The Househunter Room by Room

Well you know what they say – it’s all about location and this one wins on for that. It’s in Chester and it’s on the market with Savills for £1,650,000, which is about a tenth of what it would cost in London. Which doesn’t make it right but does make it affordable in a sort of mild lottery win, sell a child, inherit something from a long lost relative kind of way. No all right probably still not but hell, it’s worth having a look round. And wait till you see the view from the back of the house. That child’ll have a price tag on his jacket in no time….

Into the dining room and it’s not so much about the furniture as the ceilings and windows with the shutters. I do like the pink lamps and I reckon that blind looks like an oil painting when it’s closed which is quite a clever idea for a dining room and one I hadn’t thought of before now. I’m thinking of it now though and wondering if I need a dining room so I can roll down ancient pictures of ancestors (as it were) or still lives of fruits and flowers.

Back to the green again for this room. The walls are a fabulous colour and while I might not have matched the carpet or chosen the ornate furniture, if I were to move in (looks speculatively at the children) I might keep the walls this colour.

This room below is perhaps a little calmer and just look at those windows. This is a house with good bones. It’s the Kate Moss of houses. It doesn’t actually matter what it wears but you know in the right dress it could look amazing.

I had to show you this. For sheer breath-taking I bet none of you have a kitchen this colour do you? Thought not. It’s a bold decision and I’m wondering if it’s going to hold up sales. I’d have no qualms in ripping it out but buyers are tricky characters. And we’ll be finding out more about that next week when my next guest blogger joins us and this month I’m very excited to say that we have Amanda Lamb of Selling Houses who’s going to be telling us all the tips and tricks she has gathered over the years of television presenting. I’m guessing she might advise repainting this before going to market.

But then, when you can look at this from your sitting room window every day, perhaps you’d take on the task of depurpling a kitchen? Or not?

Next up is a new development in London which has been put together by designers with a view to selling it rather than by owners with a view to living in it, so you can decide which you prefer.

This is in Hackney, east London and there are various apartments for sale. Two towers have been built onto an existing building – you can see more at CBRE and the cheapest is £720,000 rising to £2,495,000. They come with various luxury add ons such as private members clubs and office space and other mod cons.

I think it might be a bit like living in a hotel, which was possibly the point but we’re just having a little poke about in a fantasy kind of way to see if there are any ideas we can nick take inspiration from. It’s back to the green for me – that sofa with the black and white walls and wooden accents is a great look and one I would happily bring to a new scheme.

The black bedroom looks pretty good too although it does look hotel and not real. As always though it’s the bathrooms where these development places really work. This is pretty luxe and well, pretty no? Two basins are always a good idea if you have room – it’s just one less row in the morning.

I hardly dare ask what you think. I’m sensing you will all hate it and the really strange thing is that I couldn’t find a picture of the kitchens in any of them, which probably tells you all you need to know about who they’re marketed at. How about this which isn’t on the market but is an extraordinary home that was created from an old Spanish cement factory.

It belongs to an architect called Ricardo Bofill who discovered it in 1973 and has just finished it. Well nearly – it’s a work in progress. He has allowed the plants to run riot over the outside and turned the inside into a live work space.

You can read all about it on his website here and there are masses more pictures to look at. I just thought I’d give you a flavour of it here.

This is one building I’d really love to see for real as I think it’s probably hard to get a sense of scale from these pictures. But you can see how he has created living spaces that aren’t terrifyingly huge. I could curl up on that sofa with a book quite happily and it doesn’t give the impression that you’d be living in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, which is the only place I can think of that might be similarly scaled.

Anyway, it’s not really one for words this – just for wandering about. What do you think?

We’ve definitely done three very different properties this week and hopefully that’s been food for your soul if not a feast for your eyes. Although this last one is definitely that for me. Have a great weekend everyone and I’ll see you all on Monday.