40 Buildings Saved

4. 31a Grove End Road, London, NW8

Status: Listed Grade II
Architect: Thomas Tait, restored by Colin St John Wilson
Owners: Private home
Location: Grove End Road, London

Background

Studio, built c1926 by Thomas Tait, an early exponent of Modernism in Britain, in the garden of the family home of the sculptor Sir William Reid Dick.  Reid Dick was a personal friend of Tait, and his work is seen at Unilever House and Selfridges by Tait and his partner, Sir John Burnet. Tait’s sculpture is also incorporated into the fabric of the studio and the garden. In 1974 the architects Colin St John Wilson and Mary Jane Long bought the building, restoring and adapting it as a family home. During this time they were working on their major commission, the British Library.

Threat

St John Wilson died in 2007 and soon after there was a threat to the integrity of the site.

Action

The C20 Society supported MJ Long’s application to list the building

Outcome

The building was listed at Grade II in 2015, three years before MJ Long’s death.