Travelling up Cayley Promenade in the direction of Rhos on Sea, at the top of the slope one comes across this substantial two storey house which occupies the corner plot of Cayley Promenade and Bryn y Mor Road, overlooking the bay.
Moryn, Caley Promenade, Rhos on Sea
Sidney Colwyn Foulkes designed Moryn for his own home, living there from 1937 until 1957and was his next residence after “Ridge Cottage”. He had been inspired by a visit to Stockholm, especially inside the City Hall and by meeting Sven Markelius, the Swedish architect. This influenced the interior design and decoration of Moryn’s generous living room with its painted ceiling. A private sun deck was constructed leading off the principal bedroom at the front facing the sea with beautiful furniture from “Heals” including a sun lounger. This feature is now obscured. The family swam all year round and SCF was a proficient diver. He built a diving board opposite the house which lasted until the 1970s, although the base can still just be seen.
It is built in a dark brown brick, in Flemish bond, with a steep hipped, tiled roof set behind a parapet. Two dormer windows face the sea and another, Colwyn Bay. The original windows have been replaced by new windows in the original window openings.
The front elevation has been altered by the construction of two extensions.
Edward Hubbard in his book, “The Buildings of Wales (Clwyd, – Denbighshire and Flintshire)” 1936 writes about Moryn as follows – “Neo-Georgian is abandoned in a flat roofed apsidal projection with a large undivided window facing the sea. Forming part of the original build are two adjacent single storeyed houses”.
It is understood that the apsidal projection referred to above would be at the front at the southerly (Bryn y Mor Road) side. This has been extended by the addition of a first floor extension with a lead roof and a decorated finial. A single storey extension to the front with a steep lead roof at the northerly end obscures part of the original front entrance.
On the Bryn y Mor Road side there is a “canted bow window with a Regency style canopy and serrated fascia” (Buildings of Wales, Clwyd).
Two adjoining bungalows on the Promenade between Moryn and Ebberston Road East were also designed by Sidney Colwyn Foulkes. The steep gardens of Moryn and the bungalows are bordered by walls of the local limestone with roughly semi-circular coping stones.
SCF designed bungalows adjacent to “Moryn”
It is always worth studying the details of Sidney Colwyn Foulkes work – note for example the two white painted “Pineapples” on the front of Moryn. With regard to the bungalows one can observe some familiar features with “Moryn”. These include the Flemish Bond brickwork, the hipped roofs and parapets and soldier course brickwork above the windows.
Pineapples – Moryn
Acknowledgements:
David Birch
The Colwyn Foulkes family
Read more about Sidney Colwyn Foulkes and his work here.
