Cockaigne Hse I, Hatfield, Herts
Architect: Phippen, Randall & Parkes
Register for similar homesLocated on the exceptional Grade II-listed Cockaigne Housing Group development in Hatfield, this single-storey house is in need of complete modernisation. It is one of 28 detached houses built in the mid-1960s to a design by architects Peter Phippen, Peter Randall and David Parkes. This particular house has remained in the same hands since it was built, and is offered for sale with the original kitchen and bathroom fittings. There are areas of noticeable deterioration throughout, including patches of damp and rotten timber. However, this is an exciting opportunity to create a dynamic and unusual family home. (To see an example of a Cockaigne house in very good condition, please click here.)
This house features 4 bedrooms, a kitchen with separate dining room, a large reception room, front and rear gardens, an internal courtyard and a garage. Internal accommodation amounts to approximately 1,466sq ft / 136sq m in total.
The Cockaigne development is renowned as being one of the finest post-war private housing schemes in Britain. Phippen Randall & Parkes’ design has been described by English Heritage as “the leading English manifestation of the courtyard house”.
Owners of Cockaigne houses have a share of extensive communal gardens (the site is 2.8 acres in total), a tennis court, a secure children’s play area and a community house with a self-contained guest flat.
The house is close to a number of good schools and to the historic site of Hatfield House and Gardens. The shops of Welwyn Garden City are a short drive away, and Hatfield railway station can be reached on foot in ten minutes. Trains run from Hatfield direct to London King’s Cross (approximately 20 minutes) and London Moorgate (approximately 30 minutes).
Lease: 999 years from 1961
Service charge and ground rent: approximately £500 per annum
For further details on the Cockaigne development, please see the History section below.
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 Cockaigne Housing Group was originally the idea of Michael Baily, a journalist at The Times. Inspired by the communal housing projects created in Scandinavia, which he had learnt about from his Danish wife, Baily decided to create a similar set-up of his own. In 1962 he placed an advert in The Times seeking support for his project, and the response was positive enough for him to put his plan into action.
Later that year, Baily visited the Ideal Home Exhibition in London, where he met the architects Peter Randall and David Parkes, both of whom had worked on an ‘adaptable house’ that had gained a lot of attention at the show. Baily decided that these were the men he wanted working on his project. At around about the same time, he also managed to persuade the Hatfield Development Corporation to give over a parcel of land on a long-term lease.
In 1963 the project was underway, with Peter Phippen now also on the design team (the Cockaigne houses were the first commission of the firm Phippen, Randall and Parkes, which exists to this day). A staggered terrace of 28 houses was constructed over the course of the next three years, with plenty of space given over to communal gardens. All houses have a deep plan, built with narrow frontage party walls. Accommodation is arranged around a series of enclosed courtyards oriented to allow sunlight and natural ventilation into the interior. Between the fair-faced block-work party walls, the structure is timber-framed with Colombian Pine joinery and cladding, with full-height windows and doors opening onto the courtyards and gardens. The designs were thoroughly researched from every angle – studies were undertaken of the local light, construction techniques and even the behaviour of the potential users.
Various architectural precedents have been cited, including Chermayeff and Alexander’s work at Newhaven, Connecticut, as well as Meyer and Hilberseimer’s studies for courtyard houses completed at the Bauhaus. Le Corbusier’s ideas for communal living also provided inspiration. Peter Randall himself has described the rigorous construction of the houses as “earthy and pragmatic”.
When deciding on a name for his housing scheme, Baily chose the word ‘Cockaigne’. Deriving from Middle English word ‘cokaygne’, its meaning relates to a mythical medieval land of plenty.
On completion, the development was awarded an Architectural Design Project Award in 1964 and a Housing Design Award in 1967. In 2006, the scheme was also named as the ‘Historic Winner’ of a further Housing Design Award. The judges described the houses as having “enduring appeal”, and said: “To move through [a Cockaigne house] is to encounter a perfectly judged series of interlinked spaces which flow naturally one into another.”
