House with a history of class

3:23pm Tuesday 5th February 2008

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ANNE and James Smith have welcomed dozens of visitors to their home in Knutsford over the years, but many of the guests have not come to visit them.

Instead it is their home in Legh Road that is the main attraction for it is the former residence of Sir Henry Royce who would often tinker with his latest car engines in the basement.

"Some people are so obsessed with Rolls-Royce and people from all over the world come to see this house."

"It's almost like a museum, really," said Anne.

"We show them around and sometimes they bring all their Rolls Royces along Legh Road past the house."

In 1898, Sir Henry moved to the newly-built Brae Cottage in Legh Road and this became the engineer's base.

He would often tinker away on his inventions including designs for a new car.

In 1904, Royce met Charles Rolls at the Midland Hotel in Manchester and the successful Rolls-Royce partnership was born.

Now Brae Cottage is the Smith's home and they are the fourth owners - including Royce - and have lived in the property for 44 years.

Outside the house is a plaque to commemorate the Royce connection and the Smiths have tried to retain the sense of heritage as much as possible.

An orchard grows in the garden, some of the trees having been planted by Royce himself.

"Entering the house is almost like a time warp because it's in its original state and it's not been modernised at all," said Anne.

"It's a fantastic house for entertaining and it's like a family house. It's not grand or anything like that and the old furniture and old fabrics give it a lovely, homely feel. I haven't changed anything at all and I wouldn't want to."

Upstairs, the rather majestic four-poster bed that Royce is likely to have slept in is still there as well as the original free-standing bath he installed.

Today the cellar - where Royce once worked on his inventions until the early hours - is now home to old furniture, apples and wine.

But the feeling you are standing somewhere with great historical significance remains.

In fact, when James moved in he stumbled upon a relic of the past in an outhouse in the garden when he found the remnants of an old electrical generating plant with water cooling ducts.

Anne said the main difference between Royce's home and theirs is simply the size of the property.

"It seems a big house because it's got mullioned windows and a flagged roof, but in fact the house was much bigger when Royce was living here," she said.

"Half of the house had to be dismantled due to subsidence and next door's house was made with a lot of the bricks."

Now, the couple sometimes find people wandering around in the garden or asking if they can take a picture of their car in the drive.

It can be a frustration to James who is not particularly interested in the property's history - he simply loves the house.

"On the other hand, as it's a historically interesting house we're more than happy for people to come and see it," he said.

"It's amazing really that people feel they can come and look around. Some people are so obsessed with Rolls-Royce and people from all over the world come to see the house because it's almost like a Mecca I suppose."

In fact Brae Cottage has proved an inspiration itself.

One young man, an architect from Mere, said he and his wife had fallen in love with the property and wanted to model their own home on it.

He asked to take pictures so they could build something of a replica.' Among the other visitors have been enthusiasts from Rolls-Royce associations.

However, the couple's hospitality was put to the test when Rolls-Royce marked its centenary in 2004.

As part of the 100th anniversary celebrations, a procession of 50 Rolls-Royces drove through Knutsford.

Press and public congregated outside Brae Cottage and film crews from as far away as Germany and Japan turned up on the doorstep.

Anne added: "When the German television people were here, I came out and one of them said: Would you mind moving away please I'm trying to photograph the house!' "It's interesting because people are so enthusiastic and you meet some lovely people.

"We even let around 50 to 60 people in the house to have a look around. It was like a mass exodus."

For their hospitality, the Smiths were presented with a picture of a vintage Rolls-Royce in the drive by the Rolls-Royce enthusiasts' club.

But one person who often gets asked about, but has yet to put in an appearance, is Sir Henry Royce himself.

Some suspect his ghost haunts the cottage, but the couple have not see him.

James said: "We keep an ear open but nothing's come to life. It's a pity he hasn't left a Rolls-Royce in the drive for me."

Now plans for a statue of Sir Henry on Regent Street - Knutsford's newest shopping street - are being considered as a lasting tribute to the engineer.

It is something Anne would be all for.

She said: "I think it would be wonderful to do something like that because people like Mrs Gaskell and Henry Royce have put Knutsford on the map.

"I think certainly from the enthusiasts' point of view who feel very strongly about it - they would be very keen on it.

"Everybody in the world has heard of Rolls-Royce, whatever country you go to so I think it would be very interesting.

"Royce obviously had a wonderful mind and was an inventive kind of person. He made a great team with Rolls because Rolls was the one with the contacts and was an educated, sociable type of person.

"So he was the front guy and Royce was the brains."