Sir Edwin Lutyens: Country Houses, Gertrude Jekyll, Castle Drogo and Delhi

Who was Edwin Lutyens?

Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869 to 1944) designed English country houses, a castle, a capital city's central buildings and the Cenotaph. This guide follows his work through the houses and gardens you can still visit, what the sources say about each, and what a home can borrow from him. For the wider period, our William Morris and Arts and Crafts guide and our Edwardian interiors guide set the scene.

Britannica says he was born in London on 29 March 1869, studied at the Royal College of Art, was articled to an architectural firm in 1887 and soon set up his own practice. His early work, from 1888 to 1895, drew on the traditional forms of local Surrey buildings.^[1] The V&A's introduction to Arts and Crafts names him among the architects, with Philip Webb, Charles Voysey and William Lethaby, who reshaped domestic space by drawing on regional and historical traditions, and who promoted the "total" interior, in which architecture, furniture and wall decoration formed one harmonious whole.^[2]

Jekyll and Lutyens: a partnership

Historic England's listing for Munstead Wood says that Gertrude Jekyll bought about 6 hectares there in 1882 and began laying out the garden, and that she and Lutyens met near Farnham in 1889, which began their collaboration. Lutyens designed the house with her, and a local builder, Thomas Underwood, built it in 1896 to 1897 as a two-storey, U-shaped Tudor-style house of Bargate stone with some half timbering.^[3] The listing also records the Thunder House, a raised gazebo of 1894 that is listed separately at Grade II.^[3]

The National Trust says the house was pivotal to both their careers and is central to the Surrey Arts and Crafts story.^[4] Britannica adds that Jekyll taught Lutyens the "simplicity of intention and directness of purpose" she had learned from John Ruskin, and that Munstead Wood (1896) established his reputation.^[1]

The partnership ran across several houses. Jekyll planned a summer flower garden at Lindisfarne in 1911,^[5] and Historic England's park and garden listing says she planned the planting for the drive and approach at Castle Drogo in 1915.^[6]

The early Surrey houses

The V&A holds a sheet of drawings dated 1891 to 1892 for a coach house at Munstead Corner in Surrey, one of Lutyens's earliest commissions. It shows a watercolour perspective with green coach doors, a red roof and exposed timbers, with two plans and two sketches of a lamp and a bracket, and the museum describes it as following the local vernacular style of stone walls, exposed timber and tiled roofs.^[7] The V&A's Arts and Crafts article also records this drawing.^[2]

It is worth looking at the lamp and bracket sketches. Even at this stage, he drew the fittings along with the building, a habit that fits the later record at Gledstone.

Lindisfarne Castle: a holiday home on a rock

Lindisfarne Castle is a good example of Lutyens working with an existing building. Historic England lists it at Grade I and says it was converted into a house in 1902 by Lutyens for Edward Hudson. Its sixteenth-century character survives in old doorways, vaulted passages and two steeply pointed tunnel-vaulted rooms, and Lutyens added Tudor-style fireplaces, panelling, latched doors, moulded beams and decorative brick floors, with an entrance hall with "round piers and segmental arches".^[8]

The National Trust says Hudson, of Country Life magazine, took on the lease in 1901 and hired Lutyens and Jekyll, and that the changes were the most dramatic since the time of Elizabeth I. It describes pink sandstone from the Doddington quarries near Wooler, large furniture placed in small rooms, winding passages and low doorways under high ceilings, and calls the result "a comfortable – if slightly exposed – holiday home".^[5] The two sources give different dates (1901 for the lease, 1902 for the conversion), which are compatible.

Lutyens also redesigned the garden walls. Jekyll's first plan, a vegetable garden, was replaced by a summer flower garden planted in 1911, and National Trust gardeners still follow that plan.^[5]

Country Life and the Hudson commissions

Edward Hudson links several Lutyens commissions. The V&A's armchair record says Lutyens designed a set of 21 chairs in 1905 for the Board Room of the Country Life offices at Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, which he also designed. The shield-shaped back radiates from a red-painted oval with the "CL" monogram, with a design that references eighteenth-century chairs by George Hepplewhite.^[9] The same record notes a different Lutyens chair from Hudson's own house, Deanery Garden.^[9]

The lesson is the versatility Britannica describes. The same architect designed a medieval-looking castle conversion and a room with eighteenth-century-style chairs, and adapted past styles to contemporary domestic needs.^[1]

Castle Drogo: the last castle

Historic England lists Castle Drogo at Grade I and says it was built between 1911 and 1930 for Julius Drewe, entirely of granite with heavy ashlar facing and solid stone walls. It looks medieval, with an embattled parapet and a portcullis at the main doorway, but was planned as a domestic house with large mullioned-and-transomed windows. The interior survives virtually as it was finished, with original furniture, some of it designed by Lutyens, and the entry calls it "the last castle built in England". It also notes that Lutyens was prevented from realising his full scheme.^[10]

The National Trust says Drewe commissioned Lutyens in 1911, that the castle was ready enough for the family to move in by 1926 despite "delays, scaling down, and persistent leaks", that the chapel was finished in 1931 and that the estate passed to the Trust in 1974. The Trust says it finished restoring the roof in 2021.^[11] Historic England's park and garden listing gives August 1910 as the date of commission, which differs from the Trust's 1911, so quote the source you use.^[6]

The same listing says Lutyens proposed terraced gardens in 1915 and a fuller scheme in 1921 that Drewe abandoned, and that a 1922 plan by George Dillistone was adopted. The registered area covers about 60 hectares, of which roughly 3 hectares are formal gardens.^[6]

Reading a Lutyens interior

The sources give a useful vocabulary for what to look for. At Lindisfarne it is brick floors, Tudor-style fireplaces, latched doors and moulded beams.^[8] At Castle Drogo it is furniture designed to go with the building.^[10] At Gledstone Hall in Yorkshire, built to Lutyens's design in an English Palladian style between 1923 and 1925, it is the way a light fitting is handled.

The V&A's record for the Gledstone electrolier, a 1923 brass and glass ceiling light attributed to Lutyens, says the fitting was "kept deliberately simple" so as not to distract from the plain vaulting of the staircase and ground-floor corridor. It describes a large mirrored glass sphere above a pale blue circular glass shade, and says Lutyens "rarely used the same fittings in more than one building" and that his fittings are "amongst the most innovatory light fittings of the early twentieth century."^[12]

That is a helpful principle: when the architecture is strong, the fittings should be quiet.

New Delhi and the Viceroy’s House

Britannica says Lutyens was chosen in 1912 to advise on planning the new Indian capital, with a plan using a central mall, diagonal avenues and a garden-city layout of hexagons separated by tree-lined avenues. The Viceroy's House, built 1913 to 1930, was his most important building, combining classical architecture with Indian decorative features.^[1]

RIBA's collection page records that Herbert Baker wrote to Lutyens that the design "must not be Indian, nor English, nor Roman, but it must be Imperial", that the two argued fiercely, and that early designs ranged from a Palladian country house to a scheme inspired by Wren's St Paul's Cathedral. The final design mixes Western classical forms with Indian elements such as a stupa-inspired dome and deep chujja shading, and the interiors were mainly neo-Georgian. The house was renamed Rashtrapati Bhavan in 1950 as the residence of the President of India.^[13]

Britannica also notes he was knighted in 1918 and, after the First World War, designed the Cenotaph in London (1919 to 1920).^[1] Delhi is a long way from a Surrey cottage, but the habit of drawing a plan, then every detail inside it, is the same.

Seeing Lutyens in person

The table below lists the places covered here. Check access before you travel, because it varies by site.

Borrowing the Lutyens look at home

You do not need a castle. Here is how to apply his habits.

1. Let the architecture lead. Keep walls plain, and use fittings that behave. A Warm Minimalist Wall Light or a Half Moon Wall Light is a simple plaster form that does not compete with the room.
2. Add one strong period detail. A fireplace, a panelled wall or a Fluted Wall Light for a classical note.
3. Use warm, low light. Layered, low lighting suits the dark panelling and brick of an Arts and Crafts room; see our guide to layered lighting.
4. Match the period. Our Edwardian interiors guide and our Tudor style guide cover the reference points Lutyens used.
5. Link house and garden. Lutyens and Jekyll designed them together; start from the view out of the window.

Our wall lights are hand-cast plaster. Mains wiring must be done by a qualified electrician, and our guide to plug-in, battery and hardwired wall lights explains the options.

Common mistakes

• Calling every Edwardian country house a Lutyens. Many architects worked in the style, including those the V&A names alongside him.^[2]
• Treating dates as settled. The National Trust and Historic England give different years for the Castle Drogo commission, 1911 and 1910.
• Overdoing the castle. Drogo only looks medieval; it was planned as a domestic house.^[10]
• Ignoring the garden. Lutyens designed with Jekyll, and the planting was part of the design.
• Loud fittings in a quiet room. The Gledstone electrolier was kept deliberately simple.^[12]

What to do next

1. Read our Arts and Crafts guide.
2. Look up the three Lutyens houses on the National Trust site and plan one visit.
3. Compare Lutyens's Tudor-style rooms with our Tudor style guide.
4. Browse our plasterwork houses to visit.

Keep reading

• William Morris and Arts and Crafts
• A guide to Edwardian interiors
• A guide to Tudor style
• Robert Adam ceilings
• Plasterwork houses to visit in the UK

Shop the look

Warm Minimalist Wall LightHalf Moon Wall LightFluted Wall Light

Frequently asked questions

Who was Edwin Lutyens?

An English architect (1869 to 1944) known for country houses, Castle Drogo, the Viceroy’s House in New Delhi and the Cenotaph in London, according to Britannica.

How did Lutyens work with Gertrude Jekyll?

They met in 1889 near Farnham, and Lutyens designed Munstead Wood with her; she planned gardens and planting for several of his houses, including Lindisfarne and the drive at Castle Drogo.

Is Castle Drogo really a castle?

It looks like one, with a parapet and a portcullis, but Historic England says it was planned as a domestic house with large mullioned-and-transomed windows. The entry calls it the last castle built in England.

When was Castle Drogo built?

Historic England gives 1911 to 1930. The National Trust says Drewe commissioned Lutyens in 1911 and the family could move in by 1926.

What is Lutyens known for in New Delhi?

Britannica says he planned the new capital and designed the Viceroy’s House, built 1913 to 1930, combining classical architecture with Indian decorative features.

What did Lutyens do at Lindisfarne Castle?

Historic England says he converted it into a house in 1902 for Edward Hudson, adding Tudor-style fireplaces, panelling, latched doors and decorative brick floors.

Did Lutyens design furniture and lights?

Yes. The V&A holds a set of Country Life Board Room chairs of 1905 and a Gledstone Hall electrolier of 1923 attributed to him.

How can I get the look at home?

Keep the architecture plain, use simple fittings, add one strong period detail and use warm low light. Mains wiring must be done by a qualified electrician.