Renowned sculptor Stephen Hines hated wallpaper so he decorated his home now for sale with magnificent murals

This house for sale in Ossett is a work of art thanks to magnificent murals by renowned sculptor and artist Stephen Hines

By Sharon Dale
Saturday, 3rd October 2020, 1:17 am
One of the walls of Stephen's garden studio

The renowned and much-loved sculptor Stephen Hines left a remarkable artistic legacy when he passed away in 2017 and the buyers of this detached house in Ossett look set to inherit some of his most wonderful work.

The five-bedroom property, his art studio and the large, south-facing garden are filled with his murals. “He didn’t like wallpaper so he painted murals on the walls instead, usually using emulsion,” says his wife, Margaret, who is now selling the family home to downsize. It is on the market for £500,000 with Reeds Rains.

The dining room has a mural featuring Holy Island and Bamburgh Castle, while the shower room is adorned with San Pietro in Rome and the bathroom features Charley’s Garden near Whitley Bay.

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Stephen's garden studio is decorated with a recreation of Michaelangelo’s Creation of Adam and JMW Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire. A tribute to Mondrian runs up the middle of the building.

Stephen, whose commissions included a statue of the Madonna and Child for the Vatican, opted for a space theme for one of the bedrooms, while the mural of The Beatles in the cellar highlights his love of music and of his rock and roll band “The Beanz”, made up of him and ex-pupils from Morley High School, where he was an inspirational teacher.

Outside, his garden studio is one of his most impressive works of art and is decorated with a recreation of Michaelangelo’s Creation of Adam and JMW Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire. A tribute to Mondrian runs up the middle of the building.

The studio murals also include a painterly tribute to Carrara. He hitchhiked there to learn the “old ways” alongside masons in the marble quarries. There are also images depicting the words of Yeats, his favourite poet, and a picture of Keswick Hall College where he met his wife. A poignant tribute to those who lost their lives in the First World War runs along a garden wall.

Stephen and Margaret, bought the house 33 years ago as it had plenty of space for them and their two children, Tonya and Michael. The biggest selling point was the garden building that Stephen could use as a studio.

The sculpting area of the studio is a painterly tribute to Carrara. He hitchhiked there to learn the “old ways” alongside masons in the marble quarries. There is also a mural of Keswick Hall College where he met his wife.

“It has been a wonderful place and a real party house. We have had lots of charity events here and lots of happy times,” says Margaret. “It is going to be a big wrench to leave and while it would be nice to think the new owners would keep some of the murals, a photographer has taken pictures of them for me so I can take them with me, in a way.”

Stephen is in the Who’s Who of Art and was acknowledged by Buckingham Palace and Downing Street for his achievements..

For details of the property on Horbury Road, Ossett, contact: Reeds Rains, Ossett, tel: 01924 262777, www.reedsrains.co.uk

Stephen hated wallpaper so decorated the dining room with scenes of Holy Island and Bamburgh, where he and his family loved to visist.
Stephen Hines loved music and had his own band "The Beanz". This is his tribute to The Beatles
A poignant tribute to those who lost their lives in the First World War runs along a garden wall fronted by a sculpture.The British Legion staged a procession down the garden in honour of its unveiling.