Reasons for Designation
Debden Hollow, Barford, Warwickshire is recommended for designation at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: It is an inspired design by the well-respected architect Robert Harvey and amongst the last and most mature of his domestic works.
* Setting: The house is very carefully planned to function effectively and to take advantage of its natural setting overlooking the river Avon, water meadows and its extensive garden.
* Planning interest: The differing needs of public and private spaces within the home are also well considered.
* Intactness: It has been little altered and contains a high proportion of its original fittings.
Details
BARFORD
1827/0/10035 BARFORD HILL
15-APR-10 Debden Hollow, together with the retai
ning walls, steps and raised flower be
ds to the east of the house and swimmi
ng pool, steps and retaining wall to t
he west
II
A private house, designed in 1966-7 by Robert Harvey and built in 1969. Of concrete and red brick laid in stretcher bond, with a steel frame to the upper body and felted flat roof.
PLAN: The building is oriented N-S to take advantage of views over a sizeable garden to the east and over the river Avon, to the west. A two-storey block to the north has an L-shaped living space and kitchen at first floor level with a continuous balcony to three sides, placed above a large car port and a ground floor which houses a utility room, bedroom and bathroom. To the south is a mezzanine bedroom wing which is partially buried in the sloping ground and contains two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a dressing room and the entrance hall.
EXTERIOR: The lower body of the house is of brick, while the upper portion of rendered concrete and steel with deep eaves and prominent fascia boards is all painted white. The entrance front faces east. At left is the mezzanine bedroom block with the entrance, which is recessed and approached by a set of steps with brick walling. The bedroom windows are horizontal. The two-storey block to right of this has a wide carport which exits on both sides of the building. To right of it is the ground floor block which projects forward from the body of the building and has a horizontal slit window to the top of the wall. Above this at first floor level the living room and kitchen have large plate glass windows divided by slender mullions. The balcony has a wooden rail with iron supports at left, while to the right there is a solid balustrade to the balcony which projects out, in front of the kitchen, over the ground floor block to create a breakfast area. Brick walls project at either side of the car port entrance and there are steps leading to the front door. The west front is essentially similar, save that the garden room, added to Harvey's designs in the 1970s, fronts the bedroom wing. This has plate glass windows and slender mullions, as on the first floor living room. In front of this and set at a lower level is a swimming pool which was added at the same time and is approached from the garden room by a set of cantilevered stairs set in a brick retaining wall which encompasses the southern end of the pool and its flagged surround. Further steps lead up from the carport at left. To left of this the ground floor block is fronted by a conservatory, added after 1981, with a mono-pitch roof. The north front has a glazed door at left approached by a set of steps with wooden hand rail. The first floor walling is solid to the centre with glazing to the corners.
INTERIOR: The external walls to either side of the living room and to the west side of the joined dining area are formed by plate glass panes which rise from floor to ceiling without horizontal division. Vertical divisions of the glazed walls are minimal and the corners of the dining room and kitchen glazing are similarly handled. To the centre of the living area there is a sunken ceiling panel with a sliding hatch above which there was formerly a skylight which has now been removed. A fireplace is prominently positioned in the living area with a plain marble surround. To the bedroom corridor is a bank of cupboard and wardrobe space along the west wall. Bathroom furniture and tiling to the walls of the ground floor rooms also corresponds to the architect's drawings of 1969, as do window and door furniture throughout. Original conveniences running through the house include a centralized vacuum cleaning system, with a pump in the ground floor boiler room and outlets to skirting boards, and central heating system with vents for warm air set low in dividing walls.
The conservatory added to the west side at ground floor level after 1981 is not included as part of this item.
HISTORY
Debden Hollow lies on a piece of ground which was formerly part of the gardens of a large Victorian house called Barford Hill. This was demolished in the mid-C20 and the land was sold as sizeable, individual plots, bordered by the road to the south-east and the river Avon to the north-west. Ordnance Survey maps show that the piece of land which now surrounds Debden Hollow lay to the north-east of the C19 house and that there were formerly an ice house, pump house and hydraulic ram on the site as well as the fire-engine house, which is still in situ.
The site was bought by Mr and Mrs. Povey and they commissioned the firm of Yorke, Harper and Harvey to design a house for them. The practice had an office in Stratford-on-Avon, headed by Robert Harvey, who specialised in domestic buildings and had designed several examples in Warwickshire in the 1950s and 60s. The house was designed in 1966-67 and built in 1969. A swimming pool with associated enclosing walls and steps was added in the 1970s to designs by Harvey and in 1975 he also designed the garden room on the west side of the house which overlooks the pool. The house was sold in 1981 to the present owners, who added a conservatory at ground floor level which projects on the west side.
SOURCES
Campbell, Louise. 'Against the Grain: The domestic architecture of Robert Harvey', Twentieth Century Architecture 4, 53-60.
Architecture West Midlands, 1975 (Pt 22), 37.
Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust Archive, Robert Harvey Drawings, Ref No DR1179/1/570.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
Debden Hollow, Barford, Warwickshire is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: It is an inspired design by the well-respected architect Robert Harvey and amongst the last and most mature of his domestic works.
* Setting: The house is very carefully planned to function effectively and to take advantage of its natural setting overlooking the river Avon, water meadows and its extensive garden.
* Planning interest: The differing needs of public and private spaces within the home are also well considered.
* Intactness: It has been little altered and contains a high proportion of its original fittings.
