40, Kingston Road

Detached house, built 1962–63, designed by John Parkinson Whittle as his family home. Constructed in dark grey engineering brick with a flat roof and single storey, featuring custom-made double glazed windows throughout.

The house is organised around an internal courtyard plan. Domestic spaces and the main entrance face the front (east) elevation, while three bedrooms occupy the rear (west) side. A small bedroom is positioned at the front right (north-east corner), and a south-facing lounge opens onto the courtyard. The master bedroom projects from the rear right, and an integral garage forms the major part of the south wing.

Exterior finishes include dark grey painted soffit boards, window frames and door frames. A small water tank and slender chimneybreast sit at the rear right of the roof. The front elevation features a small square slate plaque inscribed with the date '1962' and the initials 'JPW' and 'PW' at opposite diagonal corners. The main entrance, set to the centre right, comprises a wide heavy timber door and slender side panel, both painted bright red-orange, with overlights above (the side panel overlight is louvered and lights a small cloakroom). A short section of vertical timber cladding painted dark grey stands to the left of the entrance. Outer bays occupy deep recesses with dark grey brick floors. The left recess contains a dark grey metal garage door and a pierced dark grey metal screen of vertical strips in alternating widths concealing a small porch with a louvered laundry window, a second entrance doorway with a dark grey plain timber door (burnt orange-red on the reverse), and a bin store. The right recess displays white painted brickwork to the left and a large horizontal two-light window to the right with an upper and slender lower light reaching to ground level, above which sits a deep timber panel painted dark grey.

The rear elevation faces west across a small garden with views over parkland and floodplain. Five bays are set slightly back behind deep eaves. Bays 2, 3 and 5 contain windows matching those on the front, with bay 2 incorporating a glazed door with replaced glazing. Bay 4 features white painted brickwork. Bay 1 (the main bedroom) projects forward with windows to its west and south sides, the latter with white painted brickwork to the right and a band of four horizontal lights above (two louvered lights illuminate an en-suite bathroom). The north and south side elevations are plain, built close to the plot boundary, each with a single window set midway down.

The internal courtyard is paved in dark grey tile and pebbledash concrete with a later water feature. Timber window and door frames are painted dark grey. The south wall is a blank expanse of white painted brickwork. The north wall is fully glazed, lighting the main lounge, with five large panels of fixed glazing (since replaced) and narrow horizontal lights above. The east wall contains glazed patio doors at the far left, with white painted brickwork and a large single horizontal light to the right. The west wall has a tall slender vertical light to the far left, white painted brickwork to the centre, and glazed patio doors matching those on the east side to the far right.

The interior maintains original built-in fixtures and fittings including shelving and cupboards. Wall surfaces are exposed pale buff brick and white plaster. Flooring comprises wood block in single herringbone pattern with a two-block border to bedrooms and the lounge, and dark grey tiles to the kitchen, dining room, entrance lobbies and rear snug. Hemlock wood-clad ceilings extend throughout except in the main bathroom and laundry. Polished veneer doors with overlights are standard throughout.

Main bedrooms are positioned to the rear, with domestic spaces to the front. Living spaces are open-plan. Central to the front, between two entrance lobbies, are a small laundry, toilet and store. The kitchen and dining room sit behind, overlooking the courtyard, divided by a cream-coloured dwarf partition screen incorporating fixed shelving, cupboards and counter to the kitchen side. A wide horizontal panel in bright orange-red Formica is cut away at the east end to create a servery and allow views between both spaces. The kitchen features replaced cream-coloured units matching the original style. A small enclosed study-office is positioned to the north side off the dining room.

The dining room flows into the lounge positioned to the north side of the house. This open-plan lounge has a square fireplace opening set low to the west wall with a raised dark grey tiled hearth running its full length. Built-in low-level cupboards with dark grey sliding doors line the north wall, with fixed shelving above. Dark grey tiling along the south wall forms an implied corridor. An open doorway at the far left of the west wall leads into a snug, which features a large cork panel to its north wall, later shelving attached to exposed buff brick to the south wall, and a glazed door to the west leading into the rear garden. Glazed patio doors to the east wall open into the courtyard. A doorway at the east end of the north wall enters the main bedroom, which has a seating area to the west incorporating a low-level laminate shelf-bench in burnt orange-red along the north wall with a circular tilting mirror fixed above. An en-suite bathroom was added in 1976 (designed by Whittle) to the south-west corner, with orange-coloured fixed units and a cobalt blue wall facing the bedroom. The east end features a cobalt blue north wall. A low-level white laminate panel runs the full length of the north wall acting as a headboard, incorporating two layered woodblock cantilevered bedside shelves with white laminate tops, with wardrobes to the east wall. Full-height built-in veneered wardrobes with sliding doors (designed and built by Whittle) are fitted to each bedroom.

The west wing, originally used by the family's children, is separately contained behind a door at the south-east corner of the snug. A corridor alongside the east wall overlooks the courtyard with two bedrooms off to the west side and a bathroom to the south end. A further small bedroom, originally for an au-pair, is positioned at the front right of the house by the main entrance lobby. The garage is self-contained with no internal access from the house.