The Long House is Michael and Patty Hopkins’ contribution to the Living Architecture portfolio of contemporary holiday lets. The initiative is the brainchild of writer and entrepreneur Alain de Botton, who wants more people to experience living within modern architecture. Our additional aim was to build an exemplary sustainable house.

Located in the hamlet of Cockthorpe, the house is inspired by the local vernacular of flint buildings and by the flat, surrounding landscape of fields, marshes and tidal rivers.

Two parallel structural flint walls form an elegant enclosure to the ground floor, which opens out from the kitchen and sitting room onto sheltered outdoor spaces at either end. Otherwise openings are minimal, and trimmed with pre-cast cills and quoins. The ground floor is largely open-plan, dominated by a spectacular central double-height hall. There are also dedicated areas for a large kitchen and dining room and a bedroom. Other key features include a freestanding fireplace and spiral stair.

Four further bedrooms are located on the first floor, where a gallery overlooks the lower floor. Pre-cast structural mullions support wide areas of glazing to give dramatic views over the surrounding countryside. The roof structure of timber and steel cable-tied trusses is exposed on the inside. On the outside, it is topped with standing-seam zinc.