The Eric Pratten House is a heritage-listed residence located at 29 Telegraph Road in the Sydney suburb of Pymble in the Ku-ring-gai Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia.
[1] Robert Pymble, a settler and orchardist, was granted 240 hectares (600 acres) by the Crown in the parish (as later defined) of Gordon in 1823.
It was not until 1882, when the district was beginning to expand to accommodate upper class dwellers from the city, that large-scale alienation of the Pymble properties took place.
The projected building of the North Shore railway (begun in 1887 and opened from St Leonards to Hornsby in 1890) was a powerful incentive for development.
The subject block of 1.2 hectares (3 acres) on Telegraph Road was sold to a medical doctor, Dr Walter O'Reilly, in 1883.
[1] After Frederick's two sons, Eric and David had married in the early 1930s, their father gave them land in Telegraph Road and funds to build a house to their own design.
It is believed that the two brothers were inspired after seeing Cameron House in Marion Street, Killara, designed by Walter Burley Griffin (completed in 1933).
[1] In 1935, before the second (and final) set of plans for Eric's house were completed, Griffin left Australia for India where, after an extraordinary burst of creativity, he died in 1937.
It seems to be accepted opinion that the result is similar to work that Griffin had done in Frank Lloyd Wright's studio in Chicago, reminiscent of the Prairie School (of architecture).
The first two schemes were single storey flat roofed residences with stone rubble walls featuring typical Griffin design elements such as projecting panels of stonework over the window openings.
The client eventually approved a more conventional design with a low-pitched hip and gable ended roof form.
The David Pratten house features a circular lounge which projects as a single storey bay from the rectangular plan.
A more sympathetic estimate is in the Powerhouse Museum volume: 'although designed at the highpoint of Griffin's Steiner phase and incorporating some Steiner motifs, [the Eric Pratten House] is in fact a reprise of the central design problem of the Griffins' Chicago years: how to create a radical house for a conservative client.'.
These elements, e.g.: the swimming pool terrace, the rose garden and the sunken courtyard, are aligned along significant axes with the house.
[1] Following an interview with the original owners, it has since been learnt that the initial garden was done in collaboration with a designer named Campbell from New Zealand.
The other "garden" block (3,927 square metres (42,270 sq ft), with tennis court, outbuildings and rear drive) remains[when?]
To the west of the pool and behind the garage is a private courtyard area defined by stone walls and largely screened from view due to the fall of the site.
The house is almost totally obscured from view due to the number of large mature trees on the site and also on the footpath along Telegraph Road.
The ground floor window reveals, cut into the stone batters, have lintels dressed in a low triangular motif.
These elements, e.g.: the swimming pool terrace, the rose garden and the sunken courtyard, are aligned along significant axes with the house.
[1] Following an interview with the original owners, it has since been learnt that the initial garden was done in collaboration with a designer named Campbell from New Zealand.
[1] The place is particularly significant as the house stands within large formal grounds with a sunken garden, tennis court and pool - even the dog kennel was designed by Griffin.
[1] Eric Pratten House was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 22 December 2000 having satisfied the following criteria.
[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.
The design elements of the house demonstrate Griffin's ideas about spirituality influenced by Steiner and the concepts of anthroposophy.