Landfall is a house in Poole, Dorset, England, that was built between 1936 and 1938 by the architect Oliver Hill in the modernist style. It has been designated as a Grade II* listed building by Historic England.
The house was designed and built for Edna and Dudley Shaw Ashton. A film was made of the construction of the building which won a national amateur film award. Dudley Shaw Ashton became a film director. The circular room in the centre of the house doubled up as a film cinema and was inspired by the 1934 British musical film, Evergreen. It had a circular rug by Marion Dorn in off white with a central motif. The fitted furniture was designed by Betty Joel. Flying circular stairs, constructed of reinforced concrete, led from the balcony to the garden terrace. Beneath the terrace is an air raid shelter. Ship's stairs led from the first floor up to the sun room on the roof.
The Ashtons were socialites, with Landfall being visited by many famous people from the arts, cinema and authors . They were asked to sign the back of the door of the cloakroom. Signatures include Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, David Hockney, Ceri Richards, John Hutton, Frances Richards, Terry Frost, Roland Penrose, Thorold Dickinson, Anthony Asquith, John Grierson, Jacquetta Hawkes, Hugh Ross Williamson and William Kean Seymour.
Landfall is referenced by the architectural historian Alan Powers in Modern: The Modern Movement in Britain. It was featured in his 1989 exhibition Oliver Hill : Architect and Lover of Life 1887–1968, and in an associated publication. Landfall has been referenced in numerous books, journals and newspaper articles.Open House In A Wood' in Country Life, vol 86, supplement, (25th September 1939), 35-7'Landfall House, Oliver Hill' in Architectural Review, Vol. 85, (May 1939), 224-5Tabitha Salmon, 'A Celebration of 1930's Architecture' exhibition of paintings, The National Theatre, Southbank commissioned by The Building Centre 1991Landfall, Poole Arts Council (Bulletin 13, 1993) p12Landfall, Poole Arts Council visit report, 3rd Jun 1993 p1-10
References
Further reading Landfall. Degree thesis, Open University. SG Mottram 1982 Oliver Hill – A Master Of Style. Graduate Diploma, School of Architecture, Huddersfield, David S. Beaumont (Jan 1988) RIBA commendation Oliver Hill and the enigma of British modernism during the inter-war period PhD thesis by Vanessa Vanden Berghe (University of East London, September 2013)
External links Photograph of the flying circular stairs at Landfall