A HOUSE AS PRESENT FOR THE KING

Evening Post, Issue 28, 1 August 1936, Page 27

A HOUSE AS PRESENT FOR THE KING

■' The £50,000 house built at Burhill, Surrey, by the Royal Warrant Holders' Association as a Jubilee present to King George was given to King Edward on July 7, reports "The Times."

"The King's House," as it will be known, stands in its own grounds overlooking the Surrey hills with a distant view of Sussex.

Motoring to Burhill accompanied by Major Sir John Aird, the King was received by Lord Herbert Scott, president of the association. Lord Herbert Scott handed the King a key, surmounted with the inscription "G.R.V." and a crown in rubies and diamonds. His Majesty opened the front door with the key, which is a master key unlocking all the doors in the house. In the study, panelled with Canadian silkwood, the King made the first signature in the visitors' book, and was presented with an album containing the names of the thousand members of the Eoyal Warrant Holders' Association who subscribed towards the house and an illuminated address.

"We have sought," the address ran, "by the choice of a site in the midst of 'England's sylvan beauty, and of a dignified architectural design, and by faithful building and furnishing to make it a home worthy of its intended purpose. Throughout, British skill has worked with zealous care to attain the highest degree of craftsmanship." ■ By. the King's desire the whole proceedings were kept entirely informal, and there were no speeches. Lord Herbert Scott presented to the King Mr. F. A. Simon, vice-president; Mr. Charles F. Glenny, treasurer; Major H. Brookhouse, secretary; Sir Duncan Watson, president of the association in the Jubilee year and chairman of the House Sub-committee, and others.

After admiring a panel by Mr. Frank Brangwyn in the study, and being shown a hidden cocktail cabinet in the. wall, the King was conducted: over the remainder of the house by. Sir Duncan Watson and Lord; Herbert Scott. His Majesty remarked on the fact that every room in the house had an electric clock, and nearly every room its own loud-speaker hidden in

the wall. He went into the kitchen, the walls and ceiling of which are made from stainless steel, and he examined the big gas cooking stove fitted with self-lighting electrical device. Upstairs the King went into the principal bedroom, the principal guest •. room, and the second guest room, which is called the "Margaret Rose" Room, because it is decorated in a shade of rose pink, called after the King's niece. ■.

The King admired the principal bathroom walled in amber glass, and examined the dressing-room which has an electrical device which opens the wardrobe automatically at the touch of a switch. From the servants' quarters the King went down into the cellars to see the little laundry room, and then up into the garage, which is lined entirely in special polished coloured concrete tiles which have never been used before. He admired the glass garage portico, fitted with electric light, which enables a car to be washed no matter what the • weather, and looked up at the solid silver weather vane which is a replica of King George's racing yacht Britannia.

Sir Duncan Watson told the King that all the materials used in the house —many of them put to uses never tried before—came from-within the Empire. He said that every room was "insulated" with asbestos packing between the floor and ceiling to render it soundproof, while every beam rests on asbestos packing to avoid vibration. The whole of the basement, including the wine cellar and the laundry, is surrounded by a "box" of bitumen, rendering it damp-proof.

With the house is -an endowment fund for future expenses, and the house is to be given by the King to whom ever he may think is a worthy recipient because of servicesto his country.

The house is approached by a newlyconstructed road which turns off the private road leading' to: Burhill golf course.*' The grounds are about two acres in extent' and. are* laid out in lawns and flower beds. The style of architecture is of the Georgian period, with red brick walls and red tiled roof.