Commendation for best house of one or two storeys
House in the park
The factory-made precision modular timber post-and-beam houses made in Hartenfels, Germany, and transported to sites in the UK on lorries with skilled erectors who proceed to erect the shell of a house on a concrete foundation and make it weathertight in five days – or ten if it also has a basement - have become widely known since Huf Haus won the first of what proved to be several National HomeBuilder Design Awards five years ago in 2000.
Since then, Huf houses have appeared in countless newspapers and magazines, and eventually on Kevin McCloud’s Grand Designs programme on Channel Four in 2004, which brought it to the attention of millions. That TV programme featured a house in Onslow Road, Burwood Park, that went on to earn a commendation for Best Interior Design in these awards last year.
This new Huf house has been built in the same road in Burwood Park, opposite its predecessor. Unlike most other Huf houses built in Britain, which have their posts and beams stained black, this one has its structural frame stained white inside and out. In fact, it is possible to have the timber stained any colour, such as brown or grey, but it could also be red, green or blue (if the local planners do not object).
This house is known as the White House by its owner, Peter Huf, who happens to be the architect of all Huf houses, of which more than 70 have now been built in Britain.
Completed last summer as a four-bedroom house of 4,000 sq ft, Peter Huf now has three children, which has made him convert the gallery study upstairs into a fifth bedroom simply by adding two wall panels and to use the downstairs playroom (which could also be a sixth bedroom) as his study – leaving the open-plan areas for the children to play in. The original construction cost was £500,000, not including the fitting-out and the subsequent alterations.
Burwood Park is a gated private estate of 360 acres owned and maintained by the Burhill Estates Company, which belongs to the family of the Earl of Iveagh. Its original Grade II listed 18th-century mansion, Burwood Park, was used as a school after the Second World War until it closed in 1999 and was subsequently restored and converted back into a private house by Octagon Developments.
New housing development in Burwood Park began in 1934 in Onslow Road, which by 1966 had houses along its entire length from North to South. Development was then extended along other roads, many of which were laid out as closes or culs-de-sac, to discourage through traffic. There are now some 370 houses on the estate, all of which conform to the original requirement of the Burhill Estates Company in 1934 that there shall be “no freak houses to disturb the eye.”
The development of at least two Huf houses in Burwood Park, and more on other private estates in Surrey such as St George’s Hill at Weybridge, is proof that these examples of modern architecture – using one of the oldest systems of housing construction – do not disturb the eye, but are pleasing to all but the most reactionary.
Although every Huf house is factory-built using modular components, each house is architect-designed by Peter Huf, who trained in Koblenz, got his master’s degree in the United States and is a registered architect in the UK.
As he explains: “Every Huf house is built to the individual wishes and specifications of each client and adapted to the landscape in which it stands.”
As one enters the White House in Burwood Park, the openplan arrangement with its double-height top-lit galleried sitting area immediately gives a feeling of space and light. Instead of being divided by walls, the various living areas flow into each other, and the floor-to-ceiling glazing allows the garden to become part of every room visually. The flexibility of the house, with wall panels able to be installed or removed to suit changing living patterns, makes a Huf house one for all seasons.
HomeBuilder: HUF HAUS GmbH & Co KG
Muehlenweg 1, D-56244, Hartenfels, Westerwald, Germany
Tel: 0049 2626 7610 Fax 0049 2626 761 103
Contact: George Huf, Director
Email: info@huf-haus.de
Website: www.huf-haus.com
Architects: PETER HUF
Tanglewood, Oxshott Road, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 0ER
Tel 0870 2000 035 Fax 0870 2000 036
Email: london@huf-haus.com
Website: www.huf-haus.com
Photography: PETER HUF (0870 2000 035)
