DOI Heft:
No. 51 (June 1897)
DOI Artikel:The revival of English domestic architecture, [6]: the work of Mr. C. F. A. Voysey
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18389#0036
Revival of English Domestic Architecture
delighted many excellent people in bygone ages no
less than to-day.
The record of his work is not very long, yet it is
too lengthy to be described adequately here. For
descriptions in detail of buildings conceived more
or less in the same spirit would be wearisome and
singularly unconvincing. It would serve little
purpose to give a complete list of Mr. Voysey's
schemes in progress, or already carried out. The
selection here illustrated will serve to represent the
chief features of his work.
The studio forW. E. F. Britten, Esq., St. Dunstan's
Road, West Kensington (p. 24), occupies a unique
position for a town house, as it is in the angle of an
L-shaped street, and isolated from its neighbours.
With its severe outline and pleasantly painted
woodwork it arrests your attention and proclaims its
author at a glance. Indeed, when you come across
it by accident in the very ordinary street, it is almost
startling to realise how wide a gulf separates its
design from the average town studio. But the site
permitted the building, and the architect took full
advantage of the unusual conditions.
The two houses 14. and 16 Hans Road, Chelsea,
do not amaze you by sheer novelty as Mr. Britten's
studio surprises. Yet as you study their simple but
dignified facade, once again you recognise Mr. Voy-
sey's handling as surely as if his name were written
legibly across it. Even in the small scale on which
they are shown here, the exquisite sense of propor-
j ' ^ . houses in hans road, chelsea
tion, and the reticent use of even purely architectural c< f> a> voysey, architect
features, impress you with a sense of sufficiency.
They look what they are, solid, comfortable dwel- in a neighbourhood where satisfactory houses are
lings, that preserve a distinction all their own, even not uncommon. It is rare to find personality re-
vealed by simplicity; as a rule it
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ is the nourishes or the eccentri-
^^^^P^P^^\^g| \ f city of the letters which betray
^jS5|| f ; ju «■ handwriting. Here Mr. Voyse)
^ppflH has no superfluous stroke, no
affected detail, and yet his indi-
viduality stands clearly revealed.
It is possible that Walnut-
Tree Farm, Castle Morton, Wor-
cestershire, as it appears in one
illustration here, would not at
once betray its author ; but in
the second from another point
of view there would be little
reason for doubt. But the gar-
den front is entirely typical.
The four gables breaking the
long tiled roof, the buttress to
the lower storey, the simple yet
fireplace in house at frensham c. f. a. voysey, architect novel treatment of the porch, and
delighted many excellent people in bygone ages no
less than to-day.
The record of his work is not very long, yet it is
too lengthy to be described adequately here. For
descriptions in detail of buildings conceived more
or less in the same spirit would be wearisome and
singularly unconvincing. It would serve little
purpose to give a complete list of Mr. Voysey's
schemes in progress, or already carried out. The
selection here illustrated will serve to represent the
chief features of his work.
The studio forW. E. F. Britten, Esq., St. Dunstan's
Road, West Kensington (p. 24), occupies a unique
position for a town house, as it is in the angle of an
L-shaped street, and isolated from its neighbours.
With its severe outline and pleasantly painted
woodwork it arrests your attention and proclaims its
author at a glance. Indeed, when you come across
it by accident in the very ordinary street, it is almost
startling to realise how wide a gulf separates its
design from the average town studio. But the site
permitted the building, and the architect took full
advantage of the unusual conditions.
The two houses 14. and 16 Hans Road, Chelsea,
do not amaze you by sheer novelty as Mr. Britten's
studio surprises. Yet as you study their simple but
dignified facade, once again you recognise Mr. Voy-
sey's handling as surely as if his name were written
legibly across it. Even in the small scale on which
they are shown here, the exquisite sense of propor-
j ' ^ . houses in hans road, chelsea
tion, and the reticent use of even purely architectural c< f> a> voysey, architect
features, impress you with a sense of sufficiency.
They look what they are, solid, comfortable dwel- in a neighbourhood where satisfactory houses are
lings, that preserve a distinction all their own, even not uncommon. It is rare to find personality re-
vealed by simplicity; as a rule it
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ is the nourishes or the eccentri-
^^^^P^P^^\^g| \ f city of the letters which betray
^jS5|| f ; ju «■ handwriting. Here Mr. Voyse)
^ppflH has no superfluous stroke, no
affected detail, and yet his indi-
viduality stands clearly revealed.
It is possible that Walnut-
Tree Farm, Castle Morton, Wor-
cestershire, as it appears in one
illustration here, would not at
once betray its author ; but in
the second from another point
of view there would be little
reason for doubt. But the gar-
den front is entirely typical.
The four gables breaking the
long tiled roof, the buttress to
the lower storey, the simple yet
fireplace in house at frensham c. f. a. voysey, architect novel treatment of the porch, and