The History

Vista Point designed by Patrick Gwynne

Patrick Gwynne (1913-2003) is one of the most important and remarkable British architect of the 20th Century. He was just 24 when he designed The Homewood in Esher for his parents in 1937. It is a masterpiece of Modernist design taking inspiration from Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye; it was a significant contribution to the Modernist movement in Britain in the 30s, and is now owned by the National Trust.

After service in the RAF in Canada, Gwynne lived at The Homewood and ran a small architectural practice from there, producing a series of important and extremely original houses during the post-war period, each tailored to the needs of the site and the client. He also designed two restaurants on the Serpertine in Hyde Park, one of which still remains as the Serpentine Bar and Kitchen.

The Homewood

Esher, Surrey

This extraordinary early 20th-century country villa is a masterpiece of Modernist design, in the midst of a picturesque woodland garden not far from Esher in Surrey. Similar style to Vista Point its well worth a visit. Gwynne designed the Villa for his family – his father, mother, sister and himself – and completed in the early summer of 1938.

Gwynne lived in the house for the rest of his life, continuing to keep the building fashionably up-to-date until his death in 2003. His friend, the architect Sir Denys Lasdun, observed that The Homewood was ‘the great love of Patrick’s life’.

Visit The Homewood


Vista Point

Littlehampton, West Sussex

Vista Point was designed as a summer house for Ken Monk, his Quantity Surveyor. Completed in 1970, it is designed to take full advantage of the fantastic sea-front site, with the principal rooms on the first floor to make the most of the sea views. Gwynne’s playful style, with its fondness for unusual materials and increasing interest in curves, was well suited to the design of a holiday home, but this is his only example.

It is one of his least-altered surviving works, and important as an example of his later, more anthropomorphic style, and as such was listed by English Heritage in 2006.