Clayton House

Clayton House is a private house with attached carport, raised terrace and swimming pool, built in 1965–6 by Peter Aldington, assisted by John Craig, for Howard and Liz Quilter. The house was extended in 1992–3 by Paul Collinge, Aldington's former partner, for Mr and Mrs Wilkinson.

The design employs a distinctive approach to materials and spatial planning. Kitchen, children's bedrooms, bathrooms and stairs are expressed as stock brick enclosures linked by concrete beams. The remaining spaces are constructed of timber, stained black externally, with extensive glazing. The living room and flat roofs are entirely of timber construction. The plan is L-shaped, with a central two-storey entrance range containing kitchen and dining room on the ground floor, and living room and master bedroom suite above. A children's wing with separate access and playroom is pivoted on a corner au pair's room (now study and carport), which completes an enclosed entrance forecourt. Collinge's 1992–3 addition of a swimming pool and utility area extends the L-plan to an S-shape.

The exterior is strongly reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's work, particularly in its contrasts of forms and materials and its emphatic timber and concrete detailing. A square brick bathroom and round staircase tower rise through two storeys, mirrored by a small circular brick den off the children's playroom. Large sliding plate glass windows, especially to the living room and master bedroom, open on to a large balcony that captures the principal view from the house. The ground floor has small windows set directly into brickwork, some on the garden front with concrete lintels. First-floor clerestorey glazing is set between rafters on the entrance front. A large pivoted entrance door bears Aldington's characteristic lamp set into the wall beside it. Sliding doors to the rear give on to the raised terrace and pool, whose stepping stones are strongly reminiscent of the courtyard garden to Aldington's own Turn End at Haddenham, Aylesbury Vale.

The interior is richly finished with exposed brick and timber to walls and ceilings. Ground-floor fitted cupboards match the timber of the walls. A spiral open-tread staircase provides vertical circulation. The first-floor living room features fitted bench seating, and the dressing room has fitted cupboards and dressing table. The swimming pool extension is similarly constructed of brick and glass with exposed timber roof and toplighting.

Clayton House is unusual among Aldington's early houses in being unconstrained by its site; there was no village context or neighbouring properties with which to engage. This results in a purer piece of modernism, with greater sophistication and luxury in the expression of brick, timber and concrete than in his earlier works. It is the first example of Aldington's later preoccupation with tight pods—for bathrooms and staircases—contrasted with more open-plan elements, a characteristic of his designs from the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the listed house at Goodleigh, North Devon. Despite this rigorous structural expression, contemporary architectural comment observed that 'what is disarming about Prestwood is that none of the strictly self-imposed disciplines of its language are immediately obvious. This is because there is evidence of enjoyment in the design process and of considerable architectural verve' (Architectural Review, August 1971, p. 76).

The house was built for a more affluent client than was typical for Aldington, though direct labour kept costs relatively modest. The finishes are more carefully executed than in his other works. It was also the first house on which Aldington was assisted by John Craig, with whom he later formed a partnership in 1970.