1899 – “Orchards”, Bramley, Surrey

Initially the owners of the property, William and Julia Chance, commissioned architect Halsey Ricardo for their new house but they were not impressed by the preliminary designs. After visiting Gertrude Jekyll’s nearby house Munstead Wood, they were impressed so much, they commissioned Lutyens to building this fantastic courtyard residence. They also asked Jekyll to design the surrounding gardens.

Sir William Chance (1853-1935) and his wife Julia (1864-1949) were stalwart supporters of women’s suffrage in Surrey. Lady Julia was a prolific letter writer on the subject to the editors of local and national newspapers. Sir William was supportive of the setting up of a local branch of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), presiding over local meetings, including one in Godalming

Orchards was the first in a series of successful designs by Lutyens for Arts and Crafts style country houses, larger than Munstead Wood but similarly using local styles of vernacular architecture. Designed around a square courtyard reminiscent of an estate farmyard and finished in the local stone. From the road, the driveway runs alongside a windowless, buttressed wall leading the visitor’s eye to the courtyard entrance. This two-storey rectangular opening gives access to the courtyard with the main entrance to the house on the opposite side. The west side of the quadrangle is a low cloister, that acts as a covered walkway linking the north and south ranges

Described by English Heritage as the first major work of architect Edwin Lutyens, it is a Grade I listed building while the Jekyll gardens are Grade II* listed.