Apartment

• England
In the late 19th and early 20th century, the concept of the flat was slow to catch-on amongst the English middle-classes. Those who lived in these flats were assumed to be adaptable and ‘different’. In London, everyone who could afford it occupied an entire house – even if a small one.
During the last quarter of the 19th Century, ideas began to change. Both urban growth and the increase in population meant that more imaginative housing concepts were going to be needed if the middle and upper classes were to maintain a Pied-à-terre in the capital. The traditional London town house was becoming increasingly expensive to maintain. Especially for male and female bachelors, the idea of renting a modern mansion flat came increasingly into vogue.