I was taking my morning walk before work the other day, when I had a micro reckoning of the pandemic and how wildly it changed our lives. I tend to get these micro reckonings when I'm faced with the fact that my new normal routines are actually abnormal if we look at it through our pre-pandemic lens. And in this instance, gaining back two hours of daily commuting is just something I really refuse to give up more than once or twice a week. Work is great and all, but living? Being out and about instead of stuffed in a train? Befriending the local coffee man who has a cardboard cut-out of a westie AND a schnauzer? That's what I call a fun weekday morning.
Looking around at the other people also enjoying their morning walks, I started thinking about what their routines might be like. Here's a mom, walking her kid to school the scenic way because she managed to get them out the door a few minutes earlier. Right behind her is the stressed out mom who's got to drop two kids off at two different schools, wishing with all her heart she had just had twins so she could've killed two birds with one stone. And over there’s the guy who's always on a run, taking the smallest steps known to mankind. Here's the group of ladies in their dryrobes on their way back from the ponds (in this weather??) and who's passing me now? Ah, it's the dog-walker, with approximately six to eight dogs of varying sizes, all on the communal leash – this guy seems to be the happiest of all.
I sometimes take a detour close to Hampstead Village, where a group of houses encircle a private but publicly accessible garden, which I've aptly named 'The Magic Circle'. And it was on this particular morning walk when I finally got what I was hoping for – a real-life human being leaving their house, hopping in a car to leave their Magic Circle and enter big bad London town. How exhilarating.
And then of course on my way home, I played my favorite game of 'If You Could Live In Any House In Hampstead and Money Is No Object, Which House Would It Be'. Shall I walk you through my options?
Option 1
Starting off strong, we've got 2 Willow Road, a modernist, modest block of three flats designed by architect Ernö Goldfinger for his family. A comfortable option, not too large, with fun little mini-levels throughout. I don't know what it is about these mini-levels, but I am obsessed with them. There is nothing more playful than waltzing around your home, climbing up and down two little stairs at a time.
Option 2
If I wanted full-on views of the park, there's always Housden House. I was positively smitten by this house when I first stumbled upon it years ago, and there is a lot to love. A sturdy yet light-filled concrete home built by Brian Housden for himself and his family in the 1960s, the house is absolutely stunning. Colorful and bright, but maybe too personal to its creator and lacking in softness…this one is no longer top of my list.
Option 3
And just a stone's throw away and built a couple years later is the Hopkins House, a two-level high-tech home designed by Michael and Patty Hopkins in 1976. Although the house is all steel and glass, I'd say it's a bit warmer than the Housden House. I suspect the carpeting and the full height clear windows facing the private garden help to soften up the space.
Option 4
I then became absolutely obsessed with a castle-like house right off the side of the park. It had been under construction for a good three years it seemed, and I would circle its stone walls, peering in through the cracks trying to decipher what the hell was going on. What you can see from the street is positively impressive, but when it finally hit the market…I can't say it entirely satisfied my fantasy. It’s a gothic villa, originally known as ‘The Logs’ and was built in 1868. It's definitely better done than the typical gut-and-remodel British home, and the outdoor area is nothing to be ashamed of, but I realised it is on quite a busy street and a house of that size is a bit grotesque, so I politely moved on (but if you’d like to see the listing brochure…look no further).
Option 5
But I think I finally found the house I would choose, even though the location is slightly more north than I would prefer. I found this house by chance, as I was googling around for another 'Hill House' – turns out there are multiple Hill Houses around Hampstead Heath, but this one was originally designed by Oliver Hill in the 1930s, and updated by Avanti Architects in 2000. The stairway could read a bit lobby-ish, but I find it’s like the British version of the Villa Necchi foyer, with the stone, the deep brownish-red. This house feels like a perfect mix of all the previous options – we have a slightly modernist design, the brick is very British and gives the same sturdiness as the Housden house, but softened up by the lovely curves throughout. It feels like a Y2K take on a high-tech house à la Hopkins, and a hint of the slightly subdued grandness of the Logs home. Perfection.
I’d only been to London once when I was a child before I moved here in 2015, so I really didn’t know what to expect when I first got off the tube. I thought I was going to be getting off in a Times Square-esque concrete jungle, with tall buildings, big busy streets, endless neighborhoods, all the typical big-city preconceived notions. London is big (imagine that!), and it’s maybe more a brick rather than concrete jungle, but it’s definitely not one big hubbub of a neighborhood. Everything is a bit more spread out, and each neighborhood has its distinct characteristics, almost as if they’re their own village. But rather than one ending and another one starting, there’s always a bit of a weird no man's land road connecting them. Though I think the biggest (positive) shock for me was the way social housing is mixed in the neighborhoods. You could have a multi-million pound house in a fabulous neighborhood, and down the road or just across from it sits one or two or three social housing blocks. Obviously London’s got its fair share of housing price crises, but I love the intention of having all types of housing together
All this to say, really, that I just love London and its houses. To many more future neighborhood walks, around my neighborhood and others!
Forever yours,
Isabelle
aka Dreamspaces