Ansty
Nr. Shaftesbury, Dorset

SOLD

Architect: Levitt / Smithson

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This astonishing house, located in the ancient hamlet of Ansty on the Dorset / Wiltshire border, was built in 1962 by Arup to the designs of David Levitt. Alison and Peter Smithson made later additions to the property, making it undoubtedly one of finest architect-designed homes in Britain (see the history section below).

The property consists of a main house with two bedrooms, a guest house in the grounds and planning permission for further accommodation.

Sited on one side of a small, green valley – overlooking a lake and a 13th century church – the house is in an idyllic setting. The house has been referred to as a ‘lost Modernist masterpiece’ due to the nature of its setting in the secluded hamlet of Ansty (and also, perhaps, in reference to the fact that it has been little published).

Some minor improvements have recently been made to the interior (including the addition of double-glazed windows) but the original quality and character of the property remains. The property consists of a main house (with 2 bedrooms), a  summerhouse designed by Alison & Peter Smithson, a double garage, an attractive garden and terraces. There is also planning permission to build a large annex to the summerhouse, with toilet and shower/WC, making the prospect of adding further bedroom accommodation. The site is 1/3 acre in total.

Ansty is on the Dorset / Wiltshire border and is approximately 6 miles from Shaftesbury and 12 miles from Salisbury. Tisbury, a small town that has train station with services running to London Waterloo (journey time approximately 1hr 50mins), is approximately 2 miles away. Ansty is steeped in history – apart from the church there is a renowned Neolithic long barrow (and even a maypole). Ansty is reached by road via quiet country lanes between the A30 and the A303.

For a map click here.

Please note that all areas, measurements and distances given in these particulars are approximate and rounded. The text, photographs and floor plans are for general guidance only. The Modern House has not tested any services, appliances or specific fittings — prospective purchasers are advised to inspect the property themselves. All fixtures, fittings and furniture not specifically itemised within these particulars are deemed removable by the vendor.


History

The house at Ansty was built in 1962 on land that was sold to Roger Rigby by Victor Tucker, a gardener and chauffeur who has been given the plot by his employer, Mrs Frere. Tucker started to build his own house on the plot (the foundations of which, as well as a terrace that he built, are still there to this day) but soon ran out of money for the project and sold the plot to Rigby.

Rigby was, at the time, the Practice Manager at the renowned engineering and architecture firm Arup Associates. Rigby employed the services of David Levitt to design a house for his newly acquired plot, having been recommended him by Sir Philip Dowson.  Levitt was then the bright, young architect of the Arup office (Levitt left Arup soon after the house was built to start his own very successful company, Levitt Bernstein). The structural engineer who oversaw the house design was Ron Marsh.

Not far from Ansty, and at around the same time that the house for Rigby was constructed, the architects and writers Alison and Peter Smithson built their own holiday home. Naturally the Smithsons and the Rigbys gravitated towards each other and soon they were both frequent visitors to each other’s houses. Over drinks on the terrace at Ansty, the Smithsons and Rigby would often discuss potential improvements to the property and indeed, in 1971, a garage and small studio was added. Designed by the Smithsons, the studio / summerhouse is the most interesting construction – a building that is at once contemporary (in its use of concrete and discordant geometrical design) and ancient (in its use of stone detailing and slit windows).

Later on, in the 1980s, the Smithsons added what is one of the finest features of the property – a poured concrete path that leads from the driveway, up the garden and to the front of the house. The path adds definition and purpose to the sloped site and is wonderful visual combination of ramp and shallow steps.

A further Smithson alteration, the covering of an outdoor area to make a porch for the main house, was entirely in keeping with the original Levitt / Dowson design so can not be counted as being of great significance.

An archive dedicated to the house at Ansty can be found at the Victoria & Albert Museum.


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