Anatomy of a House No.28: 16 Warley Way, Frinton Park Estate

Anatomy of a House No.28

16 Warley Way, Frinton Park Estate, Frinton on Sea, Essex
1935
Oliver Hill

16 Warley Way, Frinton Park Estate. Image from RIBApix

The confident curves of art deco and the white walls and metal railings of modernism both suggest an affinity with the sea, influenced as they are by the ocean-going liners and bristling battleships of the interwar years. Many modernist houses were built along the coastal areas of Britain in the 1930s, with many still showing the elan they were built with. One of the largest and best collections of this kind can be found on the Essex coast at Frinton on Sea. The Frinton Park Estate was conceived by South Coast Investment Company Ltd, led by Francis Arnatt, who purchased 200 acres of land at the popular seaside town in 1934. The intention was to build an estate of 1100 homes, as well as a shopping centre, luxury hotel and offices. 30 acres of this were set aside to showcase the best of British modernist design. The plan was for prospective buyers to buy a plot and then engage architects to design their new house from a list of designers drawn up by Hill. In the end only 25 modernist homes were built, mostly designed by Hill and J.T. Shelton, an architect employed by the development company.  

Oliver Hill's initial vision of the modernist section of the estate. Image from RIBApix.

One of the houses designed by Hill, 16 Warley Way, is the subject of our latest Anatomy of a House. Hill designed 10 houses on the estate, plus the circular estate Office (now a house) and a Frinton Park Court, a combined building of shops and flats, now demolished. 16 Warley Way follows the same plan that most of the other Hill houses at Frinton do, arranged in an L-shape with a curved frontage. Like many speculative modernist houses of the era, 16 Warley Way is constructed in brick, which is then rendered white, giving the impression of gleaming white concrete without actually having to pour it. The houses also featured metal-framed,curved windows at ground and first floor level, and metal balcony railings. The houses also featured integral garages, but most of these have been converted into more living space, with cars moved to driveways which replaced front gardens.  ​

A view from the bedroom of a Frinton estate house, showing the open fields outside. Image from RIBApix.

The interiors were finished in a simple, modernistic fashion, with Noel parquet oak flooring and a fireplace with a marble effect surround. On the ground floor, the living room was placed with the curved window at the front and a dining recess at the back of the room. On the first floor were three double bedrooms and two singles, along with the bathroom. Two of the double bedrooms had small balconies and the other was given a large, curved window, all had built-in cupboards.

Joldwynds, Holmbury St Mary, designed by Oliver Hill. Image from RIBApix.

Hill left his post as consultant architect in July 1935, with the agents and developers Tomkins, Hamer & Ley taking over sales and new designs. The estate continued to grow after World War II, but most of the new homes were built as bungalows. Hill was far from the caricature of a modernist ideologue, designing private houses in a variety of styles from Arts & Crafts to Tudorbeathen and Art Deco. As well as his domestic designs, Hill also designed the Midland Hotel in Morecambe (1933) for the London Midland and Scottish Railways and Newbury Park Bus Shelter on the Central Line (1949) and the British Pavilion at the 1937 Paris Exposition. He was, as the title of an exhibition of his work held in 1989 noted, a Lover of Life, with many pursuits outside architecture, such as painting, photography and garden design. He owned a blue Rolls-Royce, which he would drive down to his farmhouse in Surrey on the weekend to pass the time with guests amongst his menagerie of parrots, peacocks and other exotic animals. ​

Oliver Hill and friend. Image from RIBApix.

Today, the Frinton Park Estate is probably the best preserved 1930s modernist estate in the country.  Few houses have been demolished or altered, but the majority of them have been kept in excellent condition by their various owners. Three of the Oliver Hill-designed houses have been listed by Historic England, 55 Quendon Way in 1997, 4 Audley Way in 2007, and 16 Warley Way in 2024. The Round House, the former estate office turned home, was listed in 1986 and has been renovated in recent years. 

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Explore the Frinton Park estate with our Mini Guide, featuring 37 colour images of the surviving houses, plus a history of the estate and a map. Get yours HERE