When you dedicate your life to improving public housing for Birmingham’s working class, it’s unsurprising you end up with the best house in the city. When John Sutton Nettlefold and his wife Margaret built their Winterbourne House, it was a modern masterpiece, and it still stands as a great example of the Arts and Crafts movement.
Winterbourne House was considered ‘cutting-edge’ when it was built in 1903—it had electric lighting, hot water and a telephone line! Today, it’s more well known as a snapshot of the English aesthetic movement led by William Morris and the Birmingham Set.
Winterbourne House
Far from a family home anymore, today Winterbourne House is part of the University of Birmingham in Edgbaston. It’s essentially a one-of-a-kind museum for this unique art style, where every detail reflects Arts and Crafts ideals, using local materials and craftsmanship to build a light and airy home.
Inside, you will find a home bursting with colourful, handcrafted textiles, ornaments and wallpapers from William Morris prints to Edwardian-era furnishings. But it has also been transformed by interactive displays, hands-on exhibits, a gallery, and a gift shop. Several on-site 19th-century printing presses are also now used for workshops and demonstrations.
& Garden
Having featured on BBC Gardeners’ World Live and Alan Titchmarsh’s Gardening Club, arguably, the gardens are more famous than the house itself. Designed by Margaret Nettlefold, the seven-acre botanical gardens are home to over 6,000 different rare and exotic plant species. Made on meandering lines, discover Rhododendron displays, a Japanese bridge and carnivorous glasshouses
It’s the perfect place to spend a quiet afternoon, but Winterbourne House and Garden isn’t just for unwinding. A hive of activity, you can discover everything from stained glass workshops and beekeeping courses to Shakespearean performances and modern art exhibitions happening here all year round.
