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Concrete reservoir once held 500,000 gallons of water, now holds $3.7M home

Concrete reservoir once held 500,000 gallons of water, now holds $3.7M home

By Camille Puschautz

When most people see a concrete reservoir, they don't immediately think "English countryside home."

But that's just what designer Kevin Brennan created.

A reservoir that once held 500,000 gallons of water now holds a 7,500-square-foot home, including five bedrooms, one master bathroom and four ensuite bathrooms, a modern open floor plan and a sunken courtyard with a pool about 82 feet long. It's now on the market for about $3.7 million.

(Click here or on a photo for a slideshow.)

Brennan also added a glass-walled room atop the reservoir to serve as a living space and library with an adjacent terraced roof, featuring a view of the 4-acre property and the North Downs chalk hills beyond.  It's located outside rural Kent, among the Tudors and Cotswold cottages.

The water tank was constructed in the 1930s and decommissioned in the 1980s. It was one of a pair; the other was also converted into a home near Brinkworth.

CLICK ANY PHOTO FOR A SLIDESHOW.
CLICK ANY PHOTO FOR A SLIDESHOW.

The house was commissioned by shock-pop artist Dinos Chapman and knitwear designer Tiphaine de Lussy, who loved the idea of living somewhere less than normal. (One look at Chapman's work reveals as much: He and his brother are known for pretty provocative pieces, such as a series of works that added rainbows and happy colors to original watercolors by Adolf Hitler, and a hellscape of grisly sculpted figures that includes Ronald McDonald hanging on a cross.)

Brennan had worked with the couple once before, on their London home, and knew they admired the Case Study Houses, a midcentury American architecture project.

After hearing that they were interested in a country home, he found the reservoir for sale, with planning permits to convert it into a house already in place.

"I saw it after we bought it," Chapman told the Telegraph, trusting Brennan's expertise.

"When I did see it, the experience of going into this old reservoir was quite amazing. … It didn't feel anything like a living space … so for Kevin to see the potential in it, that was the genius behind the project," he said.

Chapman wanted to preserve the original character of the structure, so Brennan's plan involved stripping away some of the earth to reveal the outline of the reservoir and then carving living spaces out of the concrete.

(Click here or on a photo for a slideshow.)

Chapman and de Lussy have added more distinctive touches. A rustic-looking chandelier made of reindeer antlers crowns the dining room, for example, while bubble ceiling lights hang over the master bedroom.

"I love contemporary furniture but I didn't want everything to be now," de Lussy told the Telegraph in 2012. "I wanted to look at vintage things, Scandinavian things and pieces that would make the place feel lived in."

After 18 months of excavation and reconstruction, the home was finished in 2009.

It's on the market after Chapman and de Lussy's split.

Click here or on a photo for a slideshow of the water-reservoir-turned-home.

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