Detached ‘upside down’ 1970s house with vintage carpets and decor on sale for £500k in Wales

With its green glass wall, wood-panelled ceilings, mirrored bar and avocado-coloured kitchen, it could easily be mistaken for the set of a 1970s film or television sit-com.

But this retro ‘upside down’ house, which has been frozen in time for half a century, is up for sale in 2022 – for £550,000.

The detached white-washed wood and brick property, which sits partially on stilts, was built for civil engineer James Grainger and his wife, Margaret, on the outskirts of Merthyr Tydfil, in south Wales, in 1971.

Designed by celebrated Welsh architect and designer Ifan Prys Edwards, many of the original features – cutting edge and top-of-the range for the time – remain unchanged, including the innovative music system which was built-into the ceilings, property-wide intercom, and hand-made patterned Italian carpets.

The couple’s granddaughter Amy Grainger said the house was the pride and joy of her grandmother, now 97, who kept it in pristine condition.

This retro ‘upside down’ house, which has been frozen in time for half a century, is up for sale in 2022 – for £550,000 (pictured, the avocado coloured kitchen) 

With its green glass wall, wood-panelled ceilings, mirrored bar and avocado-coloured kitchen, it could be mistaken for the set of a 1970s film or television sit-com (pictured, the living room) 

Meanwhile the baby blue bathroom also features orange mirrored walls and retro-style appliances (pictured) 

The detached white-washed wood and brick property, which sits partially on stilts, was built for civil engineer James Grainger and his wife, Margaret, on the outskirts of Merthyr Tydfil, in south Wales, in 1971

After putting the property up for sale, she admitted she and her two sisters used to feel ’embarrassed’ by it as children because the property was so ‘weird’ and different to other people’s homes.

But Amy added: ‘My nan loved it, especially when people would say it looks like something out of James Bond and that it could be used as a film set.

‘I never recognised it as anything special before but looking back now it was amazing – it includes top of the range everything. It cost about £30,000 when it was built in 1971.

‘They had a sound system behind the bar that was connected to all the speakers throughout the house and then they had intercom in every room.

Designed by celebrated Welsh architect and designer Ifan Prys Edwards, many of the original features – cutting edge and top-of-the range for the time – remain unchanged, including the innovative music system which was built-into the ceilings, property-wide intercom, and hand-made patterned Italian carpets (pictured) 

The couple’s granddaughter Amy Grainger said the house was the pride and joy of her grandmother, now 97, who kept it in pristine condition 

After putting the property up for sale, she admitted she and her two sisters used to feel ’embarrassed’ by it as children because the property was so ‘weird’ and different to other people’s homes (pictured, the kitchen) 

Amy said many of her friends and family would say her grandmother’s home looked like ‘something out of James Bond or a film set’ 

Amy said she ‘never recognised’ the home as ‘anything special’ while growing up, but looking back thinks it is ‘amazing’ (pictured left and right) 

Amy said many of the features of the home were specifically made for the house, including the handmade Italian carpets that are still in place (pictured on the staircase) 

‘A lot of the stuff in the house is specifically made for the house, like the handmade Italian carpets that are still in place.’

Amy said the architect’s brief was to build a glamorous home for entertaining.

The large open plan living area was designed to be closed off between the lounge and the bar – to make it more homely when the couple were at home with their family – or left open when they had friends around for a party.

‘They used to do a lot of grand parties and even used to have a maitre-d,’ she added. ‘My nan used to do a lot of the catering. There would be different salads, gateaux and cakes, all on the best china.

The four-bedroomed house is being sold as it is becoming too difficult for 97-year-old widow Mrs Grainger to maintain (pictured) 

Amy said she would love the home, which is on the market for £550,000, to go to somebody who shows it as much love, or even half as much love, as her grandmother has shown it through the years (pictured, one of the bedrooms) 

‘It is a very sociable house. My nan at 97 still loves entertaining people, there’s always people going back and forth.’

The four-bedroomed house is being sold because it is becoming too difficult for 97-year-old widow Mrs Grainger to maintain.

Amy added: ‘It’s not everybody’s taste and that’s fine – it wasn’t my taste to start with – but now I so wish I could buy it myself.

‘There is no other property like it. I would love it to go to somebody who shows it as much love, or even half as much love, as my nan has shown it through the years, someone who is respectful of its architecture and uniqueness.

The large open plan living area was designed to be closed off between the lounge and the bar – to make it more homely when the couple were at home with their family – or left open when they had friends around for a party (pictured, the bar) 

Amy said she hopes any future buyers ‘respect the beauty and originality’ of the property, and leave the unusual features ‘untouched’

The property, which appears to have been frozen in time since it was initially built in the 1970s, still has many of its original features  

‘We’d hope that they’d respect the beauty and originality of it, that they leave it untouched and respect the special soul of this special house.’

Amy said: ‘There were some rules in the house, and me and my twin sister used to get into rows because we’d be running up and down the spiral staircase, and my nan would be telling us off. 

‘But she’d also let us spin around on the kitchen chairs.’

This is the first time in the property’s history that it has been on the market but even when it goes from the family who had it designed and built to a new owner, the memories of their time in the home will live on.

This is the first time in the property’s history that it has been on the market but even when it goes from the family who had it designed and built to a new owner, the memories of their time in the home will live on (pictured, the unusual bathroom) 

Features to notice as you gawp your way around this mesmerising museum piece of 1970s interior design include smoked mirror tiles in the bathroom (pictured left and right) 

The house has two double bedrooms and a shower room on the ground floor. Then up that special spiral staircase and into a broken-plan living space upstairs across two areas that includes the bar (pictured, one of the bathrooms0 

Amy said: ‘Memory-wise my favourite room is always the kitchen; being in the kitchen when my nan was cooking. But my favourite thing was my grandfather when he used to let us sit in the living area with him.

‘He’d do us a little glass of pop in a little glass cup from the bar and my nan would be saying – ‘give them a beaker, why are you giving them the good, cut glasses?’ He was very naughty from what I can remember!’

Amy explained it’s a house built specifically for entertaining, that was the brief to the architect, and the result is a home that can be sectioned off or opened up.

Amy said: ‘You can close the wall off between the living room and the bar, and it becomes homely and comfy or you could open it up, move the sofas and it is then a big party room.’ 

Amy said her favourite room has always the kitchen because ‘being in the kitchen’ reminds her of when her grandmother would cook and entertain the family in there 

The house has two double bedrooms and a shower room on the ground floor. Then up that special spiral staircase and into a broken-plan living space upstairs across two areas that includes the bar. 

On this floor there are a further two bedrooms, that beautifully intact 1970s kitchen, and arguably the funkiest retro bathroom in Wales.

Features to notice as you gawp your way around this mesmerising museum piece of 1970s interior design include smoked mirror tiles in the bathroom and the bar area, a lime green glass brick wall, wood panelling, the original front door with wrought iron detailing, and a very special telephone table in the hall.   

And when it comes to selling this special slice of real estate Amy, a 39-year-old domestic abuse support worker from Aberdare, and her three sisters are going to feel awful. 

Amy said: ‘There is no other property like it, I think if somebody said to us ‘we’re going to buy it and gut it’ I think the four of us would probably be reluctant to sell, but you can’t dictate what somebody does with a property once they buy it. But it hurts my heart a bit to think that it could just be destroyed.’ 

Amy said she hoped any future homeowners would respect the property’s original features as much as her grandmother had (pictured) 

And when it comes to selling this special slice of real estate Amy, a 39-year-old domestic abuse support worker from Aberdare, and her three sisters are going to feel awful

The detached white-washed wood and brick property, which sits partially on stilts, was built for civil engineer James Grainger and his wife, Margaret, on the outskirts of Merthyr Tydfil, in south Wales, in 1971

Designed by celebrated Welsh architect and designer Ifan Prys Edwards, many of the original features – cutting edge and top-of-the range for the time – remain unchanged, including the innovative music system which was built-into the ceilings, property-wide intercom, and hand-made patterned Italian carpets

Amy said she hoped they could sell the home to somebody who ‘shows it as much love, or even half as much love’ as her grandmother had over the years 

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