3 and 5, Buck Lane

3 and 5 Buck Lane comprise a pair of cottages built between 1925 and 1926 by Ernest Trobridge as part of the Summit Estate on Wakeman’s Hill in Kingsbury. They were constructed using Trobridge’s unique timber-frame system, developed after the First World War to provide affordable housing for returning soldiers, and a prototype was exhibited at the 1920 Ideal Home Exhibition. The cottages exhibit a picturesque design influenced by traditional rural buildings.

The cottages are timber-framed with elm boarding, tile hanging, and red brick infill, featuring extensive leaded lights with wooden mullions, brick chimney stacks, and a thatched roof. Their rectangular form is distinguished by projections to either side of a recessed centre. The asymmetrical street front includes a four-light dormer above a three-light window at the centre, with additional projecting three-light windows to the left, displaying a heraldic panel in the upper centre light, and to the right. Number 3, on the left, has a garage at ground level, formerly containing a canted three-light window, with skirted tile hanging above elm boarding. Irregular four-light windows with eyebrow dormers turn the corner on either side of the projection, and an entrance door is located in the side of the projection, accessed via steps. Number 5, on the right, features an entrance also reached by steps, situated within the advanced front, to the right of a two-light window which turns the corner, followed by an irregular four-light window that also turns the corner. Decorative cresting adorns the roof ridge, and the chimney stacks are angle-set with decorative mouldings to their bases and tops. The rear elevation is similarly styled.

Internally, the cottages retain original exposed timber framing and panelling, timber staircases and doors, and brick fireplaces. A low inglenook is reflected in the split level of the upper floor, a deliberate design element intended to reduce the overall height of the houses. This pair of cottages is considered among the finest examples of Trobridge’s work in Kingsbury, and provides an interesting commentary on suburban housebuilding of the period.