Capel Manor House

Capel Manor House is a modern steel-framed house, situated in Horsmonden, in Kent in Southern England, designed by British architect Michael Manser in 1969 for John Howard, a member of parliament and parliamentary private secretary to Prime Minister, Edward Heath.[1][2] Manser was the most prolific architect of steel houses in Britain in the late 1960s and 1970s. He is known to built many other similar magnum opus, Capel Maor house in Kent is one of them which was constructed between 1969 and 1970 on the site of an earlier mansion built by Thomas Henrey Wyatt.[3] The Financial Times describes Capel Manor House as "one of Britain’s finest post-war houses, eschewing bricks for steel frames and glass"[4] and Caroline McGhie in The Sunday Telegraph has described it as a "deliciously minimalist 1960s glass oblong... a jewel of a building, influenced by Mies van der Rohe’s idea of the 'transparent envelope."[5]

Capel Manor House
Capel Manor House, October 2011
TypeHouse
LocationHorsmonden, Kent
Coordinates51.1339°N 0.4474°E / 51.1339; 0.4474
Built1969-70
ArchitectMichael Manser
Architectural style(s)Modern
Governing bodyPrivately owned
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name: Capel Manor House
Designated18 September 2013
Reference no.1413746
Location of Capel Manor House in Kent

The house is a listed building, with a Grade II* status awarded by National Heritage for England in September 2013. In their official report, Historic England describes the house as an important and rare example of the English modern steel-framed house[6]

History of estate

A mansion, also named Capel Manor House, owned by the Austen family (of whom the author Jane Austen was a descendant) existed on this site since 1569. In the mid-19th century the renowned architect, Thomas Wyatt built a 26-bedroom mansion in the Italian Gothic style for Fredrick Austin. During the Second World War, this mansion was occupied by an army unit, after which the property was vacant and was ultimately demolished in 1964, leaving the hilltop site with its terraced gardens, as a site for Manser's building. John Howard, MP, purchased the site in 1968 and commissioned the eminent British architect Michael Manser to build a new house on the raised Arcadian grounds of the former mansion.[5] A year later, the 2000 sq. ft. steel and glass-fronted house was completed. A swimming pool was integrated within the picturesque remains of the old winter garden.[6]

Description

The house has brown painted exposed steel frame resting on a reinforced concrete plinth, which in turn is supported by the stone walls of its Victorian style basement. Bronze tinted glass in aluminum frames is used to give glossy touch to external walls. Roof is made-up of timber, which spans between the steel purloins. The story brick structure is the chief block with a square plan. To the west of the house are inter lawns adjoining a swimming pool. House interiors are easy and open plan. They are subdivided by way of displays right into dressing location and restrooms. Restrooms have white Jaipur marble baths and basins. Manser’s Capel Manor house is remarkable for what Historic England describes it as "Its simple plan and its sense of freedom maximized by continuously glazed wall which meet without corner mullions."[6]

Writing in The Telegraph, Dominic Lutyens notes "Sleek and uncompromisingly modernist, Capel Manor overlooks a terraced garden crowned with an ornate Italianate balustrade and a broad flight of mossy stone steps. But the house’s history is even more layered than this juxtaposition of styles suggests."[7]

Mies van der Rohe’s well-designed, boxy 1929 Barcelona Pavilion’s architecture stirred Manser to a great extent.[8] Although the Capel Manor house has a minimalist structure, both the original house as well as the guest pavilion interiors are luxurious and of premium quality. Their transparent fascia aims to bring look-and-feel of lush gardens indoors. Each Elevation of the house is a side of the building’s rectangular encase. House has its main entrance in the east direction but could be reached out from all des. The wooden roof gives it a canopy like look over the tilted plinth.[6]

Interior

Capel Manor house has simple and open-plan interiors. It has wood-lined ceilings, tiled or carpeted floor with under-floor heating. Internal walls are of dark-brown facing bricks or painted render, and glazed external walls to have a clear view of lush gardens.[6]

The Guest Pavilion

A new guest pavilion was commissioned from Ewan Cameron Architects in 2011 English Heritage describes this new pavilion as "an innovative solution to creating additional space. Carefully screened from Manser's house, it is a fine, award-winning, piece of architecture in its own right, and is a fitting addition to the site.” The Guest Pavilion sited to the West of Manser's building, next to the old winter garden includes two separate guest suites divided by an open central walkway. It is influenced by Japanese temples[1] and Cameron, writing in the Architects Journal, describes this as architectural poetry - ‘formal composition of separate planar elements to frame the formal garden.' Cameron worked in collaboration with David Narro Engineers to create a Zinc Clad floating lightweight roof structure.[9] Architects Journal awarded the design a special commendation in its Small Buildings Awards of 2013.[10][11]

The South Lodge

It is a gate lodge which was designed in 1860 by architect T.H. Wyatt. It has slate roof and polychromatic menhirs and cross plan. It is a single story and structure which has garret, gabled roof and stack to rear center right. The irregular design and disposition of 2 light mullioned stone windows has 2 relieving arcs over and quatrefoil to the left of the ground floor. It has boarded door in single story portico to right re-entrant with arched outer doorway on short column. Capel Manor lost the South Lodge In the 1960s when land from the estate was sold off, but in 2017 the current owners of Capel Manor purchased land including the South Lodge, reuniting the estate.[12] The South Lodge was awarded a Grade II listing by Historic England.[13]

Books, films, TV shows featuring the house

The dream sequences for the film, The Good Night, starring Penelope Cruz and Gwyneth Paltrow which was released in 2007 were filmed at Capel House.[14]

A scale model of the house resides permanently in Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).[15]

The house has been used in music videos of artists from Daniel Beddingfield to Take That.[2]

An entire episode of the BBC4 program, Living with Modernism, was devoted to Capel Manor House.[16]

In 2006. David Heathcote the author of ‘The Seventies House’ devoted a chapter of this book dedicated to Capel Manor house said” It has a quality of being out of time. Neither new nor old. Just itself.”[17]

Since 2001 The house has been the home of TV Producer, Remy Blumenfeld.[1]

Further reading
  • David Heathcote (2008). The Seventies House. London: Wiley Academy. ISBN 0470024194.
  • J. Lowrie (1974). Modern Houses in Town and Country. London: Collins. ISBN 9780004350868.
  • June Park (1974). Houses for Today. London: Batsford. ISBN 0713406550.
  • Richard Einzig (1996). The Modern Steel House. London: Nichols. ISBN 1854902946.
  • Elain Harwood (2015). Space, Hope, and Brutalism : English Architecture, 1945-1975. United States: Yale University. ISBN 9780300204469.
  • Elain Harwood (2015). England's Post-War Listed Buildings. London: Batsford. ISBN 978-1849941464.
  • David Heathcote (2006). The 70s House. Chichester: Academy Press. ISBN 978-0470024195.
  • R. Einzig (1981). Classic Modern Houses in Europe. Chichester: Architectural Press. ISBN 978-0851394794.
  • Neil Jackson (2012). The Modern Steel House. London: Taylor & Francis Ltd. ISBN 9780419217206.
  • Joyce Lowrie (1974). Modern Houses in Town and Country. United Kingdom: HarperCollins Distribution Services. ISBN 9780004350868.
  • June Park (1971). Houses for Today. United Kingdom: Batsford. ISBN 978-0713406559.

References
  1. Ednie, Caroline (25 April 2012). "In the British Countryside, a Well-Packaged Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  2. "Homes that time forgot". The Guardian. 9 October 2005. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  3. "Michael Manser obituary". the Guardian. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  4. "Michael Manser, defender of modern architecture, dies aged 87". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  5. "Michael Manser, architect – obituary". The Telegraph. 9 June 2016. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  6. "Capel Manor House, including the remains of the winter garden and the arcaded retaining wall with balustrade and steps belonging to an earlier house, Horsmonden". Historic England. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  7. Lutyens, Dominic (20 June 2012). "Capel Manor: a truly modernist home". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  8. Wainwright, Oliver (26 September 2013). "Learning to love concrete: meet the 'living listed' buildings and architects". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  9. "Ewan Cameron builds pavilion in grounds of Modernist classic". Architects' Journal. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  10. "Affordable architecture: AJ Small Projects competition – in pictures". The Guardian. 10 February 2012. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  11. "AJ Small Projects winners announced". Architects' Journal. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  12. "South Lodge, Horsmonden, Kent". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  13. "A tribute to Michael Manser RA: champion of modern housing". Royal Academy of Arts. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  14. "Capel Manor House - Kent Film Office". Kent Film Office. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  15. "Capel Manor House Guest Pavilon | Ewan Cameron Architects". Archello. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  16. "Ewan Cameron builds pavilion in grounds of Modernist classic". Architects' Journal. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  17. The 70s House. London: Wiley Academy. p. 168. ISBN 0470024194.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.