Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, United Kingdom

Cohen House

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, United Kingdom

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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Cohen House, a private residence on Old Church Street in Chelsea, London, exemplifies early British modernism. Designed by Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff, with Birkin Haward, and built in 1935–1936 for the Cohen family, it stands as a well-preserved example of the movement during a period when London remained largely unfamiliar with modern architecture. Its neighbour at 66 Old Church Street, designed by Walter Gropius and Maxwell Fry for a Cohen cousin, has been substantially altered, making Cohen House all the more significant as a surviving testament to that pioneering era. A large conservatory designed by Norman Foster was added to the house's south end in the 1970s for Sir Paul Hamlyn. The building was listed Grade II* in 1970.