Golden Lane Estate
In many ways Basterfield House is one of the most attractive locations on the estate. It is set in a sunken garden with a lawn and an ornamental, ruined castle tower. Beyond that is a broad pavement and then the not-so-attractive rear of Bayer House.
The ground floor maisonettes (ground at the back but first floor at the front due to the sunken garden) have steps up from a paved area in front of the lawn. Some more adventurous gardeners have used the space to dramatic effect with tubs and pots of plants.
Its one of the longest terraces on the estate. There are three rows of two-storey maisonettes. As with the other terraces, the building is constructed as a series of brick piers with flats built between on long slabs. Two long cream balconies run along the front of the building framing the different levels of maisonettes.
The front facades are mainly metal framed glass, but with red boarding up to waist level which is a feature running right across the building. The windows are set back from the front line, but to give the terrace symmetry, the central segment is built with the windows forward at the level of the front of the brick pier. This is exactly how a Victorian terrace would have been designed.
The ground storey ones are entered from the front up the stairs and then through small wooden gates into a small balcony. The second and third storeys have access at the back (later).
Behind the block there is a road running off Golden Lane leading to six private garages. This runs half the length of the back of Basterfield House and there is a pavement running the whole length. It seems a rather pointless road.
There is a stair structure built at the west end of the block (at the back) at and there are access points at ground floor level in the middle and at the east end, with stairs to the upper floors. Also at the back there are balconies at second and fourth floor levels.
The stone ‘tower’ is only chest height. (Pevsner, who clearly didn’t like this anachronistic piece of Victoriana in a Modernist estate, describes it as being like a ‘sheep fold’). It contains its own little stone-paved garden with quite mature trees. There is a stone bench running right around the edge. In fact, it’s really concrete with granite pieces - perhaps this was the inspiration for the construction of the Barbican next door by the same architects, where the same material was used.
