31, Ledo Road

Married officers' house, built 1936–7 at RAF Duxford to a Group IV design for Squadron Leaders. Designed by A Bulloch, architectural advisor to the Air Ministry's Directorate of Works and Buildings, under drawing number 6533/36.

The house is constructed in red cavity brick laid in Flemish bond, with a pantile roof and brick chimney stacks. It comprises two storeys with a single-storey annexe to the east.

The exterior is symmetrically composed. The south-facing garden front features a canted bay window to the left of a four-window range, all with 12-pane timber sashes with glazing-bars set to flush boxes with brick voussoirs. Adjacent to the bay window is a French window in a raised brick architrave. The north front, facing the drive, displays a five-window elevation with 12-pane sashes and a central panelled door set within a semi-circular arch with tile imposts and brick tympanum. This is flanked by 9-pane sashes with three 8-pane sashes positioned above. End and axial chimney stacks are present.

The plan follows a conventional arrangement: entrance hall, drawing room, study and dining room on the ground floor, with these spaces capable of being opened up for functions. The first floor contains a dressing room, bedrooms and a servant's room. The single-storey annexe to the east, with a hipped roof, contains a heating chamber, WC, larder and store, and is linked to a walled yard housing a fuel store and tool shed.

Interior details include original joinery with panelled doors and brass fittings, a bolection-moulded fireplace in the drawing room, and a dog-leg stair with moulded handrail.

The house exemplifies the neo-Georgian style adopted by the Air Ministry in the 1930s for domestic buildings at new air bases. This approach reflected the influence of the Royal Fine Arts Commission and architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, and was adopted by politicians seeking to mitigate public concerns about rearmament and environmental change by softening the impact of new bases on the landscape. The design demonstrates careful consideration of massing, spacing and proportions, with restrained detailing throughout.

This house is one of a well-preserved group of married officers' quarters at the former RAF Duxford, which represents the finest and best-preserved example of a fighter base of the period up to 1945 in Britain. The site retains an exceptionally complete group of First World War technical buildings alongside inter-war Expansion Period structures, and holds significant associations with the Battle of Britain and American Eighth Air Force operations.