Wealden Times | WT171 | May 2016 | Restoration & New Build supplement inside

HOUSE OF THE MONTH by John Graham-Hart
Open to ideas
John Graham-Hart looks at homes with open-plan layouts
As anyone who has recently tried communicating with their teenaged son
will suspect, we are heading back to the Dark Ages. This, however, is
not all entirely bad news. Indeed, from an architectural perspective, it’s
beginning to look rather good news.
Throughout medieval times, country folk tended to live in single-room
dwellings, the best known being perhaps the hall house. There was one central
fire around which everyone gathered in the evening and then slept at night. The
smoke drifted up through the hall and, with varying efficiency, out of a hole in
the roof. This was true open-plan living and it was only with the Tudors that
rooms as we know them began to make their appearance.
Although practical in many respects, such rooms did rather pigeon-hole
domestic life – you will cook in this room, eat in another room and withdraw
to relax in yet another. Cook, eat or relax in the wrong space and you’d be
looking over your shoulder for the Room Police.
However, throughout the country, walls are now quaking on their
foundations, awaiting the sledge hammer. Everywhere they’re tumbling and
in their place are appearing beautiful, new, bright spaces that better reflect our
21st century lifestyles. Open plan and ‘broken plan’ – open plan on different
levels or with subtle dividers – are the interior design buzz words of the
moment. Mies van der Rohe would be delighted. Less has certainly become
more when it comes to partitioning our living quarters.
So after 1,000 years, we have come full circle to the great hall, the only
difference being that the great hall would probably have been shared with rather
less than hygienic livestock. But then again….
1. Long Croft
Where? Long Croft is in an attractive
village setting close to the heart of Platt
and about eight miles from Sevenoaks
(Google Maps TN15 8NR).
What? An attractive and versatile
contemporary family house, Long Croft
was built in 2006 over four floors. The
centrepiece of the house is a bright galleried
atrium/dining hall leading through to a
spacious, triple-aspect drawing room with a
spectacular circular fireplace which it shares
with the dining hall. Also on the ground
floor there is a large open-plan kitchen/
breakfast/sitting room with three sets of
double glass doors to the garden.
On the lower ground floor there is a
cinema, a gym, a sitting room and a
bedroom. On the first floor there are
five bedrooms, all with en suite shower
or bathroom. On the top floor there is a
large games room. Accessed through the
integral garage is a separate annexe with
a reception room with French doors,
kitchen, bathroom and a double bedroom.
The landscaped garden encompasses a
sandstone terrace and a summerhouse
and a gate leads to a lovely area of natural
woodland.
How much? Long Croft is for sale
at £2,250,000 and is on the market with
Knight Frank in Sevenoaks. Call 01732
744477 or visit www.knightfrank.co.uk
www.wealdentimes.co.uk
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