THE HOME THROUGH TIME  

Houses have changed a lot since the 1940’s. So has the way we live in them. The emphasis is on space and flexibility with kitchen / living areas flowing onto rear gardens or terraces.

Houses have turned back to front. The focus is no longer on a formal “front parlour” or how the house looks from the street. Increasing density of living has made people more aware of the need for privacy. The result? Living and entertaining areas are now concentrated in the back areas of the house. Guests are even allowed into food preparation areas that would have been taboo in previous eras. One of the reasons for the turnaround is that there are more women in the work force than ever before. Working women don’t want to come home to solitary confinement behind the kitchen sink. Family members share the cooking and guests and chefs make merry while the cooking is in progress.  The kitchen has coped by becoming more of a showplace. Technology has made cooking easier and devices such as the extractor fan keep odours from permeating open plan living spaces.

House size is the most striking change in the last half century. Families are smaller, yet houses are twice as big as 1940’s houses - they’ve gone from one hundred to one hundred and eighty square metres. Kids nowadays wouldn’t dream of sharing a bedroom.There’s more internal space per head of population, yet we expect to move on to something better every seven years or so.

Today’s home owners are more mobile, both geographically and socially. While most of our parents lived all their life in one or two places, we view houses as stepping stones to better investment and lifestyle benefits. The motor car, highways, immigration, technology and feminism have all had an impact on housing structures, houses reflect both technological and lifestyle changes.  The modern home is an asset which, adroitly managed, can move us up the social ladder.