White Ladies

Summary

Art Deco house built in the 1920s or 1930s.

Reasons for Designation

White Ladies, an Art Deco house built in the 1920s or 1930s is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* a very good example of a detached suburban house in the Art Deco style with its flat roof, stepped façade and strong geometric blocks which create a well-proportioned composition with a bold variation in plane;

* White Ladies horizontal character and sharply clean lines are emphasised by the repetition of wide terracotta bands and large metal-framed windows, the intricate design of the stained glass offering a surprisingly delicate antidote to this dominant geometric quality;

Historic interest:

* the building survives almost unaltered both externally and internally, providing a near complete example of the plan form, decorative finishes and services of an Art Deco suburban interior.

History

White Ladies was built in the 1920s or 1930s in the Art Deco style. This was named after the 1925 Paris exhibition, the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriel Modernes, and has come to be seen as the quintessential style of the 1920s and 1930s. Characterised by streamlined forms and a predilection for chrome and synthetic materials, Art Deco is regarded as epitomising the new consumer society that developed after the First World War. In this country, the impact of the new ideas from Continental Europe was first seen in public architecture, notably the new building type of the cinema, and only became apparent in domestic architecture at the end of the 1920s. By the late 1930s even suburban houses were beginning to have some modern features, such as metal windows.

White Ladies is not depicted on the third edition Ordnance Survey (OS) map of 1921. The first OS map available thereafter is the 1964 edition which shows three buildings on the large suburban plot: the house with a small glasshouse in the south-east corner, a garage to the east and small detached building to the west with a small glasshouse on the south-west side. It is not clear what this small building was used for but it was perhaps a garden building of some sort. Apart from a small roof extension built to provide a sheltered area within the roof garden, White Ladies remains almost entirely unaltered.

Details

Art Deco house built in the 1920s or 1930s.

MATERIALS: brick covered in roughcast render, unpainted, with red and buff coloured terracotta dressings.

PLAN: the house is located in a large suburban plot and has an approximately rectangular plan with a small, single-span conservatory in the south-east corner.

EXTERIOR: White Ladies is a two and three-storey detached house in the Art Deco style. It is characterised by asymmetrical stepped elevations, metal windows and a flat roof with a plain parapet which conceals a roof garden and small swimming pool, accessed internally by the main staircase. Multiple channelled terracotta bands run across the elevations, giving them a strong horizontal emphasis. The fenestration consists of large metal-framed casement windows of varying sizes, filled with small horizontal panes, in unmoulded openings. The main entrance is on the north elevation set within an off-centre, projecting square tower. The double-leaf wooden door has long, narrow outer panels and shorter inner panels of leaded lights with stained glass in a delicate stylised teardrop design, the outlines marked in lead. The doors retain decorative hinges and handles, and the semicircular arch above is formed of tile-creasing. The drainage pipes and hoppers are a prominent feature on the entrance tower. To the right, the recessed block is lit by a narrow ground-floor window and above by a large window, which lights the staircase, embellished with stained glass in a delicate roundel design, the outlines marked in lead. Another large window with similar stained glass on the right return provides further light for the stairwell. To the left of the entrance tower is a slightly recessed, stepped block with a canted bay window and a tall, narrow angled window supported by a corbel.

The south, garden-facing elevation is more regular, consisting of a central glazed door in the same style as the fenestration, flanked by wide canted bay windows with plain parapets. The first floor is lit by three large, horizontal windows. On the right hand side, a small roof extension has been built.

INTERIOR: this is completely unaltered and retains its original plan form as well as the central heating system, dumb waiter, built-in storage, and joinery. The ceiling cornices have crisply moulded straight edges, the skirting boards are plain and deep, and the solid balustrade of the staircase has a wide banister with a simple moulding. In one of the reception rooms is an ashlared stone fireplace with a deep concave moulding, a square opening and stone hearth. This is flanked by tall narrow windows with fitted glass display shelves. In the bathroom, the walls are covered in off-white, brick-sized tiles with a dark dado band, above which are much larger, white square tiles. It also retains a pedestal wash basin.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: the garage to the east of the house is clad in roughcast render. It has a brick-coped parapet in the style of a simplified Dutch gable and a wide band of doors with vertical planks below and glazed panels above.

To the west of the house is a small detached building, also clad in the same material, with a flat roof, a metal-framed window and an attached glazed structure.

End of official list entry

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