2 Willow Road

2 Willow Road is the Hampstead home that Hungarian-born architect Erno Goldfinger designed for his family, the middle of a terrace of three concrete-framed houses finished in the summer of 1939 after a letter from Henry Brooke of the Heath and Old Hampstead Protection Society stirred a national row; Goldfinger, backed by Roland Penrose and Flora Robson, argued the houses were a modern adaptation of the Georgian style. Brooke's son Peter, as Heritage Secretary, handed the house to the National Trust in 1993, and it is one of only two Modernist houses in the country open to the public. Inside are the original interiors and Goldfinger's bespoke furniture, including a black laminate desk with pivoting drawers, and the family's art by Henry Moore, Max Ernst and Bridget Riley, whose 1962 Fugitive hangs in the dining room. Visits are pre-booked, by hour-long guided tour or self-guided later in the day, and only assistance dogs are admitted; the Trust's 2.5-mile Hampstead circular walk passes the door. Reviewers find the guides exceptionally knowledgeable and the house packed with things to notice. Tips from visitors: book well ahead, as places are limited, and note there is no parking or toilet on site.