The Homewood
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The south facade, seen from the garden. The view clearly shows the concrete framed structure of the main wing of the house, dividing the south facade into five equal bays
Modernist country house in Surrey built for the architect's parents
Homewood was built to replace a dated Victorian house on an eight acre estate in Esher, Surrey. Citing Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Tugendhat House as influences, architect Patrick Gwynne designed within the strict modernist boundaries.
Although the house has two storeys all the principle rooms occupy the upper floor. The ground level consists of the entrance lobby, study, garage and servicing. All of the living spaces are located upstairs, with nine bedrooms, an expansive living room and kitchen and bathroom facilities separated into an east wing and the main block.
The house has a concrete superstructure, with a floating concrete slab of the whole ground level of the house, which carries the brick walling. The walling is entirely non-structural with the actual structure a reinforced concrete frame with vertical members passing through the floating slab.
Homewood is made from man-made materials and lacks any form of ornament. All furniture was designed by Gynne himself for the house.
Data
- Completed: 1939
- Sector: House
- Total cost: £10,000
- Address: The Homewood, Portsmouth Road, Esher, KT10 9JL, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Patrick Gwynne and Wells Coates
- Project architects: Patrick Gwynne, Wells Coates
- Client: Private
- Consultant engineer: Felix J. Samuely
- Quantity surveyor: Cyril Sweett