The Homewood

The Homewood is a modernist house in Esher, Surrey, England. Designed by architect Patrick Gwynne for his parents, The Homewood was given by Gwynne to the National Trust in 1999.

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

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 20 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.

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), concealed storage 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.

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