1

We British are a reserved and traditional nation when it comesto house buying. Despite admiring adventurous and modernstyle homes on TV shows when it comes to splashing our cashwe feel more secure with something cloaked in a historic style.However just occasionally we get a little daring and one suchmoment was in the early 1930s when there was a fad forModern houses, ones which today we often refer to as Art Deco.

Port SunlightFrinton

2

Essex has some fine examples of historic buildingsbut this visit I made in June 2011 was to findsomething very modern in style. Art Deco stylehousing estates are rare and at Frinton there is oneof the best examples which still preserves theadventurous spirit of the young architect whodesigned them. Only a short distance away at SilverEnd is another unique example built for factoryworkers with stark modern features so take a visitor sit back and enjoy on Google Street View.

To find the sites with your sat nav or on Google Maps/ Street View just enter the postcodeslisted under each title. The houses are all private so please remember to respect owner’s privacy.

FRINTON ON SEA, CO13 9NL

Frinton was developed as a high classresort from the 1890s by Sir RichardPowell Cooper who had made his fortuneas the owner of a leading sheep dipmanufacturer. In 1933 a new estate wasplanned to the north end of the growingtown which was intended to attract theyoung, affluent and fashionable. One ofthe leading architects of the day, OliverHill, who had recently completed thegraceful curving Midland Hotel inMorecambe, was to be the lead designer.It was intended to contain around a 1000ultra modern houses with the first sectionbased around Central Avenue begun in1934. Hill designed The Round House,which stands at the junction of Cliff Wayand Waltham Way, as the site office andshow house with a plan of the proposedestate laid out in mosaic tiles on itsground floor. The first twenty or sohouses were built along Cliff Way,Waltham Way and Graces Walk andmade a dramatic impression with theirclean, sharp edged geometric forms andlarge horizontal windows.

The Round House

3

There were problems though. Although they were intended to be built in concrete it was foundthat building societies would not finance houses built this way. Brick walls covered by renderto imitate this modern material was used instead, a more expensive and slower process whichincreased costs. Despite the houses being promoted with sunbathing on the roof in mind, whenthe buyers of these first houses discovered that they would only be allowed with flat roofs theynearly all withdrew. Despite Hill’s modern ideals it was traditional reservations whichbankrupted the company in 1936. The remainder of the plots along the roads which had beenlaid out became conventional bungalows while the rest of the planned estate was never built.Central Avenue which was to be the centrepiece was left half completed with a single shop froma planned semi circle left stranded to this day at the junction with Walton Road. Today ownershave lovingly maintained these unique houses and it is worth a diversion to wander around theestate when visiting this peaceful seaside resort.

4

Bright greenglazed roof tileswere an exoticand colourfulstatement thatwere popular onthe Art Decohouses during the1930s.

Further inland to the south east of Braintreeis a village which was built from the 1920sto house workers at the Crittall Windowfactory. The company owned by FrancisHenry Crittall began producing metalframed windows in 1884 and by the 1920s ithad grown to employ around 10,000, morethan half the population of Braintree wherethey were based. So in 1926 Crittall foundeda new village called Silver End a shortdistance away and under the control of hisson Walter and the leading architect ThomasS. Tait began designing and building ahousing estate for his workers around a newfactory.

SILVER END, CM8 3RQ

5

Silver End’s housing with its cleanlines, simple geometric form andbright exteriors still has an impacttoday. The Modernist houses aremostly to be found along SilverStreet (CM8 3QQ), Francis Way(CM8 3QU), and Broadway (CM83RA). At the east end of Silver Streetthere are a number of larger housesbuilt for the factory managers.Silver End was also equipped witha department store and a villagehall which is so large it is thebiggest in the country.

Crittall’s metal framed windows are adistinctive feature of Art Deco style housing.The use of steel meant the glazing bars couldbe very thin and most were originally paintedblack so the windows would appear almostto be one one single sheet, letting in as muchsunlight as possible. Many also includedsimple geometric patterns in the uppersections which add an important touch ofstyle.

6

If you would like to discover more about these and other 1930s houses then look out for thesetwo books. They are both packed with photos and drawings explaining in an easy to understandway how they were built, the key features of the Art Deco style and the types of fixtures andfittings you should use if renovating a house. They are available from Amazon, my publisher’swebsite www.countrysidebooks.co.uk and your local bookshop. Go to my websitewww.trevoryorke.co.uk for more details and to take a look inside each book.

One of the manager’shouses at the junction ofSilver Street and BoarsTye Road. It still has itsoriginal Crittall frameswith the distinctivecorner windows.Although the factory hasnow closed Crittall arestill a major companybased in nearby Witham.