House Adjacent To West Boundary Of Whipsnade Zoo To East Of B4506, About 0.25 Kilometres To North Of Dagnall

Substantial detached house, built between 1933 and 1936, designed by Berthold Lubetkin and Tecton for Lubetkin’s own use. The house is situated adjacent to the west boundary of Whipsnade Zoo, to the east of the B4506, and approximately 0.25 kilometres north of Dagnall. Constructed of reinforced concrete with a flat roof, it is a single storey and displays an International Modern style. The plan is irregular, in a ‘T’ shape, with a four-bay living room in the south wing, facing west, bedrooms and a bathroom in the east wing, and a kitchen in the shorter north wing. An entrance hall and dining hall are centrally located.

A terrace extends west from the dining room and kitchen, enclosed by a four-bay open concrete framework, with four horizontal lights in each bay; the inner two bays of this framework project outwards, and this continues into a further terrace to the north and east of the kitchen. A solid, full-height wall curves semi-circularly to the east of the kitchen, enclosing a semi-circular pond and circular flower bed; this wall is punctuated by a large aperture with a projecting, solid-fronted concrete balcony to the north of the kitchen, where horizontal beams form a pergola over the terrace. The four-bay living room elevation (on the west side) features four horizontal lights per bay, separated by concrete mullions and transoms; the central two lights of each bay are glazed, while the upper and lower lights are now glazed with plywood (originally insulated glass). Steel framed windows are present. The south elevation features a blind wall of the projecting living room to the left, and a six-bay wing to the right, with the outer bays recessed to form loggias, while the inner bays are glazed in the same manner as the living room. The north and east walls are largely blind. The curved screen which separates the dining room from the hall projects above the roofline. All elevations are cantilevered slightly above ground level, resting on the foundations. The interior remains uninspected. This is an important house by a major architect, built for his own use, and is documented in publications by P Coe and M Reading, and in the Architectural Review, volume 81, 1937.