Acclaimed contemporary artist Sir Grayson Perry is holding his largest exhibition of artworks in Edinburgh at the end of July. For those who love his work, now is the ideal time to book a stay in A House for Essex in Wrabness, Essex this summer to immerse yourself in Perry’s gesamtkunstwerk (total artwork).
A unique architectural project and holiday rental, A House for Essex (2014) was commissioned by Living Architecture, a collaboration between Grayson Perry and Charles Holland of the award-winning FAT Architecture. Previously, guests could only book the house after being successful in a ballot. Now, for the first time since its opening, A House for Essex is available for online bookings for short stays, sleeping up to 4.
A House for Essex stands out as a whimsical house overlooking the river Stour, both an artwork in itself and the setting for a number of works by Perry exploring the special character and unique qualities of Essex. The building has been designed to evoke the tradition of wayside and pilgrimage chapels.
Charles Holland of FAT Architecture has described the building as “a radical statement about architecture and its capacity for narrative and communication. The design embraces decoration, ornament and symbolism in order to tell a rich and complex story. Formally, it is like a Russian doll, a series of archetypal house shapes that step up in scale as the building descends the hill”.
Perry commented, “The resulting building is a total artwork, a fiction in which you can live, a digital age shrine and a homage to Charles’ and my home county. I hope the people who stay in the House for Essex find it playful yet monumental, cosy and maybe slightly disturbing. It is a three dimensional musing on religion, local history, feminism, happiness and death.”
Destination highlights:
With a rich cultural heritage, Essex is home to more than 13,000 fascinating historical buildings and sites, some of them a short drive from Wrabness.
Explore the Roman ruins of Camulodunum, now Colchester, Britain’s first city; the Temple of Claudius is at the base of its Norman castle; also worth a visit is St Botolph’s Priory, one of the first Augustinian priories in England, built reusing Roman bricks and flint.
Nearby Harwich is not only the place where the Mayflower might have been built before 1600; it has been a strategic naval town for hundreds of years protected by a number of coastal defence structures, many of which can still be seen today.
More than just ornamental, A House for Essex, part of the Living Architecture* collection, is a functioning holiday home and a testament to the idea that art and architecture can lift our spirits and allow us to experience the world through the eyes of others, both in reality and fiction.
To mark the opening of Perry’s Smash Hits exhibition at the National Galleries of Scotland, Living Architecture offers a special promotion throughout its duration: 20% off all new bookings made for stays between 21 July – 13 November 2023.
Book your short break now using code SMASH20 to live for a few days surrounded by the artworks originally created for A House for Essex.
Prices from £395 per night, with the above promotion.
