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Bendhu and its Builders

£18.00

by Andrew Cowser, 2009. Soft Back, 243pp,.

3 in stock

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Few who have visited the Giant’s Causeway coastline of Northern Ireland will have failed to notice the unique and some say eccentric building known as Bhendu. It stands sentinel on the cliffs overlooking Ballintoy harbour, its concrete form and unusual silhouette of cubes and finials distinguishing it from the pitched roofed cottages that prevail on the north Antrim coast.

Bhendu was the creation of a remarkable Cornish artist, Newton Penprase (1888-1978), who at the age of forty-seven started to realise his vision for a unique house by the sea, changing the design as work proceeded, defying Atlantic gales and the occasional hostility of local people. For forty years he laboured on its construction using the material of his choice, concrete, reinforced with recycled railway lines and other materials that became available. The house was later completed and extended by two subsequent owners, Richard Mac Cullagh and Michael Ferguson.

For the first time the fascinating story of the building of this idiosyncratic house is being told. Bhendu is now accepted as an early, if maverick, Modernist structure in Ulster, and is only now being seen in the context of architectural developments of its time.

The book also provides an insight into the life and artistic output of Cornishman, Newton Penprase.

Weight 727 g
Dimensions 18 × 2.5 × 22.5 cm