The real Stepford Words & Photography Jessica Cowley
T
HE Hamptons. Two words which, when put together, are synonymous with wealth and the upper classes. The home of some of the most expensive properties in the U.S. and situated along the coastline of Long Island, The Hamptons is a place where the residents of New York City go vacationing. With its New England-style mansions and idyllic coastal setting, the residents of The Hamptons appear to achieve what many hope to gain – an idealistic lifestyle. It was this lifestyle that housing developers St James Homes wanted to emulate with their own version of The Hamptons, situated in Worcester Park, a suburb of South West London. Taking key elements from The Hamptons, New York State and American suburbia in general, St James Homes created a veranda living-style culture, with tree-lined avenues, community buildings and neighbourhoods with views on to green spaces. Promotional material for The Hamptons included statements such as, “A world where life can be lived simply and naturally” and “An environment where inspired architecture, nature and community will live tranquilly together”. Such ideals and the style of these properties
have indeed attracted the admiration of many, with David Spittles from the London Evening Standard remarking that the development is, “A beauty among the beasts of endless interwar terraces.” Spittles makes a good point. As I travelled through the interwar semi-detached and terraced homes of Worcester Park, I was immediately struck by the timber boarded architecture of The Hamptons as it emerged in tasteful shades of pale blues and greens, deep reds and pastel yellows. My first impression was that I had stumbled upon a film set. A picture-perfect film set. However, situated in the typically English location of a London suburb, there was no denying The Hamptons also looked misplaced and odd. It was as if I had walked into Stepford, the fictional town in Bryan Forbes’
American ❛suburbia is
riddled with unsavoury connotations
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1975 chilling horror film The Stepford Wives. Ironically, promotional material for The Hamptons states that the development is, “A neighbourhood with its own identity, which blends sympathetically with its surroundings.” Setting aside the hype, however, the truth is that The Hamptons actually sticks out like a sore thumb. The architecture of this grand design has not gone without criticism, with many Worcester Park residents complaining that the American-style development does not fit in with their surroundings. It doesn’t help that American suburbia is riddled with unsavoury connotations, heightened by the power of Hollywood. Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, Sam Mendes’ American Beauty and David Lynch’s Blue Velvet have all been key films that debunk the
Hidden in the back: 30% of the development is used for social housing
positive, idealistic view of suburbia. In a similar fashion, if you look beyond the perfect exterior of The Hamptons, you will find that not everything is as ideal as you were led to believe. One key point that shatters the illusion is that the land on which the dream was built used to be a sewage works and is encircled by gigantic pylons. Another is the issue of social housing, which has led to division and conflict among the residents of The Hamptons on both sides of the tracks. The law states that all new developments have to devote thirty per cent of homes to social housing. These properties are sold to housing associations for half the market value
A deeply ❛controversial and divisive edict
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and then sold on or rented out at a discounted price to people on low incomes. The architecture of social housing is very different to that of non-social housing with the elegant facades of timber boarded detached homes replaced by common-or-garden brick flats and terraced houses. Instead of being integrated with the rest of the development, these ‘affordable’ homes have been pushed to one side, like something of an afterthought. Incidents of vandalism and rowdy behaviour have also arisen with the blame falling on the social housing tenants. This has led to the housing association enforcing a 9pm curfew on the children of social housing
families, banning them from communal areas after dark, whilst the children of the more expensive, privately-owned properties are allowed to roam free. Tom Rawstorne, a writer for the Daily Mail, commented on this as, “A deeply controversial and divisive edict�. On paper, The Hamptons, with its dream homes and aspirational ideals, offers an idealistic lifestyle in the suburbs. But scratch beneath the surface and it becomes apparent that this vision of perfection will always be flawed because it is the people who live in a place, not just the properties in which they live, that make it what it truly is.
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Scratch beneath the surface and it becomes apparent this vision of perfection will always be flawed
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