The Waterman's House, Lordship Road

This house was built in 1911 in red brick and rendered in pebble dash above the ground floor. In the period before the 1914-18 War, timber was cheap. The timber ships brought it in every day from the seemingly endless forests in Russia and Scandinavia. Architects could afford to use long, sloping roof joists and heavy timbers on the gables. The wooden window frames are gener­ous, with small panes set in wide sur­rounds. The windows are tall and narrow.

This is a typical Norman Shaw type of house which became so popular from about 1900. Comfortable, cheerful and picturesque, with an irregular roof and unexpected shapes, the style could suit many sizes, terrains and prices.

The tall chimneys are designed to give a good draught to the fires and have to reach above the eddies around that irregular roof. The chimney that has been lengthened, is probably from an upstairs room with a short flue.

Norman Shaw (1831-1912) intro­duced this Queen Anne Revival style with red bricks, white woodwork and white moulded plaster panels. The high-pitched roofs with jolly, red tiles. ornamental panels of pressed-brick, sunflowers and plenty of woodwork appealed to the public. The earliest housesin this style, built about 1875, are on Chelsea Embankment,but the style was popular for fifty years. Muswell Hill Broadway, buit about 1900, is a typical example of a compete development in this style. For this reason the Broadway is a Conservaation Area. There has been some nibbling at this which need careful control.