The Firs

The Firs is a private house built in 1959 by Patrick Gwynne for Mr Otto Edler. The design features curved brick end walls with various infill materials and a monopitch roof. It has a truncated wedge plan with an open-plan living space.

Access is via a double carport connected to a canopy and a frameless glass front door with steel jambs and fixed lights to the sides. The central bay is clad with vertical timber boarding above, flanked by brown bricks. A white-painted timber fascia follows the line of the roof. The south-facing (garden) front has three bays of full-height steel-framed windows at both levels, with black rendered walling between. A single curved pane forms a bow window over a pool on the ground floor. Four steel columns extend through both storeys, supporting a continuous first-floor metal balcony with timber rails and a roof overhang. The rear elevation incorporates ochre-coloured bricks laid on edge, not bonded. A single-storey service building with a curved wall adjoins the rear. The entrance threshold is dark green terrazzo, projecting at an angle to form a bridge over a drainage trough at the base of the wall and continuing into the hall, where it transitions to white tiles with green decoration. A red vertical tile with a display recess occupies the right-hand wall, with an opening to a cloakroom partly concealed behind a vertically boarded stairwell rising through two storeys and topped with a skylight. The staircase has timber treads supported by double pin fixings, a black tubular steel string, a white plastic-coated tubular steel handrail with an 'S' curve at the base, and a glass baluster plate to the landing following the curve.

The main living room is divided by sliding doors extending from full-height partitions; between the study and living room, there are veneered cupboards and a fitted desk, and between the dining room and living room, marble facing surrounds a fireplace with a recessed display shelf above, transitioning to vertical boarding on the dining room side. This partition also contains a concealed turntable for a television set, viewable from both sides. The ceiling is coved down to the windows with a concealed curtain track. A central bow window incorporates a black tiled shelf. The flooring is woodblock. The kitchen, connected to the dining room with a painted timber two-way unit and hatch, features an irregular fixed island table and units to the walls. The bedrooms are fitted with painted timber wardrobes.

Mr Otto Edler was introduced to Patrick Gwynne by the builder Leslie Bilsby, who subsequently commissioned his own house from the architect. Edler’s house exhibits a more distinctly 1950s character than Gwynne’s later work, displaying more dramatic variety in finishes and contrasting forms and materials. A similarly rich variety of fixtures is found in the interior.