29, Ledo Road

This is a married officers' house built between 1936 and 1937 as part of a Group V design for Flight Lieutenants by A Bulloch, who was the architectural advisor to the Air Ministry's Directorate of Works and Buildings. The design is referenced by Drawing No 6537/36. The house is constructed of red cavity brick in Flemish bond, with a pantile roof and brick stacks.

The building has a plan comprising an entrance hall, a drawing room, and a dining room on the ground floor, with bedrooms above, including a servant’s room.

The exterior is two storeys high. All windows are timber sash windows with glazing bars, set within flush boxes and brick voussoirs. The south-facing garden front features a canted bay window to the left of a four-window range, with 12-pane sashes; a late 20th-century conservatory has been added. The north front, facing the drive, has a projecting gable which contains the entrance hall and staircase. This gable face has 8-pane sashes to its returns and a panelled door set in a classical doorcase with a bracketed cornice. End and axial brick stacks are present.

This is a distinctive example of a 1930s design by an Air Ministry architect, A Bulloch. The detailing is restrained, but the massing, spacing, and proportions are carefully considered, reflecting a neo-Georgian style influenced by the Royal Fine Arts Commission and, in particular, Sir Edwin Lutyens. The design reflects a desire to soften the visual impact of new airbases on the landscape, mindful of public concerns regarding rearmament and environmental change. As such, it represents a blend of Garden City planning, neo-Georgian propriety for domestic buildings, and a modified Moderne style for technical buildings.

The house is part of a well-preserved group of married officers' houses and is considered the finest and best-preserved example of a fighter base representative of the period up to 1945 in Britain, with a complete collection of First World War technical buildings and buildings typical of both inter-war expansion periods of the RAF. It is associated with the Battle of Britain and American fighter support for the Eighth Air Force. Further historical details can be found under the entry for the Officers’ Mess (Building 45).