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| Grayson Perry's House for Essex and six more dream homes | Grayson Perry's House for Essex and six more dream homes |
| (2 months later) | |
| If your idea of a dream home is a four-bedroom semi close to the shops with a kitchen island and aluminium bi-folding doors, then you’re simply not thinking big enough. Artist Grayson Perry’s A House for Essex in Wrabness – a monumental shrine to the fictional character Julie May Cope tragically killed by a pizza delivery moped at the age of 61 – just raised the stakes somewhat higher. In a Channel 4 documentary, Perry, who designed the house in collaboration with Charles Holland of FAT Architecture, described the astounding temple-like home as “pleasurable, decorative and hilarious” but also noted that the project touched on a serious issue: “Who we go home to to watch telly with in the evening, who we really love.” With this in mind, here are a selection of dream houses and what life might be living there. Telly optional. | |
| Hopen Place, Los Angeles: the ultimate Hollywood lifestyle | Hopen Place, Los Angeles: the ultimate Hollywood lifestyle |
| This kitsch mansion in the Hollywood Hills also has a connection to a Perry – but Friends actor Matthew, rather than Turner-prize winning artist Grayson. The actor apparently purchased this home, described on one website as the “ultimate entertainment compound for a lavish Hollywood lifestyle”, in 2011. | This kitsch mansion in the Hollywood Hills also has a connection to a Perry – but Friends actor Matthew, rather than Turner-prize winning artist Grayson. The actor apparently purchased this home, described on one website as the “ultimate entertainment compound for a lavish Hollywood lifestyle”, in 2011. |
| Related: For Grayson Perry's Essex house, the only way was 'bonkers as possible' | Related: For Grayson Perry's Essex house, the only way was 'bonkers as possible' |
| Great. It’s my house now. I’m a successful Hollywood screenwriter and when I’m not going to important meetings and attending screenings I’m floating around in my “wet-edge infinity pool” (whatever that means) and enjoying the entirely redundant warmth from my outdoor fireplace. I can’t say I am particularly keen on the gigantic Jeff Koons-style flower that dominates the courtyard but I sometimes like to pretend I’m living in a giant’s house as I sip on a spinach, chia seed and soy smoothie and admire the lights of the city twinkling in the distance below me. Best of all, it’s only six miles from my boyfriend George Clooney’s house in Studio City. Amal who? | Great. It’s my house now. I’m a successful Hollywood screenwriter and when I’m not going to important meetings and attending screenings I’m floating around in my “wet-edge infinity pool” (whatever that means) and enjoying the entirely redundant warmth from my outdoor fireplace. I can’t say I am particularly keen on the gigantic Jeff Koons-style flower that dominates the courtyard but I sometimes like to pretend I’m living in a giant’s house as I sip on a spinach, chia seed and soy smoothie and admire the lights of the city twinkling in the distance below me. Best of all, it’s only six miles from my boyfriend George Clooney’s house in Studio City. Amal who? |
| The Bird’s Nest Treehotel, Sweden: me-time for ecowarriors | The Bird’s Nest Treehotel, Sweden: me-time for ecowarriors |
| Who hasn’t dreamed of living in a treehouse? Well, me actually, because I’m not so great with heights. But I’ll make an exception for this Swedish property, situated in a forest in the north of the country, which is called the Bird’s Nest for obvious reasons. | Who hasn’t dreamed of living in a treehouse? Well, me actually, because I’m not so great with heights. But I’ll make an exception for this Swedish property, situated in a forest in the north of the country, which is called the Bird’s Nest for obvious reasons. |
| Living in a treehouse requires resourcefulness, so in the spirit of Grayson Perry I have created a fictional character who lives here. Rainbow Moonbeam (given name Christine) is an ecowarrior, although protesting is quite tiring, so she’s come to the forest for some me-time. She grows her own food, which is much harder than she thought it would be, and when night draws in, she writes a blog about foraging (there are so many interesting berries in the forest, it turns out) on her brand new Macbook Air, a present from her retired, Surrey-based parents who insist she email them every week. It runs off her nifty solar charger, of course. | Living in a treehouse requires resourcefulness, so in the spirit of Grayson Perry I have created a fictional character who lives here. Rainbow Moonbeam (given name Christine) is an ecowarrior, although protesting is quite tiring, so she’s come to the forest for some me-time. She grows her own food, which is much harder than she thought it would be, and when night draws in, she writes a blog about foraging (there are so many interesting berries in the forest, it turns out) on her brand new Macbook Air, a present from her retired, Surrey-based parents who insist she email them every week. It runs off her nifty solar charger, of course. |
| Luxury houseboat, Berlin: watery city style | Luxury houseboat, Berlin: watery city style |
| Living on a houseboat in the city has always seemed an incredibly romantic notion to me. You’re at the heart of the action, but also resplendent in the watery peace and quiet, master of your own domain. But then again – winter. Chemical toilets. Cramped quarters. | Living on a houseboat in the city has always seemed an incredibly romantic notion to me. You’re at the heart of the action, but also resplendent in the watery peace and quiet, master of your own domain. But then again – winter. Chemical toilets. Cramped quarters. |
| This luxury Berlin houseboat solves all these problems, with mod cons including a shower room, dishwasher and, most importantly, a fireplace at your disposal. The sleek and serene home is, I feel, an ideal base for a historian, well respected in his field. He’s put his recent divorce behind him, and is feeling good about life. He teaches history and cultural studies at the Freie Universität and in the evenings works on his new book, a time-travel thriller about a divorced historian turned spy who singlehandedly stops the second world war and alters the course of world history. Yes, it’s a slight change of direction, but living on the water is so freeing, no? | This luxury Berlin houseboat solves all these problems, with mod cons including a shower room, dishwasher and, most importantly, a fireplace at your disposal. The sleek and serene home is, I feel, an ideal base for a historian, well respected in his field. He’s put his recent divorce behind him, and is feeling good about life. He teaches history and cultural studies at the Freie Universität and in the evenings works on his new book, a time-travel thriller about a divorced historian turned spy who singlehandedly stops the second world war and alters the course of world history. Yes, it’s a slight change of direction, but living on the water is so freeing, no? |
| Impruneta Castle, Florence: suits of armour optional | Impruneta Castle, Florence: suits of armour optional |
| Why not just go the whole hog and live in a castle? Impruneta Castle, on the outskirts of Florence, was built in 964 as a military garrison, and will certainly impress your friends and neighbours. Lavish state rooms, an interior courtyard and your own chapel are all part and parcel of this dream home, and its mixture of baroque, renaissance and medieval architecture is perfect for people who just can’t make up their minds about anything. Ideal for pretending you are a knight, a king or queen, or simply lord or lady of the manor. | Why not just go the whole hog and live in a castle? Impruneta Castle, on the outskirts of Florence, was built in 964 as a military garrison, and will certainly impress your friends and neighbours. Lavish state rooms, an interior courtyard and your own chapel are all part and parcel of this dream home, and its mixture of baroque, renaissance and medieval architecture is perfect for people who just can’t make up their minds about anything. Ideal for pretending you are a knight, a king or queen, or simply lord or lady of the manor. |
| Dressing up is de rigeuer, suits of armour optional, but strongly encouraged. Weekly feast night on Fridays – all you can eat suckling pig. | Dressing up is de rigeuer, suits of armour optional, but strongly encouraged. Weekly feast night on Fridays – all you can eat suckling pig. |
| Seven Lakes hut, Slovenia: perfect for misanthropes | Seven Lakes hut, Slovenia: perfect for misanthropes |
| Sometimes you just want to get away from it all. This isolated cabin in Slovenia is perfect for the misanthropic, and the views of the surrounding mountains will surely lift the most careworn of hearts. I have scant information about this cabin, which is nestled in the heart of a national park, but I imagine there is a roaring fire inside, and shelves and shelves of books. No electricity, obviously, and only the most basic of plumbing, but that’s the point isn’t it? An inexhaustible supply of canned goods, a cellar full of local wine and a stout pair of walking boots are all you need to live the dream here. | Sometimes you just want to get away from it all. This isolated cabin in Slovenia is perfect for the misanthropic, and the views of the surrounding mountains will surely lift the most careworn of hearts. I have scant information about this cabin, which is nestled in the heart of a national park, but I imagine there is a roaring fire inside, and shelves and shelves of books. No electricity, obviously, and only the most basic of plumbing, but that’s the point isn’t it? An inexhaustible supply of canned goods, a cellar full of local wine and a stout pair of walking boots are all you need to live the dream here. |
| The Boot, New Zealand: a shoo-in for quirky nature-lovers | The Boot, New Zealand: a shoo-in for quirky nature-lovers |
| It was inevitable. I am now an old woman who lives in a shoe. Literally. | It was inevitable. I am now an old woman who lives in a shoe. Literally. |
| • This article was amended on 17 July 2015 to make clear that the design of the house was a collaboration between Grayson Perry and Charles Holland of FAT Architecture. |
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