That is a bit of a slur on this architect but, I found the house that I looked at today, one which was designed, probably in the 1970s and obviously built at that time was all a bit 'awkward'. There was a chimney stack, but it served only the boiler; at the rear of the living room was a substantial stone built fireplace but it was a fake. It had a large beaten copper hood beneath a sloping ceiling finished with stained tongue and grooved boarding so it was all a bit dark. Looking at the agents particulars of the property, there was a magnificent balcony across the front, built over the living room, but there was no access to it; it too was a fake! It was such a fake that the surrounding metal railings were just plonked on the flat roof and held in place by their weight. Structurally the house was in reasonable condition and decoratively it was well maintained. But, it was all very 70s-ish and needs a ‘rebirth’ to bring it into 2010. Even then when one’s been to Sainsbury's and retuns with the week's shopping in hand, one has to trundle through the hall, up steps and into the living room, up the stairs through the dining room and eventually into the kitchen. If you then want to go to the main bedroom perhaps for a change of clothes, you have to go down the steps across the living room and up more steps beyond the fake fireplace that leads to the bedrooms; the layout is poor but no doubt the architect liked it…   more »