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Philip Webb House
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Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House
West House was designed by the architect Philip Webb (1831-1915) as a 'studio house' ten years after he designed the celebrated Red House for William Morris. It was commissioned by the artist George Price Boyce, a founder member of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood and the house is considered an excellent example of the influence of this movement. This property marks one of the earliest examples of the 'Queen Anne Revival' style and the presence of the house in the street scene is all the more striking through the use of red brick with rubbed brick cornices. These characteristics are also noted in ‘Pevsner’s Buildings of England’. It was originally called Glebe House but was renamed West House in 1871.



The house is Grade II* listed and the original house was constructed in 1868/9 with an extension to the front and west elevations designed by Webb in 1876. The client had owned the property for approximately thirty years and in late 2003 embarked on major repairs to the external fabric of the building. Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House West House was used as 'Uncle Monty’s house' in the cult film ‘Withnail and I’ (shot in 1987) and all the owner's existing furnishings were used in the film as they were. After refurbishment of the house twenty years later, most of the furniture and layout were put back as they had been for the previous thirty years. Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House
the design
Boyce's original studio and gallery was restored with the removal of many of the walls and floors constructed when the building was further extended in 1901. This work also includes a new full height window to the new studio more in keeping with the original design.
Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House
The work included the total refurbishment of the property, including new plumbing, electrics, re-plastering of the walls, alterations to the third floor servants' quarters and a new lift providing access to a new basement, ground and first floor.

Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House

Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House

Major repair works were also carried out to the external fabric of the building, with a total replacement of the roof finishes, new lead work throughout and the re-pointing of all the brick work. Planning and listed building consent was (applied for and) granted for all the proposed internal alternations and for the external repair works.

The majority of the internal alterations were to the first floor and involved the removal of internal partitions and a floor within the 1901 addition, together with the restoration of George Boyce 's studio which was converted into a bedroom when the later extension was added.
Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House - before
construction

The external repair works were completed in 2006; these included a new clay-tiled roof, replacement of all lead-work, brickwork repairs and re-pointing and complete overhaul of all the windows. Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House In 2009 the internal alterations and the complete renovation of the property started. In addition to the restoration and extension of Boyce’s studio which is now more in keeping with the original design we also introduced a large lantern light over the gallery.

Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House

Alterations where also carried out to the third floor servants’ quarters and a new external lift shaft was constructed providing access to the basement, ground and first floor and first floor gallery. New internal finishes throughout including marble-lined bathrooms, and new limestone and oak floors and hand printed William Morris wallpaper.
Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House
The client had been collecting salvaged materials for over thirty years and was keen to re-use them within the refurbishment works wherever possible. This included the reassembly of hundreds of pieces of green marble which had been removed from the walls of a building demolished in the 1960s and had been stored in plastic sacks for thirty years. This marble was all broken with only a couple of complete unbroken slabs remaining. These all had to be painstakingly rejoined, special backing material applied to provide strength before the marble could be fixed to the walls and floor of the bathroom.
Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House Within the main new library space the balustrade and spiral staircase were salvaged but many of the spindles had been lost and half of the spiral staircase was missing. We had to cast new spindles and get new sections and treads for the spiral stair made before it could be reassembled. The bookcase in the library was a Whittaker bookcase and came from the old Conservative Club at the bottom of St James’s Street, near Piccadilly, and date to around 1840. Whittaker was an early Victorian architect who designed the library in its entirety. Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House Originally it had six Connemara marble fireplaces and matching bookcases. However, only one of the fireplaces was salvaged at the time and this was also reassembled in the new library. The beading around the fireplace matches the beading in the bookcases.

The complete refurbishment of the interior lasted over a year and was finally completed in 2010. Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House Elspeth Beard Architects - Philip Webb House

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As featured in the cover story of:

CHRISTIE'S INTERIORS
South Kensington

JUL-AUG 2011



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