Lynne Dixon kindly joined us in January to tell us about Annabel Dott who has been described as a Tiresome Lady Architect. Annabel was born in 1868 and went to South Africa to marry a man of the clergy, Patrick Dott. While she was there, she redesigned the vicarage they lived in and was probably influenced by a female architect who designed many of the churches in South Africa.
Back in the UK, the Dotts moved to Goathland where Annabel designed, planned and managed the building of their home, The Stone House, which still exists today. She was keen to include labour saving designs such as fitted furniture which required less dusting, reducing the steps required between the kitchen and the scullery, and recycling cabinets from a yacht for furniture. After the Stone House she built nine cottages in the village which she initially used as golfing holiday lets as a course ran through the middle of the village. Later, Patrick and Annabel gave eight of the houses to disabled officers from the Great War.
Moving to Wiltshire, Annabel continued to combine the work of a vicar’s wife with her interest in architecture. She wrote many articles about housing and disability, labour saving and women in architecture. After a spell in South Norwood, London where she developed a small parlour/church hall for the parishioners and became involved in Women’s Pioneer Housing Ltd. the Dotts moved to East Hoathly in Sussex. It was here that Annabel developed her most ambitious project – the Grey Wood Estate. This estate was designed on the Oxford Quad model and was a mixture of 13 dwellings some of which had thatched roofs. All the dwellings had electricity which meant that she had to design an engine room with a water tower and a lake in the woods. It then appears that there were money problems, so she tried to sell the estate and also tried to donate it to Eton College.
After this Patrick and Annabel moved to Barnes where they seemed to have continuing health and money concerns before ultimately moving to Winterslow in Wiltshire which is where Annabel died in 1937. Annabel’s pioneering work as a female architect has left a legacy – her buildings can still be seen today in Goathland and in East Hoathly.
Lynne has cowritten a book about Annabel Dott: That tiresome Lady Architect. The life and work of Annabel Dott.