Marooned like a Tardis in the centre of Sharon Horgan and Jeremy Rainbird’s family home is a rose gold mirrored cube that straddles the front room and a kitchen extension at the back. Surely it is a magnet for fingerprints? “Absolutely,” says Rainbird. “It gets polished every day.” It contains a toilet, a larder and a cupboard for each member of the family: Rainbird, Horgan and their daughters Sadhbh, 14, and Amer, nine.
The rose gold is a nod to the sunset skies of Los Angeles, where Rainbird and Horgan – whose TV writing credits include Catastrophe, Divorce and Motherland – have spent a good part of the past five years. Catastrophe was based on the couple’s unplanned pregnancy six months into their relationship. “We had a lot of discussions about the cube,” says Rainbird, 44. “Sharon said it looks like Stringfellows [nightclub]. But we love it.” Rainbird sold his advertising business in 2013, the year they bought their home. “That’s when Sharon’s career went bananas,” he says. “It’s just as well I’d stopped working, otherwise the family might have imploded.”
But Hackney, in east London, is home. Both Horgan and Rainbird were born here. “I remember the rag and bone man,” he says. “There are generations of families still living in this street. Our late neighbour was born in our house.” But gentrification is rife. “We are part of the problem, no doubt. It’s an economic imbalance.” All the work on the house was carried out by local companies: Rainbird, who now runs a property development company, met architect Steve Sinclair (fourthspace.co.uk) at the school gates. They have just developed a nearby derelict pub.
The rose gold is a nod to the sunset skies of Los Angeles, where Rainbird and Horgan – whose TV writing credits include Catastrophe, Divorce and Motherland – have spent a good part of the past five years. Catastrophe was based on the couple’s unplanned pregnancy six months into their relationship. “We had a lot of discussions about the cube,” says Rainbird, 44. “Sharon said it looks like Stringfellows [nightclub]. But we love it.” Rainbird sold his advertising business in 2013, the year they bought their home. “That’s when Sharon’s career went bananas,” he says. “It’s just as well I’d stopped working, otherwise the family might have imploded.”
But Hackney, in east London, is home. Both Horgan and Rainbird were born here. “I remember the rag and bone man,” he says. “There are generations of families still living in this street. Our late neighbour was born in our house.” But gentrification is rife. “We are part of the problem, no doubt. It’s an economic imbalance.” All the work on the house was carried out by local companies: Rainbird, who now runs a property development company, met architect Steve Sinclair (fourthspace.co.uk) at the school gates. They have just developed a nearby derelict pub.
Source: theguardian
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