Couple had a grand vision for traditional terrace home

SOMEWHERE near Swansea there's a traditional end-of-terrace house that is arguably one of the region’s, if not the country’s, most unusual homes inside because when you push open the front door what you find hiding behind the ordinary facade is an extraordinary and exquisite interior that will leave you speechless.

- JO RIDOUT

The house has been the home of Royston Jones and Fiona Gray for more than 27 years and over that time they have created an interior that makes you feel transported to a stately home.

Royston said: “When we arrived many original features were ripped out but there were some of the interior features left, like the panel doors and just one or two sort of decorative things so I just thought, ‘Well, come on, let's decorate it, because it's so dull.”

He and Fiona have certainly done that by the bucketload - buckets of plaster and PVA.

When you step inside and see the intricate detailing of the plasterwork and artwork created on the ceilings and walls through most of the property you're hit by a wave of wonderment ~ this home is like no other in Wales.

The pair have spent years making their house a home that they love - a painstaking effort that Royston says was “just for fun and to bring joy’.

The urge to create a mini stately home inside their Welsh terrace Royston thinks is twofold - his heritage and their careers as artists. It's not a surprise to find out that this couple aren't just standard artists, they are exceptional model makers too, creating room and home models in 1:8 scale for royalty, ambassadors and the rich and famous.

Royston says: “I've always loved stately homes. I was an unwanted child, I didn’t know anything about my background until much later on in my life. And then I discovered that the people I came from were avid builders in the 18th century.

“They built a whole load of mansions and stuff up in Cardiganshire, which is where I hail from originally, and I think you just inherit stuff like that. And I've always loved architecture and I've always loved the interiors of particularly neoclassical late Georgian stately homes from 1760 to 1800, I think that’s how it started.”