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“A beautifully preserved piece of modernist architecture, surrounded by sprawling gardens”
This carefully preserved four-bedroom family home in Darlington, Durham, was designed in 1966 by architects Robert Shaw Mortimer and his wife, Elizabeth Mortimer. Retaining the hallmarks of mid-century modernism, including beautiful pine wall panelling, the interior spaces have a seamless sense of flow. The house epitomises the focus on indoor-outdoor living for which the architects are so renowned. It is surrounded by 0.65 acres of garden, home to an incredible variety of mature trees such as chestnut, willow and cedars, while the banks of the River Tees are just a short walk away.
Tees View
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History
Robert Shaw Mortimer did not start his working life as an architect. Instead, his first employment was in the Navy; he joined the Merchant Navy aged 20 as a pacifist but encounters with Nazi U-boats led him to join the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. He was commended for bravery in 1944 and had an illustrious naval career before demobilisation in 1946, at which point he resumed his study of architecture at Leeds School of Art, which he had started when just 16.
He met his wife Elizabeth while renovating an ex-Royal Navy Motor Launch vessel - similar to one he had commanded during the war – he planned to moor in York and live in. The pair married in 1947, going on to have four children - all of whom became architects and land architects - and starting the much-vaunted Mortimer Partners.
In 1949 they sold the ship to buy derelict mansion Ainderby Hall, Northallerton – a ten-year project that saw them convert the hall and grounds into an architects’ office and housing for staff. Mortimer Partners won a Civic Trust Award for the staff accommodation, and other accolades including a Gold Medal from the Ministry of Housing for house design and construction.
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