#parkleys

A friend of mine often teases me that I only have friends who live in modernist homes. Although not strictly true, I must admit a high percentage do—but one of the reasons is that having lived in a number of modernist estates over the last 20 years, my neighbours have often become my closest friends. Including the one that teases me, thank you Leigh. So I guess this says a lot about the architecture and its fostering of communities.

Two such pals are Mem and Mehmet. Superstars of the modernist property restoration. I first met them when me and my boyfriend at the time, moved to Golden Lane Estate in the City of London in 2004. Eager beavers that we were, we joined the residents’ association — the average age of the group was 75, apart from me, David and the Mems.

They had been living there 6 months or so, and were already shaking things up by trying to promote the association and to attract some of its younger, newer residents. So as a graphic designer, I volunteered to design a promotional leaflet and posters. I presented my designs to the secretary, the legend that is Joan Flannery (who is celebrating her 90th birthday this year) and the Mems. We instantly hit it off sharing a passion for the architecture and the characters places such as Golden Lane attract.

Thirteen years later, they have done their fair bit of moving around. Having moved out of London for several years, I was super excited to hear they were thinking of moving back. They eventually settled on a Span flat in Parkleys in Ham near Richmond, and ‘moved in’ last Thursday. The flat is in a 1956 time warp, with many original features but a lot of wood chip wallpaper, having only had one previous owner. Today I decided to take my bike and camera to Richmond to pay them a visit. Over the next few months I will be cataloguing and blogging their renovation progress—you’re in for a treat, they don’t do things by halves!