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Flint House, Buckinghamshire

Flint House
Intended to blend into the landscape, the rectangular structure of the Flint House is designed with an unusual stepped roof which rises from the ground to the full height of the building, creating wedge-shaped side elevations

Flint House is a domestic dwelling on the Waddesdon Estate, Buckinghamshire, England. It was commissioned by Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, and completed in 2015, winning that year's RIBA House of the Year Award.[1] The architect was Charlotte Skene Catling, a partner of Skene Catling de la Peña. The stones for the exterior were hand-knapped by master flint knappers John Lord and Simon Williams in Norfolk.[2] The interiors were decorated and furnished by David Mlinaric, using an eclectic mix of modern contemporary pieces and older items from the Rothschild collection. The ethos of the house is that it blends and harmonises with the surrounding landscape and environment.

The site chosen for the house, is an isolated spot at the heart of the Waddesdon estate in open countryside surrounded by grass pastures and arable fields. It can be accessed only by a narrow unmetalled track. While it is only a few hundred metres from its nearest neighbours, the new Rothschild Archive building and a farm cottage, a fold in the landscape prevents the sight of buildings from the house and enhances its senses of isolation and being in nature.

Its architect has described the house as "jutting from the ground like a collision of tectonic plates".[3]

The house was given to the Rothschild Foundation, and is used to accommodate visitors including academics and artists working on projects at Waddesdon Manor, and the Rothschild Getty Fellow when at Waddesdon. It can be visited by arrangement at certain times.[4]

  1. ^ "RIBA House of the Year". RIBA. Retrieved 24 May 2017. Charlotte Skene Catling, Skene Catling de la Peña, RIBA House of the Year Winner 2015
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference guar2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Skene Catling de la Pena Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Flint House - Waddesdon Manor". Waddesdon Manor. Retrieved 18 November 2018.