Cholmeley Lodge was designed by the architect Guy Morgan A.R.I.B.A[i] and built in 1934-35. It was described in the press[ii] in 1935 as ‘one of the most successful blocks of medium priced luxury flats…’ It was given Grade II listing by English Heritage and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2003 in recognition of the quality of the building and its architectural importance. The listing states that this is “one of the finest surviving 1930s mansion blocks”.

Cholmeley Lodge in the 1930s

Morgan’s unique design, in the form of three linked quarter circles (creating a scalloped outline), took maximum advantage of the site in creating 48 stylish flats with cantilevered balconies, described in one contemporary review as ‘wide enough for other purposes than striking poses in’[iii]. The structural design is a simple 3-wall system of longitudinal load-bearing brickwork[iv]; front, middle and rear with fire resisting hollow pot concrete floors[v].   The three dramatic curves create inherent stability in the building.  Wind bracing is provided by lateral walls at the orthogonal corners and by the cores (stairs and lifts).  In this way internal dividing walls for the smaller service rooms are generally non-loadbearing and constructed from lightweight clay blocks. To gain further economies and to accelerate construction, standard materials and components of the day were chosen, such as steel frame small pane Critall windows.

Cholmeley Lodge draws on Art Deco influences and retains some of that era’s stylistic traits, seen clearly in the fluted stone above and at the side of the entrances, the fireplaces, architraves and cornices inside the flats and original ironmongery both inside the flats and in communal parts.   On balance, however, it is truer to the ‘Moderne’ style, bridging the gap between Art Deco and the Modernist movement.

Cholmeley Lodge was built during the first decade of Modernism in Britain. It was erected in the space of nine months in 1934-35 at the then cost of £40,000.  Later in date than Cholmeley Lodge is Guy Morgan’s most famous work, Florin Court, Charterhouse Square, EC1[vi]. Known to many television viewers as the home of detective Hercule Poirot, Florin Court (or ‘Whitehaven Mansions’) shares with Cholmeley Lodge a curved façade (although the effect is very different) and a flat roof designed as an amenity for residents. The more strictly modernist, now iconic, Highpoint buildings designed by Berthold Lubetkin and the Tecton Group are contemporary and later: Highpoint 1 dates from 1933-35 and Highpoint 2 from 1935-38[vii].

There are conflicting accounts of the origins of the design. According to The Architectural Review of 1935[viii], the building was originally designed for a site in Bournemouth but rejected on the grounds that its façade was felt to be too modern. It is said that Morgan refused requests to re-model the building in a mock Tudor style and re-used the design in London. However, in May 1935 Design and Construction stated very clearly that the design arose out of careful study of the site and aspect, with careful consideration given to the Waterlow Park and the views of London beyond. It may be that both are true: that a design initially intended for Bournemouth was carefully re-worked to suit our position in Highgate. Interestingly, the intention to erect a block of flats on the north corner of Cholmeley Park and Highgate Hill elicited protest, as The Times reported on 21 May 1931. Despite these, the design has stood the test of time and the Grade II listing highlighted the success of its positioning and shape, stating that it responds well to the site.

The design of the entrance lobbies in all four blocks is relatively small for a building of such quality. The reason for this seems to be that Morgan wished to give as much space as possible to the living spaces within the flats and in order to achieve this created fairly compact lobbies. This, however, was offset by the use of travertine stone on the walls nearest the front doors.  The size and layout of the flats vary, and the number of rooms range from three to five. Main reception room(s) and primary bedroom(s) are located at the front of the building, while kitchens, bathrooms and secondary bedroom(s) are at the back. The living rooms were considered generous by the standards of the day for this type of building; they were fitted for coal, gas or electricity fire, which supplemented central heating (which ran to all rooms). ‘Wardrobes, cupboards, finished floors, towel rails, etc.,’ were supplied, as were ‘kitchen cabinets and refrigerators, electric bells and a generous supply of lighting and heating plug points’[ix].

Today Cholmeley Lodge is a well-known and well-loved local landmark. The yellow brick and cast stone, steel horizontal-bar casement windows, concrete balconies and flat roofs are distinct and memorable. One long-term resident, born and raised in Highgate, recalled passing Cholmeley Lodge in his youth and thinking to himself, ‘those are the sunshine flats’[x]. Living here many decades later he, like many residents, found that to be both prescient and apt[xi].