Description

Peter Womersley, 1957. Single storey, 3-bay square-plan Modernist flat roof house designed on a 3ft grid plan joined to former garage by covered walkway forming courtyard and sited in secluded garden with views to Eildon Hills. Sand lime brick construction with floor to ceiling plate glass timber-framed windows and painted timber fascia board.

Predominantly timber-framed windows with single glazed unframed sliding door to bedroom; some later sliding patio style doors.

INTERIOR: fine open plan modernist interior design scheme in place with original open plan layout set around 9ft cedar boarded central core housing boiler, heating system and top-lit bathroom. Interior includes signature fireplace design with black marble mantle running from interior to exterior, bench seating around sunken main living area, boarded hardwood ceilings, original Formica kitchen fittings, fitted cupboards to dressing room and original timber, vinyl and black acotile flooring throughout. Interior further enhanced by contemporary 1950's furniture including Womersley's original stereo sideboard.

Statement of Interest

The Rig is a fine example of domestic house built by Peter Womersley (1923-1993) and of particular interest in being tailored as his own home and office, which he created as the prototype of the architecture he hoped to produce in future commissions. The Rig survives largely in its original condition in particular to the interior which is almost entirely as built and embodies the interior design and spacial planning of this renowned borders based Modernist architect.

The Rig is a one bedroom open plan design built around a central timber service core with no conventional circulation space; different areas are defined by changes in level and floor and ceiling finishes. The bedroom is deliberately small though a full length fitted mirror creates a feeling of space. A later temporary removable partition has been erected in the study area to create a second bedroom.

There have been some changes to exterior glazing pattern with the loss of horizontal timber bands and the building was re-roofed with slight gradient and white painted aluminium guttering added to improve drainage, however the overall design and essence of the building remains strong. The former garage is now in separate ownership and the site is now entered by steps from the south.

Although the Rig was funded by an inheritance it was still a very modest building costing just £4,000 to construct including the attached garage. It was built on a former orchard belonging to Melrose Abbey. Peter Womersley subsequently added further office accommodation to the north of the existing garage to include more office space and a reception area with large fixed glazed window and integral seating overlooking a courtyard. In 1978 he converted the office accommodation to a separate house in order to sell the property. Known as The Rig Office it has subsequently been further extended in similar style and remains in separate ownership though physically linked to The Rig by the original covered walkway.

List description updated at resurvey (2010).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17843877

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

• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings