What is a modern house?
One of the questions we are often asked is how we define the type of properties that we represent. What is a modern house, exactly?
When The Modern House was founded back in 2005, we used Modernism as a foundation stone, and its central themes remain at the heart of all of the homes we sell: flowing space, natural light and a truth to materials.
It’s not simply about the fabric of the building. In our view, a Georgian townhouse or a Victorian factory can be infinitely more modern than a Seventies bungalow – it’s all about how the space is configured and occupied.
Modernism had its roots in the concept of democracy, and we try to remain democratic when it comes to selling, representing homes across all price points.
Whether it’s a small but perfectly formed flat or a monumental one-off house, we apply the same reverence and marketing knowhow. Location is rarely a barrier either: we have sold homes the length and breadth of the UK, from Cornwall to Kirkcaldy.
However, we do discriminate when it comes to good design. It could be a converted chapel with soaring ceilings; a loft apartment with raw concrete columns; a graceful glasshouse in the grounds of a stately home; a Victorian semi with carefully curated interiors. It might be a dusty relic of the Modernist era that’s waiting to be brought back to life.
Above all, we always ask ourselves this: is it a home that engages, excites and lifts the spirits?
As well as selling houses, we like to celebrate the community we come into contact with. When putting together the ‘My Modern House’ series for our Journal, it has been fascinating to explore the diversity of what it means to live in a modern way.
Bringing the outside in
Modernist architects used expanses of glass to embrace the landscape, an idea that endures today. Landscape designer Emily Erlam, who owns a converted barn in rural Norfolk, believes that modern living is about “the connection between indoors and outdoors, and using that to blur the boundaries of your living space”.
Despite building her house in a very different context – a constrained plot in Hackney – architect Laura Dewe Mathews shares the same ideals: “It’s about being indoors yet enjoying dappled light spilling in, listening to birdsong and having a sense of openness, connecting with the outdoors.”
A space for entertaining
For others, modern living is about sociability. In his new-build apartment in south London, which he bought through The Modern House, restaurateur Mark Hix has embraced open-plan living because of its opportunities for entertaining: “It’s great when you’ve got friends round and you’re cooking in the same space, rather than diving off to the kitchen to slurp wine,” he tells us.
Duncan Campbell and Luke Edward Hall’s Victorian flat in Camden is a thoroughly maximalist and colourful affair, but their carefully curated interior is the backdrop for a very modern way of life. “Even if we had a bigger house, we’d still want it more or less in one room,” Duncan explains. “I think it’s the way people live nowadays. We don’t really need a dining room or a formal sitting room. It’s so nice to be able to cook and be convivial and have a drink while you’re chopping… give someone a clove of garlic to peel… I suppose we don’t have a formal existence, with set meal times and entertaining in that way.”
Chef Anna Barnett, who shares an expansive period pub with her friends, has a similarly convivial approach: “I love the social element of open spaces, where you can cook and have people round a lot. I can be quite ad hoc when I’m hosting, too – if I’ve invited two people round for dinner, before I know it there will be eight.”
Working from home
Advances in technology have meant that the home has become a place of work as well. Behind the Arts and Crafts façade of her west London townhouse, Hanna Geller Goldsmith has created a home that functions for both family life and professional experimentation. “In many senses my life is very traditional because I’m still trying to be a mother,” she says, “but I’m creating a new kind of career from my home and that flexible approach to work and that new approach to space feels modern.”
Marcia Mihotich often works in her charmingly rudimentary beach house near Whitstable, with the sea as a backdrop. She says: “I think the relaxing of barriers of age, respect and formality in everyday life have changed how we live – as has technology.”
Modern detailing
For some, it’s the period details that give them joy. Sheridan Coakley’s house in the Hampshire countryside was built in 1974 as “a kind of fantasy mid-century-style batchelor pad”; Genevieve Lutkin says she “instantly fell in love with the 1930s Art Deco features and large Crittall windows” of her flat in Clapton; Taran Wilkhu waxes lyrical about “the architecture, the sense of community, the layout, the light, the timber” of his 1980s Walter Segal-designed house in Honor Oak; and Sam and Nelli Turner fell for the Brutalist aesthetic of their ex-council flat on the Alexandra & Ainsworth Estate.
Home as artwork
For others, the home is a sanctuary for contemplation and curation. Rachel Hart, who bought her East End loft apartment through The Modern House, believes that “the luxury of modern life is having a bit more time – caring for plants and taking satisfaction out of bringing little things together, fixing things up and setting things out.”
Botanical stylist Yasuyo Harvey uses her suburban home as a canvas for her floral creations, updating the interior with the textures and smells of the seasons. Interior designer Louisa Grey has taken it one stage further, constantly reinventing her decorative scheme in a period townhouse with endless possibilities. In Jessica Robinson’s case, her extraordinary house, an all-black masterpiece by the architect David Adjaye, is “an artwork in itself”.
If you own a modern home and are curious about its value, our team of specialists would love to hear from you.
Read more: A Year in Review: the 10 best homes of 2017
RELATED ON THE MODERN HOUSE
Book Preview: ‘I never met a straight line I didn't like’ uncovers Christchurch’s mid-century modern movement
Step through the looking glass at Sally Mackereth’s story-book inspired house
Book Preview: the 20 most influential houses of the 20th century
Book Preview: Urban Geometry celebrates the abstract beauty of contemporary architecture
What to see at Open House London 2020
‘A Roman ruin wrapped around a modern concrete house’ – step inside Adam Richards' Nithurst Farm
My Modern House: Chris and Susannah Burke on updating their 1960s modernist house in Suffolk for the 21st century
Architect Barbara Weiss takes us on a tour of her upside-down house, a converted pub in Westminster, central London
Photo Essay: support the Trussell Trust with this architectural photography sale
Open House: designer David Pocknell on his converted barn in Essex, the culmination of a lifetime’s work