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The house then
Built between 1967 and 1970,
'Chert' was the retirement home for two women
- Miss Koo Haddock MBE and Miss Connie McDowell.
Koo had been an engineer at the Ministry of Aviation
and Connie a doctor of Chemistry and Britain's
first female factory inspector. Having a great
deal of technical experience between them, the
pair designed the house themselves and employed
a firm of local architects, Gilbert and Hobson
of Ventnor, to simply follow their design.
Set high up in an estate of
houses of mixed styles, Chert (named after a type
of flint) overlooked the sea. Built of wood, concrete
and glass, the building comprised two stories
- the lower housed garages and a workshop, with
all the accommodation on the upper floor. This
was accessed by way of a spiral staircase which
would bring you up into a central hallway. This
hallway joined the two symmetrical halves of the
house - each half having two receptions rooms,
a bathroom and a kitchen. There were no bedrooms
as such, just a day bed in each of the reception
rooms. From the hallway you could also access
the sun-deck which ran almost the length of the
house.
The property had foldaway doors
between all rooms which meant that the house could
either be closed off or fully opened up. The floor
throughout was a grey, black and white speckled
lino tile which aided the fluidity of the space.
There was a wealth of storage throughout, including
built-in side units and cupboards. The windows
and patio doors were large with a sliding mechanism
to take advantage of the light.
The identical kitchens were
cleverly designed with a fold-down
breakfast table revealing shelving, all with
turquoise formica surfaces. There were mosaic
tiles of turquoise and orange, as well as some
larger patterned tiles very akin
to Poole pottery. This tiling also appeared in
the bathrooms where formica was again extensively
used - orange surfaces in one,
turquoise in another.
Koo used the workshop downstairs
to create 12
inch square tiles of cement, inlaid with stones,
which were used to decorate the exterior and entrance
to the property. There were also 2 ponds - one
at the front and one at the side. Next door to
Chert, the women also designed 'Little Chert'
- a smaller, one-storey version to accommodate
friends who came to stay. This also had a pool
of water running along the side of the property,
originally used for swimming.
The house now
The house was bequeathed to
the National Trust and it passed to them in 1995
after both women had died. After a programme of
restoration, it became available to rent as a
holiday cottage in March 2000.
The condition and upkeep of
the house is excellent - most of the original
features remain, including the built-in units,
the mosaics and the tiling, along with all the
formica surfaces. Some original furniture remains,
such as the Harry Bertoia side chairs,
whilst the rest is reproduction. Only minimal
changes have been made to how the space was originally
used; 2 of the reception rooms have been converted
to permanent bedrooms (a double and a twin). The
light in the house is fantastic.
The National Trust have put
together a file of press clippings on the property,
and there is also an interesting photo
diary made by one of the women documenting
the build. And looking in one of the storage cupboards
we came across a wealth of other papers including
photos and postcards from a trip the women took
to America in 1964 to visit the New York World
Fair. There were also a number of diaries and
notebooks. The most intriguing was a detailed
record of ideas for Chert in an alphabetised book,
so that everything could be referenced easily,
for example H for handles. This attention to detail
is evident in the house, with every feature right
down to towel hooks and taps well-considered.
It is clear that this is one
of the National Trust's most unusual properties.
Whilst some modern houses may be open to visitors,
there aren't many you can rent out, and having
the chance to live in one for a week gives you
a great insight.
Other places of interest on
the island
Before visiting, I got hold
of the society's notes - 'A Medina Meander' -
dating from a society-organised trip to the Island
in 1992. I've left these in the property so if
you visit you may well find them! They proved
useful in informing us of 'The
New House' in Luccombe by F R S Yorke (featured
in his book 'The Modern House'). It was worth
hunting out despite the fact that it was a little
the worse for wear and being a private residence
we couldn't go in. We also visited the K1
telephone box in Bembridge, the precursor
to the better-known K2 (red telephone box) and
the only one still in use as a telephone in the
UK.
The other thing to do on the
island is to visit car-boot sales. There seems
to be one every day somewhere on the island (for
a full-listing ask at Tourist Information). There
are certainly bargains to be had - we picked up
an isokon-style plywood cabinet for £3 and
a selection of 50's kitchenware from as little
as 15p.
Further details
For information on renting Chert
go to http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/cottages/nt.asp?p=63&a=&l=&c=118
To order the society's notes
'A Medina Meander', click
here
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