From a Royal Commission to Grand Designs: Kenton Jones Showcases Welsh Timber Craft in Luxury Bespoke Kitchens and Modular Homes

Kenton Jones, the family-run maker of handcrafted kitchens and timber interiors, is entering a new chapter as its work in both bespoke joinery and modular homes gains national attention.

Founded in 1977, the company designs and builds every kitchen, pantry, utility room and fitted furniture piece in its Welshpool workshop, serving homes across Mid Wales, Shropshire and Cheshire from its Welshpool and Shrewsbury showrooms. The focus has remained constant for almost five decades: made to measure design, carefully selected timber and traditional joinery carried out by an in-house team.

“Long before sustainability became a buzzword, we were drying our own timber and buying from local forests because it felt like the right way to work,” says Executive Director Kenton Jones. “That mindset has quietly shaped everything we do.”

Welsh timber homes on screen

The combined work of Kenton Jones and its modular homes arm, Unnos Systems, has recently reached national television audiences.

In the most recent series of Channel 4’s Grand Designs, a modular family home in Southwater, West Sussex, designed and built in the Welshpool factory, was highlighted for being delivered on time, on budget and to a high standard of quality.

Presenter Kevin McCloud described the Southwater modular home as “the first project to deliver all three – on time, on budget, and with high quality.” He also commented: “It’s all about containing costs – having it prefabricated in a factory in Wales, brought in on lorries, costing exactly what you thought it would. That is the future of Grand Designs. It’s the future of self-build.”

Another Kenton Jones/Unnos Systems project was featured in Channel 5’s Build Your Dream Home in the Country, in the episode “Island Home”, which followed their timber house manufactured in Wales and transported to the Outer Hebrides for assembly in a remote coastal landscape.

From kitchens to complete modular homes

Alongside its kitchens and interiors, Kenton Jones has grown Unnos Systems to deliver complete modular homes using the same workshop, the same craftspeople and the same supply of homegrown timber.

Modules are designed digitally, built and finished under factory conditions in Mid Wales, then delivered to sites Worldwide. The aim is to combine the precision and calm of a joinery workshop with the demands of architecture grade buildings, so that the interiors feel as considered as the structure that surrounds them.

“Modular homes felt more like a return to our roots than a new venture,” says Kenton. “We have always combined design, structure and joinery. The difference now is the scale of the projects and the tools we have available”

A royal commission that helped shape the business

Earlier in its history, the company was commissioned to design and install a bespoke kitchen at Highgrove House for the then Prince of Wales, now King Charles. Crafted from locally sourced oak and designed around the character of the house, the project reinforced the company’s belief in provenance, proportion and quiet, enduring detail.

That commission helped shape what is now known as the Highgrove collection, a family of kitchens that celebrates natural timber, simple lines and British craftsmanship rather than short-lived trends.

Kitchens and homes for discerning homeowners

Today, Kenton Jones works with discerning homeowners, architects, interior designers and self-build clients who want a single workshop to handle both interiors and, through Unnos Systems, the fabric of the building itself.

Within the main business, the Artisan, Bauhaus, Hygge and Highgrove kitchen collections offer different design languages, from classic in-frame Shaker to contemporary handleless schemes and Scandi-inspired simplicity. Each project begins with a detailed design consultation and is then built and installed by the company’s own teams so that cabinetry, flooring and furniture sit comfortably within the architecture of the home.

For professional clients such as architects, developers, main contractors, public-estate teams, project management and cost consultancies and engineering practices, Unnos Systems provides fully finished timber modules with joinery-grade interiors and a short on-site programme, well suited to sensitive landscapes, tight access or exposed locations.

“Most of our clients are making once-in-a-generation decisions about their home,” says Kenton. “Our job is to steady that process, ask the right questions and make sure every decision still feels sound twenty years from now.”

About Kenton Jones

Founded in 1977, Kenton Jones is a British, family-run maker of handcrafted kitchens, fitted furniture and bespoke joinery. All projects are made to order in the company’s Welshpool workshop and installed through its showrooms in Shrewsbury and Welshpool, serving clients across Mid Wales, Shropshire and Cheshire. The company is led by Executive Director Kenton Jones, the second generation of the founding family, and is known for its focus on timber, craftsmanship and long term design.

Website: https://kentonjones.com