A crafted modernist home
overlooking the Chilterns

Our client always wanted to build a light-filled, modern home, using natural, timeless materials that seamlessly link indoor and outdoor spaces.

The house sits high, overlooking gardens and rolling countryside. The approach is via a causeway of granite slabs across a shallow pool, flanked by a ‘floating’ dining pavilion. A dry stone wall wraps around the building at the entrance courtyard.

This home needed to be beautifully built, with a craftsman’s eye and skill. On entering, the building reveals the surrounding countryside through walls of glass and here the house separates, leading on one side to more formal areas, including studies and a guest suite and on the other to more relaxed family living spaces.

The formal limestone façade of the southern elevation references both the traditional English country house as well as classic modernist villas. The building blends into the parkland landscape. Many of the walls were designed to be covered, in time, by climbing plants. Similarly, the roofs are planted with heather and lavender.

Fiona is undoubtedly an outstanding architect ... Our house is a calm space, full of light. It is an absolute pleasure to live in

— Client
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Architects
McLean Quinlan
Interior Design
McLean Quinlan, Isherwood Interior Design
Structural Engineer
Frank Van Loock Associates
QS
Baillie Knowles Partnership
M&E
Environmental Engineering Partnership
Landscape Design
Todd Longstaffe-Gowan
Photography/Film
Jim Stephenson