A once-bustling bakery and caf in Kew Road with classic deep blue and silver Art Deco shopfronts and matching interiors has been Grade II listed to protect its unique 1920s architecture.

In response to pressure from the council and locals who treasure the premises, which is still referred to as Matthiae's Caf and Bakery, last week the Government's Department of Culture, Media and Sport officially listed 76-84 Kew Road.

The family business closed in 2001 after 80 years of serving the community. For decades the people of Richmond went to Matthiae's to buy their bread and wedding cakes and referred to the caf's catering service to put on every big event, like weddings and civic dinners.

Julia Dunlop, nee Matthiae, is the daughter of Reg Matthiae who started the bakery in 1920 and expanded the business to include a caf, restaurant and catering service.

When her brother, Richard Matthiae, sold the property to new owners in December last year, Mrs Dunlop, who still lives in Richmond, worried her parents' bakery would be redeveloped without preserving the architecture.

She was pleased to hear of the Grade II listing, and said: "It should protect the building's attractive features, like the glass ceiling in the shop, which was such a worry during the war because any serious vibration could have brought it down on top of staff and customers, and the wonderful terrazzo staircase, which is so solid that the family slept in a small room under the staircase during the war in place of an air raid shelter."

Mrs Dunlop's parents met when her mother came to work in the bakery. After getting married, the business-minded couple remodelled the facade and interior with the classic Art Deco style of the 1930s.

The business premises included the main bakery and catering department on the ground floor, a caf and a banquet room on the first floor and an Art Deco ballroom on the top floor. The family lived in flats above the bakery.

Using decor, the Matthiaes heightened the Art Deco feel.

Mrs Dunlop said: "I remember the caf and ballroom with their mirrors and wooden panels round the walls, the ladies' and gents' toilets with black and white tiles and wonderful basins that drained into a tiled open trough, the ground floor canopied entrance to the ballroom and the shop entrance."

Council planning officers said an application to convert the five 19th century terraced houses into nine flats was submitted just two weeks ago.

A council spokesman said the news of the Grade II listing made the application obsolete as the Essex based owners, Fine Haze Limited, will now have to submit a fresh application with a separate one because of the structure's listed status.

No one at Fine Haze was available for comment at the time of going to press.