Hence the M-house. Which is a pun. Pyne pronounces it with a silent H. It's small, so it's a mouse. But in fact, it is not that small at all. For all that Pyne himself lives somewhat compactly on a houseboat in Putney, this is not another exercise in micro-living. Here Pyne is acting as entrepreneur. His architect is Michael Howe of the young and distinctly promising practice mae. Even though Howe has designed it to be ever so slightly less than the permitted maximum size, just to be on the safe side, this house is essentially a full-specification two-bedroom flat that just happens not to be part of a larger house. In fact, it puts most such flats to shame. The kitchen/dining/living room, for instance, is enormous in a loft-living kind of way. The white-painted timber-lined ceilings are eight feet tall. The bedrooms are kept deliberately small to allow for the big living area, but there is also a full-sized separate utility room, complete with huge pressurized hot water tank and airing rack, as well as a proper bathroom with a real bath - not just some feeble shower cubicle. There's a separate lavatory as well as the one in the bathroom. Nothing essential is missing.

Interior walls and fitted furniture are finished in birch plywood panels - except for a section behind the wood-burning stove, which is lined with slices of blue engineering brick. The floor (with electric underfloor heating, though it could also be gas-powered), is covered with black linoleum. Kitchen units and splashbacks are glossy white. Loose furniture - not included in the £148,000 price - is American modern-classic stuff by Harry Bertoia and Florence Knoll.