TC:Whatwasyourbrief?
Deirdre: We have four children and nine
grandchildren.Andyhasalwayslikedabit
of distance from the kids. I, on the other
hand, revel in the whole mess of family life.
Ourinitialbriefwasforafamilygathering
placeaswellasaplaceforAndytoretreat
to.Wewantedarefuge.Wetalkedabout
journeys, going into another place,Alice
in Wonderlandand the rabbit hole.
Andy:Wewantedseparatehousesfor
the family, which fed into a central area.
That became the guiding beacon. Then
we talked about what we were doing with
thetreesonthefarmandthethingswe
liked, including [sculptor and land artist]
Andy Goldsworthy’s work. [We wanted
a sense of] quietness and stillness and
embeddedness, and incorporation of
thedwellingintothelandscape,likethe
landscape has accepted the house. That
wasthenotion,ratherthanthenumber
of bedrooms and taps and car spaces.
TC:Doyoufeelthiswasa
collaborative process and how
didyouachievethat?
Deirdre: Yes, it was a collaborative process.
I think John’s very open, Andy’s very
articulate and I’m fairly articulate. John
is a good listener and takes things on. He
would argue with Andy if he thought he
was wrong, and Andy really respected him
forthat.Therewasgreatcollaboration
betweenusandthearchitect,asthere
also was with the engineer, builders,
stonemasons and craftspeople.TC: Is the result achieved what
you expected?Deirdre: It’s phenomenal, and beyond my
imagination. We were particularly lucky
togetCHROFI.Theyareextraordinarily
visionary.ThethingaboutJohnthat’s
remarkable is the way he incorporates
architecture within a precinct, so that
thearchitecture’salwaysincontext
with the place; and you suddenly cannot
imagine Times Square without the red
steps and vice versa. He’s done that with
the buildings at the farm.Andy: It’s not what I expected, but I don’t
thinkaheadadozensteps.Itendtothink
outacoupleofstepsandkeepmyoptions
openallthetime.Youbuildsomething,
anditshootsyouoffinadifferent
direction.Allthewhilethere’salight
onthehill,there’sanobjectivethat’s
out there. It’s about being flexible.TC:Whatadvicewouldyougive
to someone who is thinking of
engaging an architect?Andy:Doasmuchhomeworkasyoucan.
Trytobeasfreshandhonestwithyourself
asyoucan.Askyourself:WhatdoIwant
todo?Isthisjustaboutshelter?What’s
thecommondenominatorhere?Howdoes
this relate to the property I have? And
thenputthequestionstothearchitect,to
findsomewaytomanifestthatthrough
architecture.Ifyouwantsomethingthat
reflectswhatyoufeelonapieceofland,you
need someone to interpret that. And it’s not
adraftsman.Deirdre: [Retired architect] Espie Dods told
me thirty years ago to “ask for what you
reallywantfirst.”Puteverythingyouwant
onthetableandworkbackfromthereto
what’sachievable.It’salsoimportantto
listen to your architect and give them
space to do what they do.“Put everything you want
onthetableandwork
back from there to what’s
achievable.”