Frinton Park Estate

I did sort of promise some while back, to take some photos of the Art Deco / Modern housing estate in Frinton on the North Essex coast. Well I remembered to bring the camera today and here we are - this is the Round House. This was the first building erected (in 1934) as the Frinton Park Estate Information Bureau in Cliff Way (it's now a private dwelling).

The estate was to cover some 40 acres and include over 1100 houses, many built to the architect, Oliver Hill's art deco designs. There would be a shopping mall, college, churches; a new railway station (halfway between Frinton and Walton) and a town hall. Best of all there was to be a 100 room hotel, all en-suite, sunk in to the cliffs with direct access to the sandy beaches.

Today, there are 2 -3 dozen art deco houses in this, rather remote corner of Frinton. Apparently, the building society which was lending the money to the developer insisted on traditional building techniques be used and not concrete as the architect had specified. Hence, work was very slow, income was low and eventually the war arrived and this part of England was taken over by the War Office and that was the end of Hill's Bauhaus vision for Essex.

I didn't ask any of the occupants if the flat roofs leak (that would be my biggest worry) or whether if living in a circular house really does drive you crazy, but the ones I did speak to all seemed happy with their lot. Even on yet another grey and murky day out here on the coast.