I have made several visits to Winterbourne House in the last few weeks. Only a few minutes walk from the Barber Institute, this lovely Arts and Crafts House is a hidden gem. The house was built by John and Margaret Nettlefold. He was one of the founders of GKN and she was a Chamberlain (niece of Joseph) having grown up at Highbury Hall. The house was built in 1904 and designed by JL Ball to be a bright, comfortable family home. The sensitive restoration manages to keep the original spirit of the house whilst being informative about both the former occupants and the times in which they lived. I was particularly taken with the carvings on the wooden furniture and the plasterwork details.
I was interested to see a book on display that had been produced by William Morris' Kelmscott Press. It appeared to be The Works of Chaucer. This was the epitome of the Arts and Crafts ethos.
Margaret designed the gardens and was influenced by the work of Gertrude Jekyll. In 1944 the house was given to Birmingham University and the garden is still used for botanic study.
There are several small glasshouses with collections of cacti and tropical plants.
In one of the out buildings there was a small print room. The presses and type belonged to the University and had been moved over to Winterbourne. It is run by volunteers.
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