Every house has its charms and idiosyncrasies; things to which we are instantly drawn or perhaps grow to love over time. Ask someone who lives in a period property what they like most and they might well mention ‘character’ – those features and details that reflect a building’s age and give it a sense of individuality. But who’s to say that a modern house, be it 20th century or contemporary, cannot have character of its own kind? And shouldn’t we be more concerned about practicality, anyway? To help us grapple with such questions, we have asked designers and architects to weigh in with their opinions and experiences.
Patrick Williams of Berdoulat is a restoration specialist who lives in an 18th-century house adjoining his shop in Bath. ‘I know I am not alone in feeling, when entering a period property, that something about it is just right,’ he says. ‘What is it that promotes this feeling, exactly? Is it driven by our inherent cultural references and the comfort one associates with a connection to the past and to previous generations who might have dwelt there? Perhaps.’
Carlos Garcia certainly thinks so. He splits his time between a ‘very modern’ flat in London and a 19th-century rectory in Norfolk, but the latter has his heart. ‘Traditional homes offer us the possibility of living immersed in history,’ he says. ‘They offer us comfort and reassurance. A humble way of reminding us that we are merely a link in the chain.’ Also championing older, more ‘worn’ properties is Rachel Aisling Walker, who has so far worked predominantly in period houses. She finds that they ‘can make you feel more at ease – there’s a lack of preciousness’.
However architect Alex Michaelis of Michaelis Boyd wholeheartedly disagrees. He believes that nothing beats the feeling of freedom – and fun – that a contemporary house can offer. ‘The older properties set a way of living that is slightly out of date, but if you are lucky enough to be able to build a house, you can unshackle yourself from the way people used to live and have a lot of fun,’ he explains, referencing his own London house that features a slide and fireman’s pole as playful alternatives to the stairs. He also notes how modern, open-plan living allows us to ‘create spaces where people can talk to each other and be in community’.
Community has also been an unexpected benefit of Sarah Walter Boyd’s flat in a modern block in south London: ‘Children play football on the covered walkways, neighbours open their front doors to talk to passers by and people look out for each other. That could be more down to luck than design however, but it’s bliss either way.’ When Sarah first started flat hunting, she was firmly in the period property camp, searching for that ‘romantic, rose-clad’ façade. However, when she discovered that Victorian house conversions ‘all end up with at least one compromised room’, she began exploring purpose-built modern blocks and never looked back.
Thanks to the ‘no frills’ concrete construction of her current home, she has ‘silence from her neighbours on all sides’, there are ‘no squeaky floorboards’, and there is less risk of water damage due to the impermeable concrete slab. Every flat is a self-contained unit that benefits from maximum light – with stairs and storage ‘using up the dark vortex in the middle’ – as well as excellent sight lines from one end of the flat to the other, a feeling of space and a private balcony. Philip Hooper, joint managing director at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, highlights another practical reason for choosing a modern property: planning restrictions. ‘As much as I love living in my current Georgian home, I find the compromises you have to make with a listed home outweigh the need for a rational life,’ he explains.
Patrick, meanwhile, feels that there are few things more rewarding than preserving our period buildings. ‘As I learn more about how they were constructed, my admiration for the people who designed and made them steadily grows,’ he says, before bemoaning the loss of such techniques in our modern world. ‘What were once skilled trades so ancient and deep-rooted as to inform the surnames of their practitioners have now become rare, and only employed in “specialist” circumstances.’
Tom Morris believes his Brutalist home in the Barbican is one such exception. ‘I don't think it could be said of all Modernism, especially many of the postwar developments that were less thought-through, but the Barbican is one of the best examples. Materials weren’t scrimped on, detail was really considered and the architects were able to control all of the design from beginning to end. You can tell how much they enjoyed thinking about the future and those touches (obviously all quite dated now) like the waste disposal units and built-in kitchens.’
As Alex mentioned, one of the major problems presented by old houses is their lack of suitability for modern life. But this is a puzzle that both Carlos and Rachel always enjoy solving. ‘It is equally challenging and stimulating trying to adapt those spaces to work for a 21st-century way of living without disturbing the very essence that makes the building appealing,’ says Carlos. ‘It is my strong belief that for traditional buildings to survive they must be lived in and adapt, or else they become obsolete.’ Similarly, Rachel has become skilled at ‘having to carve out layouts in an existing framework’ and encourages clients ‘to allow any new elements to age naturally, in keeping with the original features’. She never wants to lose ‘the patina on the mouldings, original panelled doors and old floors that have seen so much life’.
Will Fisher hones in on this beautifully aged, patinated quality: ‘It’s like a new leather jacket versus old. Ancient houses have soul, surface and history. I love the imperfections of our period home, the smell of log fires, the uneven lines, the worn surfaces. Modern structures can lack a certain depth.’ Patrick, too, speaks of ‘the play of light across a slightly undulating surface, the smooth texture of a handrail, or the worn step tread or dip in the centre of a threshold’.
Yet Alex explains that the same can be true of new buildings, in time, as long as the right materials are chosen. ‘In our office, it’s very much a crusade of natural materials – stone, wood, glass. These are materials that age and whoever’s living there will age them in a particular way,’ he says, before using that same example of a hand-worn banister. He points out that these are sustainable material choices, too, because ‘when the buildings die, they will simply return to the landscape’.
It is not just the architectural bones of the property that deserve consideration. Philip sees a modern home as offering broader decorative scope, giving him the chance to use furniture and furnishings that might look out of place in a period property. ‘The opportunity to decorate using contemporary and Modernist pieces as well as antiques appeals to the inner architect in me, as does the idea that you can be more holistic looking at how curtains and furnishings integrate with the building,’ he says. ‘I like nothing better than a project where all the interfaces between lighting, services, storage etc are resolved.’
Tom has concerns around both decoration and health and safety. ‘Being 6ft2 does sadly rule out many old properties for me. Low beams and narrow staircases can easily cause injuries. I feel they can also instruct interiors quite heavily – either leaning into tradition or totally going against it and being very minimal.’ He adds, ‘Generally, I much prefer the lack of fuss of modern architecture – and I see this as a different thing to contemporary – clean lines, plain materials, no frills. I like to have this as a great level playing field to add things to, although I appreciate many Modernist fans prefer to leave as is – and that has a certain appeal too, I just have too much stuff.’
So there we have it. Architecture, layout, materials, decoration and deep-rooted emotions all have an important part to play when it comes to deciding whether you might prefer a period or modern home. Which side wins? We’ll leave you to cast the deciding vote.
