Former appeal panel member objects to house listing
A FORMER planning appeals panel member is challenging a decision to list her late parents’ home.
The planners have argued that The Dolphins is a good example of a 1930s art deco property.
The Jerbourg house, close to the Doyle Monument, is owned by a trust, which includes Julia White. An experienced member of the panel, she resigned from it after making the appeal.
The three-storey property, which overlooks the east coast, was built for a Harley Street doctor, Dr Byam, in about 1937 or 1938. It was occupied by the Germans during the war and then stood empty until it was bought by Ms White’s grandmother, Sybil Mackay, in 1950.
It passed to Ms White’s parents in the 1970s before being put in a trust after their death.
The matter was heard before the planning appeals panel at St James.
The central issue was whether the character of the building was so important that it was in the public interest that it be preserved.
The planners have argued that the building is an important and rare example of an art deco inspired building still in its original use. But the appellant’s architect, Andrew Dyke, said the building was really a mongrel of styles.
The tribunal agreed the home was influenced by several 1930s styles, including arts and crafts, classical architecture and art deco.
It was noted during the tribunal that the house was built in the late 1930s. To be added to the protected register, buildings built between 1900 and 1939 should be of ‘significant, definite high quality and character’ and be the work of important architects or be exceptional examples of a style.
The States’ principal conservation and design officer, Alun White, said it was rare to find an art deco building of this period which has not been substantially altered or broken up into flats.
‘There are very few examples of this in Guernsey,’ he said.
The homeowners researched the house and found it had been designed by UK architecture firm Unsworth, Golder and Bostock.
Ms White said there was no merit attached to any of the other buildings the firm had done and it was suggested that The Dolphins’ design was very similar to other builds they had done, which had now been demolished.
‘They designed a lot of other similar buildings that have not been listed,’ she said. ‘They were competent, but middling.’
Mr Dyke said the firm seemed to used lots of styles popular at the time and was not at the cutting edge of architecture.
A decision will be published in due course.
