ABSTRACT
Contemporary journals had been reporting that for some time continental designers were devoting their attention to the application of concrete to the problem of the smaller house. A definite technique was evolving but doubts were being expressed as to whether the box-like appearance with flat roof is suitable for British taste and climate (AR October 1926). Completed in 1925, New Ways was the first private house in the international style to be built in England. It was advertised as an opportunity to see a house of this character although not built of concrete. The owner, Mr WJ Basset-Lowke, felt that considerable interest would be aroused by the arrival of this challenging and spirited stranger, designed by Prof. Dr. Peter Behrens (1868-1940) of Vienna. It even had to incorporate a room from an earlier house by Charles Rennie Mackintosh (Windsor 1981). The plans are drawn in a precise, mechanical and conventional manner, indicating a reproduction. However, the drawing for the hall floor, laid out with large and small tiles in black, white and grey, is in shaded freehand and clearly a design
drawing by Behrens. Yet it is the representation of the exterior form that grabs most attention.
