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Episode 5.1 Duncan House, Castlecrag, NSW.

This episode first aired on 16.7.23

Architect           Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin. Date                 1934

Exterior view of a modern house with a stone chimney, outdoor patio area with stone pavers, and a large sliding glass door. There are people inside the house visible through the glass, and trees are in the background.
View to the Weir Philips Additions
Homeowner MIchael, demonstrating the Knit Lock Block system to a groupd of UTS Architecture Students
A girl in a dress standing outdoors near a door made of glass panels. The area is surrounded by trees, bushes, and rocks.
Concrete sculptures resembling stylized mountains or waves arranged in a row outdoors, with trees in the background, in black and white.

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Duncan House, also known as Duncan House no.2, was completed 1934, the last house in Castle Crag by the Griffins. This 10x10m jewel box embodies all the aspirations and talent of the Griffins in their more mature design phase. With modestly gothic revival overtones (the crenelations on the blockwork, the slightly chevron patterned glazing bars in the French doors etc.) the Duncan House was commissioned by Frank and Anise Duncan who were friends of the Griffin’s. Frank lived in the house until he sold it in 1989.

The house is very modest, sits very low to the ground facilitating a seamless indoor-outdoor connection and the priority of being in nature that the Griffins were so right about. The house is also a demonstrator for the Griffins Patented Knit Lock Block building system, a great idea that just needed a little more engineering and waterproofing to make perfect!

A 1991 addition by Brewster Murry Architects, cut the house off from the street by inserting a substantial (and less than sympathetic) carport between the view and the road. The addition by new owners Annette and Michael, have removed the carport and 1991 additions, and reinstated oblique views of the house and bushland beyond from the street. The contemporary addition is both a beautiful and intelligent homage to the original home by heritage specialist architects Weir Philips. (https://www.weirphillips.com.au/)

 

See these links for more.

These links below, were generously provided by the Canberra Walter Burley Griffin Society.