2 Willow Road is part of a terrace of three houses in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, London designed by architect

Ernő Goldfinger Ernő Goldfinger (11 September 1902 – 15 November 1987) was a Hungarian-born British architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United Kingdom in the 1930s, and became a key member of the modernist architecture, Modernist architectur ...

and completed in 1939. It has been managed by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

since 1995 and is open to the public. It was one of the first Modernist buildings acquired by the Trust, giving rise to some controversy. Goldfinger lived there with his wife Ursula and their children until his death in 1987.

History

Initially, Goldfinger planned to build a block of studio flats, believing that flat living was a more socially conscious choice for modern architects. This idea was rejected by the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

in 1936. He then revised his designs to include a block of three houses, retaining the concrete frame integral to Goldfinger's Modernist philosophy. He submitted these revised plans at the end of 1937. The construction of 2 Willow Road, was completed in the summer of 1939 constructed from concrete and a facing of red brick. A number of

cottages A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

were demolished to allow for the construction, which was strongly opposed by a number of local residents including novelist

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

and the future

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Home Secretary Henry Brooke. This incident led Fleming to name his villain

Auric Goldfinger Auric Goldfinger is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Ian Fleming's 1959 seventh ''James Bond'' novel, '' Goldfinger'', and the 1964 film it inspired (the third in the ''James Bond'' series). His first name, Auric, is an adjective ...

by way of revenge. No. 2, which Goldfinger designed specifically as his own family home, is the largest of the three houses and features a

spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical direction, vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps wh ...

Ove Arup Sir Ove Nyquist Arup (16 April 1895 – 5 February 1988) was an English engineer who founded Arup Group Limited, a multinational corporation offering engineering, design, planning, project management, and consultant, consulting services for bu ...

at its core. The building is supported by a concrete frame, part of which is external, leaving room for a spacious uncluttered interior, perhaps inspired by the '' Raumplan'' ideas of modernist architect

Adolf Loos Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos (; 10 December 1870 – 23 August 1933) was an Austrian and Czechoslovak architect, influential European theorist, and a polemicist of modern architecture. He was inspired by modernism and a widely-known c ...

Today

Goldfinger himself designed much of the furniture in No. 2, and the house also contains a significant collection of 20th-century art by

Bridget Riley Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France. Early life and education Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in West Norwood, No ...

Prunella Clough Prunella Clough (14 November 1919 – 26 December 1999) was a prominent British artist. She is known mostly for her paintings, though she also made prints and created assemblages of collected objects. She was awarded the Jerwood Prize for pain ...

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...

Eduardo Paolozzi Sir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi (, ; 7 March 1924 – 22 April 2005) was a Scottish artist, known for his sculpture and graphic works. He is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art. Early years Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi was born on 7 M ...

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

and

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

. Nos. 1 and 3 remain private homes.

References

* Warburton, Nigel. ''Ernő Goldfinger: The Life of an Architect'' (Routledge, 2004) .

External links

*
2 Willow Road information from the National Trust
{{London museums and galleries Houses completed in 1939 Modernist architecture in London Houses in Hampstead Ernő Goldfinger buildings Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden Grade II* listed houses in London National Trust properties in London Historic house museums in London Museums in the London Borough of Camden The Twentieth Century Society successful interventions