Inside the Warrington home restored in a £2.6m plan

Orford House in Croft was built in 1840 in elegant style. The original owners, who commissioned the build, clearly didn’t believe in hiding their light – or financial success – under a bushel, and every element visible to the public eye is testament to this.

“The exterior of the house has been clad in glazed brickwork, they used Minton tiles for the porch floor, and had unusual bargeboards and fascias designed and added around the roof, too,’ says Trevor Lloyd, who bought the house in 2019, having coveted it for some time.

“I bought the old barn next door in 1995. It was originally the coach house for Orford House and belonged to the same people. It was in a very rundown state and I renovated and refurbished it all myself over a two-year period. I always told them I wanted to buy Orford House, but I didn’t have the funds. Then in 2019, I completed a major development I had been working on for eight years, and also sold my own company, so suddenly it became possible.”

Trevor joined his father in his building firm, Wilfred Lloyd & Associates, at the age of 18, having been asked by his father not to go to university as he’d planned, but to help him in the business, where he learned the construction trade from the bottom up and his passion for refurbishing property was ignited.

“I loved the house and wanted to move into it myself,” Trevor explains, “once I’d refurbished and modernised it. The initial estimate to renovate was around £400,000,’ Trevor explains. ‘Then two days later we discovered it needed a whole new roof, so it became £1.25m, just for the construction work.

“The total project, including purchase price, finally came in at £2.6m,’ he says. ‘Because I went on to fully furnish it as if I would be moving in myself, which was always the plan – to live there and rent my current house out – but then I decided that actually I rather like living where I am now; despite wanting Orford House for so long, it’s not really me in the end. It needs to be in the hands of a family. I know I won’t make my money back on it, but I don’t know how to do things less well than they should be done.

‘We started with the roof, of course,’ he says, ‘the timbers were in too poor a condition to save, the purlins were cracked and the roof tiles were always destined to be replaced, so I thought as I was putting a whole new roof on, I might as well use attic trusses and create a one-bed apartment up there. This required we lower the ceilings in the rooms below, to give good head height in the apartment. I replaced the roof tiles with new slates, and replicated the same pattern as originally laid, using band courses in shell-shaped slates.’

Orford House is certainly striking on first view.

Trevor and his team acid-washed the outer brickwork, and re-pointed, bringing it back to the same condition it would have been in 1840 when it was first laid, and replaced all the windows with double-glazed sashes. He also clearly had a marvellous time landscaping the gardens, adding a glorious koi carp pond, with a smart little wooden house for the pumps and cleaning tech he’s invested in. Koi are a personal passion, and no home of his was going to be without them.

There was also a lean-to conservatory at the rear of the house, not contemporary to the original build, which Trevor replaced with a very smart orangery clad in Lakeland stone.

‘I was puzzling over how to best re-do this,’ he says, ‘as obviously it couldn’t be built in the same brick, and then I went on a hotel break in the Lakes and saw this traditional way of making a façade. I brought a local artisan down to Cheshire and he got it all done in three days.’

Internally, Trevor stripped back every room to the bare brick, then replaced the writing, heating and plumbing and added insulation throughout. This is a man who takes no chances, so he’s fitted two air-source pumps and an LPG boiler for back-up.

Inside, Orford House is truly magnificent. A gorgeous kitchen and dining space offers masses of space for family living, with its very own log-burning stove, for extra-cosy winter nights. A separate dining room allows for more formal occasions and a beautiful living room is perfect for entertaining. For more casual relaxation, the orangerie is a light-filled space with views across the gardens, making a lovely setting for afternoons with a book and a cuppa.

Upstairs, the living is luxe. A master suite with dressing room and en suite ensures privacy and escape for the grown-ups, while three more bedrooms (one en suite) and a family bathroom provide lots of space for the family. Guests can luxuriate in their own suite in the expanded attic space, which as well as a bedroom and bathroom, also offers a sitting room and kitchen. Airbnb, anybody?

‘I had an interior designer do all the interiors for me,’ Trevor says.

Lorraine Warwick, who is based in Manchester, did the main design throughout, making it all work in a flow from room to room. I have added bits and pieces myself – just things I saw and liked, when wandering around Arighi Bianchi, for example.

‘The plan was always to be living here myself, so I treated it like my own home. But now it’s up for sale and will make a wonderful family home.’ And Trevor is right next door, of course, should any koi carp advice be needed. So, what next for Trevor? Is he happy to settle down in his existing home and enjoy retirement?

‘Sadly, I have the bug for renovating special properties,’ he laughs. ‘I’ve done it all my life, never with ordinary houses, always choosing something a bit quirky, with interesting features and challenges. Once this is sold, I shall be looking for my next project, wherever that might be.’

Orford House is on the market with Hamlet Signature Homes, Warrington, for £2.25m. hamletsignature.co.uk

This story first appeared in Cheshire Living, free in shops now.