Numbers 1 To 24 And Attached Railings And Porches

REYNOLDS CLOSE, HAMPSTEAD GARDEN SUBURB, BARNET

A cul-de-sac development of twenty-four houses with attached railings and porches, built in 1911 by the architects Parker and Unwin. The houses form part of the Hampstead Garden Suburb estate and include No. 43 Hampstead Way.

Construction and Materials

The houses are built in brick in Flemish bond with red brick and tile dressings. All roofs are hipped and tiled with swept and boxed eaves. The buildings are two storeys with dormers throughout.

Layout and Design

The close is treated as separate blocks arranged bilaterally symmetrical about a central axis. All units are linked by brick garden walls pierced by round-arched openings. The architectural style varies between English Classicism and Vernacular Revival. All window openings are flat arched unless otherwise noted, and all windows are of original design.

No. 13, positioned at the head of the close around the Green, serves as the focal point and is the only unique house in the composition. It is bilaterally symmetrical with a five-window range in the English Classical style. At its centre is a full-height rectangular porch with a round diaphragm arch to a recessed porch. The setback ranges have ground-floor openings with relieving arches. First-floor windows to the centre range are segmental arched. Three hipped dormers sit above, with a pair of axial ridge stacks defining the entrance range. A notable feature is the dormer balcony on the centre range with a parapet pierced by a circle. Each return has a hipped dormer.

Nos. 11, 12, 14 and 15 complement the centrepiece, each forming a bilaterally symmetrical ten-window range. In the second and ninth window positions are full-height bays with slightly angled returns, topped by a pierced brick parapet to a hipped roof dormer. Entrances are positioned in the third and eighth window ranges. All ground-floor openings are flat arched with relieving arches and tympana decorated with brickwork. Similar treatment is applied to first-floor windows in each projecting bay. The ranges above entrances are narrow; the remaining windows are two-light. Axial ridge stacks sit inside the entrance ranges, with axial external stacks to each return with dormer buttresses. A sill band runs across first-floor windows, and an entablature band runs to the eaves.

Nos. 9 and 10 are arranged on an L-shaped plan, turning the corner, with Nos. 16 and 17 as their rough counterpart. The short wing of No. 10 finishes in a parapet with an external stack to its return. No. 9 and 10 have a six-window range to their returns. Single casements appear above the third and sixth window ranges; the remainder are paired. An entablature band runs to the guttered eaves. All ground-floor windows and those in the short wing are set under relieving arches. Hipped dormers sit in the second, fourth and sixth window ranges. An axial external stack is positioned to the left return, with an axial stack between the third and fourth window ranges and to the rear roof slope at the junction of wings. One entrance is located in the short wing and another in the long range. Nos. 16 and 17 follow the same pattern in mirror image, with both entrances in the long range.

Nos. 7 and 8 are similar to Nos. 9–12 in detail. They form a ten-window range with entrances in the third and eighth window ranges. The doors are of original design with decorative overlights. In the ninth-window range is a full-height projecting bay with a pierced parapet, matching that found on Nos. 11, 12, 14 and 15. An axial ridge stack sits at the party wall, with axial external stacks to the returns with tile-hung dormer buttresses. Nos. 18 and 19 are the mirror image, with a ten-window range and a stair tower in the second-window range. The doors are of original design with decorative glazed overlights.

Facing the Green, the returns of Nos. 6 and 20 are visible. No. 20 has a four-window range with a half-hipped dormer to the rear. Canted bays sit on the ground floor in the outer ranges, with a hipped dormer to the centre and a stack to the right below the roof ridge. The return of No. 6 comprises a three-window range with a half-hipped dormer to the rear. Canted bays occupy the outer ranges, with two hipped dormers to the right and a stack to the left.

Nos. 2–6 and 20–24 are roughly similar to each other, each forming a long block articulated by hipped bays at the far ends of two windows, each topped by a hipped dormer above. The long ranges contain twenty-seven windows each. At the centre of each range is a two-storey aedicule consisting of giant pilasters and responds, with an entrance below and a shallow porch enclosed by cast-iron railings above, entered by segmental-arched French doors. Two-bay loggias enclosed by "chinoiserie" railings sit to either side, corresponding to a break in the roof line and framed by axial stacks. Pair of round-arched openings sit below. The recesses to Nos. 2–6 are filled by a round-arched loggia at ground floor, above which is a porch enclosed by wood railings in a "chinoiserie" pattern.

Nos. 1 Reynolds Close and 43 Hampstead Way are set back from the line of the long blocks to form a gateway area to the close. No. 1 has a three-window range to Reynolds Close with a hipped roof to Hampstead Way only; the entrance in the centre range to the close is flanked by canted bays. The Hampstead Way elevation of No. 1 has a six-window range, with the roof hipped to the fifth and sixth window ranges, which project to form a cross wing as in a single-ended hall house. Three roof dormers sit above, with an axial stack to the front slope. At the angle between wings is a rectangular porch forming a first-floor balcony enclosed by railings of original design. The close elevation of No. 43 appears identical but is partly obscured by a high hedge. The Hampstead Way elevation of No. 43 is the mirror image of No. 1's.