John Winter (1930-2012) studied at the Architectural Association in the 1950s, and after national service he attended Yale. In San Francisco he worked for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill as well as Charles Eames (Winter had a personal collection of Eames furniture). Eventually returning to England, he worked for Ernö Goldfinger and lectured at the Architectural Association before setting up his own practice. At the AA, his students included Jeremy Dixon, Edward Jones and Nicholas Grimshaw, and he acted as the association’s “house architect”, designing and overseeing a series of extensions and alterations to its premises.

Winter carried out a number of elegant residential projects in the 1960s and ‘70s, including three in Belsize Park, and his own first house, on a mews in Primrose Hill. Most notable is this house on Swains Lane, where he lived with his family until his death. The project was ahead of its time – its Cor-Ten steel panelling was the first domestic use of the material in Britain. The proportions of the house and the grid on which it was designed were set by reference to the dimensions of the standard Cor-Ten sheet, so that nothing was wasted.

The house is widely regarded as one of Britain’s most important Modern houses, and is one of only a small handful to be given a Grade II* listing by English Heritage.

In the 1980s, Winter was commissioned to design another house on Swains Lane, which was in the High Tech style and supported on a single central concrete pillar. This was demolished in recent years to make way for a new award-winning design by Eldridge Smerin.

Late in his career, Winter took a detailed interest in the restoration and conservation of some of Britain’s most avant-garde International Style properties, including Six Pillars in Dulwich and High Cross House in Devon.

For information on the listing of the property, click here.