Glengall

A distinctive thatched house from Frank Chown with impressive decorative brickwork.

During the 1930’s Frank Herbert Chown (1878-1942) pioneered the development of residential housing in East Horsley, designing and building houses in his own particular ‘arts & crafts’ style. Common themes were the use of thatched roofs with ‘eye-brow’ windows on the first floor, decorative facing brickwork, inglenook brick fireplaces and the widespread use of oak for floors, staircases, window frames, etc. 

In Pennymead Drive, Frank Chown was responsible for 24 houses, accounting for around 90% of this private residential road. Collectively they offer an impressive show-case of his most distinctive work. 

Built in 1932, Glengall is one of Chown’s larger houses with intricate facing brickwork displaying different patterns between the oak-bordered panels of the frontage, whilst the elaborate thatched roof is edged with four eye-brow windows. 

Further background on Frank Chown and his work may be found in the Horsley Heritage website under the Local History section entitled “Frank Chown: East Horsley’s housing pioneer”. Section 5 of this presentation includes a sales advertisement for Glengall from 1932 which shows an asking price for the house of £2,000. The present day frontage of the house appears little different from this poster.