Litchfield Square

Houses of 1908, designed by Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin, forming part of the Hampstead Garden Suburb and originally part of the artisans’ quarter. The houses are built in Flemish bond brick with red brick dressings and tile roofs, featuring tile flats to gable kneelers and some lintels. Weatherboarding is used on the outshuts of numbers 84 and 108, the spandrels of the full-height bays in the courtyard, and for a two-storey timber-framed porch at the centre. Brick stacks are incorporated into the design. The roofs are tiled, with several dormers and swept boxed eaves.

The building has a U-shaped plan, with an eleven-window range to the centre and eleven-window ranges facing the courtyard. The end units facing Hampstead Way have a three-window frontage each. The design is bilaterally symmetrical and in a Vernacular Revival style. The casement windows are of an original design, set within segmental-arched openings, with varying numbers of lights and dimensions, and are generally off-axis to create subtle rhythms and variety. First-floor windows abut the eaves in a characteristic manner of Parker and Unwin. French doors lead to the timber-framed porch. Entrance treatments vary, some set within recesses, others flush with the wall. A hipped dormer with a strip light is located at the join of the centre range and wings. Full-height canted bays are positioned towards the centre of each wing, terminating in a very shallow conical roof. The gable of the end units facing the wings has a single-storey bay with a weatherboarded parapet to the first floor. Lateral and axial stacks are present on the party walls.

The design is considered refined, relieving the extensive use of brown brick with features like hipped dormers, canted bays, the timber-framed porch, and varied window treatments. In line with Arts and Crafts principles, the design is understated, balancing conventional design elements with a focus on building craft. The design’s form is comparable with Lucas Square to the south, which employs a similar plan but a different architectural expression.