The first decade of the 20th century, known in Britain as the Edwardian period after the reign of Queen Victoria's son Edward VII, was a transitional time between the collapsing mores of the Victorian world and the rise of modernism that followed the First World War. Britain's cities are packed with Edwardian houses, as the expanding population spurred on the development of the suburbs. Some of the best examples of the style can be found in the garden suburbs of London, such as Dulwich, Blackheath and Hampstead Garden Suburb, where Sir Edwin Lutyens was busy designing houses and central buildings. Lutyens' early designs encapsulate the best of the period: some of his most famous include the house at Great Dixter, completed in 1912, and Folly Farm (above), a collaboration with Gertrude Jekyll which was finished in the same year.
While terraces of tall, narrow Victorian houses are an extremely common sight in urban areas, the suburbs allowed more space, and Edwardian houses therefore tend to have a broader footprint, with more spacious rooms, generous hallways, wider staircases, and larger windows (now that glass was becoming cheaper), often with deep bays and decorative upper panes. These houses were also shorter, as the middle classes who occupied them tended not to have servants, and thus had no need for basem*nt kitchens and attic bedrooms. Front gardens now become a common feature of ordinary houses, as people strove for more privacy and a sense of separateness from their neighbours, and elaborate wooden porches sprouted at the front door.
The hall at Ashby Manor House, with neo-Jacobean mouldings by Lutyens
The interior details could be incredibly eclectic, as a range of influences from different periods and places jostled for prominence. Revivals of Tudor and Gothic styles were common, often expressing themselves in half-timbered exteriors and elaborate mouldings; but the Edwardians also looked back to the airy brightness of Georgian interiors. This was also the period, of course, when the Arts & Crafts movement of the late 19th century had firmly taken hold in the public consciousness, so it's not unusual to find William-Morris-lite detailing in an Edwardian house. Stained glass windows, often subdivided into small panes, are a common feature, and these can appear at the front door as well. The Art Nouveau style was also having its moment, with floral flourishes turning up on tiles and in glass.
Three inspiring Edwardian houses from our archive
A ‘Sussex’ bench by William Morris and a linocut by Edward Bawden stand out against the panelling, which is painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Shaded White’.
One of the priorities for Ben and his team in renovating this handsome Arts & Crafts house was to restore the original details, such as the panelling, and re-infuse the house with its turn-of-the-century sensibility. He has not been slavish, however: it is not purely Edwardian or Arts & Crafts styles that fill the interiors; the early 20th century is well represented, but other rooms take cues from the 1960s and 70s. The square panelling in the entrance hall, however, is characteristic of houses of the period, and Ben has filled the light and airy space with the natural materials that were so beloved of Arts & Crafts designers, such as the rush matting on the floor and on the seat of the Morris-designed bench.
In a handsome new wing of the house, Chris Pask of Charlton Brown Architects has paid tribute to Edwin Lutyens’ majestic kitchen at Castle Drogo, Devon, finished in 1930. Daylight floods in from the central dome and from curved windows in the arched walls, lighting a vast marble-topped island. Meanwhile the upstairs has lashings of William Morris wallpaper, a sensitive choice for this style of house.
Paul Massey
Paul Massey
Alicia Taylor
