Anatomy of a House No.23: 63 Harley Street

Anatomy of a House No.23

63 Harley Street
1934
Wimperis, Simpson & Guthrie

63 Harley Street

Harley Street in Marylebone is readily associated with the medical profession, an area where private doctors treat well-heeled patients in luxurious surroundings. The next house in our Anatomy of a House series sits in the middle of this street and lives up to its medical heritage. No.63 was built as the home of ophthalmologist Sir Stewart Duke-Elder and his wife, Lady Phyllis. Duke-Elder was the most prominent British ophthalmologist of the first half of the 20th century, researching eye conditions and writing a string of text books, later becoming Surgeon-Oculist to Edward VIII, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. 

Sir Stewart Duke-Elder, portrait by Ruskin Spear (1956). Image from Eye News.

He and his wife commissioned a new house not long after Stewart was knighted in 1934, to include a home and consulting rooms for both Sir Stewart and Lady Phyllis, who was an ophthalmologist herself. It was designed by the esteemed partnership of Edmund Wimperis, William B. Simpson and Leonard R. Guthrie. The partnership was formed in 1913 by Wimperis and Simpson, with Guthrie joining in 1925. The trio had previously designed the rebuilt Fortnum and Mason department store in Piccadilly (1926), Grosvenor House in Park Lane (1926) and the Cambridge Theatre in Seven Dials (1930), as well as a number of other residences in Westminster. 

Grosvenor House, Park Lane (1926). Image from RIBApix.

The new home replaced a Georgian terraced house, with a four storey structure, as well as a basement and attic area. Built with a steel frame and brick, the street facing facade is finished in ashlar stone and has a pitched slate roof. The exterior balances the traditional Georgian style of the existing neighbourhood with the modernity of art deco, which was gaining gradual acceptance in Britain. The form, with its height and sets of three windows match the other residences in the street. However the finish, in austere grey stone, and lacking much in the way of detail, save the wrought iron balconies, speak to contemporary styles. 

Duke-Elder's consulting room. Image from Dezeen.

The real interest of the house lies in its interiors, remarkably still largely intact today. The ground floor had a consulting room, waiting room and secretary's office for Duke-Elder's practice. The consulting room has a wall that curves around Duke-Elder’s kidney-shaped desk, lit from above by a circular light well. The consulting room is panelled in Australian walnut and has a marble fireplace, with built in bookcases and a curved window seat. The light fittings in the surgeon's work area were designed by Ralph Waldo Maitland to simulate natural lighting. Maitland also designed the lighting system at the nearby Royal Institute of Architects Building, completed at the same time at 63 Harley Street.

The ground floor staircase and wood panelling by Betty Joel. Image from UCL.

The entrance hallway on the ground floor is paneled in sycamore with walnut doors and skirting, and also features fittings by designer Betty Joel, whose art deco designs were a part of buildings like the Daily Express offices in Fleet Street and St Olaf’s House in Tooley Street. At the Harley Street house, Joel designed umbrella stands, desks, filing cabinets, bookcases and her signature “ships-grille” radiator covers. The hallway also featured a circular rug, designed by textile designer Marion Dorn. Visitors are spirited to the first floor by an elliptically-shaped, streamlined staircase, complete with brass handrails and balustrade. On this floor was the consulting room of Lady Phyllis, a library and a dining room. The library has built-in bookshelves, desks, window seats and fireside seats. On the second floor is the couples bedroom, dressing rooms, bathrooms and a breakfast room. 

The waiting room area with rug by Marion Dorn.

The house was profiled in a March 1934 edition of Architecture and Building News under the title “The New Town House” and also described as "the modern manner at its best”, with photos of its luxurious interior and decorations. Duke-Elder worked at No.63 until 1963, when it was sold to ophthalmologist Sir Allen Goldsmith, with Duke Elder continuing to practice from there until 1976, two years before he passed away. The house itself was listed in October 2009, and in 2015 was restored and converted into a purely residential building by Mackenzie Wheeler Architects.