The Rolls Royce: Serge Chermayeff’s Bentley Wood

Bentley Wood as seen from the garden side. Image from RIBApix.

Serge Chermayeff designed a number of buildings in Britain, before moving to the United States in 1940. These buildings include private houses in Chelsea, Chalfont St Giles and Rugby, offices in Camden and the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea. Some of these were designed with German architect Erich Mendelsohn, who was also a brief visitor to Britain before moving on to the US himself. The buildings that Chermayeff designed, both by himself and with Mendelsohn, are perfect examples of the 1930s modernist aesthetic; long horizontal lines, gleaming white walls and regular, metal-framed windows all abound.

The De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea. Designed by Serge Chermayeff and Erich Mendelsohn.

However, Chermayeff’s most accomplished design is possibly Bentley Wood, a house he built for himself and his family in Halland, East Sussex in 1938. The house is modernist in form, but uses a gentler array of materials, and is sensitively placed in its rural setting. Instead of the concrete of his earlier designs, Bentley Wood is built with a jarrah wood timber frame, exposed in parts, and clad in Western Red Cedar, with brick infill. The ground floor has floor to ceiling glazing, with sliding glass doors opening out onto the gardens. 

A sketch for the interior of Bentley Wood by Serge Chermayeff.

The grounds themselves are as much a part of the design as the house. Chermayeff asked landscape designer Christopher Tunnard to oversee the landscaping, and a sculpture by Henry Moore, “Recumbent Figure”, was specially commissioned to stand at an exact spot at the end of the garden terrace (the piece was donated to the Tate gallery in 1939). The interior of the house is semi open plan and has split levels, giving the house a sense of flowing space, with further artworks by John Piper, Ben Nicholson and others, dotted around. 

Henry Moore's Recumbent Figure, seen in the grounds of Bentley Wood. Image from RIBApix.

As with many modernist houses of the era, especially those in the countryside, its progress was initially blocked by Uckfield Rural District Council. They rejected the first application, feeling the design did not fit its rural setting, despite Chermayeff’s careful consideration of the landscape. The architect appealed, and permission for the house was granted. Bentley Wood was widely praised in the architectural press, being seen as a turn away from rigorous International style modernism, towards a more romantic style, as also seen in Berthold Lubetkin’s use of caryatids at Highpoint II. Architect Charles Reilly likened the house to a Rolls Royce in a review for the Architects Journal and it became a place to visit for architects and students.  

The interior of the ground floor living area. Image from RIBApix.

Chermayeff only lived in his dream house for a short time, moving to the US after his practice was declared bankrupt. He would go on to practice in America as well as teaching at Yale. Bentley Wood was bought by newspaper editor Sir William Elmsley Carr, who started a process of extension and alteration, which was taken up by subsequent owners. These changes to Chermayeff’s original design meant Bentley Wood was turned down for listing in 2002. However, a later owner carefully removed much of the alteration and returned the house to Chermayeff’s vision, with a Grade II listing awarded in March 2020.