Oliver Hill (architect)

Oliver Falvey Hill (15 June 1887 – 29 April 1968)

Early years

Oliver Hill was born at 89

Hill's first major modernist project was

Hill was the lead designer for the Frinton Park Estate, an attempt at a modernist settlement in Essex, where a number of his curving buildings were constructed before the project failed.[12] He was also the lead designer for the 1933 Exhibition of British Industrial Art in relation to the Home, in Dorland Hall, London, a successful showpiece for modernism conceived by Christopher Hussey, and also for the similar exhibition at Dorland Hall the following year.^[14]

Hill also became known for luxurious

Hill blamed Adolf Hitler for ending his career, as his post-war career consisted of many designs but few built works. His designs covered a wide array of styles and his last house built in the 1960s, The Priory at Long Newnton, Gloucestershire, harked back to the 17th century.^[21]

Personal life

Hill was elected a Fellow of the

He kept a London townhouse first at 19 West Eaton Place,[23] and later at 35 Cliveden Place.^[18] He also maintained a country residence, first from the mid 1920s at Valewood Farm, in Haslemere, Surrey,^[24] and then from 1948 at Daneway House, the former house and workshop of the Arts and Crafts architect-designer Ernest Gimson, in Sapperton, Gloucestershire.^[25]

In 1953 he married Margaret Jeanette Beverley; they had no children. She was the daughter of architect Samuel Beverley,^[1] and the granddaughter of theatrical architect Frank Verity. The sculptor Simon Verity is Hill's great-nephew,^[26] who has described his informal apprenticeship to Hill during his last years.^[27]

Works

• Moor Close, Binfield, Berkshire (alterations 1910–14)^[5]
• Cour, Carradale, Kintyre, Argyll (1920–22)^[23]
• Wilbraham House, Chelsea, London (1922)^[28]
• Gayfere House (also known as Gayfere Lodge^[29]), 12 Gayfere Street, Westminster, London (1923–26,^[23] and alterations 1934–36^[30]
  )
• The Thatched House, Knowle, Warwickshire (1923–29)^[31]
• Fox Steep, Wargrave, Berkshire (1924)^[32]
• Pottery exhibition stands at the British Empire Exhibition, Wembley, London (1924)^[23]
• Sandhill, Aldeburgh, Suffolk (1924)^[33]
• Woodhouse Copse, Holmbury St Mary, Surrey (1924–26)^[31]
• Cock Rock, Croyde, Devon (1925–26)^[31]
• Dolphin House, Aldeburgh, Suffolk (1926)^[34]
• Merryfields House, Witney, Oxfordshire (1927)^[35]
• Marylands, Ewhurst, Surrey (1927–31)^[36]
• Gayfere House, corner of Gayfere Street/Great Peter Street, Westminster, London (1929–32)^[37]
  (the second house of this name)
• Vernon House, 40 Chelsea Square, Chelsea, London (1930–34, GII*)^[38][39]
• Joldwynds, Holmbury St Mary, Surrey (1931–32)^[40]
• Upper Terrace House, Hampstead, London (remodelling 1931–33, GII)^[38]
• Midland Hotel, Morecambe, Lancashire (1932–33)^[30]
• 213 King's Road, Chelsea, London (alterations 1932–33)^[38]
• Katherine House, 41 Chelsea Square, Chelsea, London (1932–35, GII)^[30][41]
• Exhibition of British Industrial Art in relation to the Home, Dorland Hall, London (1933)^[30]
• Holthanger (now known as Cherry Hill, Virginia Water), Wentworth Estate, Surrey (1933–35)^[30][42]
• Exhibition of British Contemporary Industrial Design in the Home, Dorland Hall, London (1934)^[30]
• Frinton Park Estate,
  Frinton, Essex (1934–38),^[12]
  including:
  • Dawn (55 Quendon Way) (1934–35)[43]
  • Seaspan (4 Audley Way) (1934–35)^[44]
  • The Round House (c. 1935)^[45]
• Landfall, Poole, Dorset (1936–38)^[46][12]
• Burrows Wood, Gomshall, Surrey (1936–39)^[47]
• Prospect Inn, Minster-in-Thanet, Kent (1936–39)^[12]
• British pavilion,
  Paris Exposition of 1937^[18]
• Three Lane Ends Infants' School, Methley Road, Whitwood Mere, Castleford, Yorkshire (1937–39)^[18][48] (Now known as Castleford Three Lane Ends Business Centre)^[49]
• Higher Trayne, Berrynarbor, Devon (alterations c. 1939–41)^[50]
• Bus shelter at Newbury Park tube station, Ilford, Essex (1947–50)^[18]
• The Pavilion, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey (1958–60)^[51]
• The Priory, Long Newnton, Gloucestershire (1963–66)^[52]

Writings

• Fair Horizon: Buildings of To-day (1950)
• Scottish Castles of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (1953)
• English Country Houses: Caroline, 1625–1685 (with John Cornforth) (1966)

References