Leonard Rome Guthrie Explained

Leonard Rome Guthrie (1880 in Glasgow – 1958 in Blyth, Suffolk)^[1] was a Scottish architect.^[2] His parents were the decorator John Guthrie and his wife Jessie Finlay Stark, Scots who had married in London in 1876 and would later return there. He joined the Wimperis & Simpson partnership in 1925 to form Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie.^{[3] [4]}

Works

His works included:

• In 1912, Townhill Park House, Southampton. Italianate Gardens with planting schemes by Gertrude Jekyll.^{[5] [6]}
• In 1913 he was appointed architect to the Royal Institution and masterminded its major reconstruction.
• Between 1926 and 1931, Grosvenor House, Park Lane London. The design was started by Guthrie but finished by Edwin Lutyens.^[7]
• In 1929, the University of London Observatory.^[8]
• In the 1930s, the BBC transmitter building at the Brookmans Park transmitting station near London, followed by others at Moorside Edge, Westerglen, Washford, Lisnagarvey, Burghead, Stagshaw, Start Point and Droitwich.^[9] These buildings had impressive Art Deco facades in Portland stone, and many of them survive. The Washford building is Grade II listed.
• In 1932, as part of the firm Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie and with Maurice Bloom: Marine Gate, Brighton.^[10]
• In 1936, Winfield House, the Official Ambassadorial residence of the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.^[11]

Notes and References

1. Scotlands People website
2. http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/arch/landscapes/ukpg/designer/guthriel.htm U.K. Database of Historic Parks and Gardens: Guthrie, Leonard Rome
3. Web site: Wimperis, Simpson & Guthrie . . 23 September 2016.
4. Web site: Remarkable 1930s survival listed at Grade II – The Twentieth Century Society. c20society.org.uk. 22 April 2018.
5. http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/arch/landscapes/ukpg/sites/townhill.htm U.K. Database of Historic Parks and Gardens: Townhill Park
6. http://www.note-ability.com/celebrating.htm Web page about Townhill Park House
7. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=41849 The Architecture of the Estate: Modern Times, Survey of London: volume 39: The Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 1 (General History) (1977), pp. 67-82, 161-70.
8. http://www.ulo.ucl.ac.uk/telescopes/development/ University of London Observatory
9. Pawley, Edward (1972), BBC Engineering 1922–1972, London, BBC, pp. 105-6.
10. Book: Musgrave, Clifford. Life in Brighton. 1981. Rochester Press. Rochester. 0-571-09285-3. 396. registration.
11. Web site: WINFIELD HOUSE, City of Westminster – 1389411- Historic England. Historic. England. historicengland.org.uk. 22 April 2018.