Wonder walls! How a mural can help secure the sale of your home

There is something special about murals.

Unlike paintings on canvas or framed pictures, they are so large, bold and eccentric that they immediately attract attention in any room. Sometimes they can even secure a home sale.

Such was the case for retired businessman Gary Keeley when he first set foot on Byeballs Farm in Tindon End, Saffron Walden, 25 years ago.

“I was looking for a renovation project, but nothing like this,” says Gary, 59.

‘There were brambles growing over the roof, weeds poking through the floors and the canal was completely dry.’

Gary was about to turn his back on the wreckage of a house when something caught his attention.

In the shadows of the drawing room he saw the faint colors of some flowery, decorative, medieval wall paintings.

“They fascinated me and what really stood out were the initials ‘S’ and ‘G’ on the work,” says Gary.

“My wife is Sharon; I’m Gary, so they were our initials too. It seemed fate to us that we should own the house.’

Gary then spent two years restoring and reconfiguring the home’s layout, and adding bathrooms.

With 2.5 hectares of land, an orchard, heated swimming pool, gym and party barn, Byeballs Farm is now for sale with Cheffins priced at £1.75 million.

Classical origins

Murals date back to the Paleolithic period; the Romans used them extensively and they remain popular today, when a newly discovered Banksy will be front-page news.

Tess Newall is one of the country’s most sought-after mural artists, having painted and decorated film sets.

‘Hand painting adds charm and texture to a room,’ says Tess, who worked on the Bloomsbury Group film Vita & Virginia.

‘There’s something magical about seeing brushstrokes, knowing that someone painted it. Wallpaper has difficult joints, while a mural celebrates the shape of a room.’

Murals are often used to create a sense of space. The opera set designer and artist John Pascoe did just that in his studio in a Victorian house in Islington, North London, where he created a mural that enveloped the entire room and added rays of sunshine to monuments, trees and lakes, making the room a kind of extension from nearby Clissold Park.

“I believe that nature has an incredible power to enhance our well-being,” says John, who launched the studio last year. ‘I hope I have created a bit of peace in the city.’

Back to nature: Botanical designs offer homeowners a sense of tranquility

For your own piece of tranquility, Joanna Perry specializes in nature-inspired scenes, from Japanese gardens to forests.

At their core, the best murals are about deception: they’re fun. Modern parents have often decorated their children’s nurseries with scenes from Disney – Jungle Book is still a favorite – or in Barbie pink.

Birmingham-based Sweetart Murals offers bespoke designs and specializes in children’s and nursery pieces.

Deep inside

Bathrooms can be a source of inspiration. A seller recently put his home on the market with a mural in his shower room that gave the impression that the entire room was under the ocean.

The ceiling depicted the bottom of boats; the sun filtered through and the fish swam around, it was all very realistic.

But unfortunately, many viewers with small children were not really impressed by the naked nymphs. So be careful, because murals can be a selling point, but also a distraction.

“I recently advised a client with a Sistine-esque mural in the kitchen to paint over it,” says Ed Jephson of Stacks Property Search.

‘I think a mural is too much an expression of the owner’s interest.’

Others are excessively proud of their murals.

“Every time we start planning the day we have to leave this house, my wife, Sharon, bursts into tears,” said Gary Keeley of Byeballs Farm.

‘We will miss many things about the house and the murals are at the top of the list.’