Completed in 1935, Lichfield Court consists of two Grade II Listed (January 27th 2004) purpose built blocks of flats in fine Streamline Moderne style, situated in Richmond, London. It is built on the site of Lichfield House which was reputedly designed by Christopher Wren and built for the 1st Earl of Abergavenny and later became the palace for the Bishop of Lichfield. In 1901, it was the home of Mary Elizabeth Braddon, the novelist. The house and grounds were acquired in 1933 by George Broadbridge and redeveloped into the present two blocks of flats.
The Company Estate Office and Porters’ Office are situated in the main lobby of the Major Block. The buildings are surrounded by estate grounds which are a mix of gardens and unallocated parking, the Major Block boasting a decorative inner courtyard garden and pond. Initially intended for the rental market, the flats conformed to six different types ranging from no-alcove studio flats to one and two alcove studios and to one to three bedroom flats, some with balconies.
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The buildings were awarded Grade 2 Listing in January 2004. The Twentieth Century Society reported the listing, saying-
| “ | Bertram Carter's building goes beyond the merely functional brief to create a dramatic courtyard environment with white bands of the galleries stepping forward to envelop the staircase towers. This highly stylised effect is truly unique and takes the building from being a quite standard apartment block of the era to a truly exciting new level. The courtyard walkways with their sculptural uniformity let the building transcend from the moderne to the modern. In this they are reminiscent of Wells Coates' Embassy Court in Brighton dating from 1934-35 with its ‘radical white bands of balconies and stair parapets' (see Pevsner: Sussex, p.74). This idea of the external walkway as access for high-rise buildings became very popular in post-war developments, and Litchfield Court can therefore be seen as an early forerunner of this design development.[1] | ” |
Lichfield Court was used as Gerda's flat in Agatha Christie's One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (novel) adaptation. [1]