Architecture fan buys the house she’s dreamed of for 50 years
“I’m just so fond of the 1960s and earlier in terms of design, so I knew I wanted this house before I even went inside it,” says Julia, the subject of our latest Checking In film, for which we call in on people who have bought their home through us. Watch it here.
Julia’s home is a special one. Designed and built in 1961 by the modernist architect John Winter at the end of a quiet residential lane, overlooking the Regent’s Park in central London, it was used as the Winter’s family home before they relocated to the famous Corten House on Swain’s Lane in Highgate.
It was the first that Winter built for himself and his young family after returning to the UK from America where he had worked with SOM and the Eameses. He and his wife, the graphic designer Val Winters, laid the bricks and mortar together in the cold winter of 1960, converting a set of former garages into a beautiful early example of his signature Modernist style.
Julia’s connection to the house goes back to when it was built, when she worked at the Architectural Association. John Winter was a student at the time, and was building the house with the help of his contemporaries like Peter Smithson. What an all-star cast, you might think – but just wait for the moment in the film when Julia starts to explain the photographs and drawings on her walls (spoiler alert: one of them is by her friend Frank Gehry).
Watch Julia, who is filled with passion and stories about modernist architecture and design, walk you through her house here. And make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay updated with our film episodes as they come out. Happy watching.
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