Numbers 1 and 2 and Brick Retaining Walls, Walks and Pair of Motor Houses

Numbers 1 and 2, along with the brick retaining walls, walks, and a pair of motor houses, were built in 1928-9 as part of the Hampstead Garden Suburb, designed by Charles Cowles Voysey; No.2 was designed for the architect himself. The houses are constructed of brick in Flemish bond, with brick stacks, and have roofs of handmade pantiles. They are two storeys high and are treated as a double-ended hall house with cross wings, each ending in a hipped roof. The entrances are at the ends of the hall range, set within Georgian aedicules with overlights. The doors are of the original design. A twitten passage is in the centre, leading to the party wall, with a broad lateral ridge stack above. The initial interior plan for both houses was identical: an entrance foyer leads to a stair hall with a balustrade of original material and a long window to the rear; a dining room and sitting room are in the cross wings. No.2 retains a stone fire surround of the original design, while cornices and some joinery were not executed according to Voysey’s original scheme, though some hardware is original. Single-storey motor houses frame the forecourt, with hipped and pan-tiled roofs. The design is subtle and bears comparison to a house designed by C.H. James in Fairway Close. Voysey merged the image of a late medieval cross-winged house with a 17th-century lobby entrance house – as evidenced by the position of the twitten door relative to the lateral stack – and overlaid this amalgam with Georgian detailing, altering the proportions for artistic effect. The motor houses, placed close to the main block and further down the slope, suggest a forced aerial perspective reminiscent of late 17th-century engravings. The retaining walls, walks, and motor houses contribute to the overall architectural ensemble and its articulation of landscape.