Two of the finest architects of the 1930s created this house in a secluded, leafy spot in Buckinghamshire — and now it's on the market
Everyone from Hercule Poirot to the heiress who owned The Savoy have been to Shrubs Wood.
In 1933, two of the most well-respected architects working in Britain came together to start a practice together. Erich Mendelsohn, a German Jew who had recently fled the Nazi regime and moved to London, went in to business with Serge Chermayeff, a Russian-born architect and designer whose family had left his homeland for good after the Russian Revolution.
Art Deco was, at the time, beginning to give way to Modernism, and the pair created several buildings that are among the most celebrated of the 1930s. The Grade I-listed De La Warr Pavilion, on the sea front in Bexhill, East Sussex, is arguably the most famous, but they also built a couple of private homes: Cohen House, in Chelsea, and Shrubs Wood, in the Buckinghamshire village of Chalfont St Giles. Both blazed new trails, helped set the template for the International Modern style which had a huge influence on architecture for the next half a century, and one of them - Shrubs Wood - is now up for sale at £3.95 million.
Shrubs Wood was built in 1933-1934, and is Grade II*-listed . If it looks familiar, there's a good reason: it's been used for the filming of many high-profile TV shows when the need has arisen for a house that fits the 1930s aesthetic. Agatha Christie adaptations are a case in point: several episodes of Poirot used the house as a location, Miss Marple has visited a few times, and this is one of the places where they asked themselves why they didn't ask Evans.
Its monolithic reinforced concrete construction allowed for huge rooms, uninterrupted floor space, grand picture windows and perhaps most beautifully of all, a quadrant curve staircase.
Laid out on a largely rectangular floorplan, there’s 3,735sq ft of internal space, with separate living room, dining room and a large kitchen, while the cellar space below has a wine cellar, a boiler room and storage areas, as well as access to the garage.
If the furniture in these pictures strikes you as particularly well-suited to the architecture, that’s no accident: much of it is original furniture created specifically for the house by its two eminent designers. The fact that it’s still here is extraordinary, and contributes to that Grade II*-listing status.
There are six bedrooms, all of which are on the first floor, with five of them sharing two family bathrooms. Most are fairly small, but the master bedroom is anything but: this is a proper suite, with two dressing rooms and a large en-suite bathroom as well as the sleeping area itself.
The house was originally known as Nimmo House, but was renamed by the impresario and Savoy hotel heiress Bridget D’Oyly Carte, who moved here in 1949 and made a wonderful home of the place - and in particular turned the five acres into wonderful gardens that are important enough to be locally listed.
The Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust has carried out a lot of research into the house and grounds, which can be read on their website (PDF link).
It’s a wonderful home, full of history and architectural interest as well as a beautiful building in its own right. What’s more, it’s eminently commutable: the stations of Gerrard’s Cross and Chalfont & Latimer are both just a few minutes’ drive, from where you can be in central London in under 20 minutes.
The caveats? You’ll probably want a specialist surveyor, since reinforced concrete of this vintage can have issues. Additionally, there’s no EPC rating listed on the details, and as a listed building we believe that the house is exempt - again, you’ll need to get your surveyors and solicitors to clarify details with the agents, but do bear in mind that concrete buildings don’t usually retain heat like brick or timber. Bills could be high.
Assuming none of that puts you off, this is a real find: a graceful home full of light and original features. Mendelsohn and Chermayeff only designed two homes together before going their separate ways, and Shrubs Wood makes that seem like a real pity.
Shrubs Wood is for sale through Strutt & Parker - see more details.
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