Berwick Lodge, Ryde, Isle of Wight

Shortlisted for our new Best Loved Award in the private category, this dilapidated mid-Victorian villa has been lovingly saved by its dedicated owners and the project team over ten years. 

Our Best Loved Award celebrates regular care and maintenance to old buildings, a key aspect of the SPAB Approach. Our shortlisted projects demonstrate the value of maintenance for buildings of all dates and types, and for the people who occupy, use and love them. Vote for your favourite. 

Credit: Julia Flutter

Berwick Lodge was built in the 'Free Gothic' style with an unusual, crenellated tower overlooking the Solent. Once a seasonal home for Victorian fashionable society, it is still a landmark building within the town. It was subdivided into flats in the 1920s, but it retains much of its historic character and is Grade II listed.

The extensive repair works included: re-roofing; new guttering and drainage; stonework refaced and repaired; re-wiring, new heating systems, window repairs, traditional lath and plasterwork repairs, hand-tooled quoins, new hand-made chimney pots. An important element was the repair of the tower, which had perhaps uniquely been constructed from Victorian cast iron girders and ceramic red floor tiles. Drawing from archive photography and artwork, the Victorian porch was reinstated.

The next phase of the project will include regular maintenance that the building is watertight and resilient and further work on the grounds and interiors. The entrance has been fitted with specially commissioned wrought iron gates and hand-carved Portland Stone finials to replace the originals that were lost decades ago.

Owner Julia Flutter writes: “During this journey we have encountered enormous challenges and we have met some incredible craftspeople, professional advisers, local authority advisers and organisations whose support has been invaluable to us...We know that our stewardship of Berwick Lodge does not end here, however, and there remains much more to do and to maintain.”

Project managers: Steve O’Keefe and Robert Biggs of Christopher Scott Limited. Builders: Jill Banks and Mick Sivell of G.J. Banks Limited.