Details
392/0/10247 BEACONSFIELD ROAD
25-APR-07 Woolton
50
Cedarwood
II*
House, 1960, designed by Gerald Beech and Dewi Prys Thomas. Brick walls on ground floor supporting wooden beams holding upper floor of wood frame construction.
PLAN FORM: ground floor occupies whole width of site, but is shallow in depth. Upper floor less wide but overhangs at front and rear. Garage to left at front, attached by side wall to kitchen.
FRONT ELEVATION: ground floor walls in Tyrolean render, upper floor in narrow vertical planks of Canadian cedar. Ground floor extends beyond first floor to either side; first floor extends forward of ground floor. Ends of the 4 Glu-lam wooden beams visible between the floors. Single square window near centre of ground floor, projecting curved outer wall section of narrow vertical cedarwood slats, forming external part of cloakroom, front door to left in plain cedar, projecting wall dividing main frontage from narrow open courtyard between kitchen and garage. First floor has irregular window pattern, windows are single pane with white frames, largely with a horizontal axis and wrapping the corners. Roof is conical, largely invisible. Free-standing chimney stack for central heating boiler to right, of grey slate waste bricks.
REAR ELEVATION: ground floor has 2 large patio doors in central section, single window to right and (later) wood and glass doors to conservatory area to left. First floor has windows at the corners, large picture window towards left and continuous run of smaller slit windows between.
Left return has door from first floor onto roof of ground floor, with external metal stair down to garden at the rear.
INTERIOR: Entrance door leads to hall with open tread staircase suspended on steel tubes. Tapered stair treads of Douglas fir with offset central wooden spine. Crossways spine wall, clad in horizontal cedar panelling, divides hall from the rest of the accommodation, with textured Pilkington glass and cedar wood doors. Wall is pierced by rectangles of coloured glass, with niche for a bust at the foot of the stairs. Egg-shaped cloakroom capsule, extending outwards and inwards into the hall, clad and lined in cedar, with original sanitary fittings, circular window in door, clerestory window and stiletto heel coat hooks.
To right, living room occupying full depth of house, with exposed Douglas fir veneered Glu-lam beams (one a 1990's replacement with internal steel support), with clerestory windows between outer ends of beams. Feature fireplace with built-in surround incorporating long shelf for TV etc, slot for telephone, telephone book and niche for coal scuttle, built in bookcase, glass wall to garden and glass door to conservatory area. Floors of sapele wood throughout. Concertina vinyl Lionide screen to dining area, which backs onto cedar clad spine wall with slots and niches for bottles etc. Glass wall with door to back garden, built in cabinet with reeded glass serving hatch to kitchen. Kitchen has original exposed beam ceiling, 2 sinks, Jonelle kitchen units and 'Citron' Formica worktops with curved backs. Door to 'drying area' between kitchen and side of garage. Beyond living room, conservatory with access from front of house, coal chute incorporated in base of chimney stack, wooden framed glass doors to garden not original. Conservatory originally smaller, ending in line with chimney stack.
First floor: walls to landing in 'etched' Douglas fir plywood panels, landing leading to 4 bedrooms, bathroom and separate toilet. Floors are Douglas fir plywood. Main bedroom has fitted wardrobes, all bedrooms with grooved wooden pelmets concealing strip lights and curtain rails. Some original Rotaflex light fittings. Bathroom with original bath, basin, pale blue Formica topped Vanitory unit and Formica panel beside bath with rose design.
Rear garden is integral to design, with original landscaped paved patio area, rectangular reflecting pool, artificial mounds and tree planting.
SOURCES: Lesley Jackson 'Keeping house', Wallpaper December 2004, pp69-72
'House of the Year' Woman's Journal March 1960 pp19-37
'The House of the Year' The Guardian, February 24 1960 pp11-16
'Mass Sophistication' Architectural Review' March 1960 pp153-4
Woman's Journal 'House of the Year', The Architects' Journal, March
1960 p95
Quentin Hughes, 'Liverpool: city of architecture' 1999 p111
Neil Swanson, 'Cedarwood - notes for Twentieth Century Society', 2004
SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: This house, designed by Thomas and Beech from Liverpool University School of Architecture, and the Women's Journal House of the Year in 1960, is of outstanding design, with excellent detailing and remarkable preservation. It demonstrates the contemporary interest in modular planning; in flexible living spaces; in modern materials and construction techniques; and in the application of a genuinely fresh style to the issue of modern house design. Its association with a national house-building competetion adds further to its special interest.
