Garden and Three Houses

By Jane Brown, with photographs by Richard Bryant.

First published in 1999 by Garden Art Press and reprinted in 2010 by the Turn End Charitable Trust, tells the story of Turn End. It is the belief that architects ignore the surroundings of their buildings at their peril that brought Turn End into existence and characterises this unique place.

This book celebrates architect Peter Aldington’s three village houses and a garden which were designed and built in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, in the 1960s. The internationally acclaimed scheme won a Royal Institute of British Architects award and the three houses have been designated listed buildings. Exceptional and influential examples of modern architecture, they display compactness and privacy, variety and unity.

It is a vibrant visual journey through the garden and houses, which constitute a fusion of modernist and traditional approaches. Built in an ancient village, yet making innovative use of concrete, glass and wood, the three houses are enveloped by a glorious varied garden and stand as a fine example of modern architecture which harmonises with its environment.

The triumph of A Garden and Three Houses is lavishly celebrated in over one hundred photographs in colour by Richard Bryant, who made breaks in his busy international schedule of enormous and exotic buildings to photograph these three small houses and Turn End’s garden. He portrays interiors and exteriors, structure, ornament and planting, and all their complementary relationships, in many moods and seasons.

Above all, this book, in words, pictures and plans, reveals that the discovery and expression of ‘the genius’ of a place is not dead 18th century art, but can be practised in our day, on an ordinary street. It will inspire everyone who feels that it is time architects turned their talents to housing design once again.

The Authors

Jane Brown’s first two books were published on the same day in spring 1982, The Everywhere Landscape and Gardens of a Golden Afternoon, the story of the Lutyens/Jekyll partnership. Since then she has specialised in people who make buildings and gardens, including V. Sackville-West and Sissinghurst, Lanning Roper, Beatrix Farrand and Lutyens’ clients (Lutyens & The Edwardians, 1966). Her encounters with the Aldingtons and Turn End were the spur to writing The Modern Garden, subtitled ‘the 20th century’s ideal of private space’, published by Thames and Hudson in 2000, and called ‘the most influential gardening book of the year’ by the Financial Times. She was subsequently asked to write a history of the garden at Buckingham palace, a hugely enjoyable commission, sandwiched between a social history of rhododendrons and a study of an 18th century gardener, Henrietta Luxborough. Her current subject is Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown.

Richard Bryant studied architecture before pursuing photography as a career. His fascination for photographing the man-made world has taken him around the globe interpreting architecture, homes and gardens through the camera. It is a career that has invited him into some of the world’s great buildings, old and new, private and public. Richard’s A to Z of clients ranges from Armani to Zaha Hadid. Somerset House hosted an exhibition of Richard’s work, which was extended twice. This coincided with the publication of his limited edition book on London. Richard Bryant has numerous awards including an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects and an Honorary Doctorate in Design from Kingston University. His work is held by various institutions, including the RIBA, and by private collectors. Richard Bryant is the founder photographer of Arcaidimages.com, the photographic agency specialising in all aspects of the built environment.