Historic home for a well-travelled family

Oct 18 2007 by Debbie Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

Debbie Johnson visits a Liverpool couple’s apartment that once belonged to the Russian consulate

GLOBETROTTING couple Sharon and Tony Crilly spent time living in Chicago and the Netherlands before they returned to their hometown of Liverpool – where they ended up living in the former Russian consulate.

Tony is a manager with ICI, and his job has taken the pair to live abroad on a few occasions.

Five years ago, when they were living in Amsterdam, they decided to buy an apartment in Liverpool to have as a place to stay when they came home for weekends and holidays.

They chose a two-bedroomed apartment in historic Brucklay House, on North Mossley Hill Road – a beautiful converted mansion that was a former home to the Russian consulate in Liverpool.

Sharon says: “We came to view it and fell in love with it straight away. I think it happens like that with houses, doesn’t it? You tend to know within a few seconds of walking through the door if you are going to love them or not.”

Tony adds: “The place had so much character, and Brucklay House is gorgeous. Mossley Hill Road is a very nice-looking road as well. We knew it was right for us.”

Although they were still living in Holland at the time, they went ahead and purchased the flat. Then, three years ago, when Tony’s job brought him back to the UK, they moved in permanently.

Brucklay House is set in lovely communal gardens, secluded and peaceful, for the use of the residents. Being set in its own grounds also gives it a real sense of space and exclusivity. The couple – who have two children, Niamh, five, and Anthony, three – live on the top floor.

The lounge is painted in neutral tones of ivory, with cream and beige carpets and the room, like other parts of the apartment, has original features such as wooden beams. Furniture includes two brown leather sofas and a walnut dining suite, as well as the youngsters’ little armchairs. A huge arched feature window means that the room is flooded with natural light.

The kitchen is compact, with fitted units, a double oven and charcoal black granite worktops and no space goes unused. There is also a large skylight in the room which makes it bright and airy.

Sharon and Tony’s bedroom is again painted in neutral tones. Sharon says: “I know that’s what everyone says you should do to keep it attractive when you want to sell it, but to be honest this is our taste anyway, those are the colours we would always choose.” The focal point of the room is a piece of original artwork on the wall, a huge swirl of greens in acrylics.

Sharon says: “There is a website called lucyart where you tell them what you want, send off samples of your wallpaper or bed linens or curtains, whatever you want them to match to, and they do the work for you. I love green and always knew that’s what I wanted in here, so we got the picture first and based the rest around it!”

The room has bed linens in tones of green and large fitted wardrobes. There is also another arched window – a smaller version of the one in the lounge.

The second bedroom has now been taken over by the children. Sharon says: “Luckily, the rooms here are good sizes! Because we have a girl and a boy, it has been quite tricky. Again we’ve kept the walls neutral, and there is blue gingham on Anthony’s bed and pink gingham on Niamh’s.”

The couple have now decided to put the apartment on the market to accommodate the needs of their family.

Sharon says: “To be honest, we don’t really want to go. This building is beautiful, with such a sense of history, and the location in the gardens is wonderful. But, as the kids get older, then they are going to need a room each, so we have made the decision to move on.”

* THE apartment will be for sale with Merseyside Property Marketing on 0845 1215264, www.merseyside-property.com