The idea that Willow Road might have been a controversial build is an odd one to us these days, but when the modernist terrace in Hampstead was planned in the late 1930s, it was met with heated opposition from local residents including the author Ian Fleming. Designed by Hungarian architect Ernő Goldfinger (hence Fleming’s famous Bond villain), the row of three houses backing onto Hampstead Heath is archetypically Modern with a capital M – clean lines, straight and simple ribbon windows and utilitarian red brick supposed to usher in a new era of interwar prosperity. Now, it is the sort of home a fan of Arne Jacobsen or Le Corbusier’s International Style might lust after.
Goldfinger designed the flats in 1936, but was forced to reimagine them when the local council rejected his plans. He and his wife Ursula intended to live in the central flat, number two, and so the plans were of personal as well as professional importance. Eventually, plans were accepted in 1937, and the row was completed in 1939 despite a local campaign against them sparked by the fact that a row of cottages had to be knocked down to make space for them. As well as Fleming, Lord Brooke of Cumnor, who would later be elected MP for Hampstead and was secretary of the Heath and Old Hampstead Protection Society, voiced his objections to a rectangular, concrete building.
In response (and with the support of other local residents including the artist Roland Penrose and the actress Flora Robson), Goldfinger defended himself. “[The flats] are designed in a modern adaptation of the eighteenth-century style,” he explains, “and are far more in keeping with the beautiful Downshire Hill houses round the corner than their neighbours in Willow Road… As for the objection that the houses are rectangular, only the Eskimos and the Zulus build anything but rectangular houses.”
The Goldfinger family house in the middle of the three is the largest, and features a centrepiece spiral staircase by Danish designer and engineer Ove Arup. In many ways, the (to us) understated design is typical of the socially conscious design that arose from the interwar years and was developed and embraced further across Europe when rebuilding after World War Two. On a relatively small footprint, it uses modest, modern materials – concrete with a facing of red brick – and is bright and design-forward. In that sense, it was a vision of a utopian future in 1939 as much as it was a family home for Ernő and the Goldfingers.
What to see at Willow Road
Since 1995, 2 Willow Road has been the property of the National Trust (numbers 1 and 3 are still privately owned), and it is open to visit on Thursdays and Saturdays from March to October by pre-booked tour. Goldfinger himself designed a lot of number 2’s furniture, which is well worth seeing alongside Arup’s spiral staircase, and the terrace houses work by notable 20th century artists including Bridget Riley, Marcel Duchamp, Henry Moore, Max Ernst and Eduardo Paolozzi.
Willow Road, 2 Willow Road, Hampstead, London NW3 1TH
More great travel stories from House & Garden
- The most stylish hotels under £200 in the UK
- A charming boutique hotel on a hidden Greek island
- The loveliest walks in Sussex, according to locals
- The best AirBnBs in Cornwall to rent now
- Outdoor drinking in London - where to go now
- Seven of the best beach restaurants in Europe
- The 50 best restaurants in London right now
- Lesser-known country gardens to visit all year round
