Unusual Houses Various Contributors April 2023
Plans for the original house (courtesy Sandie Roach)
Box's Most Contraversial House?
Few people will identify the house above, which is situated in the centre of Box. It was built as a statement of Architectural Modernism with a flat roof, uncluttered shape and square lines. It was quite unlike the traditional Box architecture and caused a great stir in the village, some residents thinking it was unsympathetic to its environment.
The house was built by CWB Oatley, auctioneer, furniture restorer and retailer, who led the Methodist movement and the parish council in early 20th century Box. He also built some of the most interesting and unusual properties in the village. But the lines of this house proved too controversial and it was changed to include gable ends after Charles Oatley's death.
Few people will identify the house above, which is situated in the centre of Box. It was built as a statement of Architectural Modernism with a flat roof, uncluttered shape and square lines. It was quite unlike the traditional Box architecture and caused a great stir in the village, some residents thinking it was unsympathetic to its environment.
The house was built by CWB Oatley, auctioneer, furniture restorer and retailer, who led the Methodist movement and the parish council in early 20th century Box. He also built some of the most interesting and unusual properties in the village. But the lines of this house proved too controversial and it was changed to include gable ends after Charles Oatley's death.
Little Orchard with its gabled roof (courtesy Carol Payne)
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The house is, of course, Little Orchard in Bull Lane. If you think that the old roofline of Little Orchard has gone from Box village, think again. It is no longer on the old house but appears in another Oatley house in the photo below.
The lintel of Little Orchard was re-used in another Oatley house at Mount Pleasant, Qurry Hill (courtesy Carol Payne)
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Sculpture on Show
Some houses are instantly recognisable but this can obscure their unusual features. That is true of the house below.
Some houses are instantly recognisable but this can obscure their unusual features. That is true of the house below.
Photo courtesy Varian Tye
The house if at the corner of Hardy House on the High Street close to the boundary with Box School. Could it be John Hardy,
the builder of the house as a grocer's shop?
the builder of the house as a grocer's shop?