The 1930s House Explained

This easy-reference guide reveals everything you need to know about houses built in the 1930s. Using his own drawings, diagrams and photographs, author Trevor Yorke explains in an easy-to-understand manner all aspects of the 1930s house, but particularly its style.


The early 20th century was a key period for housing. The house-building boom of the late 1920s and the 1930s put home ownership within the reach of many for the first time. These were families with modest means but with high aspirations.


Modern flat-roofed Art Deco villas grew up alongside detached and semi-detached mock Tudor styles. Many had both front and rear gardens. Interiors were required to be fashionable and to take advantage of new domestic inventions like the wireless radio and vacuum cleaner. Metro land had arrived.


The book is divided into four sections. The first outlines the history of the period, and how it influenced the way houses were planned and built. The second steps inside and looks at the different rooms and their fittings, and then goes on to describe the gardens and garages. The third section explains briefly the developments in housing after this period, and the final section contains a quick reference guide including notes on how to date houses, a glossary of unfamiliar terms, suggestions for further reading and details of places to visit.


The 1930s House Explained provides a definitive guide for those who are renovating, tracing the history of their own house, or simply interested in this notable and ever popular period.