14-18, Sycamore Place

Nos 14-18 Sycamore Place is a terrace of five houses built in 1914 by Parker and Unwin for the Joseph Rowntree Village Trust. The houses are constructed of brick and feature a French tile roof. They have a lobby-entry plan with a living room and scullery at the rear. The terrace is two storeys high and consists of 14 bays, with the entrance bays slightly projecting forward. There is a round-arched through passage to the ninth bay, flanked by half-glazed doors set in round-arched porches. A half-glazed door is also recessed in a round-arched porch at the third bay. The houses have 4-pane sash windows throughout, sprocketed eaves, and a hipped roof. The chimney stacks have been removed, and the entrances to Nos 14 and 18 are located at the side. New Earswick is particularly significant for its role in the development of low-cost housing in Britain. The experiences and practices established here were extensively incorporated into the Tudor Walters Report of 1918, which played a key role in the passing of the Addison Act of 1919. Plans from New Earswick also influenced the Government Manual on low-cost housing that followed the Act.