1, Aylmer Close

House. Built in 1963 and designed by Edward Samuel. The house has a brick basement on its right-hand side and beneath the entrance terrace, with unpainted board-marked reinforced concrete beams. The main structure is timber-framed and clad in broad horizontal timber boarding, stained a matt black. It features a flat roof with raised mono-pitched roof-lights. The left-hand side of the house is raised on stilts, creating a void beneath. The plan is long and ‘V’ shaped, facing the garden, with a small, sympathetic wing added to the rear left. An entrance terrace, raised above a semi-basement garage, is centrally positioned on the facade. Inside, a staircase hall provides access to an adults’ wing on the right and a children’s wing on the left. The adults’ wing includes two open-plan dining areas leading from the main living space, which contains a sunken area around the fireplace. A master bedroom and study are located beyond. The children’s wing comprises a large day room with a built-in dining table, along with bedrooms facing the garden. The bathroom is at the far end, and the kitchen sits between the adults’ and children’s areas. The front facade features horizontal windows; those on the left are mostly two to three planks wide, and to the right of the entrance is a floor-to-ceiling window, followed by two horizontal strip windows, each the width of a single board with a board between them, extending to the right. Aluminium frames enclose the windows. The entrance has a solid timber door and a projecting cantilevered canopy, one board wide. A floor-to-ceiling window opens from the lounge onto the garden. The interior retains numerous original features, including an expressed and varnished timber frame and ceiling. The fireplace in the sunken area has a painted brick surround with timber and concrete shelves and a central circular flue. Walls are finished in painted brick. Sliding screens and cupboards have broad timber frames, while kitchen and bathroom walls are clad in dark green glass mosaic. Original timber-framed fittings remain in the kitchen, master bedroom, and study. The children’s bedrooms each feature a mezzanine gallery with a chunky timber balustrade, built-in bookshelves and wardrobes beneath, and most have built-in cupboards below the windows. This is a stylish and well-preserved example of a modern house of architectural quality, retaining many original interior features.