Frenchlands House

The first house that Frank Chown built in East Horsley and a precursor of things to come

In 1920, after purchasing a significant plot of land along Ockham Road North, surveyor and developer Frank Herbert Chown (1878-1942) constructed a large family house for himself and his wife, Ellen, which they called Frenchlands House. Intending it to be their long-term family home, Chown developed his own ‘arts & craft’ designs for this house, including Tudor-style oak beams on the frontage, three large inglenook fireplaces, intricate oak joinery and ceiling beams throughout the house. There were also separate servants’ quarters above the detached garage.

In 1923, Chown’s wife, Ellen, died and he decided to sell Frenchlands House and move away to Oxshott. It was not until 1927 that he returned to East Horsley after successfully acquiring at auction some 500 acres of light woodland around Horsley Towers, sold by Thomas Sopworth. Using this landbank Chown went on to pioneer the development of residential housing in East Horsley throughout the 1930’s. Designs that Chown used for these subsequent developments were largely based on the ‘arts & craft’ style he had first used at Frenchlands House and which have since played an important role in creating the character of housing across East Horsley.

In recent years Frenchlands House has been extended into a fully modernised 5 bedroom house although it still retains the inglenook fireplaces, oak stairwell, chimney stacks and orginal house frontage, including the solid oak door. 

Further information about Frank Chown is available from the Horsley Heritage website in the Local History section entitled: “Frank Chown: East Horsley’s housing pioneer”.