'You can always tell the architects visiting on Open House
Day, according to Richard Nightingale, a three-year veteran
of this annual event. They are the ones who skulk around, rather
shiftily checking the hinges on the cupboards and looking at
the details of the door surrounds, and then try and leave without
signing the book. Fearful, perhaps, that if recognised they
might be accused if copying - dread word - another architect's
work? But then Nightingale should know. A partner in the firm
of Cullum and Nightingale, best known for its recent British
High Commission in Nairobi, he is an architect himself.
'Open House Day is the London element of the annual nationwide
Heritage Open day, organised by the Civic Trust, when
thousands of normally inaccessible buildings have their
doors thrown
open for free. In fact, rather confusingly, the day comprises
four days - two this weekend for properties outside London
and two next weekend, September 19-20, for those in the
capital.
'Every year in London, manic-looking cyclists with detailed
lists can be seen haring around the city, trying to see how
many buildings they can do in a day. Do you want to see what
the Lloyd's building is like inside? Or the Foreign Office?
What about those trendy offices written up in the architectural
journals or that idiosyncratic old building you pass on the
way to work every day? Next weekend you have the chance to
check them out.
'Particularly intriguing are the private houses, because
most of them are modern. There is a natural nosiness in us
all that is normally only satisfied when we go house-hunting
or visiting country houses. When it comes to modern houses,
that interest is redoubled. Most of us live in old houses,
even if by old we mean Victorian or Edwardian. The chance to
see a good modern house is rare. Are they the dream lifestyle
of the glossy mags? Or deeply impractical fashion statements
of popular prejudice? Open House Day is probably as good an
opportunity as you have to find out. There are 22 modern houses
on offer, ranging from loft conversions through radical remodellings
to completely new buildings.
'For Nightingale, the chance to dispel a few myths is
a key reason for opening his house: "People imagine architects
living in elegant Georgian houses and putting people in hideous
concrete boxes. I think it's important to take every opportunity
to show that modern architecture is habitable, practical and
agreeable.
'"Open House Day is a real opportunity to show that a
house can be done in a slightly different way that is affordable,
approachable and provides circumstances for modern living in,
possibly, a better way than a lot of typical 19th-century houses."
'He designed the house himself 15 years ago on a narrow
sliver of land between two blocks of Victorian semi-detached
houses. A conventional building with three bedrooms could have
been squeezed in, but instead he wanted a sense of space and
light, so the middle of the house is given over to a double-height
top-lit living-room, with all the other necessary rooms fitted
economically into the spaces around.
'The result is not aggressively modern, but has a comfortable
feeling of airiness that makes it instantly attractive. Of
course, for an architect there is always the hope that opening
the house that he designed for himself might lead to a commission,
but so far it remains a hope.
'"I'm not aware that it's led directly to work, but I
do think it is good for architecture generally," says
Nightingale, who was amazed at the popularity of what is after
all a very small house. "The first time I opened I thought
I'd just sit here reading the paper and that there might be
the occasional knock on the door, but there was a constant
stream of people. I had no idea it would be so popular."
'Last year, he was open for a whole day and received
about 700 visitors. (He was only meant to be open half a day,
but the publicity got it wrong and he did not have the heart
to turn people away.)
'"I opened the door and they just flooded in," he
says. "Some people say I'm very brave, but I don't know
what they're talking about. If they're potential burglars casing
the joint, it is possibly just as well because they'll see
there's nothing to take. People do make themselves at home.
They sit down, feed their babies, open the cupboards. I haven't
noticed anyone looking in the fridge yet. Generally, they're
very polite. What they say when they get out of the door I've
no idea, but they're usually very appreciative, even if they
all ask the same questions, the name of the colour on the walls
- which unfortunately I've forgotten - and how I got the cracking
in the floor, which was a happy mistake.
'"I get plenty of architects and students, as well as
non-professionals with an architectural interest, and then
people who just like looking around people's houses. Some are
very organised. You can see they've planned their day meticulously.
Most come from London. A lot of them are people who live in
the street and go past the house every day, wondering what
it's like inside."
'For the unscrupulous, or perhaps merely the pragmatic,
inviting the public in for Open House could be the ideal way
of getting publicity for selling a house, particularly an idiosyncratic
modern house. According to Martin Elwes of the London estate
agent Friend and Falcke, these can be hard to sell. "It's
difficult when they come on the market," he says. "They're
so individual that you have to find somebody else with exactly
the same taste. But because London agents are geographically
based and don't focus on types of buildings across London,
the right person can be hard to find. It is equally hard for
a potential purchaser to find something radically different."
'Certainly, Victoria Thornton, the organiser of Open
House, is aware that some people make full use of the day's
publicity when they are trying to sell, although she points
out that this is not the object. "Last year, the Glass
House in Southwark, designed by Michael Davis for the jeweller
Andrew Logan, was on the market during Open House. They used
it as a good way of getting publicity and it certainly proved
very popular."
'So, if the owner of the house you are looking round
looks restless, why not make him an offer there and then? This
could be the best chance you have to find something just that
little bit different.'
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