Initially, Goldfinger planned to build a block of studio flats, believing that flat living was a more socially conscious choice for modern architects. A number of
cottages were demolished to allow for the construction, which was strongly opposed by a number of local residents including novelist
Ian Fleming and the future
Conservative Home Secretary
Henry Brooke. This incident led Fleming to name his villain
Auric Goldfinger by way of revenge. No. 2, which Goldfinger designed specifically as his own family home, is the largest of the three houses and features a
spiral staircase designed by engineer
Ove Arup at its core. The building is supported by a concrete frame, part of which is external, leaving room for a spacious uncluttered interior, perhaps inspired by the
Raumplan ideas of modernist architect
Adolf Loos. ==Today==