Enjoy an owner-led guided tour of this Arts & Crafts house, designed by C F A Voysey and built in 1895 for Birmingham industrialist J W Wilson, MP. 

The house sits high on the west side of the Malvern Hills, above the village of Colwall. Perrycroft was the first major commission for Voysey, who at the time was better known as an innovative and fashionable designer of flat patterns, particularly for wallpapers. It helped him to develop his style as an architect and establish his reputation, being widely illustrated in journals of the day. 

Perrycroft is very much in the Arts & Crafts tradition of harmony with nature, and Voysey was particularly concerned to create a sense of homeliness, repose and restfulness, and security. The house has a light and airy feel, the layout being surprisingly modern. Its open-plan nature is a repudiation of Victorian clutter and paves the way for the Modernism of the 20th century. At Perrycroft, Voysey combined architectural vernacular while anticipating architecture of the future.

As with all Voysey’s architectural works, Perrycroft was conceived as a single work of art. No detail was too humble for the designer’s attention. Following the Arts & Crafts movement’s aim of combining usefulness with beauty, Voysey designed everything from the doorknobs to the rainwater hoppers, the joinery, the fireplaces and even the ventilation and drainage systems. More than 80 of Voysey’s detailed drawings for Perrycroft are housed in the RIBA collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and these have proved invaluable in restoring the house to his original vision.

The garden, with far-reaching views over rolling Herefordshire, is planted in the Arts & Crafts style with box hedges, yew topiary and cottage garden plants.

£30 inc tea/coffee & cake