In the picturesque village of Dedham sits Great House, positioned on the High Street near the 15th century St Mary’s Church. Dedham brings to mind the bucolic, romantic landscapes painted by John Constable, such as ‘Flatford Mill’ (1816) or ‘The Hay Wain’ (1821), and the area is now widely known as ‘Constable Country’.
The village also lays claim to the equestrian painter Sir Alfred Munnings and boasts a museum dedicated to his work. Much of Dedham’s charming architecture is medieval and Georgian, built from the riches of the wool trade.
On first inspection, Great House looks as if it has always been there. In fact, it was designed and built shortly before World War Two by the architect Raymond Erith (1904-1973). Erith’s career spanned over forty years from the late 1920s until the early ‘70s and one of his most high profile commissions was the rebuilding and restoration of Nos. 10, 11 & 12 Downing Street. From childhood Erith had always shown a keen interest in architecture and was skilled at drawing. Aged seventeen he started his training at the Architectural Association in London, and eventually went on to become a Royal Academician. In 1934 he married a fellow architect, Pamela Jackson, and a desire for country life prompted their move to Dedham, where he and his family put down firm roots.
On 1st December 1936 a fire destroyed the original timberframed Great House, leaving a blank space on the High Street. Erith’s parents-in-law intended to move to the area, and they commissioned him to design a new home for them on the empty site. Between 1937 and 1938 Erith designed and built the second Great House. It was his first major work and is recognised as one of his most important commissions, listed Grade II* by English Heritage.
Image courtesy of Strutt & Parker.
Using salvaged bricks from the aftermath of the fire, Erith built a restrained square house with a symmetrical façade, rising through three storeys to a pyramid roof with a central chimney stack. It incorporates some unusual features such as the external louvred shutters. At a time when many of his fellow architects were embracing functional modernism, Erith looked back to the classical past and the ideals of Andrea Palladio and Sir John Soane. He adapted and used classical architectural language for the home he created at Great House. Arthur Oswald, who wrote about the house in Country Life in 1950, observed that,
“while paying deference to the Georgian context, Mr Erith has designed a house that is unmistakably 20th century.”
Great House was furnished through antique shop purchases, auction finds and inherited pieces. Much of the furniture is from the Regency period, in keeping with the style of the interiors, but the contents also included a rich and varied collection, juxtaposing Roman busts on classical columns, with early Italian maiolica, with paintings and works of art from a wide range of periods.
Highlights amongst the lots that were presented in our February 2024 sale included a Chinese side table made from hongmu wood and deeply carved with flying squirrel designs. This was probably commissioned by the last owner’s great-grandfather when he worked in Shanghai for Kelly & Walsh, a publisher of English language books. The pair of Empire mahogany fauteuils by Jacob Frères are fine examples of French style. There is also a striking sideboard in an interpretation of the Regency style, which was designed by Erith and made by Swiss joiner R. Shaub of The Chiswick Guild in London.
Great House has been in the family of the original owners since it was built, and remarkably it has had no significant alterations in that period. However, nothing stays constant, and the time had come for the property to change hands and for some of the contents to find new homes. Lyon & Turnbull were pleased to offer selected contents for sale in our Five Centuries sale on 21 & 22 February 2024.
