Holiday home The Dune House

Thor­peness, on the Suffolk coast, is vaguely remi­niscent of the world of Peter Pan: half-tim­bered houses, gables, turrets and an arti­ficial lake with small islands, com­plete with a pirate’s hideout. And this is no coin­ci­dence: J. M. Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, was a friend of the man who com­mis­sioned the building of this village from 1910 onwards. Glen­cairn Stuart Ogilvie built an ‘old England’ here that had never actually existed. It was intended as an exclusive retreat at a time when the old order was dis­ap­pearing.
However, this Neverland is just as far from innocent as the Peter Pan story itself. In fact, behind some of the half-tim­bering lies con­crete; the ‘House in the Clouds’ on the tower is a water tank in dis­guise. A place that denies reality in more ways than one – true Peter Pan archi­tecture. Let us recall: Barrie’s story is about a boy who does not want to grow up, who forgets and represses.

The Dune House stands a little way back from the sea and is – unlike Thor­peness – a tho­rough grown-up place. This is also evident in the way it takes its sur­roun­dings seriously. To begin the design, Jarmund/Vigsnæs Archi­tects from Oslo, com­mis­sioned by Living Archi­tecture, started with a pho­to­graph of the old house that pre­viously stood on the site and retouched the ground floor away: what remained was a gable roof floating in the air, much like in a Magritte painting. This deve­loped into an initial design whilst they were on their return journey to Oslo, whilst waiting at the airport. A quick sketch gave rise to a jagged roofline that echoes the gables all around.

And from all this emerged the Dune House: below lies a single open space, half-sunken into the dune and glazed on all sides. Sliding doors lead directly onto the beach. So the black roof still seems to float in the air. Ups­tairs are four bed­rooms, each beneath its own gable and clad in white-glazed ash, with views of the sea – from the bed and even from the bath. Outside, black-stained timber; on the roof, stainless-steel shingles that shimmer like fish scales.

There is room for up to nine guests here, in a house that makes no pre­tence of being any­thing other than what it is, or of belonging to a dif­ferent era. Its archi­tecture truly allows for a clear view – of the sur­roun­dings and of things as they are, in equal measure.

What to do

Walk along the beach to Aldeburgh, past the famous ‘Scallop’ sculpture, and visit the Red House there, where Benjamin Britten lived. Attend concerts at Snape Maltings during the Aldeburgh Festival in June. Go birdwatching in the North Warren and Minsmere nature reserves. Off the beaten track, the area also offers other possibilities, such as a visit to the Sizewell nuclear power station.

Why we like this house

Because, in a village full of faux façades, it openly reveals the era from which it dates. And because this contrast makes you see the place itself in a different light.

This house is great for

For holidays with family or friends.

Details

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