Domestic Architecture 1700 to 1960

9 Between the Wars, 1918-1939 - Part Two

The overriding style of the typical thirties ‘semi’ was retrospective borrowing heavily from traditional vernacular motifs. Today it is frequently described as ‘Tudorbethan’ or ‘Tudoresque’ but at the time it was much derided by architectural critics. In 1938, Osbert Lancaster(1908-86) wrote of the ‘By-pass Variegated’ house and condemned the ‘infernal amalgam’ of past styles so commonly seen. The dominant feature was the front bay – usually of two stories – which was surmounted by a large prominent gable typically dressed with barge boards and fake timber framing in imitation of sixteenth and seventeenth century vernacular housing.
The bays were variously square edged or set at an angle (canted). Curved bays were also popular –either tucked under deep projecting eaves or surmounted by a projecting gable supported from below by open timber brackets. An oriel window was commonly used for the small third bedroom over the front door whilst halls and landings were well lit by small widows on the ground floor – variously shaped square, round or diamond – and long vertical windows over the stairs. Breaking with some two hundred years of formal architectural practice, the sash window was abandoned in favour of casement windows with top hung upper lights in stout timber frames.
The casements were typically painted cream contrasting with frames painted a darker colour such as mid-green or chocolate brown. There was another window in the front door: these were variously round, square, square with a wavy arched top or commonly of a horizontal oval (with a drip rail above) and arranged over long vertical panels. There were usually long vertical glazed panels either side of the door and the whole ensemble was commonly placed in a large, round arched, open porch and this, along with the timbered gable and bay window, forms one of the most recognisable stylistic components of a privately built thirties house. Many of the windows were decorated with leaded lights and stained glass which was usually combined with wavy or rippled glass. Much 1930s stained glass was in the modern style, relying on bold splashes of colour in geometric lead work: a popular design consisting of long rays of contrasting coloured glass spreading outwards from a small ‘rising sun’ of red or yellow glass although a Tudor galleon tossed on stormy seas was another widely found motif which, of course, struck a more traditional note. From the general run of the ‘Tudorbethan’ house, a few were given a pseudo-Gothic finish by substituting an embattled parapet for the usual gable. So, there was extraordinary variety to privately built inter-war housing – not only from one development to the next - but very often in the same road as builders deliberately widened the choice of houses available for sale. And yet, apart from the few houses finished in local stone, it is impossible to attribute any regional pattern to any of these styles.
The timber framing of the typical thirties semi had no structural function. Most houses were built of brick and notwithstanding a few well publicised exceptions the quality of construction was excellent. This was the period when cavity wall construction became standard and walls in stretcher bond laid with Portland cement in place of traditional lime mortar. But these were no glory days for the humble brick. The days of the locally handmade brick which gave such character and charm to Georgian and Victorian houses were replaced by mass produced bricks such as the harsh, pinkish Fletton. Large expanses of brick were frowned upon so first floors were often rendered or covered in pebble dash - that is, pea shingle which was thrown against the final render coat. Alternatively, the shingle was mixed in with the render to create rough cast. Some houses were covered entirely in pebble dash which arguably looked as harsh as the red brick underneath. However, brick could be used decoratively to help create the retrospective character of the thirties house with brick nogging– that is, brick infill in a timber frame.
Alternatively, the bays were clad in tile hanging, another vernacular tradition. The roofs were usually of hipped construction although in the late 1930s, inspired by Hollywood, green tiles enjoyed some popularity. Recalling the work of Voysey, some roof gables swept down to ground level with a mass of Tudor style black and white timber framing to contain the porch.
Whilst the typical interwar middle class house was smaller than its Edwardian and Victorian forbears and its exterior styling often looked backwards, many aspects of the interior design reflected contemporary needs. Fewer middle class employed servants so the house was designed to be labour saving. Whilst the earliest council houses were usually lit by gas and built with solid fuel ranges, virtually all privately built housing was supplied with electricity from new. Interior fittings such as the all-tiled fireplaces and interior joinery were largely free of relief ornamentation which could harbour dust. Reflecting the rapid increase in car ownership in the 1930s, some houses were built with a garage to the side; typically these had roofs and wooden doors with glazed upper panels which complemented the main facade.