“It has lots of names: the wood house, the glass house, the James Bond house,” says Christian Harvey of Farnley Hey, one of Britain’s most notable midcentury-modern homes, which Harvey and his partner, Victoria Davies, now own. “When it was built, it was like a spaceship had landed.”

The two-story, flat-roofed residence, wrapped in glass and wood, is indeed an anomaly among the traditional gray stone cottages of West Yorkshire. Designed in 1954 by architect Peter Womersley as a wedding present for his brother John, the home stands on one and a half acres of lawn and woods overlooking the majestic Pennine Hills.

Christian and Victoria bought Farnley Hey in 2013, a few years after the death of its second owner, Joe Battye. Whether it was the home’s relatively remote location and historic status or its original asking price that initially turned off buyers, the property had been on the market for more than two years when the couple, both commercial interior designers in nearby Leeds, took the plunge. They moved in five years ago and are now in the middle of restoring and updating the house.

Farnley Hey’s heart is a large, double-height living area, dubbed “the dance floor” by John Womersley and his family. (Designed for lively parties and even for recording live music, the room featured a built-in hi-fi system, and its Grundig radio remains.) There are few partitions in the house. The living spaces are defined by columns, shelving units, and changing levels and textures, from York flagstones to brick walls and mahogany cladding. A floating staircase leads to a mezzanine, where there is a sitting area.

The south-facing double windows of the living area reveal a small terrace and panoramic views of the wooded valley beyond. The couple can always find a spot in the house with ample light, even on gloomier days. “We move around a lot,” says Victoria. “At different times of day we sit in different places.”

When the historic preservation commission, English Heritage, gave it a Grade II listing in 1998—one of the first postwar private houses to be listed—the citation noted a debt to Womersley’s elders: “In style Farnley Hey suggests the influence of Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright.... It typifies the best of the 1950s in its lightness, sense of the picturesque, and optimistic stance.” The home was built with the possibility of adding an extra wing, which was eventually done in the mid 1960s by renowned local architect Arthur Quarmby, who designed an extension that houses three guest bedrooms and a bathroom.

“We’ve got a responsibility to look after it and pass it on, I suppose. But it’s our home, too.”
—Victoria Davies, resident

Although Battye, an engineer and a lover of gadgets, took meticulous care of the house and filled it with furniture by the likes of Charles and Ray Eames and Arne Jacobsen, some of his tweaks during the 1970s and ’80s left Christian and Victoria with a bigger restoration to-do list than they first anticipated. He replaced the living room’s original timber-framed sliding doors with aluminum-framed sliders that no longer open, for instance.

“I think he was interested in new technology,” says Christian. “Aluminum frames had just come out and he must have thought, I want some of those.” He also removed one of the pillars on the second story—something the couple will try to return to the house. However, they’re keeping a 1970s wood cabinet that conceals a television that emerges with the push of a button.

Christian and Victoria plan to replace white PVC paneling, which currently covers parts of the exterior, with timber, to bring the house back to its original design. Also on their list is removing a glass greenhouse that Battye built under the home’s once-striking cantilever. “We’ve moved here for the house—all we want is to put things back, to give it back what it deserves,” says Christian.

Their most pressing job is the kitchen, currently in its third incarnation. They are planning to ditch the brown tiling and badly dated hessian-textured Formica surfaces and, referencing old photos, will draw up a kitchen that feels more open and in tune with the rest of the home’s clean, modern lines.

Womersley has recently become the subject of renewed interest in the design world, and visitors have been knocking on Farnley Hey’s door wanting to take a look at one of his earliest projects. But the new owners don’t feel invaded. “They’re here for the right reasons, because they appreciate it,” says Christian. “I feel really proud to live here. It’s nice to share it.”

Project Credits:

Architect: Peter Womersley

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