Pair of cottages for the Letchworth Building Syndicate

These cottages were built for the 1905 Letchworth Cheap Cottages Exhibition and had many special features – a combined heating and hot-water system called the “Model Cottager”, a patent sash window mechanism to dispense with the need for weights and pulleys, and a patent flue fireplace in the bedrooms. All inner walls were composed of “Mack” partition slabs, and the walls and ceilings throughout were plastered with a special quick-drying cement. The two dwellings were not quite symmetrical, but both comprised a living room, scullery, bathroom, WC and three bedrooms. The overall cost was 4¼ pence per cubic foot.[Richard Fletcher]