Butterfly plan

Plan of Papillon Hall, Leicestershire

A Butterfly plan, also known as a Double Suntrap plan, is a type of architectural plan in which two or more wings of a house are constructed at an angle to the core, usually at approximately 45 degrees to the wall of the core building.^[1] It was used primarily in late Victorian architecture and during the early Arts and Crafts movement.

History

Westwood House, Worcestershire, was a 17-century precursor.^[2] After the original, rectangular house was begun c. 1612, four diagonal wings were added at some time later in the same century.^[3]

Victorian interest in the plan originated in the 1891 remodelling of Chesters, Northumberland, by Norman Shaw.^[2] To the original, square house of 1771 he added five wings; three of these were diagonal, creating suntrap flanks for the south and west fronts.^[4]

Notable Arts and Crafts examples:

• The Barn, Exmouth, Devon, by Edward Schroeder Prior (1897)^[5]
• Happisburgh Manor, Happisburgh, Norfolk, by Detmar Blow to a concept by Ernest Gimson (1900)^[6]
• Papillon Hall, Lubenham, Leicestershire, by Edwin Lutyens (1902–4, demolished in 1950)^[7]
• Home Place, Kelling, Norfolk, by Edward Schroeder Prior (1903–4)^[8]
• Kelling Hall, Kelling, Norfolk, by Edward Maufe (1913)^[9]
• Yaffle Hill, Broadstone, Dorset, by Edward Maufe (1930)^[10]

Gallery

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  Westwood House

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  The Barn

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  Home Place

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  Kelling Hall

References