A 30-year labour of love: Staines bungalow turned into a £4m Venetian palace complete with thrones, a sunken garden and a moat

Inspired by Renaissance Venice, this amazing house also has a sunken garden set in the ruins of an abbey that never existed...
Becky Davies12 March 2020

The former site of a drab and featureless bungalow is now home to a fairytale palace with a moat, a folly, “his and hers” thrones and a sunken garden surrounded by the recreation of a ruined abbey.

Dutch Gardens was a 30-year labour of love by property developer Trevor Wynne-Jones, who in 1966 paid £13,500 for the plot in Wraysbury, Berkshire, just under an hour's train journey from London.

Drawing inspiration from Italian Renaissance architecture, especially the buildings of Venice, Wynne-Jones embarked in the Eighties on realising his dream home.

Now for sale for £4million, the seven-bedroom house's centrepiece is the Venice Lounge, which has access to a sunken garden that's surrounded by a recreation of the ruins of an ancient abbey.

His and hers thrones in the living room make a magnificent talking point 
Dexters

Themed on historic catacombs, the living area features frescoes and a vast stone fireplace with facing, matching thrones.

Soren Ravaux, sales manager at Waterview estate agents, which works with Dexters on selling riverside properties, says that brickwork is the owner’s passion.

“He has half a million London old stock bricks that make up part of the house,” he says.

​“London old stock bricks were made out of clay soil in the Victorian era and used to build large parts of London - they are very desirable and still expensive to buy as reclaimed.”

Wynne-Jones’ obsession with getting just the right building blocks extended even further, says Ravaux.​

“He bought the quarrying rights of a Portland stone quarry down near Bristol because he wanted the particular type of stone that was found there.

“He quarried, along with his employees, looking for certain types of stone more in line with a period building​ and used this stone to create his house.”

Inside Dutch Gardens — and more unusual homes...

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A spiral staircase leads to the master suite, the centrepiece of which is a painted Renaissance scene.

​Ravaux says: “This is a hand-painted recreation of a Greek legend - Hylas and the Nymphs - the story of a boat skipper getting supplies, distracted by nymphs who dragged him off the boats and into the depths.

“This legend was a theme of ancient art, and has been an enduring subject for classical Western art. The vendor is a very romantic character!”

The ornate gardens feature a man-made stream, with carp pools, a folly and a moat. There is also a large underground workshop where Wynne-Jones designed everything for the house.

Refusing to employ architects or landscape gardeners, “all the thoughts are his own”, says Ravaux.

The owner's passion for brickwork can even be seen on the huge pillars in the living areas 
Dexters

“Some big features in the garden are designed to surprise - massive deep koi carp pools, leading to waterfalls, leading to streams, leading on to the moat and folly​. The design is based on Venetian and Romantic art and architecture.”

The amazing recreation of a ruined abbey was inspired not only by his love of brickwork, but Tintern Abbey in Wales.

Ravaux says: “The remains of Tintern Abbey are greatly celebrated in poetry and art. It was this ruin that he wanted to recreate​, having fond memories of visiting it with his wife.”

As to those thrones, Ravaux reveals that the owner believed the living area deserved them because the room’s vast coffered ceilings were inspired by nearby Windsor Castle.

What palace is complete without a folly in the garden?
Dexters

The house has seven bedrooms and six bathrooms over its three floors, but is currently configured for separate living quarters for Wynne-Jones, with guest accommodation upstairs, but it would be very easy to turn it into a single family home.

Ravaux says: “The building has grown organically - there is always something going on. He runs his commercial business out of there. He also holds private concerts for friends - Chopin recitals and jazz recitals and the like in the grounds.”

​Wynne-Jones, who is now in his eighties, decided to sell his dream home because its sheer size has become unmanageable for him.

However, he is still realising his vision, engaging in the installion of a bespoke feature staircase to two of the first-floor bedrooms.

Ravaux concludes: ​“He has always been a property developer on a large scale and classical architecture is his passion. Whilst he couldn't really convey this through his commercial work, he has indulged his love of this on a personal scale.”

Although the house feels as if it’s a million miles from the real world, Windsor and Eton Riverside station is just over two miles away, with trains to Waterloo taking just 56 minutes.

The Dutch Garden is for sale for £4million through Dexters and Waterside

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