IF I won a million pounds, I'd pay off my mortgage, have my first holiday in ages and buy one of those pizzas with the extra topping.
If I won £45 million, I'd probably die of a heart attack, so let's pray that never happens. Not that it's ever likely to, as I've never done – I gather that's the verb – the lottery.
Matt and Cassey Topham have, and it gladdens the soul to hear that, not only did they win £45 million, but their hearts survived the shock. And they've decided to build their dream house, a £5 million eco-home called Serenity. If it's named after the spacecraft in the excellent TV series Firefly, I deepen the doff of my millinery as that would indicate young folk of impeccable taste.
The 24-year-old painter and decorator and 23-year-old supermarket supervisor lived in a £90,000 ex-council house in Stapleford, Notts, when word came through that their financial worries were over. The point about their planned new home is that they're spending the money creatively, instead of frittering it on gewgaws as many lottery winners seem to do (I exempt the Weirs, who are helping to fund Scotland's freedom).
The Tophams are creating what their architects call a "21st century update of the traditional country house", with four hubs and – oh bliss – acoustically sealed pods. There'll be a botanical garden and cascading waterfalls. The house has been dubbed a Teletubbies mansion and, online, critics with eccentric spelling habits have panned it. These are people who dislike any modern architecture, most of which is admittedly deplorable.
But where there is colour and shape, rather than the grey, featureless slabs foisted on us by a dumb intelligentsia, there is hope. I hope it works out for Matt and Cassey, and they'll be happy in their hubs.
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