There’s So Much Inspo on This Real Estate Site (2024)

We’re not unfamiliar with addiction to real estate sites. We’ve been afflicted with late-night Zillow browsing, compulsive refreshing of Trulia listings, and even known to waste an hour laughing at the most terrible real estate listings on the internet. But our latest obsession is with a real estate site that is not only educational for any design or architecture enthusiast but also full of dreamy interior inspiration. It's The Modern House, which isn’t entirely new; it was started in London by Albert Hill and Matt Gibberd, two former journalists and completely inexperienced real estate agents, in 2005. The site launched somewhat by accident when Albert discovered an architecturally significant 1934 home in London—deemed Six Pillars for the unusual construction at the time by Valentine Harding and Berthold Lubetkin—had been on the market for months. Albert understood the historical importance of this property and offered to sell it on his specialty real estate site, which did not exist at the time. He called up his friend Matt, who was in architecture school, and the two set off to sell the property to a buyer who could appreciate the project—which they eventually did. The Modern House was then a real thing! And their M.O. was U.K. modernist homes aimed at design enthusiast buyers.

For example, homes in Neave Brown's Alexandra & Ainsworth Estate, a Brutalist housing block from the ’70s once considered a total eyesore (now deemed very cool). Or the Bawdsey home in Suffolk by Stuart Piercy of Piercy & Company, which was converted from an early-19th-century martello tower and described by The Guardian's architecture critic Jonathan Glancey as “one of the most original and soul-stirring modern homes in Britain.” Or, one of our personal favorites, the Housden House, designed and built by architect Brian Housden for himself and his family between 1963 and ’65. One of the great postwar Modern houses in London, the property recently sold, but we’re still dying over the glass-brick walls and color-blocked floor treatment done with tile.

What makes The Modern House stand out even more from traditional real estate sites is the editorial format of each listing. Magazine-worthy photography and in-depth narratives make viewing the homes feel like sitting down with a good coffee table book (in fact, there is a book by the duo, published in 2015 about the U.K.’s most impressive properties). Okay, so what does that mean for the average Clever reader who probably has no intention of moving across the pond (eek, Brexit) or buying a home in the low-to-high millions? Since The Modern House has grown over the years, it has expanded beyond homes that belong in museums, and now features a wide range of really damn-good-looking homes and apartments that offer real decor inspiration for your own digs.

Take this property in a converted shoe factory that was designed by husband-and-wife duo Chan + Eayrs. While it is still a home far out of reach for most, we definitely bookmarked those green linen shutters and use of weathered wood (something we never thought we’d like so much!). Or the Lewes III home in East Sussex, which features pitched beams painted canary yellow and loose pendant lightbulbs dangling down (very clever!). So, yeah, this site is full of great inspo, and we guarantee that looking at just one home is never enough. Add to that a channel on the site that features the homes (not necessarily for sale) and workspaces of tastemakers like Tom Morris and Faye Toogood (who is married to Matt!) that again pack a heavy inspo punch. Sorry for the gushing; we feel like we just met a really amazing new friend. Enjoy some of our favorite listings: