Small Houses 1920-1940

Small Houses 1920-1940

Suggested Reading

Aslet, Clive and Powers, Alan. The National Trust Book of the English House 1985. A history from the earliest times. One chapter on post 1900 houses and one on suburbs and council houses. Temporarily unavailable.

Calloway, Stephen, ed. Elements of Style 1996. A practical encyclopaedia of interior architectural details from 1485 to the present. A visual survey which covers the styles which have had the greatest impact on the interiors of British and American domestic architecture. The book is designed for owners of period homes, restorer, architects and those interested in building heritage. The detail and research is immense, yet the comprehensive and clear drawings make this a very easily used and understood work'. Hardcover.

Cresswell, H.B. The Honeywood Settlement 1930. Amusing and instructive fictional account of building a house, in letter form. Temporarily unavailable.

Davey, Peter. Arts and Crafts Architecture 1994. Hardcover or paperback. Background to the movement – the Gothic revival and its medieval origins, and how it affected the Arts and Crafts movement at the turn of the century and interwar period.

Dean, David. The Thirties, recalling the English architectural scene 1983. Based on material from the RIBA collections, an amusing well-illustrated introduction to the period. Temporarily unavailable.

Edwards, Arthur. The Design of Suburbia 1981. Hardcover. A critical study of environmental history, good social analysis of changing styles.

Gray, A. Stuart and Mervyn Miller. Hampstead Garden Suburb 1992. Thorough and scholarly account of development and architecture of first garden suburb.

Jackson, Alan. ‘Semi-Detached, London 1991. Classic history of London suburban growth. Temporarily unavailable.

Oliver, Paul et al. Dunroamin, The Suburban Semi and its enemies 1981. Indispensable defence of suburbia against architectural orthodoxy.

Ravetz, Alison with Richard Turkington. The Place of Home, English Domestic Environments 1914-2000 1995. Hardcover. Social and architectural study of many kinds of dwelling places. An exploration of the evolution of the English domestic environment over the last nine decades. Should be of interest to planning historians and students on courses covering urban studies and economic history.

‘The Private Life of a Country House by Lesley Lewis. 1980. Hardcover/Paperback. Memories. How life was lived, between the wars. The social and political importance of the Edwardian country house party.

‘Tea and Taste 1875-1975 by Kinchen. 1996. Paperback.

Journals of the period

Journals of the period (available in major reference libraries)

Architectural Review, Country Life, House and Garden, Homes and Gardens, Ideal Home, Twentieth Century Architecture 2

The Modern House Revisited 1996 (published by the Twentieth Century Society, includes revised gazetteer of modern houses by Jeremy Gould) Details

Places to Visit

Avoncroft Museum of Building, Bromsgrove, Hereford and Worcester (1946 prefab on show)

Beamish Museum, Co.Durham, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery (furniture and decorative art)

The Brooking Collection (architectural salvage) Thames University

Geffrye Museum, Kingsland Road, London E4 (furnished rooms 1930s and after)

RIBA Drawings Collection, 21 Portman Square, London W1 (by appointment, fee payable)

RIBA Library, 66 Portland Place, London W1 (fee payable)

Victoria and Albert Museum (Twentieth Century Gallery)

Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (textiles and wallpapers)

National Trust 2 Willow Road, Hampstead (architect Ernö Goldfinger), open Thursday, Friday & Saturday, 12-5, guided tours, phone 020 7435 6166

High Cross House, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon (architect W. E. Lescaze) tel. 01803 864114

Dorich House, Kingston Hill built by Dora Gordine and Richard Hare in 1936 restored in 1995-6, open by appointment, information at www.kingston.ac.uk/dorich