Six Pillars is in Sydenham in the London Borough of Southwark, opposite Dulwich Wood.[1] It is the only modernist house in its street as the other houses are more ordinary townhouses or Victorian villas.[1] Six Pillars was built by architect Valentine Harding, who was working for Tecton Group.[2][3] The company also built Highpoint I and the penguin enclosure at London Zoo, both of which are listed Grade I.[4] It is one of four houses built by Harding, who died at the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940.[4] It was built in the style of Villa Savoye, built by Le Corbusier,[5] and contains "glascrete" (concrete containing glass) to maximise the amount of sunlight in the house.[4]
The house was built between 1932 and 1934 for John Leakey, headmaster of Dulwich College Preparatory School, and his wife.[6] It was built of London stock brick in a minimalist style so that it did not stand out from the Victorian era houses.[3][6] The house was also set back from the road.[4] The house, when built, contained four bathrooms, two bedrooms, three reception rooms, a study, and two maid's quarters.[4] The ground floor of the house is divided by six cylindrical pillars, which gives the house its name.[6][7] The entrance hall spans two floors and contains a sculpted staircase.[3] The rear of the house contains strip windows, built in the same style as Highpoint I,[3] and there is a first-floor glass balcony.[4] The house covers an area of 3,000 square feet (280 m2).[1]
In 1981, Six Pillars became a Grade II* listed building.[2] In 1989, it was put on the market for £365,000.[5] The house featured in the 1992 book Lubetkin & Tecton: An Architectural Study.[1] In 1998, it was bought by Roger Trapp, who commissioned John Winter to undertake a restoration.[1] Six Pillars House was put up for sale in 2012 with a guide price of £1,675,000.[2]
