Spotted on Thursday, January 06, 2011 in thisiscornwall.co.uk from

Former Kate Winslet pole house is for sale

Thursday, January 06, 2011, 09:00

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Former Kate Winslet pole house is for sale

An interior view of the Japanese Pole House, which was designed by Cornish architect Barrie Briscoe.

Kate Winslet owned this Japanese Pole House near Hayle between 1998 and 2001.

 

 

 

 

A DISTINCTIVE house designed by award-winning Cornwall architect Barrie Briscoe and once owned by Hollywood star Kate Winslet has been put on the market.

The Japanese Pole House, in Angarrack, was one of five designed by the architect, who died last year, and is up for sale with a £425,000 price tag.

By coincidence, another of Briscoe's five pole houses, in Lelant, is also up for sale for just under £500,000. That home's owners, Peter and Carolyn Jeffery, are great fans of Briscoe's work and say they are planning to build a final Briscoe house based on plans he gave to them.

Briscoe, who died in August last year aged 74, built houses in Cornwall for more than 30 years and designed in a variety of styles.

Fascinated

His widow, interior designer Petra Elkan said: "Although he never visited Japan, Barrie was absolutely fascinated by the design qualities of pole houses. He would have liked to have started a movement, creating them because they are so functional.

"They are prefabricated off site then put together later. And as there are no supporting internal walls, owners are completely free to make the space fit their own needs. They suit modern life."

The homes have the appearance of giant tree houses but are sturdy structures comprising wooden rooms built around fir poles bolted into slabs of concrete.

The main room at the home in Angarrack comes with high, vaulted beams and the walls are made of a mixture of birch, pine, American redwood, cedar and Douglas fir sourced from Scandinavia, North America and Britain.

The room also has a wood-burning stove, slate hearth and chunky kitchen. Leading from it are two downstairs bedrooms and French doors to the balcony and decking, which runs around the house. On the mezzanine floor above is the main bedroom and bathroom.

Estate agent Jackie Stanley from Padstow, who also dealt with the original sale for Kate Winslet in 1998, said the star fell in love with the property because of its uniqueness.

"It is based on an original Japanese design and made of some six to seven different types of wood. Kate Winslet fell in love with it because it was completely unusual and very eco at the time. They enjoyed and used it a lot but she moved on to other things."

Last year The Cornishman reported how she had been dating a former Penzance student, model Louis Dowler.

For the Japanese Pole House at Angarrack, Hayle, contact Jackie Stanley Estate Agents on 01841 532555 or visit jackie-stanley.co.uk, and for the Lelant pole house selling at £495,000, contact Miller Countrywide on 01736 797331 or visit millercountrywide.co.uk