Boxing Clever

The structured and linear exterior of this airy essex home belies the playful and colourful interior within.

- Kerryn Fischer

Geometric, boxy lines and bold use of colour characterise this English country house – so aficionados of international architecture would instantly trace the inspiration for it to that of the Dutch De Stijl or German Bauhaus aesthetic, both highly regarded modernist movements that were prominent in the early 1900s.

It’s hard to believe that almost a hundred years later – in the late 1990s – this incredible contemporary home was something of a pariah in the Essex village of Wivenhoe, inciting rancour and outrage in equal measure from neighbours and villagers who saw it as nothing more than a hideous eyesore.

To be fair, the house was not designed to fit in or court favour with its neighbours, a tough prospect at the best of times in a conservation village such as Wivenhoe. Designed by award-winning British architect Simon Conder for a Dutch couple with a passion for modern architecture and a penchant for perfection, it was built as a retirement home for them on what was the tennis court and vegetable garden of their existing property. Sadly, that dream was cut short when both were tragically killed in a plane he was piloting, and the house was put on the market.