Conservation & Heritage Issue 49 October 2025 - Flipbook - Page 115
access to these two levels - another key client requirement
- the staircase was moved from the centre to the side of
the house, increasing the size of the main living space and
connecting the kitchen to a new external terrace.
The refurbished house feels much more spacious and
lighter than it did prior to the refurbishment, and
although sixty years of tree growth has reduced its impact
on the town, local people continue to walk up the hill to
come and look at it.
Architect’s View
“Cliffhanger was designed by my father, Michael Manser
PPRIBA, for a journalist/artist David Papworth and his
family. The site was on a 50-degree slope and a steelframed scheme was designed with engineer Jack Dawson,
cantilevering from four very slender columns, hence the
name of the house. With the exception of the steel frame,
the house was self-built (by the Papworths) at low cost,
including the foundations. Site visits were weekend family
jaunts, hence photographs of my mother, my sister and
I wandering around a perilous site. I remember being
given a shovel on one occasion and ‘helping’ to dig the
foundations. The finished house, a cedar clad timber
frame above a steel deck, caused a sensation at the time
and soon became a local landmark perched in the trees
above the town.
Built on a single level in 1963, an additional storey
containing four children’s bedrooms was slung
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