Motor car house to Durbins

37 Chantry View Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 3XW

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Overview

Garage. Built in about the 1920s as a prefabricated motor car house by the firm Boulton and Paul Ltd. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1478423
Date first listed:: 26-Nov-2021
List Entry Name:: Motor car house to Durbins
Statutory Address:: 37 Chantry View Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 3XW

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1478423
Date first listed:: 26-Nov-2021
List Entry Name:: Motor car house to Durbins
Statutory Address 1:: 37 Chantry View Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 3XW

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: 37 Chantry View Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 3XW

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Surrey
District:: Guildford (District Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: TQ0010148640

Summary

Garage. Built in about the 1920s as a prefabricated motor car house by the firm Boulton and Paul Ltd.

Reasons for Designation

The 1920s prefabricated motor car house or garage that served Durbins is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a very rare prefabricated 1920s timber motor car house, which is given the appearance of vernacular timber-framing, with a gabled roof and weatherboarding by the firm Boulton and Paul Ltd;

* for the high degree of survival, having seen relatively few later alterations.

Group value:

* with Durbins, an important early C20 house designed by the influential art critic Roger Fry for himself which is listed at Grade II*.

History

During the C20, the proliferation of the motor car transformed both lives and landscape in Britain. Small motor houses (the early name for garages) began to appear from about 1900. They were frequently brick-built and could be added to the side of a house. They can be found in many suburbs; for example, a number survive in Chantry Road, Moseley, Birmingham. In the early days, an inspection pit was commonly fitted. A glass and iron washing shelter in front of the garage was a frequent addition. Prefabricated garages in timber began to be produced from about 1903 by the major manufacturers of prefabricated buildings, such as Boulton & Paul, and were often quite elaborate in design with decorative bargeboards. Asbestos panelled garages appeared from about 1910 but did not become popular until the 1920s. Together with timber garages, these continued to be the most common type until concrete came into widespread use after 1945.

The house known as Durbins was designed by the art historian, critic and painter Roger Fry (1866-1934) for himself and built in 1908 to 1909 in Guildford, Surrey (List entry No 1178005 provides a history of the house). In about the 1920s a prefabricated motor car house or garage was added adjacent to the entrance front of the property. The design matches those shown in 1920s catalogues by the firm Boulton and Paul Ltd as ‘Wood & Iron Motor Car House No B204’. The walls were made in sections to be bolted together and the roof prepared and sent bundled with the rest of the structure.

Details

Garage. Built in about the 1920s as a prefabricated motor car house by the firm Boulton and Paul Ltd.

MATERIALS: redwood framing and timber weatherboarding with some additional iron and steel supports to the roof trusses and frame. The roof is covered in metal sheeting.

DESCRIPTION: a motor car house built to a prefabricated design with a gabled roof and weatherboarding. The upper portion is finished with half-timber overlays to give the appearance of vernacular timber-framing. The south elevation has two boarded double doors whilst the east and west elevations each have a four-light window; the inner lights are fixed but the two outer lights are casements. There are bargeboards to the eaves as well as fretwork and finials to the ridge of the roof.

Sources

Books and journals
Reed, C, Roger Fry’s Durbins: A House and its Meanings, (1999)
Other
Historic England. Introductions to Heritage Assets: Buildings and Infrastructure for the Motor Car (2016). Available online at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/selection-criteria/ihas/

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.