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Ultra Modern House

The ultimate in streamlined chic - on a hillside above Amersham.

1931 3 mins Silent

Overview

When High and Over House was constructed in Amersham in 1931, it was as if a spaceship had landed in the suburbs. People stared in open-jawed wonder at this gleaming beacon of progress, and hungry news media reported in excited fashion. This Pathe newsreel has the lucky camera crew exploring the perfectly-oiled machine for living, and may tempt viewers to reconsider aspects of their home design.

The Y-shaped house (which according to John Betjeman "scandalised all of Buckinghamshire") was built for a leading academic by pioneers of modern architecture Connell, Ward and Lucas. Widely considered as the first Modernist house in Britain, it remains a landmark in every way. Pathetone Weekly was a cinemagazine owned by British Pathe which thrived on 'the novel, the amusing and the strange'.

Original title

An Ultra Modern House

Country

United Kingdom

Location

Amersham on the Hill

Language

No Dialogue with English subtitles

Subjects

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