Flint House, the Waddesdon Estate, Buckinghamshire, England

At the Rothschild estate at Waddesdon, a new house has emerged from the landscape, a complete contrast to Waddesdon Manor, a French style château built in the 1870s by Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839-1898).

Flint House, designed for Jacob, 4th Lord Rothschild by the architectural practice Skene Catling de la Peña is intended for family use. The house is arrived at by a private lane that leads from the Manor. Though only several hundred metres from its neighbour, the house feels considerably more remote. The modernist house takes its inspiration from the materials found in the chalk seam that extends from the South Downs in Sussex to Norfolk on the east coast, upon which the estate sits. The building is split into two uneven masses, pulled apart, and raked to follow the existing tree line. The building is constructed of masonry with flint cladding. Internally the spaces carefully frame the landscape and provide a rich sequence of experiences, including a small rivulet of water that that cuts a grotto through a corner of the main house. 

Flint House was nominated to the RIBA House of the Year 2015 longlist, and was Grand Designs: House of the Year winner, 2015.