Leading actors including Dame Emma Thompson and Jim Broadbent are fighting plans for a new home in their Hampstead enclave which they say would “fit in perfectly in Malibu”.
The celebrities oppose Daniel and Sendi Young’s bid to demolish a one-storey 1960s home next to Hampstead Cricket Ground and replace it with a modern aluminium-clad property.
Paddington star Broadbent, Dame Emma and her husband Greg Wise, and fellow actors Imelda Staunton, Jim Carter and Richard Clifford, the partner of Sir Derek Jacobi, have all sent letters to Camden council opposing the planning application submitted in June.
“This is the wrong design in the wrong place", wrote Wise, 57, who is a trained architect. "It would fit in perfectly in Malibu, but not in our conservation area."
Staunton and Downton star Carter, who are married, called it a “large, looming three-storey aluminium and glass industrial shed”.
Broadbent, 74, said granting planning permission for the home, which comes with a sun terrace, an open-plan living space, and green-roof system, would “radically alter the unique character” of the West Hampstead community.
The Youngs, who work in cryptocurrency and AI, hired designers Scenario Architecture and the company said its plans are “of its time”, arguing the modern home would complement West Hampstead’s traditional Arts and Crafts style.
A spokesperson added they would be "disappointed if the celebrity angle were to have any influence on the council’s decision". The application was submitted in June and is yet to be decided on by councillors.
