Sunspan

House. Built between 1934 and 1935 to designs from 1934 by Wells Coates and David Pleydell-Bouverie. The house is constructed of white-painted rendered brick, with flat asphalt roofs.

The building is diagonally-set along a north-south axis, with curved corners at the north and south. The south side faces the garden and features a broad terrace above a projecting basement and is flanked by the kitchen and garage wings. The entrance is located on the north corner, set at a higher level due to the sloping site. The house is designed in the International Modern style.

The north front is symmetrical, with a curved corner at the centre. A projecting ground floor section leads to a recessed porch with a curved door and a flat canopy that is integrated with the single-storey kitchen and garage wings to the left and right. The first floor is set back, with three windows, the central one curved. A block containing a water tank and an integral chimney is set back further on the roof. The symmetrical south garden front also features a curved central corner. The basement projects and has curved window bands and a central doorway; the terrace above is flanked by the rear walls of the kitchen and garage wings and is set back two storeys from the main block, also with curved window bands on both floors. All windows are metal-frame casements with curved glass in the corners.

The interior plan and most of the original details remain. The drawing room contains an original brick fireplace and plywood folding doors to the dining room and study. The study and bedrooms each have cast-moulded plaster electric fires set into the walls. A staircase, located behind the central chimney stack, has a solid balustrade with a chromium-plated tube handrail and a curved door leads to the principal bedroom.

The design of the house is based on the “Sunspan” design, first exhibited at the 1934 Ideal Home Exhibition. The design, with variations, was intended for speculative builders as an alternative to traditional housing, with the architects receiving royalties on the copyright.