a friendly multi-cultural town.
Known for its long industrial history as one of the world’s most important woollen mill industries going back 1000 years, it is home to Wiltshire County Council, a number of large businesses, leisure developments, business and shopping centres, historic mills, town parks, riverside nature trails and a wide range of independent shops, restaurants and cafes.
Simon: If you were housing minister for a month, what strategies would you put in place to help improve the market
G&A Incentives and support for adaptive re-use and mixed-use live-work spaces to re-generate town and city centres across the UK, as a sustainable way to live and work, release housing stock relatively quickly, and enable urban centres to prosper. These incentives would also need to ensure that individuals are equally supported in such initiatives as developers.
Implement revised lending guidelines and regulations designed to lower interest rates and increase access to finance, especially for residential mixed-use developments and adaptive re-use.
Simon: Well, that was quite possibly one of the most thorough replies to a Q&A I’ve had for some time. Thanks for your time both, I’ve loved listening to your story.
The beautiful Bridge House is for sale with a £1.5 Million guide price. You can discover everything you need to know here.
