Dorchester House

Dorchester House is a house and double garage built in 1936 by Leslie H Kemp and Frederick E Tasker for Mr Morrell, a local builder and developer. It is an example of the Moderne style. The exterior is constructed of mottled red and brown Flemish bond brick, with flat roofs and tiled eaves, featuring tall stacks. The house is a long rectangular composition, comprising a central two-storey block, an integral double garage to the left, and a single-storey billiard room to the right. A roof-top tank room provides vertical emphasis. Original casement windows with horizontal glazing bars are present throughout. The double garage has timber double doors. The central entrance features a timber door with diagonal panels, set under a projecting balcony of patterned vertical and horizontal bricks, flanked by planters of vertical bricks. Tiled surround and mosaic steps are also present, along with a French window and horizontal windows creating a symmetrical arrangement. The garden front is more asymmetrical, with a regular four-bay composition in the centre and smaller windows and service doors to the right, and an inset single-storey loggia to the left, featuring a large six-light window to the rear giving access to the drawing room.

The interior is particularly lavish. A double-height hallway boasts an open well staircase with an Art Deco style metal balustrade, featuring urn finials on the handrail. Original veneered doors and door furniture are found in all rooms. The drawing room has a stepped, moulded ceiling surround. Rooms feature original fire surrounds, with the drawing room’s of black marble, and the principal bedroom’s incorporating an original electric fire and fluted illuminated glass surround. The master bedroom’s en suite bathroom is notable for its onyx surrounds, peach glass mirrors, and fluted lighting panels. A smaller tiled bathroom retains its original tiling and fitments.

Dorchester House is included as a remarkably complete and lavish example of a 1930s house, commissioned for a successful local businessman with whom Kemp and Tasker had close connections.