National Trust - The Homewood

A hidden modernist gem – well worth the effort! This was an incredible experience — an intimate, in-depth tour of a unique Modernist house in Esher that I never even knew existed, despite being a lifelong Surrey resident. A few tips: bookings open on Thursdays, so it’s essential to book early — spaces are limited and precious! There’s plenty of on-site parking, clear signage, and a very warm welcome from the volunteer team. The tour itself was superb — around two hours in total, split between the house and gardens. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside, but the exterior is fair game and full of lovely angles to capture. The house is beautifully preserved, full of striking design features, and brought to life by the knowledgeable guides. I was particularly impressed by the way the National Trust has worked to honour Patrick Gwynne’s vision — he bequeathed The Homewood to them, and the restoration has clearly been a labour of love. It’s a fascinating place — calm, elegant, and unlike any other National Trust property I’ve visited. I left with a real sense of discovery and couldn’t recommend it more highly to anyone interested in architecture, design, or hidden histories.

Wonderful Modernist house near Claremont gardens. The house is situated in 8 acres of wonderful gardens. There is parking at the house. The house is only open on Fridays for a few months of the year. You have to book in advance and tickets go really quickly. Our wonderful guide Joyce was very informative. No toilets or cafe on site. You have to go up the road to Claremont gardens for those. You're not allowed to take photographs inside but you can outside.

Getting tickets to visit is a challenge but it’s so worth it. The guided tour is excellent and very illuminating delivered with genuine passion. The house might not look much from outside but the interiors are all intact and ingenious and the view…. The garden is more landscape than garden with vistas and views galore. A wonder morning.

The Homewood is a wonderful place to visit. We were shown the property in a small guided group by a fantastic lady called Joyce. It’s a very special house. Due to having to take public transport from London we did arrive a little early and so we waited by the national trust sign at the entrance of the property by the main road. We were approached by a lady who we later understood is called Linda (she works at the house). Who we all agreed does need to have some support in learning how to greet visitors to the property correctly. To our disappointment instead of saying ‘hello how are you? Are you here to visit the house?’ She said in a less than pleasant tone of voice ‘what are you doing here?’. Obviously it’s not the kind of greeting that is up to the standards of other national trust properties that we have visited. I am sure that she was just having a bad day and didn’t intend to be rude. But if she could have been more polite, the whole experience would have been more enjoyable.

Incredible! Beautiful modernist home, which the architect, Patrick Gwynne, designed for his parents and lived in himself until the end of his life, subtly modifying it with his changing needs. I’ve seen a few negative reviews on here saying it ‘wasn’t open blah blah’. The National Trust website makes it very clear that you have to book in advance and that there are no facilities. So don’t expect to rock up on Tuesday afternoon in your Honda Jazz and get a coffee and scone. The National Trust guides were fantastic, both were retired architects and clearly very passionate and knowledgeable about the house. If you’re into your modernist architecture you need to see this place fo sho.

Excellent day out with the family, great play ground which is always generally busy, also has events on regularly too. The Easter event was really good, they also had a battle re-enactment this weekend, which was very entertaining. Nice cafe just outside with good coffee and millionaires shortbread :)

Very fascinating place which was a lovely day out with my partner and our little girl. If you plan on walking around the whole park it's great and there are some amazing views. At the entrance there's a lovely little cafe - but the staff were a bit rude (but didn't spoil it for us) Nice little play area too :)

Beautiful place. A very good representation of modernist architecture set in a very large landscaped garden.