Eccentric residences on land and water
Naval architect Ed Dubois spends his days designing super-yachts that serve as floating homes for some of the world's wealthiest people. Soon, he will spend his nights in a different kind of vessel: a houseboat moored in Chelsea's Cheyne Walk.
Dubois is a lifelong boat enthusiast, having learnt to sail dinghies on a series of Able Boy summer camps on the South Wales coast. "Five tents, six boys to a tent, and we learnt to sail for ￡10 a week each, all found," he says. "It really inspired me."
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He went on to study naval architecture at Southampton University; after graduation, he managed to bully a friend into letting him design a boat for him, and he's never looked back. Although his company initially built one-off racing yachts, by the early 1990s it began to focus on big - 100ft plus - bespoke private sailing yachts, worth ￡12m to ￡15m each.
The industry has boomed in the decade since, thanks to the swelling ranks of very wealthy individuals (and their heightened desire for exclusivity and privacy), a telecommunications revolution that allows them to work anywhere and increased accessibility to private jets that can fly to and from yachting destinations during a long journey.
Dubois realised that his new and high-powered clients were increasingly reluctant to come to his family home and business base on the south coast, overlooking the Solent. And, since most stay at one of the handful of top central London hotels on visits to the UK, it made sense to find his own crash pad nearby.
Given his nautical inclinations, his first choice was a flat overlooking the river at Chelsea. "I found a really wonderful one on the third and fourth floors of a Chelsea Embankment block, but I was gazumped while I was in hospital, having had the asking price accepted and agreed a 10-day holding period while I got back on my feet," he says, still bitter. The fact that the successful contender was reported to be Nicole Kidman was small consolation.
"After that, I was shown various other riverside flats, but I'd been spoilt by the one I lost and they all seemed pretty dull in comparison," he says. Eventually, a barrister friend - another former Able Boy - whose weekday base is a Chelsea houseboat, suggested that Dubois consider getting something similar. It hadn't occurred to him before, but the idea appealed.
"I started my career on a houseboat in Hamble, near Southampton, 30 years ago, so there's a nice symmetry there," he says, "but I also realised it's the right location, it's appropriate to what I do, it's easy to lock up and leave as I shan't be there all the time, and it's an interesting conversation point when I'm with clients. And houseboats are a great deal cheaper than riverside flats."
Dubois immediately instructed Prime Purchase, Savills's buying arm, which had been searching for his flat, to focus on houseboats instead. He put in an offer on the first one he saw, but then a second one came up that he liked even better. "It has a better position on the river than the first, and it's a better boat," he says. "It was a lot more expensive than the first but I knew straightaway it was for me. I put in an offer before I even saw the inside."
Like most of the other houseboats at Cheyne Walk, the boat is a steel-hulled barge, in this case probably built in the 1950s, with a wooden structure built on to it as living space. But unlike its more boxy neighbours, and to the delight of its naval architect buyer, it has "sheer" - an elegant slope and curve to the lines of its deck and roof.
Inside, the whole of the upper deck is a big open space with a galley kitchen, perfect for entertaining; huge watery views stretch away down the river in both directions from the open foredeck to the rear. Below are bedrooms and a bathroom. And, happily, the space had been renovated within the past five years. Houseboat owners also enjoy off-street, lock-up parking (though Dubois says he plans to acquire a bike for local trips) and the services of a night security guard, all costing "a lot less than half" of the Chelsea apartment.
Although his new home is much more modest than the kind of high-tech, high-spec boats he designs for clients, there are some similarities. "Sailing boats have evolved enormously: they used to be like dungeons below deck, but now we can incorporate different outside spaces, big picture windows - we're creating a kind of architecture or sculpture on water, and we can think about space and flow, just as for a house on land," he explains.
He gestures at the marketing brochure for a yacht called Drumbeat, priced at �25m. "There's seven tonnes of glass in this boat, and the whole of the back end opens up to create a kind of beach running into the water. It's [still] all about seaworthiness, but at the same time about minimising the distance between you and the elements."
A great deal of the traditional hard work involved in sailing big yachts can also now be controlled by technology, he adds. He recalls one stormy Atlantic crossing he was invited to make on a boat he had built. "Up on deck it was very rough, but down below everyone was watching Pride and Prejudice on DVD and tucking into roast beef."
He expects to live just as well, on the water and away from the churn of London's streets, in his new houseboat.
稀奇古怪的水陆住所
在房艇上安家
船舶工程师埃德?迪布瓦(Ed Dubois)白天忙着设计超级游艇，为一些世界上最富有的人建造水上之家。不久之后，他就能在一种特别的船上欢度夜晚时光了――一艘停泊在切尔西夏纳步道(Cheyne Walk)上的房艇。
迪布瓦一生痴迷于船艇，他曾在南威尔士海岸的一系列“好男儿”(Able Boy)夏令营中学会驾驶小划艇。“（夏令营）有5个帐篷，6个男孩共用一个。每人每周的学费是10英镑，包括食宿，”他说道。“这真正激发了我的兴趣。”
后来，他在南安普敦大学(Southampton University)学习船舶工程。毕业后，他成功逼迫一个朋友允许他为其设计一艘船，从此便一发不可收拾。尽管他的公司最初仅建造一次性赛艇，但到了20世纪90年代初，开始专门为客户定造100英尺以上的大型私人游艇，每艘的价值都在1200万至1500万英镑之间。
随后10年，游艇业获得了蓬勃发展，原因在于富豪群体的迅速壮大（并且他们日益渴望专享和独处）；电信革命使他们能在任何地方工作；同时，拥有私人飞机也变得更容易，使他们能在游艇和长途旅行的目的地间飞来飞去。
迪布瓦意识到，这些富有且精力充沛的新客户越来越不愿意到他家去了。他的家宅兼工作基地位于南海岸，俯瞰索伦特海峡(Solent)。然而，既然这些来英国的访客们多数都住在伦敦市中心少数几个高档酒店里，把他自己的安乐窝安置在附近也合情合理。
鉴于他对船艇的青睐，他首先选择的是一座位于切尔西、俯瞰泰晤士河的公寓。“我在切尔西堤(Chelsea Embankment)街区发现了一座位于三楼和四楼的公寓，实在太棒了。我接受了要价，当时我正在养病，房主答应为我保留10天。但在我住院的时候，房主又抬价转售给了别人，”他说道，仍然有些愤愤不平。不过，据说抢走房子的是妮可?基德曼(Nicole Kidman)，因此他感到些许安慰。
“后来，我又看了其它一些河滨公寓，但我满脑子都是错过的那间。跟它比起来，后来的那些显得太没有生气了，”他说。最终，一位律师朋友（曾同是“好男儿”成员）建议迪布瓦应该考虑学学他，他平日的栖身之所就是在切尔西的一艘房艇。迪布瓦之前从未动过这个念头，但这个想法极富诱惑力。
“30年前，我就是在靠近南安普顿的汉布尔(Hamble)的一艘房艇上开始职业生涯的，所以这是个美妙的前后呼应，”他说道。“而其它方面也令我满意。它的位置很好，很适合我的工作。况且我也不会一直呆在那儿，所以也很方便，锁起来就走。房艇也是我与客户交谈的有趣话题。另外，房艇可比河滨公寓便宜多了。”
于是，迪布瓦立即让Prime Purchase转而关注房艇。Prime Purchase是第一太平戴维斯(Savills)旗下的购房分部，之前曾为他寻找公寓。看第一艘房艇时，迪布瓦就出价要买，但他更喜欢随后看的第二艘。“第二艘所处的河段比第一艘更好，而且船本身也更好，”他表示。“它比第一艘贵多了，但我第一眼就知道，这就是我要找的。我甚至连内部结构也没看就出价了。”
与位于夏纳步道上的其它房艇一样，这也是一艘钢壳游艇，大约建造于20世纪50年代，上面加盖了一座木制结构作为居住空间。但令迪布瓦高兴的是，它不像周围的房艇那样方方正正，而是拥有一道“舷弧”――优雅的斜面和曲线将甲板和屋顶的轮廓连接起来。
内部空间由上下两层甲板构成。整个上层甲板是一个巨大的开阔空间，附带的船上厨房是招待客人的绝佳场所。从前甲板向船尾看去，开阔的水上风景从两个方向沿着河面延伸出去。下层甲板是卧室和卫生间。此外，令人高兴的是，内部空间翻修了不到5年。房艇的所有者还可以拥有一个街外上锁停车位（虽然迪布瓦说，他打算买辆自行车用于当地出行），并且晚上还有保安服务。而全部费用比切尔西公寓的“一半价钱还要少得多”。
尽管他的新家比他为客户设计的那种高科技、高品质的船艇要朴实得多，但它们之间不乏相似之处。“游艇已经大大进化了：过去它们就像甲板下面的地窖，但现在，我们可以把不同的外部空间和大面积的赏景窗结合进去――我们正在创造一种水上建筑或雕塑，我们可以考虑空间感和流动性，就像陆地上的房屋一样，”他解释说。
他指了指一艘游艇的宣传册，这艘游艇名为“鼓点”(Drumbeat)，售价2500万欧元。“这艘艇用了7吨玻璃，整个船身的后部是开放式的，以营造一种在海滩上奔跑入水的感觉。整个设计（仍然）旨在让船适于航行，但同时也把你与各种周边元素之间的距离拉到最近。”
他补充道，驾驶大型游艇曾需要大量体力活，如今这也可以通过技术来控制。他回忆起一件往事，他曾受邀乘上一艘自己建造的游艇，在暴风雨中穿越大西洋。“甲板上的情况很恶劣，但在下面，大家一边看《傲慢与偏见》的DVD片子，一边猛吃烤牛肉。”
他希望，在他的新房艇里，也能过得这么舒适惬意，置身水上，远离伦敦大街的喧嚣。
Prime Purchase，电话: +44 (0) 20 7881 2388，
www.primepurchase.co.uk在水磨坊里安家
作者：尼古拉?温宁(Nicola Venning)
如果在英国乡村的最深处，有一座原始的美国水磨坊，那它就像头戴圆顶硬礼帽的牛仔一样非同寻常。毕竟，在风景如画的牛津郡奇尔特恩斯(Chilterns)和白金汉郡，人们一如既往地在草地上打板球，喝着一杯杯温热的苦啤。零乱分布的房产价值数百万英镑，属于乔治王、都铎、爱德华七世、维多利亚或者伊丽莎白时代的风格。这里，人们讲求传统，与众不同的英属殖民地木质建筑通常不是此处的特色。
但这种情况即将改变。伦敦庄园主及店铺业主克里斯?奥斯特瓦尔德(Chris Ostwald)，正着手在这片具有非凡自然美景的指定地区，建造一座原始的新英格兰风格的磨坊。“我希望屋子看上去就像它一直在那里一样。它是座传统的、夏克尔风格的木结构水磨坊，我从一个绘有弗吉尼亚州Glade Creek式磨坊的酸奶罐子那里获得了灵感，”他解释说。
这座简单但宽敞的磨坊正在建造中，这里原本矗立着一座二战时期使用的平房。它位于美丽的阿斯顿森林自然保护区(Aston Wood Nature Reserve)的一个村庄里，本身绝对算不上什么成就。“我20年前买下了这块地，而获得规划许可的过程花费了我很长时间，因为议会不想看到任何超过一层楼高的建筑，”奥斯特瓦尔德说。
奥斯特瓦尔德拥有杰出的艺术才华（他曾为《绿魔先生》(The Little Shop of Horrors)、《夺宝奇兵》(Indiana Jones)和《飞侠哥顿》(Flash Gordon)等电影担当电子动画工作），这个古怪的英国人对于争论绝非门外汉。他在莫斯维尔山(Muswell Hill)拥有一座艺术品商品，商店上面是公寓。店铺有着高迪风格的外饰，然而地方议会一直在为此抗争，想让他拆除这个外饰。
相比之下，这座水磨坊还算是个轻松的工程，虽然时间拖得比较久。奥斯特瓦尔德20年前花了3万英镑买下这块地，当时打算最终建造他自己的住宅，并逃离“疯狂竞争”。几年前，他开始制作仿真模型并与建筑师沟通。（他先后做了四个模型。）最终，他定下一种梁柱式设计（这种房屋结构是上下承重，所以不需要内墙），并采用蜜黄色花旗松，外墙板为铅笔柏覆层。这座屋子有两个卧室，拱形天花板，一条走廊和一个起居室，起居室一边有三扇法式玻璃门，面向屋外醉人的景致。所有材料都来自美国公司Timberpeg。
“所有材料都来自美国，装在40英尺的集装箱里，用卡车拖来的，”奥斯特瓦尔德表示。“我们得人工把这些材料拖到工地上，因为卡车上不去。在山坡上施工建设就有这个问题――太陡了。我们四个男的花了三天功夫才把材料弄上去。”
不过，奥斯特瓦尔德计划所有的施工活都自己干。“这就像个大玩具，”他解释道。木头柱子、两英寸的榫头和企口板、螺钉、外墙板、螺丝都已命名并编号。“自己动手干完，也只要花上三天时间。”
他预期，工程造价将低于15万英镑，其中还包括最初的地皮费用。相比之下，在附近的Stokenchurch，一幢现代的独立式三室房屋成本需要约40万英镑，当地房地产中介说，房屋完工后，由于其稀缺价值和所处位置，价格可能高达65万至75万英镑。
“要是房屋在村子中心，就……行不通了，”威廉?弗尼斯(William Furniss)表示，他是比肯斯菲尔德(Beaconsfield)莱坊(Knight Frank)的售房代理。但“房子在乡下，又在山上，外观看上去还不一样，位置与一般的不同，这样的房屋常常很值钱。”
