Spence House

Spence House is a house built in 1961 by Sir Basil Spence for himself. It features a brick base with a timber-framed superstructure clad in cedar boarding and has a monopitch roof. The approach to the house is via an angled concrete stair with a plank handrail supported by steel uprights, next to a projecting white-painted brick wall that includes openings for views and part of the flue that penetrates the upper part of the house. The rear wall projects to create a splayed forecourt, and there is a projecting door hood. The upper section of the house is finished with vertical cedar cladding. The river-facing side has a white-painted brick base with door and window openings beneath the cantilevered upper part, which features two laminated cross-beams and continuous central glazing that has been altered from its original set-back design. A stair tower is added to the end elevation.

Inside, the main room includes a fireplace with a hearth and shelf made from two slabs of white-painted bush-hammered concrete, topped by a square brick flue. The walls are finished with painted vertical boarding, and the ceiling has a beam aligned with the original recessed glazing.

Spence House is a small house with large-scale elements, effectively designed as a holiday home. It is described by Pevsner and Lloyd as 'powerful and resourceful' and is a notable example of Spence's domestic work, forming a group with his studio.