This whimsical vacation house is styled as a secular chapel. The strange brief was requested by Living Architecture, a nonprofit that commissions notable architects and rents the buildings to the public. The house, designed by artist Grayson Perry and now-disbanded architecture firm FAT, mixes formal and informal, sacred and nonreligious precedents, canonizing a fictional local woman by using architectural details. These include the eclectic symbols on the exterior's green and white tiles, each of which represents aspects of her identity, and tapestries inside that commemorate events in her life. FAT's Charles Holland cites the house as a rare collaboration where contemporary art and architecture 'speak the same language to explore a concept together.'
A House for Essex
![Tiles cover the westward-facing side of the house.](https://www.architecturalrecord.com/ext/resources/archives/features/snapshot/2015/images/07/1507-A-House-for-Essex-1.jpg?t=1450318723&width=1080)
A House for Essex
Grayson Perry and FAT Architecture
Essex, England
Tiles cover the westward-facing side of the house.
Photo © Jack Hobhouse
![Tiles cover the westward-facing side of the house.](https://www.architecturalrecord.com/ext/resources/archives/features/snapshot/2015/images/07/1507-A-House-for-Essex-2.jpg?t=1450318723&width=1080)
A House for Essex
Grayson Perry and FAT Architecture
Essex, England
Tiles cover the westward-facing side of the house.
Photo © Jack Hobhouse
![With custom tiles and herringbone floors, the kitchen and dining area opens to the living room.](https://www.architecturalrecord.com/ext/resources/archives/features/snapshot/2015/images/07/1507-A-House-for-Essex-3.jpg?t=1450318723&width=1080)
A House for Essex
Grayson Perry and FAT Architecture
Essex, England
With custom tiles and herringbone floors, the kitchen and dining area opens to the living room.
Photo © Jack Hobhouse
![The tapestry 'Julie and Rob' hangs on a bedroom wall.](https://www.architecturalrecord.com/ext/resources/archives/features/snapshot/2015/images/07/1507-A-House-for-Essex-4.jpg?t=1450318723&width=1080)
A House for Essex
Grayson Perry and FAT Architecture
Essex, England
The tapestry 'Julie and Rob' hangs on a bedroom wall.
Photo © Jack Hobhouse
![Tapestries 'The Perfect Match' (left) and 'In its Familiarity, Golden' (right) flank the walls of the living room, while the sculpture 'Julie' looks on.](https://www.architecturalrecord.com/ext/resources/archives/features/snapshot/2015/images/07/1507-A-House-for-Essex-5.jpg?t=1450318723&width=1080)
A House for Essex
Grayson Perry and FAT Architecture
Essex, England
Tapestries 'The Perfect Match' (left) and 'In its Familiarity, Golden' (right) flank the walls of the living room, while the sculpture 'Julie' looks on.
Photo © Jack Hobhouse
Essex, England
Grayson Perry and FAT Architecture
A House for Essex