Alex Antonioni worked in Michelin-starred
restaurants but decided to open up her own home
to cook for friends. Now she regularly hosts a
supper club through Eatwith, feeding up to 24
people in one sitting. “I’m most happy when I’m
feeding strangers,” says Alex. “And they don’t stay
strangers. By the end of the night they’re swapping
numbers with one another. It doesn’t matter how
good the food is, it’s the people who make it.”ART SURGERY
Others turn their homes into mini concert venues
with help from platforms like Sofar Sounds and
Little Concerts. Tushar Joshi has hosted more
than 40 concerts in his East London home. “It’s
so fulfilling welcoming artists into my space and
getting to know them. It’s also great to know you’re
helping them play to an attentive crowd. That’s
something that doesn’t really exist anywhere else.”
In Brighton, Artists Open House sees hundreds of
houses become pop-up galleries for local artists and
artisans during twice-yearly events. The concept
has since spread all over the UK, with artists
coming together to create trails from home to home
to share their work with local people. “The fact the
art is in a domestic setting is lovely,” says Kate Scott,
a Brighton artist. “It’s more approachable, more
democratic. Plus you can have a cup of tea and talk
to people about what you do. It’s very special.”
Angela Evans is another open houser, along with
her sisters. “My parents died quite close together
and my five sisters and I discussed opening the
house to the community to give it another story, not
just a sad one,” she explains. “It was great, like a
housewarming. It’s incredibly joyful to do.”
So, perhaps instead of thinking of our homes as
castles, it’s time to let down the drawbridge and
explore how we could creatively share our space.
Who knows, we might learn something new, eat
something delicious, or even make new friends.has more than doubled in size since 2015, with 899
households now offering a safe, warm place to sleep
and, as Sara describes, “a bit of moral support” to
1,267 people and counting.
The benefits aren’t one way either: “It’s a joy.
You meet people you wouldn’t meet otherwise. You
hear about their lives, their cultures, and you get to
experience their cooking. Maqlubah is now my
favourite Syrian dish.”
CASHLESS EXCHANGES
Sometimes it’s pets rather than people needing
support. Ian Usher and Vanessa Anderson are serial
housesitters. In 2015, they sold their homes and,
after registering themselves on trustedhousesitters.
com, have been living nomadically ever since,
moving from house to house looking after people’s
pets while they go on holiday. “Nowadays, families
are more spread out, people are working hard,
and there’s not always someone to look after the
animals,” Vanessa explains. The couple have
taken care of cats and dogs, but also goats, sheep,
chickens, fish, exotic birds and even horses.
“It’s nice to be able to get back to that personal
exchange of value,” says Ian. “There’s no money
involved. The homeowners win because they’ve got
someone looking after their pets, we win because
we get to stay with their pets, and the pets win too
because nothing really changes for them.”
House swapping is an alternative exchange
of values: “It’s based on trust, ultimately,” says
Denis Harding, who, with his wife Sue, uses
house-swapping site homelink.org to holiday in
other people’s homes while the owners stay in
theirs. “You get an email from someone inviting
you to stay,” says Denis. “We get invites from places
we wouldn’t necessarily have thought of travelling
to and it really broadens your horizons.”
JUST FOR DINNER...
Of course, opening your home needn’t mean having
a stranger to stay. Some people use their homes as a
space for creativity. Platforms such as Eatwith and
WeFiFo allow people to find dinner parties locally,
and join in. “Friendship is a beautiful by-product,”
says WeFiFo’s Sophie Brown.
“IT’S A GREAT WAY TO
WIDEN HORIZONS AND
TO MEET NEW PEOPLE”SHARING