No.2 Willow Road

A few weeks ago I went to visit Erno Goldfinger's home No.2 Willow Road, Hampstead. Erno Goldfinger was an architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United Kingdom in the 1930s, and became a key member of the architectural Modern Movement. Erno designed numbers 1-3 willow road and number 2 was specifically designed as his own family home.

I read the following on Wikipedia and I really hope its true... Ian Fleming decided to name the James Bond villain Auric Goldfinger after Erno. Fleming had previously been among the objectors to the pre-war demolition of the cottages in Hampstead that were removed to make way for Goldfinger's house at 2 Willow Road. Goldfinger consulted his lawyers when Goldfinger was published in 1959, which prompted Fleming to threaten to rename the character 'Goldprick', but eventually decided not to sue; Fleming's publishers agreed to pay his costs and gave him six free copies of the book.

The house was beautiful and as a fan of the modernist style I loved everything about it. You can see a few photos from my visit below.