1970s modernism: Mark Pawson-designed property in Great Barton, Suffolk

There is so much to admire about this 1970s Mark Pawson-designed modernist property in Great Barton, Suffolk.

This one is, of course, on the market and pointed out to us by the seller, which is a good thing as we get a little more background detail. We now know that this place was designed back in 1972 by Mark Pawling as part of the Hall Park development in Great Barton, which isn’t far from Bury St. Edmunds.

Judging by the images, little has changed structurally over the years. The rather stark modernist exterior is still present, as is that wonderful angled ceiling in the main living room. We also love the large windows, the exposed brick, the open layout and that brick hearth.

We also love the fact that the house isn’t stuck in the 1970s. Care has obviously been taken to maintain those period features and focal points, but this is also a house of the present day.

Clean finishes, some modern-day fixtures and fittings, contemporary kitchen and bathroom spaces…this is very much a modern family home, but with a lot more style than the majority you see on the market.

In terms of the layout, that’s made up of an entrance hall with cloakroom and door leading to the wonderful lounge / dining room with vaulted ceiling, fireplace and patio doors to the large private rear garden.

Beyond that is the kitchen / diner with ‘large’ utility room, along with the principal bedroom with en-suite shower room, a second bedroom with access to the rear garden, two further double bedrooms and a fifth bedroom with built in shelving and a large window overlooking the rear garden. Be ideal as a home office too if you don’t need all the beds.

Outside is a driveway, the adjoining double garage with electric door and to the front and side of the property, partly walled gardens. A large southerly rear garden, mainly laid to lawn and with a large patio area finishes things off. You are looking at around a third of an acre in total.

Fancy it? The house is on the market for around £595,000.
Images and details courtesy of House Simple at Rightmove. For more details and to make an enquiry, please visit the website.

David Filbey-Haywood on 2 August, 2020 10:13 pm
My mother was instrumental in having this house designed in the late 60s. I returned from Canada in 1971 with my first wife so I know it was all built and finished by then.There is now a little more vegetation than back then and some items have changed. I always thought that the “floor was on the ceiling” in the livingroom. On the floor was tough indoor/outdoor carpet. And the now black wall with the overhead windows was grey dusted outside bricks. There were domes over the bathrooms instead of the usual frosted glass windows. And the really clever feature was the roof was flat but over the living-room area was raised at an angle to enable the overhead windows to bring light into the living-room at both ends of the day. ( Mother’s last mid-century modern house in Cambridge had the then already cliched idea of having a living-room that stretched from back to front of the house to achieve the same thing, so mother wanted to do something different.) And at one end of the house was a “grandma flat” ……….although grandma remained in Nottingham and never moved in !