The 1900s Garden Bench That Is Still Being Copied Today

The 1900s Garden Bench That Is Still Being Copied: The Story of the Lutyens Bench

Walk through almost any great English garden and you will eventually find it at the end of a path: a wide wooden bench with a rising arched back and arms that roll outward like scrolls. It looks as though it has always been there. In fact it was drawn up by one architect, for one house, a little over 120 years ago, and furniture makers have been copying it ever since.

This is the story of the Lutyens bench: where it came from, what makes a real one, and why the wood it is built from decides whether it lasts three summers or three generations.

Where the Lutyens Bench Came From

Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869–1944) is widely regarded as the greatest British architect of his era. He designed the Cenotaph in London, much of New Delhi, and a long run of English country houses that defined the Arts and Crafts period.

In 1902 a client named Ernest Blackburn, a keen amateur gardener, asked Lutyens to take over a half-built house in West Sussex. Lutyens told him to pull it down and start again. The result, Little Thakeham, was finished in 1903 and Lutyens later called it “the best of the bunch” among his houses.

Lutyens had learned woodworking before he learned building, and he designed furniture for his houses as carefully as he designed their staircases. For the garden at Little Thakeham he is credited with a broad oak seat that became known as the Thakeham bench. No original drawing is known to survive, but the design is firmly attributed to him, and the same bench appears in other gardens linked to his name.

Today nobody calls it the Thakeham bench. It is simply “the Lutyens.”

The Gertrude Jekyll Connection

You cannot tell the story of the bench without Gertrude Jekyll. The garden designer met Lutyens in 1889, when he was twenty, and the two went on to create some of the most admired house-and-garden partnerships in England. He supplied the structure: terraces, steps, walls, rills and pergolas. She filled that structure with planting.

The bench belongs to that way of thinking. It turns up at Hestercombe in Somerset, one of the finest surviving Lutyens and Jekyll gardens, and a famous example sits in the gardens at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent. In each place it does the same job: it gives the planting something solid to lean against.

Anatomy of an Icon: What Makes a True Lutyens Bench

Plenty of benches are sold under the Lutyens name. A faithful one has a small number of features that have not changed since 1902.

• The arched back. The top rail rises in a central curve and steps down through scrolled shoulders on each side. The shape echoes the curved pediments found over the doors and windows of classical and Georgian buildings, the same vocabulary Lutyens was beginning to bring into his houses at Little Thakeham.
• Rolled, outward-sweeping arms. The arms curl over at the front like the scroll of a violin. They are wide enough to rest a forearm or a teacup on, and they give the bench its visual weight when seen from the side.
• Symmetrical slatting. Horizontal back rails are crossed by slender uprights, laid out as a mirror image either side of the center line. In sunlight the pattern throws a grid of shadows across the seat and the ground behind it.
• A long, flat, generous seat. The original was built on a grand scale, close to eight feet wide. The seat is plain and level, which lets the back do all the talking.

Why Lutyens Treated a Bench as Architecture

Most garden seats are furniture you bring outside. Lutyens thought about his differently. He treated a bench as a small building: something with a silhouette, a center line and a front elevation.

That is why it works so well as a focal point. Placed at the end of a path, against a clipped hedge, or centered on a wall, the arched back reads from fifty yards away and tells the eye where the view finishes. It ties the straight lines of the house to the soft shapes of the planting, which was the whole idea behind a Lutyens and Jekyll garden.

It is also why the design has survived every change in taste since the Edwardian era. It suits a formal parterre, a cottage border, a brick patio or a modern deck equally well, because it was designed as structure first and decoration second.

The Weak Point of the Original: The Wood

The one thing the Edwardians did not get right was the material. Garden seats of the period were usually built in oak or painted softwood. Oak blackens and checks outdoors. Painted softwood needs scraping and repainting every couple of years, and once water gets under the paint at a joint, rot follows.

The Lutyens design is harder on timber than a plain bench. The arched top rail and the scrolled arms are built up from shaped sections, and every one of those curves depends on a tight joint. When wood swells in the rain and shrinks in the sun, those are the joints that open first.

Teak solves the problem the original never could. It is dense, close-grained and naturally high in oil, so it resists water, rot and insects without paint or sealer. A teak Lutyens bench can stay outdoors all year and keep its shape.

The Problem With Cheap “Lutyens-Style” Benches

Because the design is long out of copyright, anyone can make one. Mass-market versions are everywhere, and most of them borrow the outline while skipping everything that made the bench last.

• Substitute woods. Acacia, eucalyptus and other fast-grown hardwoods are common. They are cheaper than teak and contain far less natural oil, so they depend on a factory finish that wears off outdoors.
• Low-grade teak. “Solid teak” on a label does not mean Grade A. Grade C teak is cut from the pale outer sapwood of young trees. It has little oil, more knots and far less stability.
• Screwed, flat-pack construction. Curved back sections are often butt-joined and held with exposed steel screws. As the wood moves, the screws loosen and rust, and the arch begins to rack.
• Air-dried or under-dried timber. Wood that has not been dried to the core keeps shrinking after you buy it. The first place it shows is in the back arch, where gaps open and sections split.

The usual result is a bench that looks right in the photograph and starts warping, splitting or wobbling within a few seasons outdoors.

The Windsor Teak Standard

Windsor Teak builds its Grade A teak Lutyens benches to the original pattern, with the curved arms, the arched back and the long flat seat, and changes only the one thing that needed changing.

• 100% Grade A teak. Cut only from the heartwood of plantation-grown trees harvested after 45 to 50 years, when the oil content is at its highest. You can read more about the difference between teak grades A, B and C in our teak guide.
• Kiln-dried to 8–12% moisture. The timber is kiln-dried before construction, not sun-dried or air-dried, so it is dry to the core. This is what keeps the back arch and scrolled arms from cracking and warping over the decades.
• Mortise-and-tenon joinery. Precision mortise-and-tenon joints lock the frame together the traditional way, backed by marine-grade stainless steel hardware that will not rust or stain the wood.
• Extra-thick cuts of wood. Heavier sections give the bench the solid, architectural presence the design calls for.

The high natural oil content of Grade A heartwood is the detail that matters most for this particular bench. Oil-rich teak takes on very little water, so the joints along the curved back swell and shrink far less than they would in a lesser wood. The shape Lutyens drew stays the shape you bought.

Choosing the Right Size Lutyens Bench

The proportions of the bench change with its width, so it is worth matching the size to the spot.

• 53 inch two-seater Lutyens bench: suits a front porch, a small courtyard or a quiet corner of the garden.
• 66 inch three-seater Lutyens bench: the most versatile size for a patio wall, a pool surround or the end of a path.
• 76 inch four-seater Lutyens bench: a strong focal point for a larger lawn, terrace or long border.
• 8 foot Lutyens bench at the original scale: 96 inches wide, the grand size the design was first conceived at, for estates, entrances and formal gardens.
• 53 inch Lutyens rocking bench: the same arched back and scrolled arms on rockers, made for a covered porch.

For a complete seating area, the Lutyens bench, rockers and coffee table set pairs the three-seater with two matching single rockers and a 47 inch coffee table.

Where to Place a Lutyens Bench

Lutyens placed his seats where they would be seen from a distance. The same rule works in any garden.

• At the end of a straight path or lawn, so the arched back closes the view.
• Centered against a hedge, brick wall or fence, which frames the silhouette.
• Under a pergola or arbor, where the curved back repeats the arch overhead.
• Flanked by a pair of matching planters or clipped shrubs to underline the symmetry.
• Facing the best view on the property, whether that is a border, a pond or the ocean.

How a Teak Lutyens Bench Ages

New teak is a warm honey gold. Left outdoors in the sun, it mellows over several months to a soft silver-gray patina, the weathered look seen on old benches in English gardens. The change is only on the surface and does not affect the strength of the wood.

Teak does not require any finish. If you prefer to hold the golden color, Windsor Teak offers an optional teak protection finish in gold or brown. For added comfort, custom Sunbrella bench cushions are made to fit each bench size. An occasional wash with warm soapy water is all the routine care the bench needs.

Lutyens Bench Questions and Answers

Who designed the Lutyens bench?

The bench is attributed to the English architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, who designed it around 1902 for the garden of Little Thakeham in West Sussex. It was originally known as the Thakeham bench.

What is a Lutyens bench made of?

Early examples were made in oak. Today the best versions are made in Grade A teak, which resists rot, insects and weather without paint or sealer.

How can you tell a quality Lutyens bench from a cheap copy?

Check the wood grade, the drying method and the joints. Look for Grade A heartwood teak, kiln-dried timber, mortise-and-tenon joinery and stainless steel hardware. Be cautious of benches described only as “solid teak” or “Lutyens-style hardwood.”

Can a teak Lutyens bench stay outside all year?

Yes. Grade A teak can be left outdoors through sun, rain, snow and salt air. It will weather to a silver-gray color unless a finish is applied.

How big was the original Lutyens bench?

The original was built on a generous scale, around eight feet wide. Windsor Teak offers a 96 inch version at that scale, along with 53, 66 and 76 inch sizes for smaller spaces.

A 1902 Design Built for the Next Hundred Years

The Lutyens bench has outlasted the house styles, planting fashions and furniture trends of twelve decades because it was designed as a piece of architecture. Built in the right material, it will outlast a good many more.

Browse the full range of Grade A teak Lutyens benches, see them in person when you visit our Delaware showroom in Fenwick Island, or call 877-323-8325 with any questions. Designers, architects and hospitality buyers can apply to the Windsor Teak Trade program.