House Greenwood : plan etn 0043

Abstract

Original sketch plan P207/02 of Greenwood House. See also 07730. Although he had carried out a careful survey of the site and existing trees, the first sketch plan (dated August 1948), was an accidental mirrored rendering of the 1949 version. The later drawings date from May 1949. Working drawings are dated March 1951. The flat roof makes its reappearance for the first time since the early thirties. The dwelling is rectilinear, north-facing with horizontal emphasis. The house extends into the garden and is beautifully integrated with the sloping site. Similar to the Nicolson House, a low wall extends to the north-west to connect a large thatched guest rondavel. Curved lines and patterns follow the contours of built-up masses. To the east of the house sits an irregular village, reminiscent of a “kraal” enclosure. Rubble stonework, quarried on the site was used for the huts and enclosing walls. The space-making, forms and materials remind compellingly of great Zimbabwe.