'Egyptian' house from 1990s becomes listed building

27 June 2024

News image — Sphinx Hill house was designed by John Outram Associates and built during 1998 and 1999

Phil Sayer / C20 Society Exterior of a postmodern Egyptian-style property, featuring a winged solar disc over the main entrance, tartan pattern tiling along the base, and black columns topped with terracotta circles, representing the hieroglyph for the rising sun — Sphinx Hill house was designed by John Outram Associates and built during 1998 and 1999

An Egyptian-inspired property has become one of the youngest listed buildings in Britain.

Sphinx Hill house in Moulsford, Oxfordshire, has been Grade II* listed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport following an application by the charity the C20 Society.

It was designed by John Outram Associates and built during 1998 and 1999.

The society said it was "exceedingly rare" for a building under the age of 30 years old to be granted listed status, which reflected its "national significance".

It said it was prompted to submit a listing application after the house was placed on the market for the first time in 2022.

The property sold for £2.3m, but the society was concerned about the risk of "unsympathetic" changes.

Director Catherine Croft told the BBC: "Any alterations or extensions will have to be made with a real understanding of what makes the building special, and keeping the important bits of the design that contribute to its character."

Phil Sayer / C20 Society The landscaped garden at the back of the house with a watercourse representing the Nile — The property in Moulsford, Oxfordshire, recently sold for £2.3m

It was commissioned by a couple interested in ancient Egyptian culture.

Historic England has described it as a "tour-de-force of domestic Post-Modernism".

The two-storey, three-bedroom house includes roofs inspired by the funerary complex at Djoser, an attic storey resembling a giant eye of Horus, and a winged solar disc over the main entrance.

There is also a dining room with a floor of Egyptian limestone, and a swimming pool wing with mosaic flooring and blue and gold columns. There are bronze scarab doorknobs throughout.

Phil Sayer / C20 Society The swimming pool wing of Sphinx Hill, with rich blue and gold columns and mosaic flooring — The swimming pool wing has mosaic flooring with blue and gold columns

Ms Croft said: "We try to be incredibly vigorous about what we do put forward [for listing].

"In this case we were absolutely in no doubt that this was such a one-off and an extraordinary building."

John Outram, who turned 90 in the week the house was granted listed status, called it a "nice birthday present - like my first listing – that of the I.0.D. Pumping station on Midsummer 2017".