36 Crescent Grove

36 Crescent Grove is a two-storey detached house built in 1965, designed by the architects John and Ann Kay for their own use. It is constructed with London yellow stock brick walls over a Canadian hemlock timber frame, with timber structural panels and a zinc-edged flat bitumen felt roof. The windows and doors are timber-framed and double-glazed.

The house occupies a corner site that slopes gently from north-west to south-east. The front elevation faces north-east towards the road, while the rear faces south-west into a garden. The main entrance is at the north-western end, with an internal garage and secondary entrance at the south-eastern end. Room levels on both floors step down to follow the slope of the site.

The road-facing elevation is characterised by its yellow London stock brick in stretcher bond with horizontal zinc edging to the flat roof. The design is made up of three sections that step down the sloping site, with the changing heights of the flat roofs emphasising this feature. The north-western section contains a central timber entrance door with a horizontal rectangular light above, sheltered by an open flat-roofed canopy supported on two timber posts, accessed by steps to the north-west. A single small rectangular casement window sits above on the first floor. The central section projects towards the road and appears blank, though windows with timber spandrel panels below, serving both floors, are concealed in the north-east and south-west returns. The south-eastern section houses the secondary entrance within a recessed open lobby and a timber garage door with three horizontal rectangular lights above. A narrow horizontal rectangular casement window is positioned above on the first floor.

The rear elevation has substantially more fenestration. A centralised square projecting bay dominates the first floor, featuring large fixed windows to all three sides and a two-pane sash to the north-west. Below is an open undercroft with a timber garden door and glazed screen. To the western end, the house projects at ground floor level with a large square fixed window, a pair of horizontal vents above, and a timber spandrel panel below. A glazed single-panel door stands to the side of this projection, with two vertically orientated rectangular windows above. The easternmost section has a glazed two-panel back door and another large square fixed window with a pair of horizontal vents and a timber spandrel panel below. Two vertically orientated rectangular windows sit above. The western end, adjoining the neighbouring single-storey house, has two vertically orientated rectangular windows with timber spandrels at first floor level and one at ground floor level. The eastern end has similar fenestration all at first floor level.

The interior reflects the character of its date. Ceilings and walls are either timber-boarded or plastered and decorated with William Morris wallpaper. Doors are flush-panelled, some with glazed inserts. The house contains fitted circular light fittings and rectangular roof lights, several designed by Kay.

From the main entrance, a small rectangular lobby with adjacent cloakroom leads to a corridor that steps down to the middle of the house. The dog-leg stair rises from here with a curved and rounded hardwood handrail and stick balusters in 19th-century manner. At the centre is the former children's playroom, now used as a studio, fitted with timber furniture, an architect's workstation and carpentry workbench. An exposed upright timber post marks the timber frame structure. The eastern end contains a combined kitchen and dining room. The kitchen retains its original timber base units with a reconstituted granite work-top, a narrow timber pelmet running around at head-height to conceal lighting. The kitchen and dining area are partially separated by a built-in timber unit of base units supporting open wall units suspended from the ceiling. A fitted unit resembling a 19th-century kitchen dresser, with open shelves over half-height cupboards, stands to the eastern side of the dining area. Beyond the kitchen are an integral garage, integral workshop, larder store with marble shelves, and access doors to front and rear.

The first floor contains four bedrooms, a study, a spare room and the main sitting room, opening from a spinal corridor lit at the top of the stair by a roof-light with a purpose-built shade. The centrally located rear sitting room is on two levels, the upper shallow stage having fitted shelving and cylindrical ceiling-mounted light fittings. Most bedrooms have fitted timber desks and most overlook the garden. The spare room has bi-fold doors to the corridor and a bed which folds into the wall space. The two bathrooms have reconstituted stone window cills.