In writing My Dream Home I: green, airy, full of treasures three years ago, I acknowledged that the concept of a personal dream home had flitted in and out of my consciousness, but it never had any fixed form. That particular blog post helped to clarify and solidify the dream.
Brighton, East Sussex. The Deco sun terrace is facing the water.
I said back then that the spouse and I had two collections we were proud of. We had thousands of superb books and dozens of superb paintings, both of which would have taken centre place in our living room (paintings around the ground floor walls; books on the mezzanine gallery). The floor needed to be naturally cooling in our hot summer (slate) with a very large Persian rug over the floor for the winter. A very wide fireplace would have been the focal point of one wall, almost like an inglenook in Arts and Crafts homes. The window had to be floor to ceiling, and had to look out directly onto the garden view.
In My Dream Home II : water frontage I tackled another aspect of the dream, both in terms of a beautiful view over the ocean and a healthy beach-based life style.
Now in middle age, I am in a good position to selecting my ideal, for-ever home. It is somewhat ironic that I am LESS picky now than I was years ago; today there would be only four mandated elements:
1. The house must face the beach. This is not negotiable.
2. The side of the house that faces the beach must have ceiling-to-floor glass windows. No blinds or curtains to reduce the impact of a wall of glass will be necessary, thank you.
3. The garden must come right to the front door. Semi wild and green – no concrete drives, hedges clipped within an inch of their lives or quaint cobble stone paths. Terraces are perfectly acceptable, but not on the ground floor. If concrete parking spaces are required, they can be located behind the house.
4. The most important room will be the study, filled with bookshelves, really comfortable chairs and large desks.
I don’t mind if this dream house is Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, Arts and Crafts, Californian bungalow, Vienna Secessionist or Deco. And I don’t want to worry too much about mundane concerns like the kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms and the laundry.
The wall facing the ocean is entirely glass.
The study is ideally fitted out for an academic
Be still, my beating heart. An elevated art-deco style home in Brighton, with a large sun terrace overlooking the marina, came onto the market (Country Life magazine, September 2011). Apparently Roedean Way is considered one of the most sought after locations on the South Coast, and naturally it has amazing sea views. So let me check the requirements noted above:
1. direct access to the sea? tick
2. walls of glass in the rooms facing the sea? tick
3. semi wild and green garden, right to the front door? tick
4. a comfortable study, filled with bookshelves? tick
View from the house to Brighton Beach and to the marina
Failing full access to the sea, I am almost prepared to settle for river frontage, as long as the rooms facing the river have ceiling to floor glass walls as before. The coffee table and chairs on the balcony above the River Dart (Country Life magazine 2012) are my idea of paradise on earth.
Dartmouth in Devon, above the River Dart