A number of questions immediately spring to mind when looking at Invisible House. One. How many birds fly into the mirrored walls on a daily basis? Two. How do you clean all those reflective surfaces? And three. Is it possible to live here without ever feeling like you’re not in a dystopian episode of Charlie Brooker’s ‘Black Mirror’ — or, if you’re easily affected by psychological horror movies, the sequel to ‘When a Stranger Calls’?
Even its name carries a certain undertone of unease. But let’s stick to the positives for now. Invisible House is currently on the market via Knight Frank with a guide price of £2 million.
Designed by Steve Smith, owner of the award-winning property, Ghost House, and Phill Shepherd of BNP Architects, Invisible House is an ‘exceptional piece of modern architecture’, as selling agents Knight Frank note. And they’re not wrong.
It is exceptional. After all, the deconstructed single-storey dwelling is completely clad in smoked mirrored glass, where eight separate ‘pavilions’ are connected via a series of glazed walkways (think the hall of mirrors from your local funfair, but with fewer screaming children). It’s worlds away from anything we’ve featured before, and it certainly won’t be for everyone.
The property was granted build permission under the ‘Para 79’ category — more of which you can read about here – but essentially, it is a way for people to build a house in an area that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to, so long as the dwelling is unique and of ‘ground breaking’ architecture which enhances the immediate setting.
The mirror-clad exterior is designed to reflect the foliage from the surrounding single-stem birch trees, creating the illusion of a house that ceases to exist. There are pros and cons to this. Great if you want to live amongst nature, where barriers blur. Bad if you like curtains and cosy spaces.
The property is situated along one of the private drives in the exclusive Moreton Paddox community, about eight miles from Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick and Leamington Spa. The village of Moreton Morrell is close by, with a primary school, parish church, tennis club and local pub.
For the commuter, transport links are excellent with Birmingham International Airport just 25 miles away, quick access onto the M40 for Birmingham and the West Midlands and intercity train services on the Chiltern line available from Warwick, Warwick Parkway, Leamington Spa and Banbury.
For all its accolades — of which there are many – there is something unnerving about Invisible House. Is it that the clinical, surgery-white interiors challenge everything we think a house should be — cosy, soft and somewhere where you can close yourself away from the outside world? Or will we look back in ten years’ time, from our proverbial glass houses and realise that this was the future of living all along?
As the age old adage goes, ‘people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’, but maybe those of us in regular houses shouldn’t throw them either, and instead celebrate the diverse, challenging architecture emerging in our countryside.
We’ll leave the ultimate verdict up to you.
Invisible House is currently on the market via Knight Frank with a guide price of £2 million — see more pictures or enquire with the agent for further details.
Credit: Strutt and Parker
Best country houses for sale this week
An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for
-
The greatest flowers make the greatest artA search for still-life subjects led Kate Friend to some of the greatest gardens and gardeners in the country
-
The Castle Howard Mausoleum, a building so beautiful 'you'd almost want to be alive when buried in it', is facing its own demiseThe celebrated Castle Howard Mausoleum is a dynastic monument to the Howard family, but it needs further restoration if it is to survive. Christopher Ridgway tells its story; photography by Paul Higham.
-
Can you buy happiness? The latest list of Britain's happiest places, and what you could end up with if you moved thereCan you buy happiness? Of course not, but you can buy a nicer house in a better town... and, well, that's probably going to help quite a bit.
-
The wave of downsizing about to hit the property market in the UKThe Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget — and specifically the 'Mansion Tax' — has fired a starting pistol for downsizers, and the waves will wash across the entire property market. Annabel Dixon spoke to property experts across the country to gauge how it will play out.
-
A Georgian farmhouse that's an 'absolute gem' in an ancient village on Salisbury PlainJulie Harding takes a look at the beautiful West Farm in a gorgeous Wiltshire village.
-
It'd be crazy to buy this 500-year-old farmhouse just because of its utterly gorgeous Aga — so thank goodness that the rest of this place is also really nicePerry Mill Farm is an immaculate yet characterful four-bedroom dream home in the country at a price that will make city dwellers immediately start Googling 'working from Worcestershire'.
-
'A masterpiece of timeless elegance' for sale on the charmed Surrey estate once owned by Henry VIII and the Guinness familyThe Manor House in Burwood Park is a grand, enormous and undeniably impressive. Annabel Dixon takes a look.
-
A grand hall in Yorkshire with 400 years of historyCarlton Hall is a wonderful family home amid glorious gardens in a quaint village location. Penny Churchill looks inside.
-
Why don't more of us live in brightly coloured homes?It's not often that you see a home sporting the colour palette that you'd get if you hired a four-year old as your interior designer. But why not? The Blue House in Bethnal Green asks this and many more questions.
-
Five magnificent mansions, from a former monastery to an Art Deco wonder in the South Downs, as seen in Country LifeWonderful homes, including a superb beach home in Cornwall, all fresh on the market via Country Life.
