Tudor Revival architecture
George Devey designed Ascott House in Buckinghamshire during the latter half of the 19th century. This simple cottage stands as an early example of Tudorbethan influence within domestic architecture. Norman Shaw sketched out Cragside, a hilltop mansion near Rothbury, in a single afternoon while his client Lord Armstrong went on a shooting party. Shaw's design for this future fairy palace incorporated certain Tudor features into an eclectic architectural style. The architect also created Leyswood near Withyham in East Sussex around the same time. Leyswood featured mock battlements and tall chimneys that achieved immediate maturity in Shaw's hands. Philip Hardwick built the Great Hall and Library at Lincoln's Inn in central London during the late 1840s. Michael Hall considers these structures among the finest Tudor Revival buildings of the nineteenth century.
Edwin Lutyens developed the style further in the early part of the 20th century with The Deanery in Berkshire. He completed this house in 1899 for the editor of Country Life magazine. An anonymous reviewer wrote in 1903 that the house seemed to have grown out of the landscape rather than fitted into it. Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott and Blair Imrie made their names as Tudor style architects later in the era. George A. Crawley expanded Crowhurst Place in Surrey first for himself and latterly for Consuelo Vanderbilt. Martin Conway noted in Country Life that Crawley's reconstruction gave the manor a beauty far greater than its original state. Ian Nairn, Nikolaus Pevsner, and Bridget Cherry called Crowhurst an extreme example of the English flight from reality around the 1914, 18 war. The term Tudorbethan eliminated hexagonal towers and mock battlements found in Jacobethan styles.
Francis Petre adapted the style for the local climate in New Zealand during the colonial period. Regent Alfred John Bidwell pioneered what became known as the Black and White House in Singapore when it was still a British colony. The earliest examples of the style originated with Norman Shaw and George Devey in Neo-Tudor design. Mentmore in Buckinghamshire served as an estate village rebuilt to resemble an idyllic Elizabethan village. Frank Loughborough Pearson constructed a Tudor Village at Hever Castle in Kent for William Waldorf Astor. Pearson sourced genuine Elizabethan building materials including stone, tiles, and bricks for these cottages. Astor commented that he could not believe they had been built only months ago because they looked so old and crooked.
Many London outer suburbs developed houses in the style following the First World War. These developments reflected a taste for nostalgia regarding rural values. Olive Cook attacked the rash of semi-detached villas bedizened with Tudor gables and mock half-timber work. She claimed this disfigured the outskirts of all towns. Westchester County in New York featured particularly dense concentrations of Tudor Revival construction from this period. Englewood and Teaneck in New Jersey also contained many such buildings. Brewery companies designed improved pubs in a mock Tudor style called Brewer's Tudor. John Betjeman captured this style in his 1937 poem Slough where bald young clerks gathered. The writer described how these structures appeared on the outskirts of industrial towns.
Tudor Revival houses differ structurally from timber-framed originals which supported the whole weight of the house. Modern counterparts consist of bricks or blocks of various materials with stucco applied to the exterior. Thin boards added on the outside mimic earlier functional heavy timbers. Simon Jenkins suggests Ascott proves the appeal of Tudor to every era and condition of England. Devey used hung tiles and patterned brickwork at St Alban's Court. He made use of rag-stone footings to create the impression of a Tudor mansion built on medieval foundations. Artificially aged beams constructed from light wood bear no loads and attach purely for decoration. Blackened beams are attached to ceilings and walls without structural function. The Liberty & Co. department store in London was built in 1924 to emulate a half-timbered mansion.
In modern structures, half-timbered appearance is obtained by applying decorative features over real structure. Boards and stucco combine to obtain the desired look seen in Greenock subdivisions. To minimize maintenance, boards are now commonly made of uPVC faux wood or plastic siding. Dark brown or wood effect finishes appear on these synthetic materials. In the United States, the style was most popular for new homes during the 1970s and 1980s. Today Italian, Mediterranean, and French villa style homes have superseded them in popularity. Anthony Quiney describes the Broadway Centre in Ealing as dressed out with brick and tile to put a smile on a friendly face. Architects are rarely requested to work in the style today despite postmodern architecture including wider ranges. Few architects are known for buildings which could be called Tudorbethan in current practice.
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Common questions
Who designed Ascott House in Buckinghamshire during the 19th century?
George Devey designed Ascott House in Buckinghamshire during the latter half of the 19th century. This simple cottage stands as an early example of Tudorbethan influence within domestic architecture.
When did Edwin Lutyens complete The Deanery house for the editor of Country Life magazine?
Edwin Lutyens completed this house in 1899 for the editor of Country Life magazine. He developed the style further in the early part of the 20th century with The Deanery in Berkshire.
Where are dense concentrations of Tudor Revival construction found in New York and New Jersey?
Westchester County in New York featured particularly dense concentrations of Tudor Revival construction from this period. Englewood and Teaneck in New Jersey also contained many such buildings following the First World War.
How do modern Tudor Revival houses differ structurally from timber-framed originals?
Modern counterparts consist of bricks or blocks of various materials with stucco applied to the exterior. Thin boards added on the outside mimic earlier functional heavy timbers but bear no loads and attach purely for decoration.
Why was the term Tudorbethan used to eliminate certain features from Jacobethan styles?
The term Tudorbethan eliminated hexagonal towers and mock battlements found in Jacobethan styles. This distinction separated the specific aesthetic from other eclectic architectural influences during the era.