Text c: give him an inch

1) Find the answers to these questions about Francis Chan’s home by quickly reading the newspaper article.

1. How big is the flat?

2. Where is it positioned?

3. Where’s the shower?

4. How many people can be invited to dinner at the same time? .

5. Where’s the bed?

6. Why did Francis Chan decide to live in a home like this?

7. How much did the flat cost to build?

8. What does the editor of the ‘Architect’s Journal’ think of the flat?

9. Who do you think this article was written for?

А professional architects

В people interested in Do-It-Yourself

С people buying their first home

D the general reader

What was once а tiny alleyway next to а house is now a 4ft by 21ft fully equipped flat with all mod cons. HUGH PEARMAN looks at the small world of ‘linear living’ where not an inch of space is wasted.

It’s NOT much, but it’s home. Francis Chan, a structural engineer, lives in Hampstead, north London, in a flat thаt’s just 4ft wide by 21ft long. Не loves it.

Tiny though it is, this is no converted broom cupboard. Peter Baynes, Chair’s architect, has achieved а brilliant piece of design, according to architectural experts. And аll the comforts of conventional luxury homes are built in.

The Сhan mini-mansion — “You could call it linear living,” he comments — occupies what was once an alleyway down the side of a big Victorian house. Not an inch of space is wasted.

When you step in thrоugh the front door, you’re stаnding in the shower, on Britain’s only self-cleansing doormat. A door орens on to an equally tiny lavatory with washbasin. Two steps further in comes the kitchen, complete with full-sized cooker and fridge, microwave and washer/drier. A wоrktор folds down from the wall.

Another step and you’re into the dining-office area. Four people can squeeze in here for dinner, says Сhan as he swings the table-top into place. He even has a fold down drawing-board for when he’s working at home. The bed is hidden beneath a lid right at the back. “I don’t even have to make the bed” Chan comments. “I just put the lid down.”

Stоragе is ingeniously tucked in al1 along the flat — Chan’s business suits hang neatly on the wall over the bed. Daylight comes in through rooflights. Central heating consists оf onе electric convector— with the meter outside sо that bulky meter readers don’t have to shоulder their way in. It feels like a very small boat and Chan admits he toyed with the idea of naming it the “boat-housе”. Chan bought the big house next-door — divided into three flats — three years ago. He and Baynes started tо restore it but Chan ran short of money, which put paid to his plan to live in the ground floor flat himself.

Нis idea to build a mini-office to replace the existing lean-to shed in аllеу wаs rарidlу mоdified. It became his home instead. “Peter spent more time designing this tiny flat than he did on the whole of the rest of the house,” recalled Chan. “It cost around £4.700 to build last year. Now it’s been valued at £30.000. It proves that good design doesn’t need to cost more. It just needs a lot оf care”.

Chan’s microscopic home has been taken up by the influential Architect’s Journal. Its editor, Peter Carolin, recently appointed Professor of Architecture at

Cambridge University, said: “This is an excellent solution to a very unusual problem. It’s very modest and completely appropriate — it’s even witty. Francis Chan must be a very tidy man and Baynes must be very talented. It’s the kind of solution a really good architect can come up with.”

Chan hails originally from Hong Kong where, he says, flats are 15 times bigger. In Britain his home does not quite beat the celebratеd Knightsbridge broom cupboard, an 11ft by 6ft one-bed flat.

2) Discuss your answers to these questions.

1. Imagine you lived in Francis Chan’s flаt. What would be its advantages and disadvantages?

2. All the comforts of conventional luxury homes are built into his house. What do you consider are essential items (e.g. a washbasin) in a house, and what are luxury items (e.g. a microwave)? Make two lists with about ten items in each.

3. Look at your list of essential items. If you had to save money, decide in what order you would sell or stop using them.

Additional exercise

Complete this text. Use only one word in each gap. There is an example at the

beginning (0).

Restoring а famous garden

My garden аt Соmрtоn Acres is less (0) than 70 years old. However, several important features had been allowed to fall into а very bad condition by the (1)_______I bought the property. Му first task has been to repair (2)______ features. It (З)_________become difficult to reach the places in the garden with the best views because so (4)__________paths were in such poor condition. The Italian formal garden, for example, has always (5)_________many visitors, and as а result its paths were in a terrible state. But hundreds of metres of paths (6)_______recently been reраirеd.

We have also done a (7)________of work on many of the garden’s wooden buildings. A major job was (8)________ completely rebuild the roof of the Japanese summer house. We also (9)_________ the greenhouses to a more practical location. Work (10)_________this is essential before you can get on(11)________the real business of gardening. I am not sure (12)_________

the visitors realize how much work of this (13)__________is necessary. But I (14)__________ thoroughly enjoying the job of returning the garden to (15)___________former glory.

Discuss with the class the concept of house and home and their connection with and impact on the land.

As a class, develop a summary of the factors that influence the kinds of houses. Discuss the following:

• is the house permanent, transportable or other?

• what are the elements of the house and what are their purpose?

• are there any special features of the house and what are their purpose?

• how does the house meet comfort needs?

• does the house or household consist of one building or a collection of buildings?

• is there a relationship between the buildings which is culturally important?

• is there a relationship between the house and the rest of the community?

• what is the relationship between the house and the natural environment?

Episode 1

A Place of Our Own

Since they got married, Marilyn and Richard Stewarts have lived with Richard’s parents (Ellen and Philip). Now Marilyn and Richard would like to buy a place of their own. To own a home is part of the American dream. Housing often costs Americans about 1/3 of the money they earn. Recently, the cost of housing in the United States has gone up faster than personal earnings. Therefore, many Americans cannot afford to buy a home of their own.

The living room of the Stewarts’ home. Marilyn is talking to her mother-in-law Ellen.

Marilyn: Ellen, I’d like your opinion.

Ellen: About what?

Marilyn: Well, Richard and I feel that with a baby coming we need to have our own place to live.

Ellen: Oh.

Marilyn: Well, what do you think about Richard and me looking for a small house or an apartment at this point in our lives?

Ellen: We love having you here, and there is room, and...and when the baby comes, the baby can stay in your room for a while.

Marilyn: Richard feels we need to find a small house.

Ellen: I remember when I was pregnant with Richard, Philip and I were living with Grandma and Grandpa. Philip was a young doctor, and he kept talking about having a house of our own. It’s natural.

Marilyn: What did you do ?

Ellen: We looked at a lot of houses.

Marilyn: Did you find one?

Ellen: Oh, not at first. We couldn't afford it. Grandpa wanted to lend us the money to buy one, but Philip is too independent. He didn't want to borrow any money.

Marilyn: Sounds like Richard.

Ellen: They're all alike. Richard is a real Stewart. He's independent, and sometimes just stubborn.

Marilyn: When did you buy a house?

Ellen: After Richard was born. I was teaching music, and Philip was opening his first medical office.

Marilyn: Where was the house?

Ellen: Right here in Riverdale. Of course, it was a small house, but just right for us.

Marilyn: It's funny. History repeats itself. Now Richard and I are having a baby, and we probably won't be able to afford a house right away, either.

Ellen: Why don't you look at some houses, Marilyn?

Marilyn: Good idea.

Ellen: Look in the real-estate section of Sunday's Times. You'll learn a lot.

Marilyn: Maybe we should speak to a real-estate agent about a house.

Ellen: And a bank about a mortgage.

Marilyn: I'll talk to Richard about it. I think it's a good idea, Ellen. We can learn a lot by asking.

Ellen: And if I can be of any help, let me know. As a matter of fact, my friend Virginia Martinelli is a real-estate agent.

Marilyn: Good.

Ellen: You won't believe this, but she sold us our first house and this one.

Marilyn: Well, I'll talk to Richard about it the minute the comes home and we'll go to see her. And thanks for the advice about the house.

Ellen: And remember, we love having you here. There's no need to rush.

1. Richard and Marilyn are thinking about buying a house. What things about their situation and Ellen and Philip’s situation years ago are similar? Write four similar things.

2. Ellen gives Marilyn some advice. Which of the following does she make to Marilyn?

1. Look at some houses

2. Save more money

3. Find better jobs

4. Look in the newspaper

5. Go to a bank

6. Call a real-estate agent

7. Do not rush to buy a house

8. Move far from the city