Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser (literally ‘Kingdom of Peace Hundred-Waters’ – a pseudonym, his birth name was Friedrich Stowasser) is famous for his colourful paintings and architectural designs which seem to defy gravity and bring nature indoors. His humanistic approach to building (for instance: ‘everyone should be entitled to a window to lean out of and contemplate the world’, ‘corridors should be like paths through a forest’ and his distaste for the straight-edged ruler and ‘chicken or rabbits in a cage’ approach of functional architecture) is very inspiring. He was a provocateur and a rebel all his life. My parents used to huff and puff with disdain when they saw him being interviewed on TV in my childhood, but I was entranced. You can read more about his achievements on this excellent website. Here are some of my favourite examples of his work.
Block of flats in Darmstadt, from niftyhomestead.comThe Hundertwasser House in Vienna.Die Gruene Zitadelle housing estate in Magdeburg, from magdeburg.deSchool in Wittenberg, from
Kuchlbauer Tower at a brewery, from Touropia.Incineration plant in Japan, from hundertwasser.atRonald McDonald House in Essen, from Touropia.Spa resort Bad Blumau in Styria, Austria, picture by Anja Fahrig, 2010.Another aspect of Bad Blumau, from atlasboots.com
The great writer in front of his humble hut, from The Telegraph.
All of us who dream of a writing hut may have got a little envious seeing David Cameron’s ‘shepherd hut’ painted in an elegant Farrow & Ball hue, where he intends to pen his memoirs (‘How I Destroyed the Future of Other People’s Children and Laughed All the Way to the Bank’ is the working title, I believe). But there are other options out there, even though most of them are currently used for unusual holiday accommodation.
Tree house nostalgia alert! From Airbnb France.If you get tired of writing, you can read on the veranda. From sejours-verts.frI still dream of staying once in these floating cabanes, from logements-insolites.frSome of them even have hot-tubs on the veranda. Although that might interfere with my writing intentions. From intourvable.frFor those who can’t give up their chateau even on holiday, this amazing structure in the Dordogne. From bazande-dordogne.frA more modest treehouse proposal, a good place to meet a lynx or two, from les cotagnes- rhone-alpes.Another chateau, this time in the trees, from spatoocamp.frJust in case you think I am favouring France, here is a cabin in Norway, more of a holiday home than a writing hut, though. From Decoist.
We may not have those romantic chateaux for which the French are famous, but there are some memorable country piles in my local area. Although it pains me to say this, these pictures give you a clue why this area voted Remain (holiday homes in France, Italy etc.) but will probably vote Conservative now and always.
The best known house in the local area, Cliveden. From website.Elizabethan manor house almost next door to Cliveden, Taplow Court. From sgi-uk.orgJohn Betjeman’s modest vicarage, in Farnborough. From The Telegraph.The Queen Anne style is also popular, as in this house for sale in Bourne End. From hamptons.co.ukTudor mansion in Harpenden, from Christies.co.ukThis one even has literary connotations. John Gay’s house in Holyport, from christies.co.uk.A more unusual building in Lambourn, from savills.co.ukRiverside property in Maidenhead, from KnightFrank.co.ukThis secluded property in Sonning has allegedly been snapped up by George and Amal Clooney. From savills.co.ukPark Place, near Henley, was bought by a Russian billionaire. From Daily Mail.
Not to say that there aren’t also people living in Council housing and who have never travelled outside their local area, but they are the ones who have been lied to and who are afraid of the immigrants coming and taking their jobs and/or benefits.
Literary Hub recently had a feature on Four Iconic Writers and the Felines Who Loved Them. Needless to say, all four were male writers and Alessandra Asteriti responded to my RT of that article: ‘Is the assumption that all women love cats because you know ‘women’, or are there no iconic female writers, or what?’ So I decided to redress the balance with a few pictures of iconic women writers and their cats.
Colette favoured Chartreux cats and helped to revive interest in the decimated species after WW2, from thegreatcat.orgBarbara Pym, from The Awl.Patricia Highsmith had cats throughout her life and her many house moves. Not just Siamese, if I understood correctly. From wwnorton on tumblr.Ursula Le Guin with her friend, from Pinterest.Tove Jansson favoured black cats and even took them on the island in summer, from mtv.fiMuriel Spark, copyright Alan Riding for New York Times.
Incidentally, Muriel Spark has written one of the funniest and most accurate descriptions of the love between writers and cats in A Far Cry from Kensington. Thank you to Alessandra for reminding me of it:
…if you want to concentrate deeply on some problem, and especially some piece of writing or paper-work, you should acquire a cat. Alone with the cat in the room where you work, I explained, the cat will invariably get up on your desk and settle placidly under the desk-lamp… The cat will settle down and be serene with a serenity that passes all understanding. And the tranquillity of the cat will come to affect you… so that all the excitable qualities that impede your concentration compose themselves and give your mind back the self-command it has lost…
Three years later the Brigadier sent me a copy of his war memoirs… On the jacket cover was a picture of himself at his desk with a large alley-cat sitting inscrutably beside the lamp. He had inscribed it ‘To Mrs Hawkins, without whose friendly advice these memoirs would never have been written – and thanks for introducing me to Grumpy.’ The book itself was exceedingly dull. But I had advised him only that a cat helps concentration, not that the cat writes the book for you.’
Francoise Sagan never seemed to mind if her cat took a lively interest in her writing, from Le Narrateur.Doris Lessing, from The Guardian.PD James, yet another fan of black cats. From The Guardian.
Last but not least, although I failed to find a picture of her cats: Shirley Jackson always had six or more cats all of the same color—usually black, sometimes gray—and she happily allowed people to believe the cats were her familiars to enhance her witch-like reputation. The truth was at once funnier and sadder than that: her cats looked all the same so that her husband, who was short-sighted and not at all fond of cats, would not be able to tell exactly how many cats she had.
We can never get enough of the homes and workplaces which inspired famous writers, can we? Here are some truly enviable ones from all over the world.
Tennessee Williams stayed at this windmill on the Stony Brook campus and wrote a play. From Long Island Press.Nietzche House in Sils Maria, Switzerland, from NietzcheGesellschaft.deRimbaud’s house in Harar, Ethiopia. After he gave up writing. Maybe he had a point, after all. From 3roadblog.wordpress.comGogol’s stately home in Moscow, from freefortourists.comTolstoy’s country estate Yasnaya Polyana, from Pinterest.Gore Vidal’s legendary clifftop house on the Amalfi Coast, Italy. From Architectural Digest.Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford House, on the Scottish Borders. From e-architect.com
I’ve presented quite a few homes of writers and artists in France, but what about some homes for English-language writers in the US and UK? I don’t want to neglect Africa, Australia or New Zealand, so if you know of any noteworthy houses there, be sure to let me know in the comments section.
Evelyn Waugh certainly had plenty of inspiration for Brideshead, if this house is anything to judge by! From The Prose Blog.Jack London’s study shows his passion for travelling, but also art. From QED.It seems F.H. Burnett had some inspiration readily available for The Secret Garden or Little Lord Fauntleroy. From The Guardian.Upton Sinclair’s home in California. From Pinterest.Enid Blyton opted for the thatched cottage style. From Daily Mail.As did Thomas Hardy. From Open Culture.All right, this is in France again, but it’s James Baldwin hard at work in his St Paul de Vence study.
Finally, in this one you can actually stay overnight courtesy of AirBnB.
Steinbeck’s study in Pacific Grove, California. From AirBnB.
It’s all fine and dandy to look at all those palaces and glorious home libraries or artists’ studios, but what does your own writing space look like? I am mildly obsessed with writer’s studies, as you might have gathered, and a couple of years back could not get enough of the Periscope #whereiwrite initiative. So, while this might not qualify as escapist, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours…
Busy? Maybe, but I like inspiration on my walls.The bookshelves are starting to groan…Map of Japan from 1745 (the original, not my print).French dog and Japanese cat living in perfect harmony.The messy side of the room and armchair filing systemNot quite outside the study window, but this camellia bush is one of the great delights of my garden.
And a special late addition for Lady Fancifull, who was disappointed at the lack of real cats… Here is Zoe in her favourite position when I am working at my desk.
