A Living Museum

Architect and artist Simon Hurst has spent years turning his everyday terraced house into a bequiling cabinet of curiosities

- SERENA FOKSCHANER

Simon Hurst is considering the future of his East London home. Should he set up a trust to ensure it survives intact after his death? Or bequeath the contents to an arts institution? Simon, a classically trained architect, has every reason to be concerned about his legacy. Behind a high hedge and low gate, the unassuming terraced house he bought as a 'skint' 20-something has become his private museum; a living cabinet of curiosities crammed with rare and unusual objects.

Like a gallery, his finds are displayed by type: lustrous tiles, engravings, and amulets clustered in groups. A 'naked' patch on a wall is a rebuke, he says: it has to be filled. 'One object is never enough; it always sparks a collection.' Simon points to a row of keys displayed on the wall like a decorative frieze: a basic wooden peg, followed by more sophisticated metal versions. 'My father, who was in the Merchant Navy, gave me one when I was a child. After that, I went on a quest to find more. The Victorian one came from Brick Lane Market: the others from different places, including Uzbekistan. I'm fascinated by how objects have developed over time. The two themes that bind my collections are architecture and travel. Anything else, and I'm not interested."