Head Over Heal's

EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 1 HomesWednesday 6 November 2013 & Lights fantastic Interiors Property Page 26

NEW HOMES AS LONDON BOOMS P4 DOUBLE UP, BUY NEXT DOOR P12 & P28 BARBADOS P8 SPOTLIGHT CRYSTAL PALACE P34

Head over Heal’s Store boss’s My Design London: Page 10 NICK HOLT London’s best property search website: homesandproperty.co.uk 2 WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Online homesandproperty.co.uk with This week: homesandproperty.co.uk news: Property £4m to live in Hackney, the in partnership with rising property star of the east search Offers over £4 million: this six-bedroom home, once a London buy of the week church hall, is close to Victoria the smoothest of moves Park, Hackney. Through £650,000: nip over to NW5 where this chain-free garden Foxtons flat — set on a prime Kentish Town road — is a find for buyers seeking a smooth move. Inside showcases pale THE east London borough of Hackney has emerged as the grey walls, oak floors, wide sash windows, high ceilings capital’s shining property star with prices up almost and plenty of high-spec detailing to match. Plush style 13 per cent in a year, according to the latest figures from continues in two double bedrooms, a sleek bathroom and the Land Registry. a 29ft reception/kitchen and dining room leading to a The average home in the borough will soon breach the decked landscaped garden. Through KFH. £500,000 barrier — and currently stands at £474,202. The most expensive home currently for sale in Hackney is O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/buyoftheweekkentish a converted church hall close to Victoria Park, on the market with Foxtons for offers above £4 million (visit homesandproperty.co.uk/vicpark). You can still find bargains, however. The cheapest property is a studio flat Out of town buy of the week the in Clapton, also through Foxtons, for £139,950 (homesandproperty.co.uk/clarence). barn is lovely, the gardens magnificent £650,000: escape the rat race and while inside sees a mass of elm O Read Ruth Bloomfield’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk cosy up for winter at this magnificent beams in the huge reception/ Grade II-listed converted Elizabethan drawing room, a bespoke barn in the semi-rural spot of kitchen/breakfast room and four Stowmarket, Suffolk. bedrooms, all with lovely views. get ahead of the crowd: There is a lot to love about this There is even a fully equipped property, especially its wonderful studio space above the garage. sign up for our e-newsletter gardens — a favourite in the National Through Abbotts. Gardens Scheme — featuring O BE THE first to meadows, ponds and a stream O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/ get the latest meandering among flowerbeds, swapstowmarket London and UK property news, design trends, Life changer realise your area guides and offers — every dream of a country tea shop Wednesday. £695,000: woodlands and a pretty two-acre garden, plus Simply sign up at a former bothy converted into a studio, lend bags of homesand earning potential to this listed farmhouse in Staplecross, property. East Sussex. You could run a little tea shop or deli from the co.uk/ bothy, where guests could buy picnic supplies to enjoy in newsletter. the grounds. The double garage could also be converted into a shop, as there is ample additional parking. There are O LIKE Homes & five bedrooms, open fireplaces and exposed beams Property? Find indoors. Through Freeman Forman. us on Facebook: ESHomes O Visit homesandpropertyco.uk/lifechangerstaplecross Faye Greenslade AndProperty

Editor: Win £800 to spend at Sofas & Stuff Janice Morley Plus: a 10 per cent discount on all sofas for every reader SOFAS & STUFF sofas and beds are TO ENTER VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk/rules handmade in Britain and come with a Simply visit for details of our usual promotion lifetime guarantee on every frame and homesand rules. When you respond to spring, delivery in about 30 days and property.co.uk/ promotions, offers or competitions, a no-quibble returns policy. Now one offers before the London Evening Standard and its lucky Homes & Property reader can the end of sister companies may contact you win an £800 voucher to spend on this November 20. with relevant offers and services superb furniture. that may be of interest. Please give Sofas & Stuff prices are extraordinarily your mobile number and/or email reasonable thanks to a business address if you would like to receive decision to shun expensive high streets Terms & such offers by text or email. and operate via the internet and from conditions: the Editorial: 020 3615 2524 lovely old barns in the middle of To claim your 10 per cent discount: 10 per cent Advertisement manager: nowhere. The tagline “for a sofa to visit one of the Sofas & Stuff discount applies Mark Wood come home to” suggests comfort is key. showrooms, call 0808 1783211 or go to until November Advertising: 020 3615 0527 See the range at sofasandstuff.com sofasandstuff.com and quote the code 20. Usual rules Homes & Property, Northcliffe or visit one of the firm’s showrooms, STANDARD by November 20. apply. See homes House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, including Parsons Green (near the andproperty. London W8 5TT. Tube), Tunbridge Wells, Hungerford, For a chance to win an £800 voucher: co.uk/rules for West Sussex and Bishop’s Stortford. see side panel. full details. ESHomesAndProperty @HomesProperty HomesProperty EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 3 homesandproperty.co.uk with News Homes & Property

By Amira Hashish

EPA Bra queen DiCaprio’s seeking Michelle’s Rogers hopes for a £4m pot a green fresh start £1.5m sale of gold at the Rainbow’s end

É LEONARDO DICAPRIO is house Got some É MICHELLE MONE is settling É PORTOBELLO ROAD’S in Portobello Road, W11, hunting in New York, where an gossip? into a new three-bedroom most colourful home, as “a living artwork”. Some environmentally friendly Fifth Avenue Tweet @ townhouse in her native Scotland. designed by architect of its fabulous features flat has caught the 38-year-old amiranews The Ultimo lingerie boss splashed Ab Rogers, below, is for include a circular bed that Hollywood A-lister’s eye. out £780,700 on the duplex in an sale. rotates 360 degrees, a On the market at £8 million, the upmarket area of Glasgow after her The director of interior fibreglass rainbow-themed property would be fittingly split from husband Michael, 46. design at the Royal College staircase and a trap door, sumptuous for the Great Gatsby The five-bedroom marital home — of Art and son of revealing a slide that actor, with its three large bedrooms, named Telperion after a tree in The starchitect Lord Rogers connects a bedroom with marble bathrooms, plus a spacious Lord of the Rings — in the Glasgow describes the four- the living room. dressing room and a library. suburb of Thorntonhall, is for sale bedroom Rainbow House Even the floors are The 4,300sq ft home, which is split through Savills for £1.5 million, amazing, with illustrations across two floors, has the added including its luxurious fixtures and by artist Richard Woods. attraction of top-notch security fittings. Michelle, 42, reportedly tried It is listed at £4 million features, including a 24-hour porter to buy her husband’s share but he said with Domus Nova. and key-locked lift. DiCaprio has it was against a previous agreement. reportedly been looking for a O Visit homesand new home all year. The slick O Visit homesandproperty.co. property.co.uk/rainbow for

contemporary apartment uk/telperion GETTY IMAGES more pictures and details might just be to his taste. Always party time at RiRi’s

É RIHANNA wants to give her new £13.6 million Barbados home, right, the London look. The Diamonds singer, 25, is creating a private nightclub there modelled on Piccadilly celebrity haunt, Dstrkt. She is said to be spending £6.18 million on a makeover to

include replicating the club’s REID REBECCA futuristic bling lighting, oversize sofas, chrome furniture and bar clad in rare stone. RiRi certainly

REX FEATURES knows how to party in style. O Where to buy a home in Barbados: see Page 8 4 WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property New homes homesandproperty.co.uk with Population boom means housing Nine million people are set to call the capital home by 2019. David Spittles reports on the race to provide the 400,000 new homes and transport upgrades that will be needed

ONDON’S population jumped to solve the commuter crush. They are by more than 100,000 last looking beyond Crossrail — the east- year to a new postwar high, west train link arriving in 2017 — to find and at the current rate of efficient ways to integrate rail and Tube increase the capital will grow lines in the suburbs and outer London Lby the equivalent of an extra borough areas. And new transport routes equal every three years, hitting a total of nine new homes. million people by 2019, according to Transport for London is set to gain the latest data from the Office for more control of suburban commuter National Statistics. routes currently run by rail operators. As a result the city needs a more In 2015 TfL will take over the West extensive transport network for Anglia rail franchise. This route runs commuters, says London Mayor Boris from Liverpool Street through east Johnson, and 400,000 new homes London to Stansted airport and Cam- over the next 10 years. bridge, taking in Hertfordshire com- The popular suburbs are where the muter towns such as Bishop’s Stortford population is predicted to grow. After and Cheshunt. past flirtations with locating offices out Part of the deal involves upgrading of town, the mood is now for commerce 23 stations, one of which is Hackney to cluster in the centre of the capital, Downs. While forlorn now compared though this will inevitably put extra with nearby Hackney Central, a shiny strain on the transport system. So Lon- new Overground station surrounded don will not just have more people — by trendy bars and cafés, Hackney predicted eventually to reach 10 million Downs is likely to be transformed. by 2030 — it will have more people trav- Another Overground station is Hack- elling longer distances to work. ney Wick, which enjoys a much higher Private car use in London is falling, profile since the 2012 Olympics. Previ- while journeys by Tube and bus are ously off the radar of homebuyers, the soaring. Once-quiet public transport area is smartening up, with regenera- routes are crammed, with 3.7 million tion reversing decades of industrial people using the Tube each day. The decline. The cathedral-size church of

Docklands Light Railway carries 100 St Mary of Eton is at the centre of an JEREMY SELWYN million passengers a year, up from 66 ambitious project bringing 25 new million in 2008, while the recently homes, including a spectacular triplex minute walk to Hackney Wick station, housing stock and culture. Home From £277,500: completed East London line is already apartment in the listed tower. The while all the Stratford amenities are on buyers have had a poor deal in the past above, Kidbrooke feeling the strain — though its capacity church is being renovated and two new the doorstep. This district has a bright from unimaginative building. The Village ﬂats have is being boosted by 25 per cent. “wings” built either side. future and artists priced out of high- Mayor is calling for higher quality, good transport Loft-style apartments with up to four rent Shoreditch are already settling. more imaginative architecture and links for BEYOND CROSSRAIL bedrooms and patio-style terraces are Completion is due next summer. Prices design for the suburbs. Buyers priced commuters Of course, where railway lines go, being carved from a separate double- from £250,000. Call estate agent Fyfe out of central and inner London are a From £250,000: homebuyers are sure to follow, with height mission hall, while a new vicar- Mcdade on 020 7613 4044. ready audience for something From £374,995: for apartments the inevitable effect on local property age is being built alongside and a café special. interior of a two- at The Mission, prices. Since the Overground came to created in the cobbled courtyard. GET IN THE ZONE London has 19 outer boroughs — from bedroom ﬂat at Hackney Wick, Tube-starved Hackney, for instance, Called The Mission, the develop- Outer London is where families used Sutton in the south to Enfield in the low-rise London below. Call 020 prices are up 25 per cent. Transport ment looms over the roaring Eastway to go but it is enormously varied in north, from Havering in the east to Square, Ruislip 7613 4044 strategists are looking ahead for ways dual carriageway, but it is only a five- terms of wealth, ethnicity, education, Hillingdon in the west, created by (0333 666 2636) EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 5 homesandproperty.co.uk with New homes Homes & Property an extra borough every three years

railway expansion in the early 20th community is set in award-winning A NEW GARDEN SUBURB and wetlands. Flats and townhouses From £950,000: townhouses in century. During the interwar years, the landscaped grounds which include a At Kidbrooke station in SE3, a new with roof terraces overlook this green Napier Square, West Acton, with patio pioneering Metropolitan Railway built lake, cycle paths and play areas. There transport interchange providing a 15- expanse. Properties are a step up for gardens, roof terraces and garages. its own housing estates to the north- is also a gym, plus a car club and minute commute to London Bridge is the area, with smart, space-efficient Call Berkeley Homes on 020 8811 2336 west of London in Buckinghamshire, 24-hour concierge services. part of a “new garden suburb” in the interiors that would not be out of place Middlesex and Hertfordshire, and Home buyers here can “shop” at the borough of Greenwich that will have in trendy parts of Islington or Ber- has five Tube stations to the West End marketed the area as Metro-land, later on-site interior design studio, and 4,000 homes and 10,000 residents. mondsey. Prices from £277,500. Call and City. famously celebrated by the poet John various fixtures, fittings, furnishings, The train service is run by Southeast- Berkeley Homes on 020 8150 5151. Developers are bringing fresh ideas Betjeman. fabric and colour choices are available. ern, another TfL takeover target. The Metropolitan Railway propelled to an area dominated by interwar hous- Built on the site of an industrial Prices from £401,500 for two-bedroom Called Kidbrooke Village, the devel- Ruislip from sleepy medieval settle- ing. London Square has a scheme of 60 estate, Stanmore Place is a welcome apartments. Call 020 8952 2853. opment is split into four attractively ment to commuter suburb. Now in flats in low-rise blocks surrounding arrival in the style-starved north-west Nearby Canons Park Tube station is in landscaped neighbourhoods and bor- Hillingdon borough, the area feeds off communal gardens. From £374,995. London suburbs. This 798-home Zone 5 on the Jubilee line. ders Sutcliffe Park, which has a lake the Heathrow commercial zone and Call 0333 666 2636.

Saturday 9th November Sunday 10th November # , ## , %!% & ,% ) " ", ) %% , %&,%$ ! & ," %" )& #!%# % # %%& #!%# , % %#" % ,% # * & #++#%% %' %) # "%( Call us to book your appointment on 020 8569 7449 or visit us at www.brentfordlockwest.co.uk 6 WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Commuting homesandproperty.co.uk with Moving out? The handy way is Essex In a new series on ROM the fake-tan charms of Brentwood to the Quaker where to find a roots of Saffron Walden — and everything in between — the Help to Buy sheer variety of Essex means Fthere is something in this much- commuter home maligned county for everyone consider- ing a move out of London. With up to under £600,000, £600,000 to spend under the Govern- ment’s Help to Buy low-deposit scheme, Ruth Bloomfield there’s certainly plenty of choice. discovers this county MARKET TOWN SAFFRON WALDEN has quick train links This medieval market town, with its strong Quaker influences, has old-fash- to London and is ioned allure in spades. Its wonky, timber-framed cottages are delectable, brimming with the march of the chain store has been largely repelled and there are traditional possible buys tea shops and pretty pubs aplenty. You can be in the City in less than an hour, but there’s easy access to the countryside, too. There are independent shops around Market Square and in King Street, and top-grade schools

£595,000: a include RA Butler Academy, St Thomas southern leg of the annual V Festival, charming four- More Catholic Primary and Saffron plus one of the biggest village greens bedroom thatch Walden County High. Property ranges in England, and Stock is a quintessen- with large from Tudor onwards, and the average tial English village with great pubs. gardens, just price is £334,229, up 2.28 per cent in Children from these villages have outside Saffron the last year according to Zoopla. For access to Chelmsford’s top-performing Walden in the £600,000 you could expect to buy a state secondary schools, King Edward village of four- or even five-bedroom period VI Grammar and Chelmsford County Radwinter house in the town centre. High. There are plenty of shops, bars The nearest station is Audley End, a and restaurants in town, plus first-rate O Visit homes couple of miles from the town centre, sports facilities and Stansted airport 20 andproperty. and you can be at London Liverpool minutes’ drive away. If you want to live co.uk/radwinter Street in just under an hour. An annual in town, the nicest part is Old Moul- season ticket is £3,728. On the down- sham, just south of the centre, where side, there’s a lack of nightlife — Regency and Edwardian houses sell for although Cambridge is at hand — and between £400,000 and £600,000. an expanded Stansted airport could increase flightpath noise. SEASIDE LEIGH-ON-SEA VILLAGE LIFE Leigh-on-Sea has London’s nearest PLESHEY, STOCK, DANBURY beach, and trains from this down-to- AND WRITTLE earth former fishing village take just 45 Chelmsford is a commuter favourite, minutes to Liverpool Street. An annual with Liverpool Street about 40 minutes season ticket costs £4,236. away by train and an annual season Old Leigh is the prettiest part of town, ticket costing £4,472. But smart buyers speckled with fishing boats, and the should forget the town and opt for one area is earning itself something of a of the lovely local villages. In Pleshey, reputation as a 21st-century artists’ Stock, Danbury or Writtle you could colony. The town has a small but sandy buy a modern four-bedroom house beach, a village-like feel, and a fun — as from £500,000, or a similar-size opposed to stuck-up — annual regatta, detached period property from while Old Leigh, with its cobbled streets ESHomesAndProperty

£575,000: three- £600,000. If you are willing to travel a and clapboard cottages, has some bedroom Castle little further, Felsted, on the River lovely traditional pubs to explore. Cottage in Pump Chelmer, has four-bedroom detached There are also plenty of seafood Lane, Pleshey period cottages from £500,000-plus. restaurants, or you can sample the Pleshey was a best-kept village award day’s catch direct from the town’s O Visit homesand finalist this year, Danbury residents cockle sheds. property.co.uk/ can walk and ride on vast National There is also a good choice of schools: pump Trust-run Danbury Common, Writtle Leigh Infant School and West Leigh residents have a front-row seat for the Junior School are rated outstanding by Ofsted, while Westcliff High School for Girls and Westcliff High School for Boys, half a mile away, also received top marks from the Government’s schools watchdog. It is not hard to see why one recent survey anointed Leigh-On-Sea the UK’s second-best coastal location, after Christchurch in Dorset. The average property price in the town is £258,415, up 5.82 per cent in Find us on the past year according to Zoopla. facebook Value here is strong. Property ranges from fishermen’s cottages in the town centre, selling for between £200,000 and £300,000, to detached Twenties family homes on the popular Marine Estate from about £400,000. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 7 Affordable homes Homes & Property Homes in new up-and-coming districts are within reach of young Londoners using Help to Buy, says David Spittles

IRST-TIME buyers have to be more enterprising than ever in their search for an affordable home. Help to Buy is fuelling the property market Fand prices are rising faster than incomes. So despite mortgages being more plentiful, buyers are having to settle for cheaper locations — not always further out — and consider shared ownership as a way of getting on the ladder. Housing associations are keeping the property dreams of young Londoners alive by launching affordable homes in up-and-coming areas such as Wembley, where a new 85-acre district is being built around the famous stadium. JAMES EMMETT/SPADA PR EMMETT/SPADA JAMES WELL-CONNECTED First-time buyers: Katie Merry and Joe Koszulinski are moving to Wandsworth A more diverse range of amenities, previously a missing ingredient, is DEPOSIT HURDLE IS BEHIND US AT LAST being added to the well-established sporting and concert venue. Brent JOE KOSZULINSKI and Katie Merry, deposit of at least five per cent of the council wants Wembley to become the both 26, took advantage of the Help value of the property and can borrow focus of the borough, and has pinned to Buy low-deposit scheme to land an a further 20 per cent on an interest- its colours to the mast by relocating to apartment at The Filaments, a free basis. The maximum equity loan a glistening new town hall at the site. former gas mantle factory in available is £120,000. After five years, And the capital’s first designer outlet Wandsworth town centre, where the loan ceases to be interest-free. It with more than 80 shops has opened. prices start at £350,000. attracts interest of 1.75 per cent from Stadium Reach is the latest apart- The couple, who have been renting year six, rising annually by RPI ment scheme to be unveiled. Two-bed- in Putney, will take possession of inflation plus one per cent. room flats cost £264,500, or £119,025 their new home next month. You could also purchase from for a 45 per cent share, which requires “We had almost given up hope of Weston Homes using Help to Buy. a deposit of £5,591. Call Network Living being able to buy because the deposit Its King’s Island development, a on 0844 809 9148. hurdle was just too high,” says Joe, converted flour mill on the banks of Served by four Tube lines — the who works for a West End advertising the Grand Union Canal in Uxbridge, Bakerloo, Jubilee, Metropolitan and company. “Help to Buy made it has two-bedroom flats from Piccadilly lines — Wembley is one of the possible.” Buyers need to raise a £272,995. Call 01895 232049. capital’s best-connected spots, offering We’re off to Wem-ber-ley quick and convenient links to central Help to Buy, requiring a deposit of benefits of new homes and launch London. It’s 26 minutes to Baker Street, £12,000. Call 0844 371 1301. This part of stylish apartments that qualify for Help for example. Wembley Central in the the Help to Buy scheme, which offers to Buy equity loans. town centre, a regeneration zone half a government-backed equity loans of up Most people are likely to repay mile from the stadium, is another new to 20 per cent when purchasing a new- the loan when they sell the property. development. Sitting alongside and build property from a participating If the property has increased in value, above Wembley Central train station are developer, has been overshadowed the amount to be paid back to the 155 apartments set around a public by the wider-ranging second phase Government will be proportionately square. One-bedroom flats are priced introduced last month. Nonetheless, higher. from £235,000 and are available under developers continue to trumpet the Take, for example, someone buying a £300,000 flat with a £225,000 mort- From £119,025: gage, using five per cent savings and for a 45 per cent receiving a £60,000 equity loan. If the share of a property sells for £340,000, the equity two-bedroom loan would have increased to £68,000. ﬂat at Stadium After paying off the mortgage and Reach, the equity loan, the buyer would be left latest Wembley with £47,000, minus estate agency and apartment other fees. scheme unveiled Buyers have to apply through participating housebuilders and HomeBuy agents. Visit homebuy.co.uk. Help to Buy apartments are cheaper in the commuter belt. At Kings Park, Essex, prices start at £136,000, requiring a deposit of £8,500. Harold Wood, the local train station, is Oyster card territory, with a 33-minute train service to Liverpool Street station, and due to get a boost as it is on the Crossrail route opening in 2018. Call Countryside Properties on 01708 348578. 8 WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Homes abroad homesandproperty.co.uk with Barbados becomes a far more realistic proposition when holiday homes there can earn a regular rental income, says Cathy Hawker

UST picture it: sun, sea and security in a millionaires’ favoured playground. Owning a holiday home in sophisticated Barbados might be an indul- Jgence but today it is also expected to pay its way. New buyers on the Caribbean island want easily manage- able homes with affordable running costs and good rental potential. In other words, they are demanding a cost-effective investment with an element of luxury — but without the outrageous costs. “We are seeing more buyers who want an enjoyable holiday home where they can avoid too many of the spiral- ling operational costs,” says Terry Hanton of Altman Real Estate Group. “At all price points but especially at the more affordable end of the market, buyers who are happy with the purchase price are looking increasingly hard at the running costs.”

SOUTH-EASTERN BEAUTY ALAMY The Crane Resort on the island’s windy Favourite spot: Crane Beach, perfectly positioned on Barbados’s south-east coast, is where the calm, turquoise seas of the Caribbean meet the lively Atlantic ocean south-east coast, 10 minutes from the airport, is one of Barbados’s longest- established and best-loved hotels, and its half-mile, pink sand Crane Beach is A Caribbean dream you can afford a beauty. It is 40 minutes away from the upmarket west coast action but it is well-established with its own under- are sold and there is an active resale national park and 10 minutes from WEST COAST CLASS SOUTH COAST VALUE stated elegance, family atmosphere market, with winter weeks particularly The Crane, and has begun building 87 Close to multimillion-pound beach- The south coast provides a livelier vibe and many loyal fans. in demand. The average profit for all single-storey, studio to three-bedroom front villas on the super-smart west and property prices almost half of The Crane operates as a 252-room resales over the past six years has been beach homes. coast, affordable apartments with built- those on the top-dollar west coast. hotel and also sells its one- to three- 6.5 per cent, says sales manager Tristan These modern homes have pale in rental returns are proving popular St Lawrence Gap is loud and touristy bedroom apartments, from one week Blades, while the rental pool has always porcelain tiles, limed wood floors and with buyers. Beach View in St James but the mile-long street has a good a year for £8,000 to whole ownership covered all expenses for every week wide walls of glass looking out to sea. close to Holetown is a new 36-unit choice of restaurants, nightlife and from £351,200. The price includes full for every owner. The attractive, pared-back style is condo hotel in three acres of grounds shops. furnishings and all buying and selling “We guarantee three per cent net thoughtful with clever, self-contained selling two- and three-bedroom fur- Ocean Two on Dover Beach is a smart costs. rental return for three ears,” says lock-off studio units that allow rental nished apartments from £308,600. four-star hotel with 72 one- and two- The 40-acre site includes pools, Blades. “People buy here because they returns to be maximised. Owners must join the rental pool and bedroom flats with communal pools, tennis courts, gym, spa and four see it as good value — and more and Shared ownership starts from £8,280 can use their apartment for only three gym and a restaurant. If owners choose restaurants, plus a good selection of more they want the turnkey aspect, a for one week per year in a 1,100sq ft months of the year. There is an on-site to put their flats into the rental pool, shops and full hotel concierge services. holiday home without hassles.” studio, and from £22,380 in a two-bed- property manager and the units will the properties must be available for Apartments are generously sized, from room, 3,000sq ft beach house with operate as a hotel. nine months of the year. From £231,440 1,200 square feet, with terraces and EASTERN BEACH HOUSES pool. Full ownership starts from Nearby one- to four-bedroom apart- to £494,100, through Altman. colonial-style furniture. The Crane’s owner, Paul Doyle, intends £522,500. ments with sea views at Lantana are This was the first resort in Barbados to follow this success with his next The first homes are due to be com- priced from £179,340, while a pretty, CONTACTS to introduce the concept of shared project, the Beach Houses at Culpepper pleted next year, and there are plans three-bedroom townhouse at Heron The Crane and Culpepper Beach Houses: ownership and it prides itself on having on the less-visited east coast. for a boutique hotel, spa, gym and two Court, just minutes away from the craneresorts.com (00 1 246 423 6220). the lowest annual fee of any compara- Doyle owns 50 acres of land on this restaurants. A total of 75 buyers have beach, is priced at £340,130 — all avail- Altman Real Estate: through Savills ble resort. Two thirds of apartments wilder Atlantic coast adjacent to a already invested. able through Altman. (savills.com; 020 7016 3740).

£342,980: a three-bedroom, two-bathroom townhouse at From £522,500: for studios to three-bedroom homes at From £8,000: for one week per year shared ownership at The Crane Resort, which Mango Court, St James, on the west coast. Through Altman Beach Houses, next to a national park at Culpepper has one- to three-bedroom apartments. Whole ownership starts at £351,200 10 WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Design homesandproperty.co.uk with

ILL HOBHOUSE, who took over as chairman at Heal’s in July last year, describes himself as Wa shopkeeper. But he’s a shopkeeper on a rather grand scale with a colourful entrepreneurial history, having been involved with high street names such as Tie Rack, Le Pain Quotidien, Jack Wills and Whittard’s. Now he is enjoying the challenge of restoring the vision of Ambrose Heal to the Tottenham Court Road department store. Here he tells us of his secret shop, where to buy the best mojito in town and why he covets a Favourite restaurant: Villandry’s porridge and fruit is a hit For memories: a beaver-gnawed piece of wood from Canada Barbara Hepworth sculpture. WHERE I LIVE During the week we live in the heart of Soho. My wife Kate is chair of Fortnum & Mason and a trustee of the Garfield Weston charitable foundation, so we need to get everywhere easily, and we love Soho because we can walk or bike. The house is right next to every sort of café and restaurant and surrounded by life in all its forms. We share it with a random selection of our five children, aged 15 to 22, depending on who is around.

By Katie Law My de ddesigne LondoLonLoLLondonoonondndndodo Will Hobhouse SHOPKEEPER

FAVOURITE COLOURS FOR THE HOME White, white, white and off-white for the walls and neutrals for the furniture. Colour should come from cushions and rugs, which are blue, blue and blue — although indigo is the current favourite. Naturals are best for me as I love seeing the character and the grain of the timber on our wooden furniture. The same goes for the floor in my office, a Coveted object: Barbara Hepworth’s leather floor from Bill Amberg. 1959 work Head (Mykonos) Opus 87 FAVOURITE PIECE BEST-KEPT SECRET SHOP OF MEMORABILIA Sigmar on King’s Road. It’s filled with Our bathroom windowsill has shells, wonderful vintage pieces of mid- rocks and pieces of wood picked up century modern and Scandinavian from beaches and holidays around furniture. The last thing I bought the world. My favourites are the grey there was a beautiful Forties light pieces of wood gnawed by beavers in fitting which we have hanging at Algonquin Park in Canada, where we home in the dining room. Their have big family holidays. lighting range is inspiring. MOST COVETED MY FAVOURITE MUSEUM DESIGN OBJECT The British Museum. Its Ice Age art A stone sculpture by Barbara exhibition was extraordinary, with Hepworth. I love the way she carvings and objects that could have created such characterful, organic come from a contemporary art show. designs from stone just with a The passion and depth of knowledge hammer and chisel. They’re so full among the staff is also completely of thought and skill. humbling. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 11 homesandproperty.co.uk with Design Homes & Property

A PERFECT EVENING OUT IN LONDON I’d start with mojitos in the downstairs bar at Mark Hix — they are the best and it’s so glamorous — and then have dinner at Robin Birley’s club in Mayfair, 5 Hertford Street. They have managed to find a great mix of modern and vintage design, furniture and art which sit very well together.

Top tipple: mojitos at the downstairs bar, far right, at Mark Hix’s restaurant NICK HOLT

New designer to watch: Simon Hasan Secret escape: an early morning visit works with wood, glass and leather to Regent’s Park just to smell the grass THE MOST INTERESTING MY FAVOURITE NEW DESIGNER RESTAURANT Simon Hasan, whose love of craft and I always have the porridge and British craft traditions manifests itself stewed fruit at Villandry when in a terrific use of mixed materials I have breakfast meetings. including wood, glass and leather. I love the leather banquette His work sits somewhere between seating and simple, elegant design art, craft and industrial design, at the front — and the way the and I hope we are going to be atmosphere seems to change selling it at Heal’s soon. throughout the day. SECRET ESCAPE MY VISION FOR HEAL’S Regent’s Park early in the morning. I We intend to restore Heal’s to its like to run among the trees and smell rightful place as being at the centre of the grass. On the weekends I escape British design and craft, and to follow to the river valley near our house in Ambrose Heal’s vision for London Chorleywood, Hertfordshire and go homes and the place Heal’s has in running with our four dogs. them. 12 WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Architecture homesandproperty.co.uk with A warehouse bachelor pad was too small for married life, so the answer was to buy the flat downstairs and expand, says Philippa Stockley

WENTY years ago, a young City worker, Andrew James, bought a Clerkenwell warehouse shell, when Clerkenwell was not the When two trendy,T affluent, cultural hub it is today. “There were lots of old men in the pubs,” recalls Andrew, now in his forties. His 800sq ft oblong bachelor pad, became one with a row of big industrial windows down one side, was fitted out in New- York warehouse style, all brick, and wooden floors, and split into three cube-shaped rooms. But by the time in Clerkenwell he met his Canadian wife, Flora, the couple wanted more space and a style upscale. They looked around town. “But we liked this building,” says Andrew. “So I said, ‘Why don’t we ask the neighbours?’ And the guy directly below was interested in selling.” That piece of luck was in 2010. After a quick purchase, they set out to find an architect who could connect the two homes into one big duplex. “We just Googled,” Flora says simply, “and made a shortlist of three. One wanted to do it the Chelsea way, with marble. But another was Phil Coffey, on the upsurge before he won his awards — and he’s just round the corner.” Their new architect was getting known for pared-back yet warm-feeling designs using light, glass, an elegantly restricted materials palette and svelte lines. From the outset there was a consensus between the three on the overall desired look. So Andrew and Flora were happy to take months getting every detail just so, before the build began. Honed black basalt floors Chic and functional: the Poggenpohl kitchen, complete with island, is equipped and bathroom walls, full-height doors for the keenest of cooks but sits very happily in the open-plan upper ﬂoor and bespoke white units and cupboards throughout would unify the idea of a glass floor.” In the lower flat, punches above its weight, unifying and apartment. Plus a top-quality, seamless which would have enclosed bedrooms, illuminating the whole apartment finish — everywhere. they needed a corridor running the Originally, Coffey wanted the glass to But the big questions were, how to con- length of the apartment. “But in this run on, right into the end guest bed- nect the two flats, and get the very best country, corridors tend to be dark.” room, but this is where client and out of the double space in terms of lay- The solution was a long glass strip of architect briefly diverged, for, to out, light — and storage, indispensible floor/ceiling running the length of the Andrew and Flora, the idea of people for a slick look. Those things were the corridor and over part of the staircase. in the guest bedroom gazing straight essence of their brief to Coffey. The glass becomes an exciting part of up through glass at anyone in the “We didn’t want it to look like two the floor in the living area upstairs, kitchen above — or vice versa — didn’t Do look down: the striking ﬂoor/ceiling glass strip, contrasting with black basalt, boxes slapped on top of each other,” allowing ample light down to the bot- seem quite right. reveals a wall of white storage cupboards running the full height of both levels Andrew says, “and I always had the tom half of the duplex. This glass insert The stylish solution was to put a strip EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 13 homesandproperty.co.uk with Architecture Homes & Property

Uniﬁed look throughout: bespoke Turned on: the duplex lights can be white shelving and bedroom storage controlled from a panel in every area

of mirrored ceiling in the guest bedroom exactly where the glass might Our top tips have run. This is clever, and also Flora: “If you have stone floors, always bounces light around, adding to the airy have underfloor heating.” feel of the apartment. But there was Andrew: “Don’t let your architect rush almost a disaster: Andrew and Flora you. We didn’t start building for almost came in to find their otherwise brilliant 10 months, and it drove Phil nuts. And builder preparing the entire bedroom hold your architect to account on ceiling for mirrors. The builders, Flora storage. You’ve got to bring practical laughs, seemed relieved to be put living that suits you into the equation.” straight. “But, in a very English way, they hadn’t wanted to say anything.” While it took seven scale models to Get the look decide the layout, the strength of this O Architect: Phil Coffey ultra-chic home lies in its clear lines. (coffeyarchitects.com) On top of that, finish, detail, and O Basalt floor: stonell.com thoughtfulness are everywhere. On O Bathroom basalt wall tiles: both floors, the long, windowless back norstone (norstoneuk.com) wall carries floor-to-ceiling cupboards O Joinery: AbbeyWood Projects with elegant matt metal handles, per- (abbeywoodprojects.co.uk) fectly colour-matched to the all-white, O Metal cupboard D handles: d line quartz-topped Poggenpohl kitchen. (dline.com) Since Flora loves to cook, the kitchen O Kitchen: Poggenpohl.com has everything you could desire, but O Main contractor: 600Cell (600cell. sits very happily in the open-plan co.uk) upper floor, functional yet benign. O Recessed stair light channels and Downstairs doors fold back flush into floor uplighters: Deltalight.com wall recesses, so that when open you O Corian bathroom washbasin: don’t even notice them. And the light- NotOnlyWhite (notonlywhite.com/) ing, controlled in every room by a O Bisque Finn radiator: Bisque.co.uk Lutron system, is so sophisticated that O Eames plastic chairs: 1950, blue, by if you forget to hit the downstairs lights, Vitra (vitra.com) you can do it from panels in every area O Eames Butterfly Stool: Vitra, as upstairs, including the bathroom. above Andrew says what really surprised him O Harry Bertoia wide diamond chair: with the new-builds they looked at was (red, collector’s item) that “they still had those flicky, on-off light switches — and we thought, ‘Oh, come on, guys.’” Photographs: Timothy Soar

16 WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Reader promotion homesandproperty.co.uk with Alison Cork

Snap up fabulous fabrics in the sale GET yourself over to the annual sale at Chelsea Textiles, taking place between November 13 and 16. Featuring a selection of hand- embroidered fabrics and bedcovers, this year will also see the launch of Sensational seasonal goodies Sitting so pretty the company’s new range of Provence-inspired botanical MAKE this a stylish all perfect for creating a NEWLY launched at Alison at Home cushions. Other items available with Christmas with a visit to warm and inviting interior is the Avignon French range of discounts of up to 80 per cent will Occa-Home where you’ll this winter. occasional chairs. Hand carved from include unique samples, handmade find a selection of Readers benefit from a sustainably sourced mango wood, and hand-painted furniture, delightful seasonal 10 per cent discount on all both the carver armchairs (W55cm x accessories and ready-to-hang decorations, tableware, products in the Christmas D53cm x H100cm) and the chairs curtains. gifts, cushions and throws. Collection. (W44cm x D53cm x H100cm) are For more information, visit The luxury e-tailor To claim your offer, visit upholstered in pale putty-coloured chelseatextiles.com or call 020 7584 houses more than 150 of occa-home.co.uk/ cotton. The carvers cost £215 and the 5544. Visit the sale at Chelsea Old the world’s most desirable christmas or call 0844 879 chairs are £165. Town Hall, King’s Road, SW3. brands in furniture, 4258 and use code CC10 To order, call 0800 011 4793 or visit Open from 11am-7pm Wednesday, lighting and homeware, before November 13. alisonathome.com, for delivery in 9am-7pm Thursday/Friday and mid-December. 10am-5pm Saturday.

Choose a chaise Bargain news that oozes style THIS chaise chair from Zedhead Designs, finished in black and gold stripes, is made to order and comes A cosy, freestanding fireplace to transform your room either left- or right-arm facing. It is usually priced at £340 but for a IF YOU’RE looking for a modern limited period only, Homes & flueless fireplace, look no further. Property readers can claim a The Ulysses Flame II freestanding 15 per cent discount, reducing the bioethanol glass fire from Bio Fires price to only £289. The chair has a built-in fragrance diffuser that measures W36in X H29in. will create the sense of a real log To claim your offer or to see the fire. Usually priced at £295, readers entire range, visit zedheaddesigns. benefit from a £125 discount com or call 07597 752386 and use reducing the price to just £170. code BGChair before November 20. The first 50 readers to order will Allow two to four weeks for delivery. also get a free bottle of fragrance — Blazing Wood Fire Aura Oil. Visit O The companies listed here are wholly independent of the Evening Standard. Care is taken to biofires.com or call 020 7724 1919 establish that they are bona fide but we recommend that you carry out your own checks prior to before November 13 to claim your purchases and use a credit card where possible. To offer feedback on any of these companies, email offer, using code ES-5-11. While [email protected] with “Bargain News” in the subject line. For more bargains, visit stocks last. Delivery included. alisonathome.com or homesandproperty.co.uk/offers.

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1 2 3 4 5

By Barbara Chandler SMITH MCGREGOR JAMIE Five things to see in November

1 HANDMADE IN BRITAIN 13 2 CELEBRATION OF ARCHIVE 3 WINTER FINE ART AND 4 FLUNG: THE UP-SIDE OF DOWN 5 SELVEDGE WINTER FAIR Friday to Sunday, Chelsea Old Town Now until November 15 at Design ANTIQUES FAIR Now until the end of the month at November 29-30 at Chelsea Old Town Hall, King’s Road, SW3 (handmade Centre Chelsea Harbour, SW10. Free Now until Sunday at Olympia, Sketch, 10 Conduit Street, W1 (020 Hall, King’s Road, SW3 (selvedge.org). inbritain.co.uk; 020 7286 5110). entry (dcch.co.uk; 020 7225 9166). Hammersmith Road, W14 7659 4500; sketch.uk.com). Selvedge is a popular bi-monthly GET ahead for Christmas at this ARCHIVES are the bedrock of many (olympia-antiques.com). ABANDON shopping and pop into specialist magazine, with an modern art and crafts fair. Buy from upmarket fabric/wallpaper firms, SEE Agatha Christie’s silver and this design-led eaterie for a coffee international fanbase. Its fairs mix more than 100 designer-makers, and this free event shows them off in Humphrey Bogart’s drinking glasses, and surreal “disruptive design”, textiles and high-quality craft from commission a bespoke piece for your seven strikingly original settings. For plus works by Archibald Knox and Sir with five installations from four designer-makers and entrepreneurs, home or a special gift, and see a new example, design studio Carden Thomas Lawrence at this famous fair, cutting-edge European designers selling from more than 100 stands. graduate showcase. Meet a group of Cunietti is doing a retro bar, above, which draws 22,000-plus visitors to who literally turned the tables and Find handmade yarns, fabrics by ceramicists, textile and glass artists, and Christopher Moore (thetoileman. view pieces from 110 top British added dripping vases and sensational the metre, craft kits, dressed dolls, plus wood, leather and metal com) has used a fabric showing King dealers. Tickets: £13 in advance, £15 suspended chairs. It’s curated by the bunting, vintage linens, Welsh workers, including silversmiths, George III with his many children, in on the door. Reader offer: for two for enterprising gallery 19 Greek Street, blankets, rugs, antique sari quilts, along with fashion designers dark sepia on linen. It is essential to one tickets, show this paper and W1 (19Greekstreet.com) — pop round embroidered napkins, appliquéd (scarves, gloves, hats, socks, book for curated tours tomorrow at quote code ES2013. Asian Art in there for more avant-garde ideas. cushions, jewellery, handbags and jewellery and more). Tickets: £7, 11.30am and 2pm — call 020 352 London has the same dates. Check Also see the restaurant’s room by much more. £5 concessions. Show this paper for 1900. Mercedes courtesy cars asianartinlondon.com for work- Turner Prize winner Martin Creed, A pop-up café serves delicious two-for-one entry. connect with Olympia. shops, lectures and demos. and visit the famous pod loos. food, too.

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!) ) **+( '" &+& * " $'" 26 WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Interiors homesandproperty High lights Warm and welcoming or sleek and functional — light makes a style statement, says Barbara Chandler

ONDON’S big style story this and its professional Homefit lighting autumn is “statement” installation service costs from £69 (diy. lighting — fabulous fittings in com). Ikea pinches pennies with stand-out materials, shapes panache — how about large (45cm) and colours that radiate coloured paper globes for just £4? designL before you even turn them on. Habitat is über-stylish (SW3, W1, and “Whether it’s artisan and hand- NW3), with lighting bars at Mini crafted, a design classic or Habitats in many Homebase stores. contemporary and cutting-edge, lighting is now a focal point, off and MODERN CLASSICS on,” says Lucio Longoni, buyer for Specialists abound. Try Geoffrey Heal’s stunning new lighting Harris, SW11, and Mr Light, SW10, department on Tottenham Court while Best & Lloyd and Christopher Road, W1. Wray are on and near King’s Road, Even Guggenheim Bilbao architect Chelsea, and Hector Finch is round the Frank Gehry is in on the act with an corner on Wandsworth Bridge Road. exhibition of fish lights. Today’s design classics are from the When lights burst into life, glowing, Thirties onwards. A shining example is shimmering and sparkling — they Italian Achille Castiglioni’s Arco lamp, create a magical transformation you first brought to Britain in 1964 by Zeev simply don’t get with any other product. Aram in a little modernist outpost on A new wave of British designers — King’s Road. Still a staple at Aram’s from glass blowers and metalworkers huge store in WC2 today, it is endlessly to woodworkers and ceramicists — are copied. crafting individual lights, while For Scandinavian classics such as the medium-size design outfits can use Artichoke with 72 metal “leaves” by workshops and factories for batch Poul Henningsen — c1930 in glass and production. 1958 in metal — go to Skandium in Brompton or Marylebone (skandium. WHERE TO SEEK THE LIGHT com). Also visit the great Italian design Visit the studio, shop and restaurant pioneers of Flos, sharing a showroom of Tom Dixon, renowned king of with Moroso at 7-15 Rosebery Avenue, copper, at 344 Ladbroke Grove, W10 EC1, and Artemide at 106 Great Russell (tomdixon.net), discover Lee Broom Street, WC1. And don’t forget our own DOWN WITH DIM cut crystal lighting at 95 Rivington inimitable Anglepoise, (anglepoise. Do a “light bulb audit”, Storey says. Street, EC2, or drop into the Oxo com), updated with LEDs. Bin those dim compact fluorescents or Tower on the South Bank, SE1, to poor-quality LEDs, so cold, flat and find Innermost (innermost.net). For HOW TO DESIGN WITH LIGHT depressing. “Buy quality LED bulbs Italian wit call in at Alessi, 22 Brook Follow the rule of three. First, have with a colour temperature of at least Street, W1. general light to move around by — 2700K and a colour rendition index Meanwhile, the humble lamp shade switched on either at, or near, the door (CRI) of at least 95. Light candles and has been raised to an art form — to the room. Use dimmers to soften the light the fire for extra light layers.” witness the striking abstracts of mood when required. Vintage-style “squirrel” bulbs have graphics studio Parris Wakefield Secondly, add task lights for doing clusters of super-warm carbon (parriswakefieldadditions.com). things by: everything from reading the filaments inside blown glass shapes. newspaper to preparing vegetables is From £6 to £35 at branches of Ryness. GRAND STYLE, MODEST BUDGET better with a decent light. “Choose lights that can be moved, Big stores do budget style brilliantly. Third come the highlights, for a adjusted or angled,” adds Peter Clockwise from top left: King Edison Look for industrial aluminium and picture, for example, or for an Bowles, founder of Original BTC at Lamp by Mineheart, £480 (mineheart even concrete, plus burnished copper architectural detail in your home. Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, SW10 store.com); pendant light clusters from and bronze, or try the craft look with Sally Storey is London’s light queen (020 7351 2130). “Then you can Bhs (bhs.co.uk), from £130; Prunis rattan, string and crochet. Replace a at John Cullen on King’s Road improvise with ease.” And consider Round Lamp, £1,674.60 and matching jaded pendant with a glittering (020 7371 9000). Plug in lights for materials: “Bone china glows, shade in hand-embroidered silk, £750, chandelier. Bulbs are big and instant updates, she advises: “Install prismatic glass intensely sparkles, from Fromental (020 3410 2000); MMG sometimes exposed in wire frames, an uplighter in a dark corner, or under whilst metals contain the light and table lamp, £320 at Mini Moderns with chunky, coloured flexes and a a staircase, or shine it through a fern to add an industrial flavour.” He’s just (minimoderns.com and at East London co-ordinating ceiling rose for cast shadows. Or add a dedicated launched the Beadlight — utility Design Store, 6a Ada Street E8, 020 pendants. Bhs is worth a foray into W1. reading light.” meets luxury with top-quality 7254 3760); Squint Limited small table B&Q has a flagship store at New Clamp lights to shelves, and lay LEDs embedded in flexible, leather- lamp for Heal’s, £500 (heals.co.uk) Malden in Surrey (020 8336 3500), glowing spheres on the floor. covered arms. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 27 y.co.uk with Interiors Homes & Property

Clockwise from right: Morup pendant shades, £4 each, from Ikea (ikea.com); Yellow Orbit Lamp Sculpture by designer Amy Holloway, £280, available from The Longest Stay (thelongeststay. com); bird lamp from the I Love Animals range by Pier Paolo Pitacco, £129, from Alessi (alessi.com); Zaira table lamp, £34.98, available from B&Q (as before)

Above: Raft furniture shops excel at plug-in lamps with clean lines. From left to right are the Belledonne ﬂoor lamp, £355; Somme table lamp, £175; Punched Iron lamp, £116, and Taurion ﬂoor lamp, £289. Find London shops at raftfurniture. co.uk or call 020 For close work: 8450 5078 Torno extendable desk lamp,

£24.98, available PICTURES.COM JOSH WHITE/JW at B&Q (diy.com; Original: BTC Cosmo pendant lamps in Pair: Ollamp pendant lamp and pot, by Shoal: see architect Frank Gehry’s latest ﬁsh-sculpture lamps 0845 850 0175) bone china, £209 (originalbtc.com) DeGross, £100-£120, for Heal’s (as before) at the Gagosian Gallery, W1, from tomorrow (gagosian.com) 28 WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Our home homesandproperty.co.uk with

IRSTIN CONTRAOUDAS wanted a Porsche. It was top of her wish list when she arrived in London in 1999. “My dream was to own an Kold 356, like the one in Top Gun, so I went to a showroom and on the street I saw a sign, ‘Lofts for sale’,” she says. “So I bought the flat instead.” Born in Germany, raised in Trinidad, educated in America, Kirstin had no idea how anchored her life would become. Fast-forward 14 years and both life and the flat — in a former laboratory building in west London converted into apartments in the late Nineties — are unrecognisable. Gone is the interior from her bachelor girl days, when she had a billiard table customised as a dining table and an aquarium in the wall. The only thing that remains is the soaring, double-height living space, nearly five metres tall. The big change started when she met her husband, Haris. “I’m German, he’s Lateral thinker: Kirstin Contraoudas Greek and he works for a French bank, extended the family flat sideways The woman who went out to buy a Porsche and came home with a flat When kids came along Kirstin Contraoudas and her husband didn’t want to move. It just took lateral thinking, says Luke Tebbut so you can imagine the jokes we get,” also keeps an Advent wreath with a says Kirstin, who at the time was candle for each Sunday in December, a project manager for residential which they light with afternoon tea and refurbishments. German treats. “Germans have a lot of Haris moved in, Kirstin became preg- traditions and food is very important in nant with their son Aris (now joined by our family,” she says. “I have a huge brother Alexandros) and the studio flat cookbook collection.” The living room: Kirstin and Haris Shop. The black LC2 sofa is by felt small. Rather than move on, Kirstin One of the best things about their created a 40ft living/dining/ Cassina. The Wassily chairs by and Haris, who love open-plan living, home is the ready-made community of kitchen area by knocking into the Marcel Breuer for Knoll are decided to think laterally and look into other loft-living mothers and children. flat next door. “It was a little painful, available at Chaplins. Marc Sadler’s the possibility of knocking through to “The whole building grew up at the for my half at least, because I’d only Twiggy floor lamp for Foscarini is the apartment next door. “The manag- same time, so we can have play dates done it up 10 years earlier. I had to available at The Conran Shop. ing agent wouldn’t give me the owner’s without leaving home,” says Kirstin. look away,” says Kirstin. The coffee table is custom-made name, but I managed to charm it off “I made a best friend and she is now with a concrete top by Paul Davies the guys at the front desk.” It turned Aris’s godmother.” Get the look: Flexform’s grey Victor Design. For a similar table, try out he was in Canada and Kirstin found sofa is available at Interdesign. The Interni. For patchwork kilim rugs, him online in Canada’s White Pages O See more of Dominikus Stark’s work cushions are from The Conran try Unique Rugs. and called. “I think he was shocked, at dominikusstark.de. For details of but he said, ‘I’m a businessman. Make Dinesen flooring, visit dinesen.com me an offer.’” Which they did — and a price was agreed. With the deal sealed, the couple hired The kitchen: “We love to cook,” says The master bedroom: Kirstin and German architect Dominikus Stark to Kirstin. “And it’s great having the Haris’s double-height bedroom help them re-imagine the space. The island. When Haris comes home or overlooks the Thames and has the job took nine months. The flats were friends visit, we can cook and talk mezzanine bathroom above it, sealed completely gutted, the interior was together. It’s very social.” off behind soundproof glass. A rebuilt, and they had a home nearly collection of framed family photos twice as big, with a living/dining/ Get the look: the kitchen worktop is decorates the wall. kitchen space that stretches nearly 40ft by GetaCore. Try John Porter wide, flanked on either side by separate Worktops for similar. Appliances from Get the look: the bed is custom-made zones for child space, and parents. All Miele and Gaggenau. with fabric from Sahco. The bed linen the walls are white and the floors are is by Peter Reed. The LC4 lounge chair super-size planks of Dinesen Douglas by Le Corbusier/Jeanneret/Perriand fir. “I really wanted a living, breathing for Cassina is available at Aram Store. natural material in the space, to give it The BL6 wall light is by Bestlite from character,” says Kirstin. O The full Gubi. The photo frames are from Ikea. An olive tree — which marks the line version of this The curtains are custom-made with that once separated the old flats — gets article appears Brian Yates fabric. The flooring is swapped each December for a 10ft in the December Dinesen Douglas fir. Christmas fir. “We hoist it up on to the issue of balcony with a rope every year, at the Livingetc, Photographs:: ANDREAS MIKKEL start of the month,” says Kirstin, who out now Styling: CPHNEST EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 29 homesandproperty.co.uk with Outdoors Homes & Property Go up on the roof to get a natural high From penthouse terraces to the 40th floor of a Barbican tower, one designer is king of the high-rise London garden

EET Amir Schlezinger, the man with the monopoly on designing London’s most beautiful roof gardens. Over the Mpast decade he has created more than 100 high-rise outdoor spaces that not only perch on some of the city’s most exciting new developments, but also complement its ever-expanding skyline. “First and foremost is to work with the view, framing the landscape,” believes Israeli-born Schlezinger, who framed the view of nearby St Paul’s Cathedral from a penthouse terrace in the City by craning in a ginkgo biloba Pattie Barron

CLIVE NICHOLS GARDEN PICTURES tree, laid the boards of a hardwood plant a tree so that, over time, the leafy this summer, at a cost of £18,000, to tainer, designed to echo the white High impact: strong, simple lines rule deck on Grosvenor Waterside’s roof canopy will provide a green view at both create the ideal low-maintenance solu- Saarinen Tulip table visible through the in Amir Schlezinger’s rooftop designs garden to follow the line of Chelsea levels. “Because of new technology, tion, first replacing impractical white windows, is a garden in itself. With built- Bridge and, on a series of roof terraces modern terraces can look like real pavers with hardwood balau laid across in irrigation and drainage, a ring of light- line-up of fragrant lavender Twickel at Tempus Wharf, installed customised gardens, with raised beds, real grass and the width, to both visually widen the ing around the base, and conveniently Purple will soon form a low hedge; at “wave” planters to emulate the Thames trees,” says Schlezinger. Proof positive space and easily follow the curve. A set on castors, it houses a trio of red- the other end, a trough of boldly beneath. On the 40th-floor roof terrace is the four-hole putting green of grass small floor area of glamorous black barked birch trees, mulched with perfect striped Phormium cookianum Cream of Barbican’s Cromwell Tower, — albeit artificial — and sleek waterfall granite crystal defines the suntrap at white Japanese pebbles. “Attention to Delight and elephant-eared Bergenia concrete blocks hampered the view, so to distract from city hubbub, on a pri- one end and is divided from the deck- detail, is paramount in a confined gar- Dumbo makes a striking full stop. Schlezinger designed a movable plat- vate Battersea penthouse roof garden. ing by an LED strip that lights up at den space because the eye scans every- However, it is at night, when the four form as a podium to facilitate gazing at The lawyer on the sixth floor of Clerk- night. “The granite is very expensive,” thing close-up,” says Schlezinger. lighting zones flick on automatically, the Gherkin and other landmarks. enwell’s imposing Ziggurat Building says Schlezinger, “but as it is for such The foliage in the planters is ever- that the terrace looks its most dynamic, If there isn’t a fabulous view, he might had simpler needs for the small, slim a small area, it’s a no-brainer.” green and weatherproof, maximising a fitting match for the vibrant, ever- create an eye-distracting jungle of terrace that curved around the living As he does in all his projects, Schlez- on contrasts of shape and texture, so changing city landscape it overlooks. plants, or even borrow the neighbour- area of his new apartment. He wanted inger designed the containers to suit the that bushy, fragrant thymes are inter- ing trees, focusing the lighting on those an outdoor space that looked terrific space: in varying shades of grey, powder- spersed with the rounded leaves of O See Amir Schlezinger’s website, to create an eye-boggling vista at night. all year round from both indoors and coated steel planters have hollowed bergenia and spiky bronze carex mylandscapes.co.uk, for more And if he’s designing a roof garden on out, yet needed little upkeep. It took centres that are dramatically illuminated grasses as well as hart’s tongue ferns. contemporary gardens and roof the lower terrace of a duplex, he might Schlezinger and his team three weeks at night. One large, round, white con- At the suntrap end of the terrace, a terraces

buy it Buy it: garden gear

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when ordering at genus.gs or on 01285 CLIVE NICHOLS GARDEN PICTURES CLIVE NICHOLS GARDEN PICTURES 740004 by midnight on December 3 and Weatherproof: new Genus garden Sparkling detail: the far corner of the terrace is deﬁned by To boldly grow: elephant-eared Bergenia and variegated get 20 per cent off all the range. wear keeps you comfortable and cosy an area of black granite crystal, edged with an LED strip Phormium make dramatic partners in a customised planter 34 WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Property searching homesandproperty.co.uk with A £500 million regeneration scheme for London’s Jurassic Park It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that this vibrant south-east London area, full of affordable homes, is rising again, says Anthea Masey

AYOR Boris Johnson site, and there is much excitement descended on the lively about the likely reopening of a beauti- south-east London fully tiled subway — the only part of the suburb of Crystal Palace building to survive the flames. last month to announce Until it adopted the name of its land- MChinese funding for a “new” Crystal mark building, Crystal Palace was Palace to be built on the site of the known as Upper Norwood. High up on Spotlight original Victorian building that housed a hill it has some of the best views in The Great Exhibition in 1851. London northwards to the City and The Shanghai-based ZhongRong south over open countryside to the investment group plans a giant glass- North Downs. The area has suffered Crystal Palace house the size of five football pitches from being located at the boundary of and six storeys high, likely to house a five boroughs — Bromley, Lambeth, hotel plus conference and exhibition Southwark, Lewisham and Croydon — centres. It could also pave the way for but this has given the town an independ- the much-needed restoration of neigh- ent spirit that has kept high street chains bouring Crystal Palace Park. away while allowing quirky pubs, res- boutiques, bars and restaurants that for arrival of the East London line in 2010, — has a good selection of independent The Joseph Paxton-designed palace, taurants and shops to flourish. a long time was overlooked but is now the area has become popular with shops and restaurants as well as a large which was moved to the area in 1854 increasingly sought after. young professionals and couples work- Sainsbury’s. Worth looking out for are: after the exhibition in Hyde Park, WHAT THERE IS TO BUY The most expensive home currently ing in the Canary Wharf banks. The Milkhouse Candle Co; Simon became the world’s first “theme park” Crystal Palace developed from the for sale in SE19, the Crystal Palace post- Staying power: the search for good Carter, a small menswear chain with and hosted 20 FA Cup finals. But it mid-19th century with the arrival of the code, is in Beulah Hill. The seven-bed- state secondary schools drives some other branches in Mayfair, Bloomsbury, burned down in 1936. While today’s two stations and rail companies bring- room detached early Victorian house families out to the home counties. Wendover and Ilkley; Blackbird Bak- local residents are delighted by news of ing tourists to the area. Many of the large with a separate coach house is on the The best roads: in the Fox Hill conser- ery; the Crow on the Hill bookshop, the reconstruction, right now they Victorian mansions around the park market with KFH for £2.25 million. In vation area these are Fox Hill itself, and the Living Water Satisfies café. would like someone to sort out the have been converted into highly prized the Fox Hill conservation area two- Belvedere Road, Tudor Road and Also try Good Taste for cheese and traffic that blights the “Crystal Palace flats but large Victorian houses remain bedroom Victorian cottages start at Cintra Park — they are also an easy walk wine; Numidie, a French-Algerian wine Triangle”, the town-centre trio of streets in family ownership in the Fox Hill con- about £500,000 and four-bedroom from the station. To the north, Crystal bar and bistro; long-standing local res- where recent regeneration has been servation area between the town centre houses start at about £800,000. Palace Park Road has magnificent taurant Joanna’s; The Exhibition Rooms most obvious since the London Over- and Crystal Palace station. Estate agent The area attracts: Tyrone Eneh says houses turned into roomy flats. restaurant and cocktail bar, for modern ground line arrived. Tyrone Eneh of the local Kinleigh it’s a happy hunting ground for first- Shops and restaurants: the Triangle British food, and traditional Italian res- Community groups saw off earlier Folkard & Hayward branch calls Crystal time buyers with one-bedroom flats of roads in the town centre — Westow taurant Lorenzo’s. Newcomer The unsympathetic plans for the palace Palace a multicultural village with starting at about £220,000. Since the Hill, Westow Street and Church Road Crystal Palace Market is an all-day

Green space: Thicket Road from Crystal Palace Park. Many of the large Victorian Retro heaven: shop assistant Shelley models some of the Born again: a new exhibition centre, recreating the Crystal mansions in streets around the park have been converted into highly prized ﬂats vintage wear at the Bambino emporium in Church Road Palace, is to be part of a £500 million regeneration scheme EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 35 homesandproperty.co.uk with Property searching Homes & Property

CHECK THE STATS

■WHAT HOMES COST BUYING IN CRYSTAL PALACE (Average prices)

One-bedroom flat £202,000 Two-bedroom flat £276,000 Two-bedroom house £370,000 Three-bedroom house £478,000 Four-bedroom house £677,000 Source: Zoopla.co.uk RENTING IN CRYSTAL PALACE (Average rates)

One-bedroom flat £905 a month Two-bedroom flat £1,179 a month Two-bedroom house £1,349 a month Three-bedroom house £1,635 a month Four-bedroom house £1,910 a month Source: Zoopla.co.uk High ground: Crystal Palace has great views north to the City, above, and south across open countryside

GO ONLINE FOR MORE O The best schools O The latest housing developments O The Crystal Palace renting scene O How this area compares with the rest of the UK on property prices O Smart maps to plot your property search For all this and more, visit homesand property.co.uk/ spotlightcrystalpalace

NEXT WEEK: Walthamstow. Do you live there? Tells us what you think about it @HomesProperty brasserie that is opening a butchers Monster draw: Open space: listed, 200-acre Crystal Travel: Crystal Palace station is on the Independent and fishmongers soon. Church Street created in the Palace Park was created when the East London Overground line and the shops: Crystal is full of “curiosity” shops and at the 1850s for Crystal palace moved from Hyde Park. It has journey to Canary Wharf, changing at Palace Parade, antiques market in nearby Jasper Road, Palace Park, many much-loved features such as Canada Water, takes about 22 minutes. two minutes many people make a beeline for top where they lifesize model dinosaurs, a children’s Trains to London Bridge and Victoria from the train mid-century furniture dealer Designs remain on zoo, a fishing lake and a café. take about 26 minutes. The station is station and of Modernity in the basement. display today, in Zone 3 and an annual railcard costs handy for good Vintage Hart sells vintage clothes these dinosaur LEISURE AND THE ARTS £1,424. The No 3 bus connects Crystal local pubs and from Thursday to Sunday at the White sculptures were TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE The National Sports Centre in Crystal Palace with the West End, terminating restaurants Hart pub and there is an antiques and the ﬁrst in the Palace Park offers a host of sporting at Oxford Circus. vintage market in Haynes Lane, with world and count This is Joseph Paxton, who designed facilities including a 50-metre pool. Council: Tory-run Bromley has Band an outside Saturday food market. The as Grade I-listed the Crystal Palace. But which other The fourth annual Crystal Palace Inter- D council tax this year of £1,313.08; Secret Garden is a well-stocked garden buildings great Victorian built the palace’s national Film Festival finishes on Sat- Lambeth (Labour-run) is charging centre behind Sainsbury’s by Westow famous water towers? urday with a comedy night hosted by £1,228.29; Southwark (Labour-control- Park, and of the growing number of Photographs:: Find the answer at homesandproperty. local resident, comedian Mark Steel. led) is charging £1,215.14; Tory-run gastropubs, The Sparrowhawk in Graham co.uk/spotlightcrystalpalace. And there is live jazz every Sunday at Croydon’s charge is £1,474.39, and in Westow Hill is among the best. Hussey The Grape & Grain pub. Labour-run Lewisham it’s £1,363.35. To find a home in Crystal Palace, visit: homesandproperty.co.uk/crystalpalace

£299,950 £459,950 £469,950 £634,950 A TWO-BEDROOM flat in a Victorian conversion THIS three-bedroom detached house in Beulah A SPLIT-LEVEL maisonette with three bedrooms THIS four-storey Victorian end-of-terrace house on Whiteley Road with a garden and a garage Hill features a big kitchen/diner and a garage. close to Crystal Palace Park and a range of shops, in Woodland Hill has three bedrooms, period and close to transport links. Through KFH. Through Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward. bars and restaurants. Through Foxtons. features and large rear garden Through KFH. O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/whiteley O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/beulah O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/gipsy O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/woodland 38 WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Ask an expert homesandproperty.co.uk with Can I cross this remortgaging minefield? Fiona WHAT’S I AM buying a mews house newly converted YOUR from stables. I am getting a mortgage but my McNulty PROBLEM? Q solicitor says the seller must produce either a OUR LAWYER ANSWERS IF YOU have a Professional Consultant Certificate or a YOUR QUESTIONS question for building warranty to keep the lender happy. The Fiona McNulty, estate agent says none of this is necessary because the please email house is a conversion rather than a new build. The I’M TRYING to remortgage legalsolutions@ seller can’t provide these documents, though building but the valuer is insisting standard.co.uk regulation issues have been resolved and a completion Qon a letter from my local or write to Legal certificate has been issued. What should I do? council confirming that Solutions, Homes my flat is residential and not live/ & Property, WHILE not a new build, the house is a new work. I have contacted the council London Evening conversion which has never been occupied. If but had no reply. My solicitor says Standard, 2 Derry A your solicitor cannot persuade your lender to I must call them but maintains the Street, W8 5EE. proceed without a certificate or warranty, the flat is residential. However, the We regret that seller should be asked to obtain, at their own expense, a valuer won’t accept his word. questions cannot retrospective building warranty, sometimes known as a Can you please help me identify be answered completed house building warranty policy. The cost is the quickest way to verify whether a individually but likely to run into several thousands of pounds. property is residential or live/work? we will try to Some solicitors are unaware that retrospective warran- feature them ties are available, so your solicitor may have to help the YOUR flat is likely to be here. Fiona seller’s solicitor in this regard, and the warranty provider leasehold and your lease McNulty is a will have to be acceptable to your lender. Ashould confirm whether the read it carefully. There is likely to be changed by a deed of variation — for partner in the The warranty provider will give a quote and the seller property is to be used for live/ a schedule towards the end which example, changing use from live/ residential must pay them the appropriate fee, after which a site work or purely residential purposes. will list various restrictive covenants work to residential. Any such deed of property, farms audit/inspection will be carried out. If the surveyor is Your solicitors have assured you and other obligations by which you, variation should be noted on the and estates team satisfied with the build quality a policy can be issued, that the flat is definitely residential. It as the lessee, will be bound. Look for register of title, so obtain an office at Withy King LLP provided the seller meets the cost of the premium. The is unclear if these solicitors acted for a covenant requiring the flat to be copy of the register of your leasehold (withyking.co.uk). property will then be mortgagable and you can proceed you when you first bought the flat or used for residential purposes or title from the Land Registry. with the purchase. whether they act for you on your alternatively for living and working. Finally, obtain from your local remortgage, but in any event their You or your solicitors should provide planning department a copy of the comment suggests they have your the valuer with a copy of the lease planning consent for the building. More legal O These answers can only be a very brief commentary on original lease, or a copy. Either ask confirming the position. Conditions in the consent should Q&As the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. them to release the original to you or Remember that the terms of the state whether the flats in the building Visit: homesand No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar property.co.uk ask for a copy. Once you receive this original lease could have been are for live/work or residential use. issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor.

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40 WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Inside story homesandproperty.co.uk with

magic, the lost key fell out of the heating A tale of lost and system and landed at my feet. THURSDAY We’ve been recommended to a gentle- found as keeper man who is showing me round his father’s two-bedroom flat. I measure up and take time to explain the market and how the selling process works, as it has of the keys is left been a while since his father moved — the son is 65 and the father is 99. Halloween last week produced no feeling the heat trick or treaters. With a high density of flats, I think the concept is lost in central London. I was armed with MONDAY treats in readiness — but my son has It’s a few weeks since I completed my Diary of since profited. half marathon. The experience was hugely rewarding, raising £4,160 for FRIDAY Great Ormond Street children’s hospi- an estate One of our landlords, for whom we tal, beating my target of £1,500 and manage multiple properties, previously reminding me how privileged I am to agent told me she doesn’t keep her agents for live and work in such an amazing city. very long as they normally do some- I arrive at work today, my eyes still satisfied, given the exceptional rent thing wrong. Having acted for her for watering from the high figures we prices we have been achieving. five years now, we must be doing well. achieved last week. Property price rises particularly as it is opposite my son’s student looking to secure a flat in a She calls me and I pre-empt her, joking over the last 18 months are remarkable TUESDAY school. Great Portland Estates has also portered block for added security. Nine we haven’t had “that” conversation yet. and there’s little sign of this trend falter- I arrive at work to find that my trusty received planning approval to rede- years later, she’s in the same flat and She jovially says that “unfortunately” ing, but you never really know for sure. PA, Jane, has bought me my favourite velop Rathbone Place, which will every year threatens to buy but ends she has “nothing to complain about” Although central London properties smoothie. She goes through the busi- include 42,000sq ft of retail, up renewing. Will this be the year? I’ll — a huge compliment. experience peaks and troughs, as ness she’s been dealing with recently. 217,000sq ft of offices and 162 apart- let you know! Our accounts manager, Nicole Lomas, physical assets they will always have I’m blessed to have someone so effi- ments in the heart of the West End. This It’s our important quarterly key rec- is celebrating her 10-year anniversary value. Compared to stocks, which are cient so I can spend more time with developer, too, has produced some onciliation today, which ensures all keys this week. She always works extremely volatile, the risk is much lower, so I can clients and customers. outstanding local schemes. we are responsible for are secure. I’m hard and her conscientiousness is see why they’re so sought after. I walk past several sites today that reminded of a “lost and found” incident second to none. It’s time to head for a Today I value an entire building in have developments planned for the WEDNESDAY when I first started as an agent — putting drink with the team to celebrate her Soho with habitable upper rooms that near future. Ridgeford Properties was Every year our longest-serving tenant a set of keys on the dashboard of my car, milestone. have lain empty for 10 years. It is amaz- recently announced as the chosen comes in to sign, then we grab a quick one slipped off the ring and down the ing situations like this still occur. I buyer for developing Moxon Street car lunch. I enjoy hearing how her career heater grills. Fortunately, the landlord O Jonathan Hudson is a director of advise the owners on the best course park in Marylebone. I’m looking has blossomed and she’s fun too. I replaced the key but a week later Hudsons Property, based in Charlotte of action and I am sure they’ll be very forward to its proposal for this space, remember her as a young Spanish another car bumped mine and, as if by Street, W1 (020 7323 2277).

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&$%&$ &% $ &% $"& 42 WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Letting on homesandproperty.co.uk with

HAT do you do when £430 you think you have A WEEK found the perfect ten- In Regent’s Park ants for your property Trust your gut Road, Primrose but a reference report Hill, NW1, John D Wurges you to decline them? Should you Wood & Co has go ahead and let them move in — or tell a recently them to find somewhere else to live? refurbished, I suppose it really depends why they instinct — the open-plan, failed the referencing. If it is because second-floor they have got county court judgments apartment with against them or a history of bad debt, a good-size then I would definitely turn them away. double bedroom But tenants can fail for other reasons, foolproof way with en suite such as their previous landlord not available to rent. bothering to confirm their address, or, When you believe your tenant can cover the rent quite often, because their income is too O Visit homes low in comparison to the rent. but references suggest otherwise, a guarantor andproperty. After weeks of trying to let a property co.uk/ I found a lovely tenant, but she wasn’t calms the jitters, says Victoria Whitlock rentregents deemed acceptable by the referencing agency because her salary was a little shy of twice the rent, which was the sufficient income to cover the rent. A on this fab website, Property Hawk guarantor doesn’t live locally. Guaran- very minimum required to pass their letting agent recently tried to fob me (propertyhawk.co.uk), which has lots tors don’t sign the tenancy agreement “affordability test”. The off with a tenant who was offering to of other documents for landlords, itself, but they should see a copy so I could have said: “Bye-bye, on your put up his father as a guarantor, even many of them free. that they know exactly what they are way,” but I wanted to go with my gut accidental though the father was French and living I emailed a copy of the deed, along agreeing to. instinct and let her have the flat in Paris. Now, I’ve nothing against with a copy of the tenancy agreement, Then all you have to do is attach the anyway. I considered asking her to pay landlord Frenchmen, I think they’re rather to the mum for her to sign, scan and Deed of Guarantee to the tenancy six months’ rent in advance and a two- splendid, but if the tenant had email back to me. agreement signed by the tenants — and month deposit, then, as long as I defaulted on the rent and Papa had Two things to remember with a Deed cross your fingers that you never have inserted a six-month break clause in rent if the tenant won’t or can’t pay, given a Gallic shrug, I knew it would be of Guarantee: it must be signed to use it. the tenancy agreement, I could boot and they are also legally bound to nigh on impossible to recover any BEFORE the tenancy agreement is her out with two months’ notice if she refund the landlord if the tenant causes money via the French courts, so I said: signed by the tenant, and the guaran- Mother-of-two Victoria Whitlock lets defaulted on the rent in the second half any damage to the property or does a “Non, merci,” to that suggestion. tor’s signature MUST be witnessed. three properties in south London. To of the term. runner with the furniture. Essentially, Even with a UK-based guarantor I I am told that it’s fine to accept digitally contact Victoria with your ideas and However, this seemed a bit harsh, the guarantor takes on all the respon- thought it might be tricky sorting out signed documents, which helps if the views, tweet @vicwhitlock given her meagre salary, so instead I sibilities of the tenant. the paperwork, but actually it was easy- asked her to provide a guarantor and To be any use at all, a guarantor must peasy. I ran a separate credit check on Find many more homes to rent at her mum obliged. be based in the UK and ideally they the tenant’s mum and downloaded a A guarantor promises to cover the should be a homeowner or at least have Deed of Guarantee form which I found homesandproperty.co.uk/lettings 44 WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property New homes homesandproperty.co.uk with The word from the street David Spittles

From £995,000: for riverside ﬂats at 136 Wapping Wall Wapping’s on the way back Smart mo LONG-DELAYED attention to the Isle of refurbishment of historic Dogs, where sites were warehouses aims to take plentiful and profits Wapping back to the slot fatter. Wapping was A new stage for it occupied in the thrust into quiet isolation Eighties — as Docklands’ and, as time moved on, it most fashionable was left behind, with little quarter. improvement to its Before the rise of Canary restaurant and retail Covent Garden Wharf, Wapping was the scene. number one address for After decades of NE place in London in cobbled passageways and in listed riverside living. Nowhere neglect, a listed river- where demand for buildings. In tandem with this are else could match its facing warehouse next to homes is guaranteed to moves by the district’s main charm and maritime Wapping Underground outstrip supply is Covent landowner, Capco, to push Covent authenticity — the station is being Garden. For many Garden upmarket, with a luxury retail Georgian gem of St converted into 37 loft- Opeople, it is the beating heart of the quarter alongside the craft stalls. Katharine Docks; the style apartments and capital — lively and individual, it In Bedford Street, 17 apartments cobbled high street with penthouses. The building buzzes with the excitement of opera, with contemporary interior design its famous inns and listed at 136 Wapping Wall will ballet and theatre, and its world- have been created in a splendid wharves including have a grand, hotel-like famous piazza attracts 45 million Georgian building boasting ceilings Execution Dock, where foyer plus a private visitors a year. four metres high. the Admiralty used to communal roof terrace A steady trickle of new The same developer, Dukelease, hang pirates. and street-level developments and conversions is has also launched nearby Hop But when the money commercial space. widening the choice, bringing swish House, with 28 apartments and a to Covent Garden soon is Capco’s men moved to Canary Prices from £995,000. apartments to the neighbourhood’s duplex penthouse at the top. Prices The Beecham, a former Lloyds Bank Wharf in the Nineties, Call Galliard on 020 historic colonnaded market area, from £695,000 to £4.5 million. Call branch converted into grand developers switched their 7620 1500. above fashion boutiques, tucked away EA Shaw on 020 7420 3050. Coming apartments, while a major

Swot up on buying a new apartment

From £335,000: apartments at The Schoolyard in Wandsworth

LOFTS in Victorian school conversions are among Wandsworth borough’s best homes. Alas the supply has dried up — but school redevelopments are creating new apartments. The Schoolyard on Eltringham Street is a scheme of 119 flats in crisp, contemporary-design low-rise blocks, close to Wandsworth Town station, the Common, and Nappy Valley hotspots such as Northcote Road and Michelin-starred Chez Bruce restaurant. Prices from £335,000. Call 0844 406 9288. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2013 45 homesandproperty.co.uk with New homes Homes & Property Picture yourself living in Tudor Gothic grandeur

LIVE like a lord in Wiltshire at Malmesbury’s Burton Hill House, a delightful listed mansion built in Tudor Gothic style, split into three grand homes of up to 5,888sq ft, with all the period features intact and ripe for a modern makeover. £225,000-plus: Grayson Perry’s Walthamstow workshop One has a double-height octagonal entrance hall and a stained-glass HEART OF ART TURNER window bearing the coat of arms of a previous owner, while another has a WINNER SELLS STUDIO sweeping oak staircase with gallery, and the third comes with a ballroom. CROSS-DRESSING Turner unveiling of a new statue Offers in the region of £675,000 for Prize-winning potter and of film legend and each property. All set in magnificent now acclaimed Reith one-time local Alfred landscaped grounds. Call Butler lecturer Grayson Perry is Hitchcock, a green light Sherborn on 01993 8222325. selling his Walthamstow for the controversial workshop after 12 years in redevelopment of the the once-unglamorous famous greyhound east London district. stadium, and the first The two-storey end- town-centre designer terrace property in apartments. Spruce Hills Road comes The area looks like a with permission to return decent investment bet. it to residential use — a Prices are among the shrewd move, according lowest in London and to Perry. transport links are good — “I’ve moved out just as it’s in Zone 3 on the Tube Walthamstow is becoming and there are 17-minute gentrified. My work is Overground trains into the done,” he says. City. Flats priced from Estate agent Currell is £199,995 are selling like inviting offers above hot cakes at a scheme £225,000. Call 020 3222 called Metro Pads above Contemporary in development project is in the ambitious plan will open up listed 5555. Walthamstow Central Covent Garden: pipeline between Long Acre and courtyards and create a pedestrian It’s all go in the “Stow” station. Call Strettons on a Bedford Street King Street, comprising a 50-home walkway across Floral Street to right now, with the 020 8509 4457. apartment residential and retail scheme. The the piazza. £675,000: Wiltshire mansion homes

On Millbank: along from Tate Britain, Riverwalk ﬂats and their Moore bronze Riverwalk is a runaway success SUCH is the expected demand for apartments at Riverwalk, along from Tate Britain on Millbank, that buyers are being invited to register ahead of the official launch in January. A Sixties office block has been bulldozed to make way for two new buildings, one 17 storeys high, connected by a central podium, providing 113 apartments. A street-level restaurant and gallery are also planned, while the site includes Locking Piece, a bronze sculpture by Henry Moore. Call Knight Frank on 020 7861 5499 for more details.