The house was commissioned by the writer and editor Peter Evans, whose brief to the architect was to create a home that was intimate enough for his young family but also fluid and spacious enough to entertain his showbusiness friends. When Peter Evans and the photographer David Bailey published their book showcasing the celebrities of the swinging Sixties, 'Goodbye Baby & Amen', the house often played host to the stars featured within it.

Louis Erdi is best known for his hotel designs, and was the architect of the Dover Stage Hotel on the seafront in Dover, built in 1956-57 (now demolished). He was one of the authors of the book ‘Principles of Hotel Design’, published by Architectural Press in 1970. Erdi’s work was admired by Pevsner, who makes special mention of the motor showroom of Walter A Wood in Horsham, West Sussex, designed in 1955.  “Alas, for every architect like Erdi,” Pevsner wrote, “there are ninety-nine of the other sort.”