Kenneth Wood: the British architect who quietly shaped the modern home and left a gem on Ferring Lane
7 Jan, 2026
Wood’s name doesn’t always show up in the loudest histories of British post-war architecture, but his work keeps resurfacing in the places that matter most: the homes themselves. He is frequently described as the winner of a 1968 “Home of the Year” award in modern property write-ups and local listings, a shorthand nod to the esteem his domestic designs still command.
One of the most intriguing things about Kenneth Wood is that his legacy isn’t just a single “icon” building, it’s a body of carefully considered houses, each testing how everyday life might be lived better. Few places show that off as clearly as Ferring Lane, in West Sussex.
Ferring Lane, West Sussex: where the plan does the talking
On Ferring Lane in Ferring West Sussex, Wood designed at least one notable house dating to 1966.
What kind of house was this? Not a showy box on a plot, but a plan-led piece of architecture.
A well-known description of the home (shared in modern-house documentation) is that it’s a single-storey house “irregularly wrapped around a courtyard.” source: daveanderson.me.uk
That one phrase tells you a lot. Courtyard planning is one of the great “cheats” of modern domestic architecture: it creates privacy without heaviness, gives you safe outdoor space that’s usable in more weather, and lets rooms borrow light from multiple sides. It also means the house can open outward without feeling exposed, a particularly smart move in a village setting like Ferring, where plots can be close and gardens can feel overlooked.
And the courtyard isn’t just a visual feature. It’s a lifestyle device: breakfasts in shelter, doors open on summer evenings, a view that changes with the seasons, and circulation that feels like a gentle loop rather than a corridor march.
The lived-in modernism: Scandinavian calm, flexible rooms
This house is something “completely unique,” in Ferring with Scandinavian-style features and a thought through layout rarely seen in other local properties.
Those Scandinavian cues matter, because they align with what Wood (and many British modernists of the period) seemed to be chasing: warmth without ornament, comfort without clutter, and materials that age honestly. In practice, that tends to mean:
- simple planes and strong geometry
- generous glazing used strategically (not everywhere, but in the right places)
- built-in thinking: storage, thresholds, and furniture like details that make a house feel “inevitable”
Why the Ferring Lane house feels so “now”
Walk through enough new builds and you start to notice what many modernist homes get right:
- Privacy without darkness (courtyards, screens, careful window placement)
- Flow without wasted space (rooms sized for use, not for listing photos)
- Outdoor connection that’s practical (sheltered, accessible, easy to inhabit daily)
A 1960s courtyard house in West Sussex isn’t nostalgic, it’s almost a quiet critique of how carelessly many homes are planned today.
And that’s why Kenneth Wood’s name keeps surfacing, whether through the celebrated preservation of the Picker House in Kingston or through the continuing fascination with a modernist one-storey courtyard home tucked along Ferring Lane.
A legacy you can drive past, and still learn from
Kenneth Wood’s work reminds us that the best houses don’t rely on spectacle. They rely on decisions: where light comes from, how you move, where you pause, and how a home can protect you while still opening to the world.
So if you'd like to see this house in real life, it’s worth remembering that Ferring Lane isn’t just another pleasant address near the coast, it’s also a small, built lesson in modern domestic architecture, by an architect whose ideas were strong enough to earn major recognition in his own time, and still feel current now.
Our Goring Branch Director Jamie Bryant has prepared a virtual tour of the property which you can watch below.
Jamie said of the property “In all my years in estate agency, Lothlorien truly stands out as one of the most unique homes I’ve had the pleasure of bringing to market. From its award-winning architectural heritage to its beautifully considered Scandinavian-inspired design, it’s a property that feels genuinely special the moment you step inside and certainly like no other I have seen locally. We’ve already had strong interest, which comes as no surprise, and I’m incredibly excited to be showing people around, it’s the kind of home that leaves a lasting impression and really needs to be experienced in person, particularly in this fantastic Ferring location.”
Lothlorien, Ferring Lane, Ferring, West Sussex is new to the market with Robert Luff & Co. Full details of the property listing can be found here. To book your viewing on this property contact our Goring Branch today on 01903 331567.
*This article contains AI editing