Coppins

It was designed by architect Walter Burley Griffin (1876-1937) and built for Eric Herbert Pratten (1903-165) in 1935-36. It was one of Griffin's largest domestic commissions in Australia and was his last before leaving for India. Its completion was supervised by his associate Eric Nicholls.

Eric Pratten’s father Frederick had given both Eric and his brother David, land in Telegraph Road, and funds to build their own homes. Both brothers chose Griffin as their architect. The two storey Eric Pratten House is approached by a long, curving gravel driveway and its design is characterised by triangular prows and articulated sandstone masses with battered walls. The house is surrounded by large formal grounds with a sunken garden and post-World War II additions such as the tennis court, pool and dog kennel in the style of Griffin. Many mature trees, judged to be part of the original planting scheme, have survived.

The house was sold after Eric Pratten died in 1965 and then occupied by three generations of the Dening family. Coppins is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register. The exteriors of the house were photographically recorded prior to its sale in 2001.

Photographer: Lindy Kerr

Date Photographed: June 2000

Original image format: 35mm mounted slides

Copyright: Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Photograph, Lindy Kerr

Further reading: Anne Watson, ed., Beyond architecture: Marion Mahony and Walter Burley Griffin: America, Australia, India, Powerhouse Publishing, Haymarket NSW, 1998

Anne Watson, ed., Visionaries in suburbia: Griffin houses in the Sydney landscape, Castlecrag, NSW, Walter Burley Griffin Society Incorporated, 2015