Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 16 April 2021 to reformat the text to current standards

105/0/10028

KNEBWORTH
DEARDS END LANE
7 Hillcroft

16-DEC-09

II
Two storey house, built 1901 as a pair of semi-detached cottages designed by E. Lutyens who converted it into one house in 1904 adding a rear extension. Additional mid C20 two storey extension to the south.

MATERIALS: red brick, laid in stretcher bond, with a gable roof and plain tile covering.

PLAN: 'T' shaped with front range and projecting rear extension.

EXTERIOR: there are two central angled ridge stacks each with three interlocking flues and pots. The façade has a central recessed porch with contemporary two leaf, part glazed entrance door and three dormers. The rear elevation accommodates the single storey, double height, rear extension with an end stack. Timber casement windows throughout, some of which are later C20 replacements.

INTERIOR: the interior reflects the 1904 conversion, although the plan-form of the 1901 cottages remains legible. The brick-built inglenook fireplace on the ground floor is flanked by recessed, arched panels. A second fireplace, with cast-iron grate,remains in the first floor bedroom. There are contemporary battened doors throughout. The Lutyens rear extension is partly double-height and has a brick built fireplace against the rear wall, the stack being recessed above the fireplace, providing emphasis to the casement window above.

HISTORY: Hillcroft was designed by Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) in 1901 for his brother-in-law, Earl Lytton of Knebworth House. Lytton planned other houses and the golf clubhouse in Deards End Lane before World War I and commissioned Lutyens to design them. Hillcroft was designed as a pair of semi-detached, interlocking cottages for estate workers in 1901, but in 1904 Earl Lytton commissioned Lutyens to design a conversion of the building into one residence, adding a substantial extension to the rear.

SOURCES: R. Meredith, History of Hillcroft (1997) [copy with the Lutyens Trust]

Reasons for Listing

Hillcroft, Deards End Lane, Knebworth is designated for the following principal reasons.
* Hillcroft is an example of a good quality, imaginative design by Edwin Lutyens in 1901 and converted by him into a single residence in 1904.
* Although there have been some later C20 alterations, they are sympathetic to the Lutyens composition which focuses on the wide entrance lobby leading to the double-height rear extension.
* Hillcroft has group value with other listed dwellings by Lutyens on Deards End Lane with which it is comparable in quality.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26672771

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)