Hidden at the end of an unmade lane in Kentish Town, Torriano Cottages was designed and built in 1967 by architect and artist Philip Pank as a home for his family. The Grade II-listed house takes cues from Japanese domestic architecture and the courtyard houses of Beijing, with its rooms arranged around a series of enclosed gardens.
Photography: courtesy of Hemingway+K
Photography: courtesy of Hemingway+K
Photography: courtesy of Hemingway+K
Photography: courtesy of Hemingway+K
The original structure was built from Crowborough brick and a Jarrah timber frame, with exposed beams, built-in furniture and extensive glazing throughout. A sweet chestnut tree now occupies the central courtyard, around which the earliest part of the house was organised. Later additions expanded the plan eastwards with a studio and bedroom suite connected to a further garden.
Pank studied at the Architectural Association before establishing his own practice in the 1960s. Influenced by both Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier, he designed a number of private houses, many around Hampstead Heath, though Torriano Cottages remains among his best-known works.
The house has six bedrooms and extends across 231 square metres internally, with four separate garden spaces woven through the plan. Planning permission has recently been granted for a refurbishment and extension by Coppin Dockray Architects, including an enlarged studio and a swimming pool in the eastern garden.
It’s listed for £3.25 million with Hemingway+K.
