.jpeg)
Roger Fry designed and built Durbins as a home shaped by his belief that domestic architecture should be simple, honest, and useful. He wanted the house to avoid the “gentlemanly picturesqueness” of typical suburban homes, with clear proportions and thoughtful spaces for living, art, and conversation.
Fry described Durbins as “a genuine and honest piece of domestic architecture.” The house became both a family home and a creative meeting place for members of the Bloomsbury Group.
Durbins was built in 1909 and designed by Roger Fry for himself and his family. The garden was designed with a planting scheme by Gertrude Jekyll, whose Arts and Crafts approach connected the house with its surrounding landscape.
Although Durbins has changed hands several times over the past century, its basic layout remains much the same. The house and garden still retain many of their original features, including a mural inside the house by Fry, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, which is thought to be one of the earliest extant examples still in-situ of the domestic decoration of the Bloomsbury artists.