Walter Segal’s House
North Hill, London N6
Architect: Walter Segal
Register for similar homes“Effortlessly functional but serene, leavened by the sunlight that streams through original Segal-era windows.” Ellie Pithers, Vogue
A magical detached Modernist house of significant architectural merit, occupying a sizeable southwest-facing plot, with gorgeous interiors and exciting scope for expansion.
The house was built in 1962-64 by the celebrated architect Walter Segal, for himself and his family. It is arranged over two floors plus a basement, with three/four bedrooms and a magnificent 126ft garden.
There is planning permission in place for an extension at the rear, designed by Jonathan Tuckey. A planning application has also been submitted to reinstate a separate Garden House at the bottom of the site, which has precedent dating back to the 1960s. If built, these additions would take the total accommodation beyond 3,000 sq ft, while still retaining a significant amount of outside space.
Walter Segal once said: “I love my friends and the world, but I love my privacy”. This is reflected in the positioning of the house and the subtle series of thresholds. It is set well back from North Hill and is almost invisible from the street. There is off-street parking at the front, and a covered entrance area with large storage units. This gives on to a courtyard planted with jasmine, and then the house itself.
The ground floor has a front-to-back kitchen / dining room, and a beautiful sitting room, both with full-height glazed sliding doors onto the garden. There is another room at the front, which could be used as a playroom or fourth bedroom, and an adjacent shower room.
The master bedroom on the first floor has a wall of glazing overlooking the majestic mature trees of surrounding gardens, giving the feeling of sleeping in a treehouse. A walk-in wardrobe with bespoke cupboards offers plenty of hanging space. There are two further double bedrooms, both with built-in wardrobes, and a family bathroom. The basement provides extensive storage space, with the washing facilities conveniently tucked out of the way.
The interior of the house has been comprehensively refurbished with great sensitivity and flair for materiality by the designer Faye Toogood, and featured in the December 2018 issue of Vogue:
“You’d never know it was there,” wrote Ellie Pithers. “Set back from the road, sandwiched between a row of smart 19th-century townhouses and hidden behind an unprepossessing garage door, the former home of the Swiss-born architect Walter Segal doesn’t show up on Google Maps.”
“The [house] is effortlessly functional but serene, leavened by the sunlight that streams through original Segal-era windows comprising simple, frameless panels of glass that slide in front of each other.”
As much as possible of the original fabric has been retained, including the grey brick, pine panelling and beautiful open-tread timber staircase. The parquet floor has been matched throughout the ground floor. In the kitchen, a poured-concrete worktop is juxtaposed with an 18th-century ceramic-tiled dairy. There are bespoke concrete basins, a bath surround made from Portland stone composite, and Boffi fittings. The house has been rewired and replumbed throughout.
Jonathan Tuckey’s proposed extension (Haringey planning ref: HGY/2017/2286) uses brick, blackened steel and glass. It has been conceived as a deliberately monolithic structure emerging from the landscape and bridging the gap between the neighbouring 19th-century buildings and Segal’s Modernist house. Two single-storey volumes face onto the garden, offering an enlarged living room with excellent ceiling height, and a master bedroom with dressing area and en-suite bathroom. The internal area is approximately 689 sq ft.
The proposed single-storey Garden House (Haringey planning ref: HGY/2019/1108), also designed by Tuckey, would work for a variety of uses: supplementary accommodation for family and friends, a granny or nanny flat, or an artist’s studio. It has an open living / studio space, two sleeping areas and a bathroom, and measures approximately 701 sq ft.
The house is located a short walk from Highgate Village, which has numerous shops, pubs, restaurants and a Gail’s bakery. Highgate Underground is only 300 metres away down the hill, offering Northern Line services to central London, and the 214 bus serves King’s Cross and the City.
There are huge expanses of green space in the area: Hampstead Heath is one of London’s finest parks and has glorious outdoor swimming ponds; Highgate Wood is excellent for families, with its playing field and adventure playground; and the beautifully maintained Waterlow Park has tennis courts and two playgrounds.
The quality of local educational facilities – both state and private – is a big draw for families. Highgate School, Channing and St Michael’s Primary School are all a short walk away from the house, and there are numerous other highly regarded schools within a short drive, such as King Alfred, South Hampstead, North Bridge House and UCS.
Please note that this house is owned by an employee of The Modern House Ltd.
Computer-Generated Images of the proposed extension and the proposed Garden House are by Studio Archetype.
Please note that all areas, measurements and distances given in these particulars are approximate and rounded. The text, photographs and floor plans are for general guidance only. The Modern House has not tested any services, appliances or specific fittings — prospective purchasers are advised to inspect the property themselves. All fixtures, fittings and furniture not specifically itemised within these particulars are deemed removable by the vendor.
History
One of the most fascinating figures of 20th-century architecture, Walter Segal was born in Berlin but spent a formative part of his childhood in Ascona, Switzerland. His father was an artist, and he grew up among the creatives and intellectuals who gathered on the banks of Lake Maggiore, a refuge from the First World War.
Segal trained in Berlin, a city that was at the forefront of Modernism, and moved to London in 1936. It wasn’t until the 1960s, however, that he began to gain recognition for his ideas and methods. Today, his reputation continues to rise – not least because of his environmentally friendly approach to building.
In 1963 Segal married his second wife, Moran Scott. With six children between them, they decided to demolish Scott’s Victorian house on North Hill in Highgate and replace it with a modern dwelling for the family to live in. The house is typical of his work in many ways, with its simple plan, minimal detailing and respect for the surrounding landscape. It also shows the architect’s uncanny ability to create an atmosphere that is both cosseting and wonderfully uplifting.
Simplicity of construction was important: only six trades were used, and wet trades were kept to a minimum. The house is a masonry cross-wall structure with light longitudinal elevations in glass and brick. The floors and roof are joisted timber. Rolled-steel sections form lintels, to avoid the use of concrete. The flat roof, with its prominent overhangs, is a recurrent theme of Segal’s buildings.
So as to maximise the useable space, optimum circulation was arithmetically determined at 12%. Originally there were six small bedrooms, but it was intended to be adaptable. Segal worked from home, and his studio on the ground floor was designed with separate access from the entrance courtyard. The internal materials are all fair-faced, and there is an almost total avoidance of architraves and trims. Pale sand-lime brickwork is sanded internally to give a smoother finish, and non-structural partitions are finished with vertical pine boarding.
In her book ‘Architects’ London Houses’ (1992), Miranda Newton wrote:
“Segal’s house shows his particular interest in timber detailing. No traditional methods, such as dowels, mortices or tenons, are used, only straight glued or bolted joints. This individualistic approach is immediately noticeable. The window detail, two sheets of plate glass supported in parallel L-angles bolted through to the linings, is simple and successful… Internally, the standard of joinery is noticeably superior.
“The stair is a strong, characteristic image for the house… Vertical timbers hang from the upper level with bolted treads. Despite the open risers, a sense of security is created by the forest of slender vertical timbers which enclose the stair. Segal preferred an uncluttered environment. His joy was in the materials and the quality of the detailing, particularly in the carpentry…
“Segal was a rare combination of central European intellectual and scholar and thoroughly practical technical innovator. The house reflects the character of its architect, and is private and individualistic. It has scope for leisure and living.”
Segal lived and worked at the house until his death in 1985. It was to be the last that he designed in bricks and mortar. While it was being built, he needed a temporary home for his family to live in, so he created a wooden cabin at the bottom of the garden. It cost £800 and took two weeks to build. Known as the Little House, this influential structure lasted over 50 years, before finally falling into disrepair. Segal was surprised by how much attention it attracted (Richard Rogers is one of many luminaries who made the pilgrimage to see it).
The design – a wooden frame, insulation and weatherproof shell – was the prototype for what became known as the Segal self-build method, which he pursued for the rest of his career. This was a way of building that eliminated the wet trades such as a brick-laying and cement-pouring, in favour of a modular timber system that is reminiscent of traditional Japanese architecture.
Segal was much influenced by the egalitarian principles of William Morris, as well as the early Modernists. “The buildings of the International Style”, he wrote, “were by definition unassuming… They were meant to promote wellbeing.” In an essay about the architect, Colin Ward wrote, “In his life, as well as his work, he tried to pare away the superfluous and concentrate on the important.”
In May 1988, the Architects’ Journal dedicated an entire issue to Walter Segal’s legacy and oeuvre, timed to coincide with an exhibition of his work at the Royal Festival Hall. The introduction pays fitting homage to this remarkable architect:
“Walter Segal was once described as ‘an absolutely stunning combination of an intensely practical architect and an intellectual’. Active in research, teaching and practice, he lived through the rise, dominance and subsequent decline of the Modern Movement. He is best remembered today for his truly architectural solution to the needs of self-builders – but this was only one of his many contributions to architecture.”
