Vista Point
History
The Architect
Patrick Gwynne
(1913–2003)
Patrick Gwynne was one of the most quietly remarkable architects working in Britain in the twentieth century. Born in 1913, he trained under Wells Coates — the Canadian-born pioneer of British modernism — and absorbed an approach to architecture that prized spatial ingenuity above stylistic gesture.
His most celebrated work is The Homewood (1939), a house he designed for his parents on the edge of Esher Common in Surrey and later bequeathed to the National Trust. It remains one of the finest examples of pre-war domestic modernism in Britain.
Vista Point, designed in the early 1960s, shows Gwynne’s mature command of the idiom — looser, more lyrical, and more attuned to its coastal setting than some of his earlier work, but no less rigorous in its spatial thinking.
A Brief Chronology
c. 1962
House designed by Patrick Gwynne for a private client on the West Sussex coast.
c. 1964
Construction complete. The house is occupied and the walled garden, pool, and landscape works finished over the following years.
1980s
Change of ownership. New owners undertake a careful programme of maintenance and restoration, guided by Gwynne himself.
1990s
Nominated for listed building status. Historic England recognises the house as a significant work of post-war domestic architecture.
2001
Grade II listing confirmed by Historic England. The listing description cites the quality of the plan, the integrity of the original fittings, and the setting.
Present
Vista Point is offered as a luxury holiday rental, allowing guests to experience one of the coast's most architecturally significant private houses.
Historic England
“A fine and largely unaltered example of high-quality domestic architecture of the 1960s, designed by an architect of national significance. The building retains an exceptional degree of original fabric and character.”
Listed building description (abridged)