(published in The Sunday Times, December 2, 2001, as “Herts desire”. Photos by Tim Brotherton.)
There is a part of Britain that is not town, not country, and not even suburb but something distinct in itself: rurbania. Rurbania consists of little car-dependent enclaves that somehow insinuate themselves into the Green Belt. They are new hamlets, strange, slightly surreal places, desperate to appear as rustic as their double garages will allow. But as luck would have it, it is in one of these - up near Potter’s Bar in Hertfordshire - that you can find a singularly good new modern home: the Drop House.
If the Drop House had dropped in from another planet, it could hardly be more unexpected. And in a way, it has. Planet Modernismo. All around it are the big, brand-new “Stockbroker’s Tudor” houses and fake gas lamps that you encounter in such places as surely as you encounter 7-series BMWs and Tesco delivery vans. The Drop House offers a different perspective and a different tradition: what you might call sumptuous modernism.
Because this house, for all its plain exterior, is anything but austerely minimalist. It is designed by and for people who enjoy life and its comforts. In it you will find not only an egg-shaped bathroom and turquoise carpets but - please don’t tell the neighbours - a purple leather-lined boudoir.
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