Leighton House, Millbank Estate

Leighton House is a block of flats built between 1897 and 1902 as part of the Millbank Estate, one of the London County Council's earliest and most significant housing developments. The estate was designed by the Architects' Department under Owen Fleming, with R. Minton Taylor likely responsible for the layout which radiates from a rectangular public garden. The building is constructed of red brick with stone dressings and tiled roofs. Its design reflects a humane, Arts and Crafts socialist approach, inspired by the work of Webb, Lethaby, and Smith and Brewer, incorporating "Queen Anne" and Northern European influences, all executed to a high standard.

The block is angled and has an asymmetrical butterfly plan, set at right angles to John Islip Street, with elevations facing a courtyard and the north-facing garden, splaying towards Herrick Street. It features five-storey gabled end pavilions and a faceted-pyramid roof tower, four storeys high with an attic, situated between them. The end pavilions are two windows wide. The pavilion at the John Islip Street end has two windows grouped in a shallow angled bay with a small secondary light to the right. The links between the pavilions are four windows wide, and the central "tower" has three. Cornice-hooded entrances are found on the courtyard elevation. The window design varies to reflect the interior layout, including segmental arched flush framed sashes, two-light glazing bar camber-arched casements, and flat-arched casements. Stone dressings are used on the ground floor windows of the "tower" and in the end pavilions. Two oculi (round windows) flank the ground floor of the "tower." Grouped dormers are located above the overhanging eaves. The block is designed to balance visually with the adjacent Millais House, both situated north of the garden.