The Homewood, Esher, Surrey

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The Homewood
Designer Patrick Gwynne
Location Esher, Surrey, England, United Kingdom
Date 1938 to 1940
Building Type Small House
Construction System Reinforced concrete, steel with terrazo, marble and gold leaf.
Climate Mild Temperate
Context Suburban/Rural
Architectural Style Modern
Street Address Portsmouth Road, KT10 9JL
Notes Remodeled by the architect in 1946.

Contents


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[edit] Discussion

Building Details
Client Mr. & Mrs Alban Gwynne, the architect's parents
Cost £10,000[1]


This early modern work helped to establish the International Style in the United Kingdom. The Homewood was designed by the architect for is parents and replaced an older Victorian home of the same name. The design of this house was greatly influenced by Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye, by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Tugendhat House and also by other houses designed by both men in Weissenhof, Stuttgart, Germany.

"For two years Gwynne worked in Coates's office, while designing a new house for his parents. This was the Homewood, built to replace a rambling Victorian house just outside Esher, in Surrey, using the profits of a windfall investment made by his parents from the sale of their small Welsh estate. Coates advised on technical matters, and Denys Lasdun, another of Coates's assistants, designed the elliptical terrace pool."

– Elain Harwood, The Independent, May 20, 2003 [2]


Gwynne's parents died in 1942, after living in the house for only one year. The architect subsequently remodeled and inhabited the house in 1946, following a return from service in World War II.

Gwynne inhabited the house over the next 47 years until his death. Over these many decades, though the structure and essential design of the house remained largely untouched, extensive interior modifications were made including updated decor, furniture and several kitchen upgrades.

Upon his death, Gwynne donated Homewood to the National Trust, after years of negotiations regarding management and disposition of the estate. The house opened for public visits in 2004 after considerable restoration and updating by Avanti Architects.

[edit] Origins

The family demolished the original rambling Victorian house called "The Homewood", to make way for the house on stilts (pilotis) Patrick Gwynne would design and build to replace it, at age 24. The family sold off property in Wales to finance the project which cost £10,000 at the time, exceeding the original estimate.

[edit] Influences and structure

The Homewood was Gwynne's first house project and his lasting favourite. His influences included Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe, fathers of the modernist International Style that took hold in the 1920s. Like Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright before him, he designed everything including the furniture and fittings, even the grounds. But unlike Wright, he emphasised the grounds being arranged for the house rather than the house built for the grounds. He created two models of measurement used throughout to regulate proportions. The vertical model was 18 inches and multiples of this would delineate everything upright, for example, from window ledges, to window and ceiling heights.

The new Homewood was structured so that bedrooms and offices were on one side and on the other, living and utility areas. At one end is the servants' quarters. Below are the car spaces and entrance.

[edit] Style

The elevated house with its lean modernist lines and industrial materials, is open plan with the spaces signified by furniture arrangement. It is spare, spacious and functional, yet comfortable. The concrete interior staircase is lit by a sunken uplight. Décor includes signature wall papers, innovations such as mechanised blinds over the floor to ceiling windows, convertible work desks, multipurpose cabinets (some with interior lighting), and bedroom ensuites. There were originally five bedrooms, later four, and the colour scheme is neutral ranging from cream or white, shades of brown to chocolate and black with some sky blue accessories. In contrast, there is one lavish bespoke glass chandelier on the landing. The Homewood served as Gwynne's living portfolio to clients and students, exhibiting his designs from architecture to furniture, finishes and fittings, as well as attention to detail and complete design control.

As post-War years meant no staff, Gwynne installed a pool and converted the servants' quarters to an entertainment/relaxation centre which relocated this function from the roof (rooftop entertaining being a 1930's custom that favoured flat roofs) to the grounds, making access easier for the purpose.

Since each member of the family had a car, the stilts provided space for four cars. The entrance was approached by driving in completely under cover. Gwynne's blue-green Aston Martin remains at The Homewood.

When Patrick, his sister and father enlisted or joined the war effort, the house was tenanted until they returned. Both parents died of natural causes before the end of World War II and did not survive to live in the final result. Patrick lived alone in the house for about 46 years. In his later years he lived in the former servants' quarters while working with the National Trust to restore it to the original.

[edit] Visiting

Administered and maintained on the Trust's behalf by a tenant. Please tel. for opening arrangements and prices. No WC


The Homewood

Portsmouth Road, Esher, Surrey KT10 9JL

Telephone: 01372 476424

Fax: 01372 476420

Email: thehomewood@nationaltrust.org.uk

Ordnance survey reference 187:TQ130635

[edit] Maps

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Modernist manners, The Guardian, 2005.0806.
  2. ↑ * Obituary: Patrick Gwynne, by Elain Harwood, The Independent, May 20, 2003.

[edit] External Links

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