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A particular take on property AUTUMN 2013 GE01 Chelsea & South Kensington 020 7225 3866 (Sales) 020 7589 9966 (Lettings) Chelsea SW10, South Kensington & Earls Court 020 7373 1010 (Sales & Lettings) Fulham & Parsons Green 020 7731 7100 (Sales & Lettings) Kensington & Holland Park 020 7938 3666 (Sales) 020 7938 3866 (Lettings) Knightsbridge, Belgravia & Mayfair 020 7235 9959 (Sales & Lettings) Notting Hill & Bayswater (Sales & Lettings) 1111 020 7221 Head Office, London 020 7629 7282 London City Office 020 7600 3456 struttandparker.com/andlondon pp01-60_&London_Covers_desWRAP2.indd 7 CONTENTS

Welcome to the autumn issue of &London. Following a glorious summer of sunshine and sporting triumphs, the feelgood factor is riding high. Steady signs of economic recovery have added to the positive mood – our bars, restaurants and shops are full as locals and visitors enjoy the city’s endless delights. The property market is equally vibrant and the usual burst of autumn activity seems particularly fast-paced this year, succeeding one of our busiest summers on record.

A particular take on property AUTUMN 2013 Regulars 04. First & foremost / The latest area news and property highlights. 16. Trends & analysis / Strutt & Parker experts take stock of the market. 20. The S&P map / The city is alive with the sound of music. 50. Development update / Victoria’s time to shine. IN THIS ISSUE... 57. Strutt & Parker’s London We’ve been roving around the capital meeting some of the wonderful / An at-a-glance guide to our London offices. residents who make London such a special place. In Chelsea Physic Garden, 58. When one tires of London… we got up close and personal with the beekeeper and 60,000 bees, while in / Escape the city to an Oxfordshire haven. Knightsbridge, we tried to keep up with a young French racing driver who has recently made the city his second home. Other stars include the artistic director of The Finsborough Theatre, a property developer on a historic Features mission and many local residents who make west London such an exciting 10. Modern history place to live. We hope you enjoy their stories. / Modernity meets the past at Palace Gate. 24. Local hero / Everyone’s favourite fringe, the Finsborough Theatre. 28. King of the hill / Miles Meacock shares his Notting Hill highlights. 32. A skyline that never sleeps / We take a bird’s-eye view of the ever-changing cityscape. Published on behalf of 38. The perfect swarm Strutt & Parker by Sunday / Meet the beekeeper at Chelsea Physic Garden. Editor Lucy Ryan 42. Life in the fast lane Art Director Adrian Morris Deputy Editor Marc Grainger / A personal account of the capital’s irresistible call. Creative Director Matt Beaven Account Director Steph Hill 44. A taste of the country in South Kensington Senior Account Manager Bryony Bromfield / Fresh is best at the local farmers’ market. Managing Director Toby Smeeton 52. Coffee capital sundaypublishing.com / The new breed of cafés for connoisseurs.

Repro F1 Colour Print The Colourhouse

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Strutt & Parker or the publishers. All information and pricing correct at time of going to press.

Cover photography Alun Callender & Anna Pumer

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CLaSSiC bEauty

Ovington Square SW3 ‘This superb family house has been newly refurbished to the highest specification by Rigby & Rigby, with special attention paid to space, storage and light while a view to thrill incorporating exciting and innovative architectural design ideas,’ says Jonathan Inglis, Head of Chelsea Sales. Pont Street SW1 ‘The result successfully marries period features with ‘This recently refurbished three-bedroom penthouse with lift contemporary style, to create easy and flexible living has a true wow factor,’ says Bertie Hare of Knightsbridge Sales. for modern family needs. The reception space is ‘The south-facing decked roof terrace is dramatic, offering exceptionally well planned with an elegant first-floor fabulous views over London. Internally, the space has been drawing room. There’s a wonderful surprise at the top modernised throughout and offers double-height volume with of the house, too: a double-height studio room with a pitched ceiling in the reception room.’ French doors opening out onto a lovely terrace.’ £3,950,000. leasehold. Contact 020 7235 9959 £10,250,000. Freehold. Contact 020 7225 3866

rOyaL StyLE

To celebrate its 30th birthday, Ralph Lauren Home offers two new collections: Hacienda (inspired by the American ranch style) and Apartment No. One, (named after the Kensington Palace residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge). Both can be found at the Fulham Road store. ralphlauren.co.uk

LOVE iS in thE air ore inspiring It’s been seven years since scent specialist Jo Malone The Italian city of Spoleto is the focus of a new exhibition at sold her eponymous superbrand to Estée Lauder. Mayfair art gallery Ronchini this autumn. The exhibition features A testament to the strength of the business, her scented the work of American artist and sculptor Alexander Calder candles, fragrances and more – all beautifully packaged (1898-1976) and his Italian contemporary Fausto Melotti in luxurious cream bags complete with black ribbon – are (1901-1986). Both shared many technical and aesthetic qualities still a coveted lifestyle choice. Now, embarking on a fresh working in the medium of metal sculpture. The exhibition tells venture, the perfumer is back with a shiny new boutique the stories of the two artists, the city and post-war Italian cultural opening this October on Elizabeth Street in Belgravia. life, and features archive photography as well as drawings and Jo Loves will house the 10-strong line of fragrances and sculpture. The show, Calder & Melotti: Children of the Sky, candles, plus a new collection of perfumes, shower gels, runs from 11 October to 30 November. ronchinigallery.com body lotions and bath colognes. jomalone.co.uk

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Pont Street Mews SW1 ‘Rebuilt behind the period facade and located in the finest mews address in Knightsbridge, Bridge House is an exclusive property with amazing city views,’ says Charlie Willis, Head of Knightsbridge Sales. ‘The reconfigured and interior-designed three-bedroom house boasts Note perfect Bluetooth-fed sound systems, TV and cable, air conditioning in the The Royal Albert Hall is the setting for two master suite and comfort cooling to spellbinding musical events in November. On the bedrooms, as well as an audio- Remembrance Sunday, the BBC Symphony visual media room. The barrier- Orchestra will play Benjamin Britten’s powerful controlled mews, moments from War Requiem, which weaves the poems of Harrods, is both secure and hidden.’ Wilfred Owen with the words of the Requiem £5,350,000. freehold SOLD Mass. The performance takes place on 10 Contact 020 7235 9959 November at 7pm. Then on 15 November, Chinese piano virtuoso Lang Lang (right) will perform Mozart piano sonatas (Nos. 4, 5, 8) and Chopin ballades (Nos. 1-4). A second date has been added on 17 November. royalalberthall.com

rooms with more Va-Va Voom

Ensor Mews SW7 ‘Situated in a small cobbled mews between Onslow and Cranley Gardens, this stunning house has been remodelled and refurbished to a very sCents and high standard to create a highly desirable four- sensibility bedroom residence,’ says Simon Rose, Head of Chelsea SW10 Sales. ‘The property even comes Diptyque, the classic Paris with a private show garage.’ fragrance house known for its £5,950,000. freehold. contact 020 7373 1010 sumptuous scented candles, is launching an innovative home-scent device at its London stores in Westbourne Grove, Marylebone street food GeNius High Street, Brook Street and rediscoVered Leadenhall Market. The ceramic This November, historic Berwick Street and metal electric diffuser hosts two much-anticipated restaurant The Baroque artist Giovanni Benedetto resembles an elegant pillar candle openings. Salt Yard, known for its Castiglione (1609-64) was perhaps the and, like Diptyque’s candles, fits all Spanish- and Italian-inspired charcoal- most innovative and technically brilliant interior decoration schemes. Called grilled dishes, is opening a 90-cover Italian draughtsman of his time. He Un Air de Diptyque, it is designed to restaurant at 60-61 Berwick Street. was also a highly skilled painter, and gently perfume larger spaces, such The menu includes homemade chorizo, combined drawing and printmaking as generously proportioned living smoked oysters and Iberico pork rack to invent the technique of monotype. rooms and hallways. Priced at £240, with chestnut honey (saltyard.co.uk). Castiglione: Lost Genius runs from it is available in five scents: fig, At number 11, Polpetto is reopening 1 November to 16 March 2014 at The amber, firewood, berries and with room for 70 diners. The new-look Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. Diptyque’s signature perfume, 34. restaurant will feature an aperitivo bar. royalcollection.org.uk diptyqueparis.co.uk Contact details are to be confirmed soon.

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garden glamour victorian Queensdale Place W11 ‘This is an outstanding refurbished four-bedroom family values house in a popular location,’ says Miles Meacock, Brunswick Gardens W8 Head of Notting Hill Sales. ‘The entertaining space ‘Situated on this cherry-tree-lined street just is particularly generous and includes a wonderful off Kensington Church Street, this five- kitchen/dining room on the lower ground floor Couture bedroom Victorian stucco-fronted house is with large sliding doors leading out onto a ideal for families,’ says Jemilla Divito, Head contemporary west-facing garden. The house ClassiCs of Kensington Lettings. ‘The entertaining was remodelled to an extremely high specification space is excellent, with a fabulous kitchen/ and was sold recently by Strutt & Parker before Designer dresses and luxury family room and French doors that lead being made available to let.’ fashion accessories take out onto a lovely rear garden.’ £3,650,000. Freehold SOLD centre stage at Christie’s £4,250 per week. unfurnished £2,500 per week. unfurnished. Contact 020 7221 1111 in South Kensington on contact 020 7938 3866 13 November, at the popular Vintage Couture & Luxury Handbags sale. The auction house has held high-fashion sales for more than 35 years the mother and been entrusted with of pearls a variety of high-profile personal collections, An earring worn by Charles I at his including those of Coco execution in 1649, magnificent tiaras Chanel, Elizabeth Taylor, worn by European nobility, and a Diana, Princess of Wales, necklace given to Marilyn Monroe by Marilyn Monroe and Daphne Joe DiMaggio in 1954 are among the Guinness. This 1970s Ossie incredible array of jewellery and other Clark and Celia Birtwell objects on display in Pearls, a new silk printed chiffon dress for exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Quorum, for example, sold Museum this autumn. The exhibition will the wizards oF oz for £1,125 in last year’s sale. examine how pearls have been used over Items for the 2013 sale will the centuries in both East and West as a Sheridan, one of Australia’s leading lifestyle interiors be available to view at the symbol of status and wealth, how tastes brands, brings a touch of sunshine to Kings Road South Kensington showroom vary in different cultures, as well as the in September, with its first-ever standalone UK store. from Saturday 9 November. changing designs of jewellery featuring For autumn/winter, expect luxurious adult and cute christies.com pearls. Pearls runs from 21 September children’s bed linen, thick bath towels and robes, to 19 January 2014. vam.ac.uk and a wide range of throws, cushions, comforters and other accessories. sheridanuk.com

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s property developer John Spiers redecorating the interiors. Most of Emerson’s (left) tore down the ceilings of his career was spent in India, where he had A latest acquisition, 6 Palace Gate, made his name designing the Victoria in preparation for its conversion into two Memorial Hall in Calcutta. apartments and a penthouse, he came across ‘As a handful of sumptuous apartments, something rather unexpected. the building will appeal to people who can’t When he bought the property in 2010, fi nd what they want in their price range in it was split into ten fl ats and a doctor’s Knightsbridge, and are migrating a mile to surgery. ‘It was a terrible mess, a real rabbit the west,’ suggests John. warren, so it was impossible to work out All of John’s apartments have an what was in there,’ says John. In fact, behind individual charm, but Apartment One, with those false ceilings in the raised ground fl oor’s its ornate ceilings, has sparked the interest main reception rooms, he discovered detailed of international as well as local buyers. ‘It’s plaster decoration and the most amazing attractive to everybody,’ says John. ‘A lot Arts & Crafts-infl uenced murals. of people are keen to live somewhere where The building was built in the 1870s, in the they feel connected to London’s past.’ style of the Second Empire – hence the large Which means the original marble fl oor in the cornices and the classical Victorian facade entrance hall and the fi replaces are also going with a Parisian twist. Previous illustrious down well, along with the original working inhabitants include the fi rst owner, Colonel shutters. Furthermore, it’s Grade II Listed, AWH Meyrick, a Crimean War veteran, and so John was mindful not to change the the Hon John Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, original room sizes, doorways and fi replaces. MODERN grandfather of explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes. All three apartments have been furnished Following conversion into fl ats in 1925, immaculately to help prospective buyers occupants included the fashion designer Digby picture themselves living there. This was Morton, who is credited with transforming particularly key for Apartment One, says the tweed jacket into a fashion item and who John: ‘These rooms are so unusual, it’s HISTORY had his studio in the basement; Francis John diffi cult to picture how you might furnish von Habsburg Lothringen, a relation of the them. All the furniture is bespoke because When developer John Spiers undertook a luxurious renovation last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; the scale is so large – 30ft by 27ft.’ project in historic Kensington, he was in for a few surprises and the writer Countess Olga Priuli-Bon. John commissioned interior designer The amazing ceilings were apparently Fiona Barratt – the fi rst time they had worked WORDS Clare Dowdy PHOTOGRAPHY Alun Callender commissioned by a William Gillilan, a retired together – to unleash her fl air. Fiona, who lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers who, in 1890, lives in Chelsea and is married to ex-footballer tasked the architect Sir William Emerson with Sol Campbell, has designed the interiors

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This page: interior designer Fiona Barratt introduced bold interior details and accessories. Right: the original ceilings are restored, while dramatic space is created with period features and high-spec fi xtures and fi ttings

for a host of London homes since setting Smart TV in the bedrooms. And the icing up her business in 2006. on the cake is its fabulous position – just ‘Developments can sometimes look a bit a stone’s throw from Kensington Gardens, predictable,’ admits John. ‘However, Fiona the Royal Albert Hall and Kensington Palace. used bold colour and eye-catching furniture, The reception room has a particular place including jaw-dropping chandeliers and the in John’s heart, for its ‘grandeur, the beauty wall unit in Apartment One’s main drawing of the ceiling and its views over the stone- room, with its dark oak-veneered bookcase walled garden’. and gold dividers. A brace of round polo This is John’s biggest project so far, although stones, which act as coffee tables, and soft he’s now converting the former headquarters furnishings in purple add exciting fl ourishes.’ of the National Trust into a single house in All this is married with the apartments’ Queen Anne’s Gate. Who knows what interior tip-top technology, such as the integrated treasures those false ceilings may reveal… Turn over for a Sonos music system, the Rako lighting-control Apartment One, £6,250,000; Apartment Two, selection of properties system, the Bulthaup kitchen with Gaggenau £5,500,000; Penthouse, £5,950,000. that blend the old appliances, and the pop-up 40in Samsung All share of freehold. Contact 020 7938 3666 with the new

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These fi ne properties combine period features with modern specifi cations

Neville Street SW7 St Maur Road SW6 A magnifi cent stucco-fronted A bright and superbly presented house with a full basement and fi ve-bedroom family house loft conversion, six bedrooms located in this highly desirable and six reception rooms. tree-lined street. £4,950 per week. Unfurnished LET £2,200,000. Freehold Contact 020 7589 9966 Ossington Street W2 Contact 020 7731 7100 A beautifully presented three-bedroom period house close to Hyde Park. £1,495 per week. Furnished/unfurnished Contact 020 7221 1111

Fulham Road SW6 Chester Street SW1 This impressive A stunning modernised refurbished property offers Grade II Listed townhouse fabulous entertaining with outstanding period space. The open-plan proportions. At nearly lower ground fl oor boasts 5,650 sq ft, this house a stylish bespoke kitchen retains the original stone and full sliding doors that staircase and has natural open onto a 51ft garden. light fl ooding in through £2,650,000. Freehold south-facing windows. Contact 020 7731 7100 £16,500,000. Freehold SOLD Perrymead Street SW6 Contact 020 7235 9959 This fi ve-bedroom ‘Lion house’ Holland Park W11 in the prestigious Peterborough This outstanding four-bedroom Estate boasts generous living maisonette occupies 4,069 sq ft on the space, extensive cellar storage, raised ground and lower ground fl oors a patio garden and a roof terrace. of an impressive villa. It also benefi ts £1,200 per week. Unfurnished from a stunning south-facing garden. Contact 020 7731 7100 £8,950,000. Freehold SOLD Contact 020 7938 3666

Argyll Road W8 Earls Court Road W8 Pembroke Gardens Close W8 An impressive six-bedroom family house, An impressive and beautifully An impressive four-bedroom occupying 3,819 sq ft, with excellent entertaining presented four-bedroom stucco- house, occupying 1,654 sq ft over space, a lovely rear garden and off-street parking. fronted house, with off-street parking. two fl oors, with the advantage of a £8,350,000. Freehold The house has excellent entertaining wonderful 46ft long west-facing Contact 020 7938 3666 space, including a wonderful drawing garden and off-street parking. room on the raised ground fl oor. £3,250,000. Freehold SOLD £1,900 per week. Unfurnished Contact 020 7938 3666 Contact 020 7938 3866

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Facts & fi gures LONDON RESIDENTIAL SALES*

THE MAJORITY OF PRIME CENTRAL LONDON SELLERS ARE SELLING FOR FINANCIAL REASONS, Trends & analysis SUCH AS INVESTMENT, LIFESTYLE CHANGE OR RELOCATION Strutt & Parker experts refl ect on lively market activity and take stock of the season ahead % COUNTRY REVIVAL The top-end country market has improved signifi cantly in OF BUYERS ARE SEEKING PROPERTIES OVER £5M recent months, says James LONDON LETTINGS IN BUOYANT MOOD Mackenzie, Head of the Country House Department. A summer heatwave brought younger, long-term ‘The market has performed not only soaring temperatures professional and family better in the past six months to the capital, but also a renters,’ adds Rose, who than the previous two years,’ sizzling rentals market, believes London’s becoming he notes. ‘Ninety per cent of says Zoë Rose, Head of more like cities such as Paris % ECONOMY TO BOOST MARKET CONFIDENCE OF BUYERS the properties we are now London Lettings. in this respect. ARE SEEKING ‘The central London property that they could buy two small selling in excess of £2 million ‘Viewing levels were up Despite such enthusiasm in PROPERTIES OF THE KEY INDICATORS A HIGHER VALUE market is like a bucking estates in the country for the are on the market because 23% year on year, the number the private rented sector, Rose 50 bronco,’ says Andrew Scott, same money,’ he explains. SUGGEST THIS the owners either need or of offers agreed doubled and warns landlords that properties Head of London Residential. Despite the high cost of STRONG MERIT wish to sell. Previously, there there were 37% more moves must be correctly priced and ‘One moment the market’s moving these days, estimated was a surplus of properties into rental properties over the ideally in good shape to avoid inactive, and the next – just at around 10% of the WILL CONTINUE that owners might be willing last quarter,’ she explains. lingering on the market. when one doesn’t expect it – it purchase price of a property, UNTIL CHRISTMAS to sell but only at a price that, Rose puts the buoyant ‘If something looks slightly goes into beating mode again!’ London’s still very much on quite often, buyers weren’t sector down to a continuing jaded and the landlord’s Seemingly small matters, the radar of both investors AT LEAST willing to stretch to.’ shortage of mint-condition creamed off the rent with such as colder weather and prospective homeowners. Mackenzie attributes the stock and the new trend of no rainy-day fund to spend 30% conditions, can blow ‘Strutt & Parker’s affi liation areas, such as Fulham, increase in activity to buyers more young people not buying on new power showers or OF SELLERS WORK IN THE FINANCE SECTOR everything off course, he with Christie’s International Battersea and Bayswater. accepting the 2% increase homes, as renting becomes updated kitchens, tenants notes. ‘Some buyers who are Real Estate has given us huge ‘Trying to be clever in places in stamp duty and a lack increasingly common for seeking the best around feeling nervous about making access to buyers; and, as well that are only just starting to of good-quality country the younger generation. will simply look elsewhere.’ decisions use the weather as foreign purchasers coming be regenerated could backfi re, houses on the market, thus ‘In the past, tenants typically Rose predicts a static and or increased Stamp Duty to us, we’re also going to as it could take 20 years for generating demand. ‘The signed a one-year contract. stable autumn market in which 63% tax as a reason to stay put.’ them,’ points out Scott, these developing areas to continued increase in London Now they want to commit rents are unlikely to rise, in OF BUYERS WORK IN Following a busy spring referring to the recent sale of really emerge, if at all.’ has made the country market to renting a home for longer, spite of healthy demand. ‘At THE FINANCE SECTOR and summer, sales in the £2–5 more than 200 apartments to Scott predicts that the seem incredibly good value,’ say for 24 or even 36 months. the top end, rents could come million price bracket were up individuals in the Far East. combination of ongoing talk he adds. They are also asking for down gently as long-term PERCENTAGE OF BUYERS FROM THE UK 16% year on year, due to With the new trend of of a wealth tax on high-end Mackenzie predicts longer break clauses of nine renters compete for London’s 60% pent-up demand, and the fi rst-time buyers getting property and the upcoming ongoing confi dence in the to 12 months, compared with smaller to mid-size homes. ultra-high £50–80-million onto the property ladder later general election in 2015 top end of the country-house six months previously. Tenants A high-end house advertised 63% band fared well. However, (the average age of fi rst-time could have an effect on market. ‘Stock levels of know what they want and at £6,500 per week, for CHELSEA, SOUTH KENSINGTON AND FULHAM Scott notes some weakness purchasers is now estimated confi dence. But he believes quality property are depleting when they fi nd it, they’re example, might be worth 67% around the £7-million mark. at 37), Strutt & Parker has the autumn market in the as houses at this level sell keen to hold on to it.’ a fi gure closer to £5,500.’ ‘These homes are typically witnessed a large emerging capital is likely to be strong. more quickly,’ he says. Europeans in particular 56% bought by people who work private rentals sector. More ‘A great deal depends on ‘Ever-increasing London are eager to secure long-term KENSINGTON AND NOTTING HILL in the fi nancial sector and people are buying investment supply and prospects for prices and the improved rentals in good locations, and have mortgages, children apartments – a very big and the British economy. Overall, fi rst-time buyer and new- one- to three-bedroom smaller EUROPEANS ARE EAGER 47% at school and a bolthole growing market according however, the key indicators homes market are drivers, and mid-size apartments and TO SECURE LONG-TERM 75% beyond the M25. They to Scott, who advises suggest this strong merit too. The prime country-house houses are the properties of KNIGHTSBRIDGE AND BELGRAVIA recognise that £7 million is investors to go for safe, will continue until Christmas market is currently looking choice. ‘This synchronises RENTALS IN GOOD * Source: Strutt & Parker Research Source: * an awful lot to pay out and established and familiar at least.’ like an excellent investment.’ with our tenant profi le of LOCATIONS 12 months rolling to December 2012 12 months rolling to June 2013

*When referring to the Prime Central London market it includes those markets in which Strutt & Parker operates (Knightsbridge, Belgravia, Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill & Fulham) and, as such, is refl ective of London’s most prime markets. The sales data is collected from 16 A particular take on property our activity in the Prime Central London market: our proprietary ‘behavioural data’ is not representative of the UK as a whole. struttandparker.com/andlondon 17

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Facts & fi gures THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET*

Markets on STRUTT & PARKER’S PARTNERSHIP WITH CHRISTIE’S INTERNATIONAL REAL ESTATE IS PROVING A VITAL TOOL IN UNDERSTANDING the move THE FLUID INTERNATIONAL MARKET

High-end properties priced above US$1 million achieved record prices globally in 2012, with high-net- worth international buyers driving the sales coupled PARTNERSHIP IS KEY TO with strong interest from local entrepreneurs. FULL-SERVICE SUCCESS 40% 38% ‘With the appointment of Strutt BE PREPARED THINK CENTRAL & Parker as the sole UK affi liate

Be fully prepared before Where should you put your of Christie’s International Real LONDON PARIS making any acquisition is the money in the capital? James Estate, we give our clients recommendation of Andrew Geddes, Partner, Private Property unrivalled access to not only Yeandle, Partner, Property Wealth Search, advises investors to ‘go quality buyers and tenants Management. ‘Getting all the as central as possible and get as worldwide, but also the world’s 60% 62% boxes ticked will give comfort much as your money will allow’. leading art business through our 30% 20% to vendors on a purchaser’s Comparing new schemes association with the Christie’s ability to perform and ensure south of the river (Nine Elms’s auction house. This is a powerful that the most effi cient structure Riverlight, Embassy Gardens and proposition,’ says Lulu Egerton, is used for the ownership Battersea Power Station) with Partner, Estate Agency. NEW YORK HONG KONG of the property,’ he says. west London (Holland Green in From selling a £3.75-million Many investors in the Holland Park and Kensington’s South Kensington house to a central London market are De Vere Gardens), Geddes says heart surgeon relocating to 70% 80% based overseas. ‘It is important you should think of quality, London (after a referral by the Non-local buyers (everyone else, including international) that they not only understand location and development size. Christie’s affi liate in the south of Local buyers (residents within the city) Stephanie McMahon, Head of the Research Department at Strutt & Parker, the marketplace and options Opportunities exist south of France), to helping an Australian summarises the key factors affecting London’s residential market available to them depending the Thames, but Geddes fears affi liate pitch for the sale of the In London, the average price per square foot for a on their strategy, but also give that too many units in big blocks most valuable site Down Under, super-prime property is recorded at nearly US$5,000. What are the key drivers behind the cash purchasers are predominant in consideration to off-shore (offering lower rents due to Egerton points out two examples This is almost US$2,000 more than the next highest Q price per square foot recorded in Hong Kong. current UK market? central London, it’s becoming easier structuring and fi nancing,’ competition) will create wind of being part of a like-minded to access money more quickly if you says Yeandle. tunnels, and that restaurants and network covering 44 countries. A The housing market is going through require a loan – a positive trend for With recent changes to the shops within the development Prime London property a number of changes, including the the market. rules relating to Stamp Duty won’t be of suitably high quality. has become a stellar brand for baby-boomer generation having a big and implications for both Capital ‘With so many units selling to those living outside the UK, and effect on the retirement sector, a strong Q Are fl ats or houses more popular? Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax, Far Eastern investors , it’s likely purchasers are eager and focused rental market and nearly 25% of south-east clients need to fully understand that a ghetto of rental fodder to own here: ‘The super-rich and buyers relocating out of London. A There’s a lot of activity in the fl ats these issues and receive the right over owner-occupiers will be professional working classes both

market, as some buyers prefer the ease Jerry Hoare professional advice. created, leading to an area want a piece of our capital city,’ Q Are international buyers holding of a managed building. In addition, many ‘Strutt & Parker advises without a heart and soul.’ comments Egerton. up prime central London? international buyers love lateral living across two joined-up fl ats. many overseas investors to enter Geddes is, however, ‘There’s also a natural HONG KONG $2,958 $8,204 $1,829 $4,354 PARIS NEW YORK $1,810 $13,049 A Although the international market is both the UK commercial and optimistic about two major relationship with the auction LONDON $4,849 $9,508 incredibly important, we’re seeing more residential markets. We seek to high-specifi cation developments, house that has opened more doors Record price per sq ft ILLUSTRATIONS purchasers from the domestic market, understand the rationale for any De Vere Gardens and Holland for us as a business,’ says Egerton. Average market price per sq ft, properties over US$1 million which is having a balancing effect. In investment and projected hold Green: ‘The prices and facilities ‘Our clients might want something addition, most of our buyers are buying period, to guide the client to that Holland Green will offer special on their walls, or advice The super-prime market is relatively small with fewer their homes as primary residences, rather THERE’S A TREND than 33,000 properties over US$1 million offered for sale the appropriate location and have set a new standard in on how to sell a Canaletto. in 10 indexed cities. London tops this list with the most than for pure investment purposes. TOWARDS MORE opportunity to meet their Kensington. The anticipation Our international reach and number of properties available above US$1 million. aspirations, while ensuring that of the De Vere development association with Christie’s has CLIENTS ACCESSING Cheryl Markosky 7,741 LONDON Q What else is affecting the market? they have fully considered the offer is perhaps more attractive taken us on a game-changing CREDIT FROM 4,100 NEW YORK A There’s a trend towards more buyers fi nancing and structure for to the international and domestic journey. People now think very 3,500 HONG KONG accessing credit from banks. Although BANKS the asset,’ confi rms Yeandle. WORDS buyers due to its better location.’ differently about Strutt & Parker.’ 3,500 PARIS * Source: Luxury Defi ned: An Insight Into The Luxury Residential Property Market, Christie’s International Real Estate, 2013. christiesrealestate.com/luxury-defi ned International Real Estate, 2013. christiesrealestate.com/luxury-defi Market, Christie’s ned: An Insight Into The Luxury Residential Property Luxury Defi Source: *

18 A particular take on property struttandparker.com/andlondon 19

pp16-19_&London_Trends_NEW.indd 18 11/09/2013 11:49 pp16-19_&London_Trends_NEW 2.indd 19 13/09/2013 16:17 4 Cadogan Hall Step inside the Grade II 6 The Jazz Lounge at The Listed, Byzantine-styled Cadogan Hall, with Wellesley Amy Winehouse, George Melly Musical hotspots its steep-barrel ceiling and Art Deco interior, and Mica Paris are just a few of the many Central London has more than its fair share of musical attractions. and you’d never know you were in what was legends to have graced this opulent Gatsby- once a church attracting huge congregations. style room when it was in its previous guise We sing the praises of some of the most noteworthy The venue seems as if it was designed for as jazz venue Pizza on the Park. The lounge words Lucy Nichols ILLUsTrATIoN La Boca concerts, and its grandeur and acoustics are is now under new ownership and its guests befitting of it being the Royal Philharmonic can enjoy, in the words of the venue’s Turn over for a Orchestra’s London base. The 2004 Director of Food and Beverages, ‘the sounds selection of properties 1 Royal Albert Hall Opened in 1871 as singer Dame Joan Sutherland, and even conversion of the disused church into of some of London’s finest jazz, blues, soul near these famous musical venues a venue for scientific gatherings, this world- pop stars Sir Elton John and Annie Lennox. the hall cost £7.5 million and uncovered and swing singers in a glamorous and private famous arts hall has hosted every kind of Today, the college’s Museum of Instruments stained glass by a Danish nobleman, setting’. thewellesley.co.uk performance, from Proms concerts to Black houses treasures such as the world’s oldest Baron Arild Rosenkrantz, who worked Sabbath gigs and sumo tournaments. Its pipe strung keyboard instrument. rcm.ac.uk with Tiffany & Co. cadoganhall.com 7 Hard Rock Café When singer Eric organ, one of the UK’s largest, boasts 9,999 Clapton donated his Lead II Fender to the pipes and weighs 150 tonnes. Concerts on 26, 3 Montreux Jazz Café Combining live 5 Boisdale of Belgravia Entrepreneur Hard Rock Café in return for a space at the 27 and 28 November mark the long-awaited jazz, screens broadcasting the Montreux Jazz Ranald Macdonald set up Boisdale in bar, back in the 1970s, little did he or the return of Bob Dylan. royalalberthall.com Festival, culinary favourites from festival 1989 when he was just 24, with a loan of café’s co-founders, Isaac Tigrett and Peter performers such as Quincy Jones, and £120,000 and ‘my plans on the back of an Morton, know it would still be rocking 2 Royal College of Music Attracting Montreux merchandise, this was festival envelope’. The humble beginnings paid off today. As well as housing rock memorabilia, more than 600 students from over 50 creator Claude Nobs’ parting gift to the and this happening Scottish restaurant – the Old Park Lane café is as famous countries, this 130-year-old conservatoire world. He knew the customer was key: with live jazz five nights a week, monthly as ever for attracting rock stars has trained countless celebrated musicians, ‘Even the most beautiful décor is meaningless cigar tastings and a cigar terrace, a walk-in for live performances, including including composers Holst and Britten, without the audience to be entertained.’ It’s humidor and a vast single malt whisky Aerosmith and Paul McCartney. conductor Leopold Stokowski, a fitting swansong, as Nobs regularly invited selection – is fit for a laird. hardrock.com artists to his home to share a good meal. boisdale.co.uk/belgravia montreuxjazzcafe.com

20 A particular take on property struttandparker.com/andlondon 21

pp20-21_&London_MusicMAP_des1.indd 20 10/09/2013 17:30 pp20-21_&London_MusicMAP_des1.indd 21 10/09/2013 17:30 & LONDON THE MAP

Just round the corner from famous London music venues, these uptown properties harmoniously blend classic and modern styles

Cadogan Place SW1 Jay Mews SW7 Rossetti Garden An elegant four-bedroom property An exceptionally well- Mansions SW3 with private entrance and roof presented mews house An unusual split-level loft-style terrace overlooking communal with roof terrace and large apartment comprising a reception gardens and tennis courts. garage. The house has room with double-height ceiling, £12,500,000. Share of freehold been immaculately dining area, modern fully-fitted Contact 020 7235 9959 refurbished and offers kitchen and bathroom, and two spacious open-plan living double bedrooms, one of which with solid-wood flooring in is a mezzanine over the reception principal reception areas. room. It also has loft access £3,000 per week. and a porter. Furnished LET £895 per week. Furnished Contact 020 7235 9959 Contact 020 7589 9966

Lyall Mews SW1 Albert Court SW7 Offering nearly 4,000 sq ft A striking three-bedroom and extensive parking, penthouse with open- this completely plan living, a large terrace reconstructed and fully and a garage, located modernised house on the seventh floor of a benefits from air popular 24-hour portered conditioning, an integral mansion building by garage and off-street the Royal Albert Hall mews parking. and Hyde Park. £8,500,000. Freehold £6,950,000. Leasehold River House, Contact 020 7235 9959 Contact 020 7235 9959 Chelsea Embankment SW3 Launceston Place W8 A stunning, newly refurbished An outstanding and beautifully one-bedroom flat with private presented three-bedroom maisonette. entrance on the lower ground It has recently been refurbished to floor of a fine listed building. extremely high standards and offers £575 per week. Furnished fabulous entertaining space and a Contact 020 7589 9966 bright aspect, with wonderful views towards the Royal Albert Hall. £2,950,000. Leasehold Contact 020 7938 3666

Evelyn Gardens SW7 One Hyde Park SW1 An exceptional apartment Montpelier Place SW7 This fabulous one-bedroom apartment arranged over the upper floors A charming, well-presented house in the heart is on the fourth floor of the iconic of a recently refurbished red-brick of Knightsbridge. Positioned on a corner, it is full development that boasts excellent period conversion on the western of light and is arranged over four floors with three service and unrivalled facilities, terrace of this sought-after reception rooms, a modern kitchen, a master including a swimming pool, gym, address. It enjoys garden bedroom suite with dressing room and three squash court, spa, private dining room, views to the front and back. further bedroom suites. virtual golf simulator and cinema. £2,950,000. Leasehold SOLD £4,250,000. Freehold £5,250,000. Leasehold Contact 020 7373 1010 Contact 020 7235 9959 Contact 020 7235 9959

22 A particular take on property struttandparker.com/andlondon 23

pp22-23_Map Properties_des2.indd 22 06/09/2013 12:48 pp22-23_Map Properties_des2.indd 23 10/09/2013 17:34 ondon has no shortage of world-class when he fell through a six-foot hole in the stage theatres, from the glamorous boutique while dressed as a polar bear, deciding that L outfits such as the Donmar in the West acting just wasn’t a suitable job for a grown-up. End and the Almeida in Islington, through to the McPherson has been running the theatre grand home of new playwriting, the Royal Court on a wing and a prayer since 1999 and is in Sloane Square, and the powerhouse of delighted, if a mite bemused, by its rocketing Nicholas Hytner’s National Theatre on the South profile: ‘All I try to do is to follow my heart and Bank. But according to actress Celia Imrie, the my instincts rather than following what other city has only one ‘diamond’: the Finborough. theatres are doing.’ There is a touch of the Situated above an unprepossessing Victorian maverick about him: he wouldn’t touch a play pub in Earls Court since 1980, the Finborough rejected by, say, the Royal Court or the Bush, may be a very rough diamond, but under its but one that’s been rejected by every theatre unassuming Artistic Director, Neil McPherson, in the country could well whet his appetite. it has become one of the most cherished theatres ‘I think we have a reputation for being the in the capital. This tiny, unfunded 50-seat voice of dissent,’ says McPherson, who playhouse in SW10 has been running away with explains that he is always looking for the kind some of the most coveted awards and critical of playwright who is prepared to ‘put their fist Local hero Theatre critic Lyn Gardner meets Neil McPherson, the mastermind behind the tiny yet acclaimed Finborough Theatre in Earls Court PHOTOGRAPHY Joe McGorty

plaudits. That’s despite the fact that it’s rather down their throat, grab their guts and put them scruffy and, since the licensees of the downstairs on the page’, adding with a grin: ‘It does mean pub went out of business, audiences have to that quite a few of our plays are a bit messy. pop to the shop next door if they want a drink. But you could never accuse them of lacking It may lack elegance, but its rackety charm heart.’ Audiences don’t seem to mind one bit, – combined with McPherson’s audacious and and nor do the critics, who are happy to swap canny artistic policy, which mixes brand-new a comfortable plush seat in the West End for plays with rediscoveries of long-forgotten one of the Finborough’s tightly packed pews. gems – has pushed it to the top of London’s The Finborough is not a theatre for photogenic essential theatrical addresses. The Finborough young playwrights who want to waft around did once stage a promenade version of Lark looking soulful and be snapped by the media, Rise to Candleford – an insanely ambitious but it is a brilliant place for them to learn their enterprise in a space that is smaller than some craft. James Graham, who recently had a bathrooms – but it is never going to embrace massive hit at the National Theatre with his immersive theatre or other fads. McPherson political comedy This House, had his early wrinkles his nose at voguish terms for his role plays produced at the Finborough after he such as ‘theatre-maker’, and prefers good sent them his first play on spec. Somewhere old-fashioned playwright and director. in the 300-page unstageable opus, McPherson Neil McPherson, ‘We’ve never courted fashion. If we are spotted a nugget of talent and set out to help Artistic Director of the fashionable, it’s by accident,’ says the genial Graham mine it. No wonder Graham calls the Finborough Theatre Scotsman, who began as an actor but gave it up Finborough ‘the coalface of British theatre’.

struttandparker.com/andlondon 25

pp24-27_&London_Finborough_des3.indd 24 10/09/2013 17:39 pp24-27_&London_Finborough_des3.indd 25 10/09/2013 17:39 PORTFOLIO

A-list accommodation These properTy sTars Take cenTre sTage in chelsea and earls courT It’s a place where everyone mucks in and gets their hands dirty. During her time at the Finborough, rising director Blanche McIntyre – whose recent revival of The Seagull for Rupert Goold’s Headlong received rave reviews – Cathcart Road SW10 proved herself as much a dab hand with a A stunning two-bedroom paintbrush as at unlocking the text of a play. first-floor flat just off Fulham ‘Working in theatre doesn’t make you Road. This dual-aspect special,’ says McPherson. ‘If you are the sort south-facing property enjoys Seymour Walk SW10 of person who thinks it does, the Finborough’s natural light throughout. The flat A beautifully refurbished three- not the place for you.’ has been beautifully refurbished bedroom house situated in a Graham and McIntyre are not alone in cutting and has the added benefit of a popular and quiet cul-de-sac. The their teeth at the Finborough. Back in the 1980s, roof terrace just off the kitchen. accommodation benefits from a you might have spotted a young Jane Horrocks £1,975,000. Share of freehold great deal of natural light and is on its stage; in the 1990s, you could have Contact 020 7373 1010 well arranged, with a master suite caught a first glimpse of Rachel Weisz in a play occupying the entire first floor. by David Farr, who is now Associate Director for £2,950,000. Freehold the Royal Shakespeare Company. It’s here you Contact 020 7373 1010 could have seen Mark Ravenhill’s Shopping and F**king before it was picked up by the Royal Bramham Gardens SW5 Court, or more recently an adaptation An exceptional triple-aspect five-bedroom lateral of WH Davies’ Young Emma by an unknown flat, situated on the third floor of this prestigious playwright called Laura Wade. Wade Victorian-period conversion block. The property subsequently wrote the West End hit Posh, offers exceptional light throughout and benefits about a Bullingdon-style Oxbridge drinking from direct views and access to the gardens. club, which is now being made into a movie. £4,000,000. Share of freehold SOLD But the Finborough isn’t just for those on Contact 020 7373 1010 the way up. Increasingly, it’s where the already The Finborough in established go to do the work that refreshes Earls Court has been them and the small-scale projects that are close labelled ‘the coalface of to their hearts. Just a couple of years ago you British theatre’ would have found Celia Imrie and Paul O’Grady (of Lily Savage fame) sharing the tiny stage in the first London revival for 60 years of Lennox hours and lack of money have taken their toll Earls Court Square SW5 Robinson’s 1933 Irish comedy Drama at Inish. on McPherson, who has become agoraphobic. A fabulous three-bedroom Imrie says that the Finborough ‘has taken risks PEOPLE kEEP ASkInG Some might say this was a sign that it was time top-floor south-facing flat, with where no one else has dared’. She believes that WHEn I WILL BE to give up, but McPherson simply moved home Seymour Walk SW10 an impressive roof terrace that the least McPherson deserves is a knighthood LEAvInG. BuT WHY so he was closer to the theatre he loves. A beautifully presented offers far-reaching views for his indefatigable determination to keep the The knighthood’s unlikely to happen, and two-bedroom flat, with great of London, and an equally theatre open, despite its continued lack of WOuLD I WAnT TO BE besides, McPherson doesn’t have a suit to wear entertaining space and a balcony substantial terrace off the funding. It’s not always been easy. The long AnYWHERE ELSE? to the palace. But he does have three things off the master bedroom. reception room. that really matter: a sharp eye for new talent, £850 per week. Furnished LET £2,650,000. Leasehold an inexhaustible knowledge of plays that have Contact 020 7373 1010 Contact 020 7373 1010 lain forgotten and are in urgent need of revival, and a 100% commitment to the venue he has Old Church Street SW3 put on the theatrical map. This beautifully renovated and ‘now the theatre is successful, people keep meticulously designed family asking when I will be leaving,’ he says. ‘But house stands within the highly why would I want to be anywhere else?’ Why sought-after location of Old indeed. The Finborough has both art and heart. Chelsea. The house provides an open-plan living space and &More is imaginatively presented, with To go behind the scenes and read about Neil’s spectacular attention to detail. latest work, visit struttandparker.com/london £4,4750,000. Freehold Contact 020 7373 1010

26 A particular take on property struttandparker.com/andlondon 27

pp24-27_&London_Finborough_des3.indd 26 10/09/2013 17:42 pp24-27_&London_Finborough_des3.indd 27 10/09/2013 17:46 Most wanted: W11 look no further If you want a vIllage atmosphere In the heart of a cosmopolItan cIty

King of the hill For nearly 15 years, Miles Meacock, Strutt & Parker Partner, has immersed himself in Notting Hill and Kensington’s vibrant culture. Here, he shares his love for all things W11 Portland Road W11 WORDS Clare Dowdy PHOTOGRAPHY Tim E White Excellent, recently modernised four-bedroom house with patio. £2,850,000. Freehold Miles Meacock, a Partner at Strutt & to residential use, without a shop or Contact 020 7221 1111 Parker’s Notting Hill office, has been street vendor in sight,’ says Meacock. operating in and around Notting Hill ‘That said, the beauty of Notting Hill since 1999, and admits that he couldn’t is that one is never far from a pint of see himself working anywhere else now. milk, or beer for that matter.’ ‘We’ve really become part of the This, along with the area’s local community, partly through gentrification, its peppering of sponsoring local charitable events – communal garden squares and from communal garden summer parties proximity to Hyde Park, means it and church fêtes to opera at Holland has become a very popular place to Park. We couldn’t be more enthusiastic be, with rising prices to match. ‘It’s about the patch, the properties and not devoutly residential,’ he confirms. the people who live here.’ ‘The shopping is pretty special, with Of course, Notting Hill has come a Ledbury Road transforming itself into long way in the past couple of decades. a mini Bond Street, and Westbourne ‘It was almost a place that you veered Grove being about as cool as it gets.’ Horbury Crescent W11 away from,’ he explains. ‘Many of our And even before its gentrification, This attractive five-bedroom family older clients recall that moving to the area attracted creative characters, house is well presented over four floors. Notting Hill 30, 40 or 50 years ago Meacock adds. ‘The children’s author £4,350,00 Freehold SOLD was seen as a very brave venture, and Michael Bond used those impressive Contact 020 7221 1111 they did so despite the disapproval of houses on Lansdowne Crescent as the friends and family.’ inspiration for the home of the Brown Since then, the area has seen a family in his Paddington Bear stories, dramatic and progressive level of and Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze is said improvement, a by-product being that to have been written on Westbourne many previously low-value, tenanted Grove, while the Biba fashion label flats have been gradually restored and was started on Kensington Park Road.’ combined back into handsome period Meacock gets a lot of repeat houses. ‘There are some really quiet business, which he puts down to the streets to live in, which are dedicated office’s near obsession with client

Ladbroke Square W11 An outstanding six-bedroom family house with a large garden. £8,250,000. Freehold Contact 020 7221 1111

28 A particular take on property

pp28-31_&London_SW11_King of Hill_des3.indd 28 10/09/2013 17:49 pp28-31_&London_SW11_King of Hill_des3.indd 29 10/09/2013 17:50 care, and the fact that ‘once people There’s no doubt that house prices become Notting Hill residents, they’re here are strong. ‘The market here is Notting Hillbillies forever’. Bucking very dependent on people’s expectations Penzance Place W11 the trend experienced by other prime for the general election in May 2015,’ An attractive and well-presented locations in the past year, around 70% adds Miles. ‘People are already starting three-bedroom house, arranged over of vendors and buyers in the area to talk about it, and buyers and sellers four floors with a delightful roof terrace. have been British, which was a reversal alike might use it as a reason not to do £2,500,000. Freehold on the previous year. ‘These clients anything, until they know the outcome. Contact 020 7221 1111 could be anybody: young, old, If Labour or the Liberal Democrats upsizing, downsizing,’ notes Meacock. win, the much feared ‘mansion tax’ ‘They’ve all bitten the Notting Hill – an annual tax on properties over apple, and want to stay, so they £2 million – could become a reality, move within the same location.’ which could rupture the London They might buy a second home in property market overnight.’ the country, he explains, and even retire However, he is confident that there, but they’re unlikely to move to the area is robust. ‘Good properties another area in London. ‘People work will always sell well. Although supply their way up to their dream family is short, I am lucky to work in an area home on one of the communal gardens. that buyers continue to find attractive You can’t improve on that in London.’ and want to call home.’

Pembridge Villas W11 Miles’s favourite places for… A beautifully presented four-bedroom house, with excellent entertaining space, three pretty terraces and a small patio. CatChing a movie Electric Cinema, Portobello Road. The best way to watch a film. Grab your drinks from the bar and sink into a vast, comfortable armchair. £3,450,000. Freehold Contact 020 7211 1111 Reading the Sunday papeRS Daylesford Organic or 202 Restaurant in Westbourne Grove – the tables outside are highly prized to ‘see and be seen’.

FRiday CoCktailS Montgomery Place, Kensington Park Road. A stylishly cosy bar.

deSigneR FaShion Wolf & Badger, Ledbury Road. Promotes emerging independent designers, such as Jena.Theo, Pyrrha and Ekaterina Kukhareva.

vintage ChiC Mary’s Living and Giving Shop, Westbourne Grove. Mary ‘Queen of Shops’ Portas has reinvented the charity shop for Save the Children.

a pie and a pint The Cow, Westbourne Park Road; The Westbourne, Westbourne Park Villas – two hugely popular pubs within striking distance of each other. Portobello Road W11 Communing with natuRe Ladbroke Square. At 7.5 acres, this is one of London’s A three-bedroom maisonette on three largest Listed private communal squares, for residential use only. floors of a period building, with terraces. £1,250,000. Leasehold Contact 020 7221 1111

&More For a virtual tour of Notting Hill’s vibrant community, visit struttandparker.com/london 30 A particular take on property

pp28-31_&London_SW11_King of Hill_des3.indd 30 06/09/2013 11:49 pp28-31_&London_SW11_King of Hill_des3.indd 31 06/09/2013 11:50 ondon Transport’s stone cruciform the Shell Centre, there was outrage that it structure, looking like something from a headquarters at 55 Broadway was was not in keeping with the steel-and-glass sci-fi B-movie, is not always considered a L the capital’s fi rst high-rise, standing box style, like the latest towers rising in skyscraper, yet it has 26 inhabitable fl oors, 53 metres and 12 storeys above St James’s Manhattan. There, Mies van der Rohe including a distinctive rotunda housing one Park Underground station. It was a sixth of created the ideal in the Seagram Building, of the world’s fi rst revolving restaurants. the height of New York’s contemporaneous a severely minimalist tower with curtain Richard ‘Colonel’ Seifert was the most Chrysler Building, but there was a reason walls of dark glazing, rising from a clear prolifi c commercial architect of the time, why London was not building high: building plaza. In London, only the St Helen’s but was dismissed by the architectural regulations limited height to 30m, or the (previously Aviva) Tower, designed by establishment as being calculating. He longest fi reman’s ladder. Architect Charles GMW Architects, followed its style, and was indeed the master of squeezing the most London’s high-rise skyline may not reach the Holden got around that by designating the established the City skyscraper cluster that from planning regulations, and built cheaper heights of Shanghai or Dubai, but with icons tower head of 55 Broadway for storage, a is still growing today. Most other offi ce and more effi ciently than rivals, but he and trick he later repeated at London’s tallest towers were formulaic box slabs mounted partner George Marsh were also innovative such as the Gherkin and the Shard, the city pre-war skyscraper, University College’s on podium buildings, which spread across design geniuses. Their unique, expressionist, stands tall on the world skyscraper stage. monumental library building Senate House. the metropolis in the 1960s, as did system- blade-thin masterpiece Centre Point, with its What few realise is that London has been Not until 1956 were London’s height- built social-housing tower blocks. hypnotic zig-zag grid facades, was described limiting regulations lifted. In this optimistic While much of the new high-rise became by artist Eduardo Paolozzi as ‘London’s fi rst building great skyscrapers since 1929 time of national recovery, architects were banal, there were extraordinary exceptions. Pop Art building’. It was said that no other obsessed with the fresh, functionalist ideals Tallest and most bizarre was the Post Offi ce architect since Christopher Wren had such WORDS Herbert Wright ILLUSTRATION Matthew Lindop of modernism. When the distinguished Tower (now BT Tower), designed by the an effect on the London skyline, and Seifert architect Howard Robinson designed Ministry of Works. This 177m-high would dominate it long after the 1960s. SKYLINE THAT NEVER SLEEPS

1 2 4 6 7 9 A 55 Broadway/St Senate House, 1937 Shell Centre, Park Lane Hilton, Centre Point, 1965 Commercial Union 1929 – 1970 James’s Park 64m, 19 storeys, South Bank, 1962 1963 117m, 35 storeys, Tower, then Aviva Station, 1929 Charles Holden 107m, 26 storeys, 101m, 28 storeys, Seifert & Partners Tower, now St 53m, 12 storeys, The centrepiece of Sir Howard Robertson Lewis Solomon Kaye The best (and most Helen’s Tower, City, 1969 Charles Holden University College, this & Ralph Maynard Built just down the road notorious) skyscraper 118m, 28 storeys, London’s fi rst skyscraper brooding library tower Smith from the Dorchester, its by the UK’s greatest GMW 8 and headquarters of was said to be designated Just when everything height and style refl ected 20th-century commercial Architects GMW London Transport. by Hitler as London’s was going glass and steel, the jetsetting world of architect, Richard Seifert. respond to New York’s 7 Nazi Party HQ. the trend was defi ed in the 1960s. Seagram Building with 6 8 5 this riverside HQ. a Miesian black-glass 3 Post Offi ce (now BT) tower concept. 10 Empress State 5 Tower, Fitzrovia, 1965 Building, West Millbank Tower, 1963 177m, 26 storeys/54 10 4 Brompton, 1961 118m, 32 storeys, levels, Ministry of Public Knightsbridge 100m, 30 storeys, Ronald Ward & Building & Works Barracks, 1970 9 2 Stone Toms & Partners Once the hub of the 94m, 29 storeys, Partners Alternate convex microwave-technology Sir Basil Spence 3 London’s fi rst skyscraper and concave facades trunk phone network, this The architect of Coventry to reach 100m. Now distinguish this landmark bizarre B-movie Cathedral created this remodelled, it retains its that was originally sci-fi tower was for landmark to house sweeping curved facades. 1 designed for defence many years London’s Household Cavalry conglomerate Vickers. tallest building. families.

pp34-39_&London_Skyline_des4.indd 32 11/09/2013 09:41 pp34-39_&London_Skyline_des4.indd 35 05/09/2013 15:58 & LONDON SKYLINES

n the 1970s, brutalist architecture NatWest Tower, which was London’s tallest But these new-style skyscrapers were not 11 13 15 16 18 was in vogue. The label derives when completed after nine years in 1980. particularly high. The Big Bang in 1986 had Trellick Tower, North NatWest Tower, Belvedere Tower, Cascades, E14, 1998 One Canada Square, I from the French for raw concrete, Engineered by Pell Frischmann, Tower 42 deregulated trading practices, and overnight Kensington, 1972 now Tower 42, Chelsea Harbour, 64m, 20 storeys, Canary Wharf, 1991 béton brut. The architecture exploits (as it is now known) was one of the most the fi nancial sector demanded large 98m, 32 storeys, City, 1980 1987 CZWG 235m, 50 storeys, concrete’s solidity and mass, as do some advanced skyscrapers in the world, with electronic trading fl oors. ‘Floorplate’ area, Ernö Goldfinger 183m, 42 storeys, 77m, 20 storeys, This sloping residential César Pelli & of London’s most distinctive skyscrapers innovations such as pressurised stairwells not height, was king. The City was hard- Once the epitome Seifert & Partners Ray Moxley tower brought high-rise Associates from the period. The Chamberlin, Powell to resist fi re – an idea revived after 9/11. pressed to offer sites big enough, and the of tower-block hell, Seifert’s last masterpiece This modest pyramid- living to the borders A bland facsimile of and Bon-designed Barbican Estate in the Its offi ce fl oors hanging off its massive fi nancial sector looked elsewhere to expand. Goldfinger’s split tower was the tallest roofed tower was the first of Canary Wharf. the 2 World Financial City includes three virtually identical concrete core make it the world’s tallest Canary Wharf in Docklands offered a huge is now hot property and cantilevered building of riverside luxury tower, Center tower in New 17 triangular apartment towers, fi nished in 20th-century cantilevered structure. tract of mainly brownfi eld space, and at its a recognised brutalist the 20th century and starting a trend that York, but nevertheless Minster Court, pick-hammered concrete. Their serrated, But architecture was changing in heart a skyscraper was to rise on a scale masterpiece. technologically way hasn’t stopped yet. City, 1991 noteworthy for changing angular forms are very different from the the 1980s. Richard Rogers brought never before seen in London. ahead of its time. the scale, height and 12 74m, 14 storeys, Trellick Tower in North Kensington, the hi-tech style he had pioneered at even geography of One Canada Square was almost a Guy’s Hospital, 14 GMW designed by the radical Hungarian emigré the Centre Pompidou with Renzo Piano facsimile of a New York tower by the same London Bridge, 1975 Lloyd’s of The whimsies of London’s offices. Ernö Goldfi nger. He created one of the to London in 1986, in the form of the developers and architect, but it symbolised 144m, 32 storeys, London, City, 1986 postmodernism excel most recognisable high-rise profi les in the new Lloyd’s Building. The inside-out London’s return as a global fi nancial Watkins Gray 84m, 14 storeys, here – it was Cruella de world by using bridges to connect a tower architecture, where services and plant powerhouse. Ken Shuttleworth, who led the Woodgate International Richard Rogers Vile’s HQ in the film with lifts, a glass boiler-house and other machinery are outside, free the interior for Gherkin’s design under Norman Foster, sums This brutalist hammer- Partnership 101 Dalmatians. services, to a tower of fl ats. London’s third offi ce space. It was not the only new trend. up Canary Wharf as ‘exactly what the head tower is the world’s Richard Rogers’ iconic brutalist skyscraper, Guy’s Hospital, As Terry Brown, then partner at GMW, market needed: simple, cool, pure, effi cient’. tallest medical building, pioneering hi-tech icon is also two towers, but without a gap, and recalls: ‘Postmodernism emerged, with its Residential skyscrapers also re-emerged now getting a facelift to still stands at the stand up to The Shard epicentre of the global its hammerhead cantilever accommodates historical references and its yearning for in the 1980s, this time for the upwardly next door. insurance world. a lecture theatre. It is the world’s tallest cultural depth and complexity.’ Its revival mobile private buyer. As riverside luxury- 20th-century medical facility. of architectural decoration is perhaps most apartment-tower developments gradually Richard Seifert continued to transform lyrical in GMW’s Minster Court, which built momentum, high-rise living the skyline. His fi nal masterpiece was the evokes a gothic citadel. transformed into a stylish lifestyle choice.

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ondon ushered in the new overlooks London Bridge, by an architect gives a blunt warning: ‘There’s been an orgy 19 20 22 23 24 25 millennium with celebrations that many considered the best in the world: of glass. It’s all out of date.’ He praises the HSBC, Canary The Gherkin Heron Tower, City, The Shard, Walkie-Talkie Cheesegrater L dazzled the world, yet the city Renzo Piano. ‘In some ways, the building likes of the Shard, but calls for a return to Wharf, 2002 (30 St Mary Axe), 2011 London Bridge, (20 Fenchurch (Leadenhall centre’s skyline seemed frozen in the last became better,’ he says of the experience solid facades, and more rational rectilinear 200m, 45 storeys, City, 2004 230m, 46 storeys, 2012 Street), City, Buiding), City, century. London’s fi rst elected mayor Ken of the 2003 public enquiry. The mixed-use forms. That’s evident in his design for the Foster + Partners 180m, 40 storeys, KPF 306m, 72 storeys, 2014 2014 Livingstone and the City’s planning offi cer tower tells ‘a good story... The way the city Cherry Orchard tower in Croydon, and is Norman Foster designed Foster + Partners When this stacked RPBW 160m, 37 storeys, 224m, 48 storeys, Peter Rees were determined to change that may save land, instead of dispersing, the likely to characterise more and more of the bank’s Hong Kong Perhaps the world’s offi ce-village tower More than just the EU’s Rafael Viñoly RSHP – the former to attract development revenue idea that the city can grow from inside.’ the other residential towers set to emerge HQ 20 years before and most iconic skyscraper was approved in 2002, tallest building, this This offi ce skyscraper This astonishing to help fi nance his plans for the metropolis, Situated in the transport hub of London from sites across the metropolis. here delivers Canary of the past decade, it was chocks away for is a transport- bulges out and hosts a modular-built landmark the latter to tackle the drain of fi nancial- Bridge, it is, says Piano, ‘a building that In 2000, skyscrapers clustered in just Wharf’s most stylish and and one of the tallest the current wave of orientated mixed-use three-storey sky garden. separates services into sector companies to Canary Wharf and can intensify the city, especially in a place Canary Wharf and the City. Now, emerging dramatic offi ce tower yet. buildings in the City. London skyscrapers. tower by Renzo Piano. a kinetic wall connected rival European cities. The problem was that needs life, without adding traffi c’. clusters are rising along the South Bank to the glass offi ce wedge. 21 that new skyscrapers would disrupt the Almost fi nished and virtually a new as far as Vauxhall, and in reinvigorating Strata, Elephant existing layers of urban fabric and the global icon already, the 224m-high satellite centres like Stratford and Croydon. Architectural journalist & Castle, 2010 historic skyline – and the heritage lobby Leadenhall Building (or ‘Cheesegrater’) Inevitably, London will continue to build Herbert Wright is 148m, 43 storeys, was powerful, led by English Heritage. now faces the Shard across the Thames, upwards, not least to accommodate over a Hamiltons Contributing Editor to The test case was the Heron Tower. and brings Richard Rogers’ practice back million more people by 2022, and because The three massive Blueprint and author of It cleared its public enquiry in 2002, and to the City. With its sloping southern the denser a city is, the less its per capita wind turbines don’t turn London High, a history that paved the path for a fl ood of City facade, a north side animated by lifts carbon footprint. Unlike booming Far much but they do create of London’s skyscrapers. skyscraper plans, including Norman and light and its steel structure revealed. Eastern rivals, London has pulled off the a unique profi le on the Foster’s Gherkin, whose parametric design ‘It is a building that displays an immense, trick of retaining its historic environment London skyline. and elegance of form made it an instant if not heroic, clarity,’ says Graham Stirk, while building upwards. The juxtaposition global celebrity. It had even gained the lead architect. of heritage and skyscrapers is turning approval of English Heritage, but they were More purely glazed skyscrapers are out not to be a clash, but something 23 still to challenge London’s most ambitious already underway, but Ken Shuttleworth, that is helping make London the most skyscraper yet, the 306m-high Shard that since 2004 the head of Make Architects, exciting city in the world.

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Why is Chelsea Physic pollen. More recently, Garden such a special we have created specific place for bees? areas including the new the In London, there’s such bee forage area and the an abundance and variety fragrance amphitheatre. We of plants and trees in planted last year and have perfect our parks and gardens. really seen the benefit with This incredibly rich and this glorious summer. swarm concentrated diversity provides fabulous forage for How do the bees behave Chelsea Physic Garden beekeeper pollinators and bees. The in the garden? Peter James reveals why the historic countryside, meanwhile, The hives are situated in gardens are a haven for bees has changed dramatically, a safe place, facing away with vast swaths of from any visitors and in a s the temperature hits 27ºC, single-crop farming and the way that assists the bees Chelsea Physic Garden beekeeper use of pesticides destroying in their flight round the A Peter James dons his bee-proof suit. traditional forage for bees. garden. Bees are attracted With his trusty smoker in hand, today’s task is This garden is idyllic for by UV light and will always to manipulate an overcrowded colony and working with bees. There fly on the same flight path, establish a new colony in a new hive. He takes are 5,000 plants here, many out of the hive and up time out to tell us about his apian charges… of which offer nectar and towards the sun. As the temperature rises, PHOTOGRAPHY Mischa Haller nectaries on plants open WORDS Lucy Ryan up, releasing pheromones that are cues for the bees to collect nectar and pollen. They also come down to rest and drink water at the pond area – they need water to survive and to manipulate pollen and honey in the hive.

How many bees do you look after? There are four hives in the garden, with colonies of up to 60,000 bees. It’s my job to try to understand the way the bees behave in the hive. I help the colony to stay healthy and work with it when it needs to expand. Bees swarm when the colony has run out of good space, so I try to monitor the number of queen cells Above: Chelsea Physic and anticipate movement in Garden is a treasure trove the hive. At this point, you of nectar and pollen. manipulate the hive and Left: Beekeeper Peter split the colony manually: prepares to move some of the older queen and older his charges to a new hive bees stay put while the

struttandparker.com/andlondon 39

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PORTFOLIO

Nature lovers local chelsea residents can enjoy the winter when they become keep bees. However, delights of the chelsea Physic garden a burden on the hive’s perhaps due to the number precious stores. The girls of hives, there has been a chew their wings off, take decline in the amount of them out of the hives and honey produced and it dump them. As they can’t could be that we are Conway House SW3 fly back, they perish. From exhausting reserves for An impeccable two-bedroom October to March, the bees. There’s a delicate flat on the second floor, with colony is entirely female balance to strike. Ironically, beautiful far-reaching views – and it works perfectly! we may end up exporting over Burton Court and a The queen bee is the bees from London back glorious south-west-facing Walpole Street SW3 oldest surviving member out to the countryside. drawing room. A stunning split-level two-double- and, for her lifetime of up £2,500,000. Share of freehold bedroom (one en suite) flat. to five years, she is entirely How did you get started Contact 020 7225 3866 Recently refurbished, it has a responsible for mating and and what advice would balcony, open-plan kitchen and egg laying. She emerges as you give to help others? reception, with wooden floors, the surviving princess from I became fascinated by gas fire and plasma-screen TV. her queen cell (having killed bees in May 2000, when £1,150 per week. Furnished off rival princesses in rival I rescued a swarm of bees Contact 020 7589 9966 queen cells). With warm attached to a wicker basket weather, she embarks on on a bicyle chained to a Cheyne Place SW3 nuptial mating flights, during railing in Fulham Road – Rare to the market, this stylishly refurbished which she mates with about I put it in a cardboard box penthouse maisonette has the feeling of a 10 drones. From each, she and fed them honey and New York loft apartment, with its studio-style takes on about half a million pollen. It took off from there. drawing room and spacious accommodation. sperm to fertilise the eggs I would highly recommend Price £6,250,000. Leasehold she is going to lay. On an introduction-to- Contact 020 7225 3866 average, she lays up to beekeeping course – we 2,000 eggs a day during run them here. There’s a the spring and summer. wealth of information on That’s a huge amount. the London Beekeepers’ Association website, too. Do you support the trend for urban How good is Chelsea beekeeping? Physic Garden honey? new queen and bees are Above: Peter transfers Urban beekeeping is a Extremely! I’ve had our Ormonde Gate SW3 moved to a new hive. I try to bees to their new hive. great thing. I’ve been doing honey analysed by a Burton Court SW3 Extending to 5,701 sq ft, this intervene as little as possible Left: Peter unveiled. it for 13 years and in that palynologist (a pollen A beautifully presented two/ elegant nine-bedroom house has and let them get on with Below: Bees exit and time have seen London expert) and it’s of an three-bedroom triple-aspect flat direct access to the gardens of their natural life. enter the hive, flying producing an array of incredibly high quality. on the corner of this prestigious Burton Court and a large roof on a regular flight path wonderful, distinctive Pure, unadulterated, block, with outstanding views. terrace with impressive views. How is a bee colony honeys. People want to do unprocessed, non- £4,150,000. Share of freehold £15,500,000. Freehold organised? their bit for sustainability heat-treated honey has Contact 020 7225 3866 Contact 020 7225 3866 Bee colonies are female- and it’s encouraging to a distinctly different taste dominated with male and texture. At the 2011 drones making up 10% to Honey Show at the Margaretta Terrace SW3 20% of the population. Male Kensington Hotel, we A traditional four-bedroom numbers are kept down won five out of the seven Georgian house situated quite ruthlessly. Once a tastings. We didn’t enter on this beautiful and quiet male bee gets the chance last year as there was no tree-lined street. The property to mate, he has served his honey due to the terrible has a double reception with purpose: his genitalia rip weather, so this year’s wooden floors and a fully &More away and he dies. Those honey is eagerly anticipated. fitted kitchen that opens For more information about males that don’t mate will There’s a waiting list and a on to a pretty paved garden. London bees and honey, visit struttandparker.com/london be allowed to survive, limit of only one jar per £1,950 per week. Unfurnished working in the hive until person due to demand. Contact 020 7589 9966

40 A particular take on property struttandparker.com/andlondon 41

pp38-40_&London_Beekeeper_des3.indd 40 11/09/2013 09:53 pp38-40_&London_Beekeeper_des3.indd 41 05/09/2013 16:16 Life in the fast lane Paris might be the city of romance, but french racing driver hugo valente says Knightsbridge is the ideal Arrondisement

WORDS Cheryl Markosky PHOTOGRAPHY Mischa Haller

rime central london might not be world so you get quite close to reality’. it’s an the obvious place for a World touring essential virtual training tool for racing on championship racing driver to park circuits where hugo is unfamiliar with the P up, but 21-year-old hugo valente is track: next week’s race in san francisco happiest when he’s in the Knightsbridge flat being a case in point. he’s renting through strutt & Parker. unsurprisingly, perhaps, one of hugo’s ‘although it’s in the heart of the city, i find greatest pleasures is car-spotting in his adopted Knightsbridge calm and pleasant, and like it city. he expresses surprise, however, at the large so much more than anywhere in Paris,’ he says. number of sleek sports cars whizzing round the apart from the agreeable aura, hugo loves local streets. ‘i hear some londoners get very being near regent’s university london, where annoyed at the way some people drive and he’s studying business management when he’s make a noise with their engines. for me, not burning up tracks around the world as this does not matter.’ part of the spanish campos racing team. another source of amazement has been ‘i’m only a 10–15 minute drive away from discovering how the city doesn’t feel like university and right next to hyde Park, where a metropolis, ‘but lots of little towns making i sometimes go running.’ and he’s just around up one big city. south Kensington is different the corner from his gym, where he trains every from Knightsbridge, Knightsbridge from day when he’s in the capital. mayfair, and mayfair has a different feeling after a solid workout focusing mainly on from marylebone.’ weights and cycling, hugo likes to meet his like any good frenchman, hugo has a friends in Jak’s on Walton street. he not only good appetite. he doesn’t have to venture far loves its mediterranean menu, but the whole with his friends to favourite restaurants such english concept of meeting for a drink. as Zuma and aubaine, where he is delighted ‘here, almost everyone likes to meet at to find london’s best french bread and food a bar and have a beer after work,’ he says. that reminds him of his native country. ‘in Paris, that culture doesn’t really exist. after travelling to 13 races a year in europe, it’s great relaxing and having some fun.’ the us and the far east, there’s nothing the irony of living so centrally that he can better than arriving back in Knightsbridge and walk to most places isn’t lost on this boy racer, hanging out in the furnished flat he shares with who can be spotted in his mercedes c63 black his university mate, valerio. series sports car. he uses his car to get to ‘it’s important to get a good balance between silverstone, where he practices on a racing work and play, so i like to come home and just simulator that he describes as ‘a very detailed sit on my couch and watch football on tv with video game with all the racing tracks in the a bunch of close friends.’

42 A particular take on property struttandparker.com/andlondon 43

pp42-43_&London_HugoValente_des1.indd 42 11/09/2013 09:58 pp42-43_&London_HugoValente_des1.indd 43 05/09/2013 16:17 A taste of the country in South Kensington Bute Street has put this part of West London firmly on the foodie map with its popular farmers’ market, where artisan producers

WORDS Fiona Maclean sell fresh food from around the country to phOtOgRaphy Laura Edwards increasingly enthusiastic Londoners

y nine o’clock on Saturday morning, Bute Street is bustling with shoppers. There’s a queue forming at Christchurch B Fish for live lobsters and Friday’s day-boat catch from Dorset; sausages are sizzling on the pan at The Parson’s Nose; and cakes and pastries are piled up and ready to go at Artisan Foods. South Kensington, with its immaculate stucco-fronted houses and garden squares, had a wealth of upmarket bars and restaurants long before the great British food revival. Now, its farmers’ market, which started just five years ago, brings the British countryside right into the heart of London. Bute Street has become the perfect Saturday morning hangout for any city-dweller craving a taste of the countryside. With a relaxed family atmosphere (the street is pedestrianised during market hours), it is intimate yet perfectly balanced with 15 to 20 stalls, selling everything from handmade meals to organic, biodynamic fruit and vegetables. Locals sample the cheeses, find out more about the origin of meats and learn what makes a particular type of tomato taste so good before they buy. Stalls complement, rather than compete with, local stores. Visitors still pop into Oddono’s for gelato or Raison d’Etre to sit and enjoy coffee and a pastry once they’ve bought eggs, cheese, fresh organic vegetables and meat direct from the farm. Parents arrive with children and locals meet up with one another or come to chat with their favourite stallholders. When Cheryl Cohen first started working with London Farmers’ Markets, which co-ordinates South Kensington Farmers’ Market and 18 others around central London, street markets were in decline and the farmers’ market concept almost unknown. ‘The ethos for producers is pretty simple,’ says Cheryl. ‘You grow it, you sell it and, if you’re a farmer, what you bring has to be what you have grown yourself within a 25-mile radius of the the ethOS fOR pRODuceRS M25. Any bread, cakes and prepared foods have to be made iS Simple: What yOu bRing with a majority of British ingredients, too.’ haS tO be What yOu have Cheryl and the many small producers are delighted at the market’s success. Indeed, South Kensington Farmers’ Market has gROWn yOuRSelf become so popular that the organisers have been asked to run Cheryl Cohen, LFM organiser a second market at Imperial College, just a stone’s throw away. Starting from 24 September, the new market will run every Tuesday. Testament indeed to Bute Street’s winning appeal.

44 A particular take on property struttandparker.com/london 45

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‘These cheeses are from my parents’ farm in Gloucestershire. I work here every weekend. I’ve tried other jobs, but this one is the best! South Kensington is a good market for us because there are loads of French people in the area who come here and seem to love our cheeses.’ Olivia Loveridge, student, Windrush Valley Goat Dairy

‘Artisan Foods is owned by Germans, so all the recipes Pippa: ‘I used to live in This markeT has a real mix are German. You can see Queen’s Gate and this we have different breads, was my local market. of people – loTs of french but everything is handmade I came to London from and iTalians and a few and there are no artificial Norfolk four years ago Germans as well as The ingredients. I wouldn’t sell and this place has really anything I wouldn’t want to good food. And you get BriTish. i sTarTed sellinG eat myself. This particular to know the stallholders my produce aT This markeT market is quite family- and find out where it all oriented and people come comes from.’ Rupert: Three years aGo and buy whole cakes and ‘For me, this market is Charbel Akiki loaves, not just individual a good size, not too big, brownies and slices.’ and there’s no traffic.’ Nasia Omaboe, Pippa Dyble and Artisan Foods Rupert Hawkins

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Shopping local with the success of farmers’ markets across central london, these properties enjoy access to great local produce

Godfrey Street SW3 Elthiron Road SW6 This delightful three-bedroom Completely refurbished, this mid-terrace house is in one of substantial five-bedroom family Chelsea’s prettiest streets, house is on a sought-after street leading off Chelsea Green. in Parsons Green. It has been Presented in excellent finished to a very high standard condition, this charming house and boasts well-proportioned offers three bedrooms and entertaining space and a pretty open-plan living space, with paved garden. access to a patio garden. £1,400 per week. Unfurnished £2,400,000. Freehold SOLD Contact 020 7731 7100 Contact 020 7225 3866

Brookville Road SW6 We’ve been at this A simply outstanding, immaculately presented terraced house, four-bedroom market since it started house close to Parsons Green. and it’s one of the best. £1,650,000. Freehold most of the other Contact 020 7731 7100 stallholders have also been here since it started and they are all nice people Alan Dobson, farmer, The Parson’s Nose

Denbigh Close W11 Prince Edward Mansions W2 A beautifully presented house A beautiful three-bedroom situated in this attractive mews, flat, occupying approximately just off Portobello Road. It has 1,730 sq ft, on the fourth floor of three bedrooms and excellent ‘Most of the people who a red-brick mansion block. ground-floor entertaining space. buy from me are regular £1,650 per week. Unfurnished £2,395,000. Freehold customers. I like this Contact 020 7221 1111 Contact 020 7221 1111 market because people really appreciate what Winchendon Road SW6 we are doing here.’ An attractive and well-presented ‘Doc’ Baldock, five-bedroom Victorian family Christchurch Fish house on one of the most desirable roads in Fulham. £2,150,000. Freehold ‘I’ve just moved here UNDER OFFER from France and am very Contact 020 7731 7100 impressed. It’s great to find such fresh cheeses.’ Philippe Gherin, private financier

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pp44-49_&London_Food Market_des2.indd 48 11/09/2013 09:55 pp44-49_&London_Food Market_des2.indd 49 12/09/2013 12:14 Introducing Victoria, London’sLondon’s latestlatest primeprime locationlocation

Exciting development and regeneration projects have the next fi ve years, with prices estimated to new residents to the quarter and establish the created a fashionable new area in the capital. After increase in the region of 31% by 2017,’ says area’s kudos as a prime central London location. so long in the shadows, it’s Victoria’s time to shine Strutt & Parker’s Mark Dorman, Partner, London ‘Victoria is historically known for its commercial, Residential Development and Investment. ‘This is dated buildings, so it’s great that the borough of With property in the traditional enclaves of central mainly due to a signifi cant investment in the area Westminster has been receptive to new-build London in high demand and short supply, by developers such as Land Securities, who are developments, which will enhance the area with developers and investors are turning their attentions spending £2.3 billion on new developments and exciting modern architecture,’ says Dorman. ‘This to the capital’s new kid on the prime block, Victoria. infrastructure. Victoria station, which offers easy will help to balance the neighbourhood and bring A wave of bold redevelopment and architectural access to the City of London and Gatwick Airport, Victoria back into the West End, where it belongs.’ projects is transforming the SW1 landscape, is also to undergo a £700-million refurbishment.’ Victoria’s vibrant makeover has built on its introducing premium residential property into the Strutt & Parker’s development team is working existing assets. In the heart of London, the iconic traditionally commercial district. It’s an opportunity with Land Securities and Alchemi Group on two location boasts some of the best transport links in that canny investors are keen to seize. signifi cant residential projects, Kings Gate and 55 London and a wealth of heritage. The location, ‘Victoria is forecast to experience one of the Victoria Street, respectively. The quality of design coupled with the buzz and energy of regeneration, highest rates of growth in central London over and accommodation will welcome a wealth of is attracting a clientele with high standards. ‘Victoria is close to some of London’s most prestigious addresses, such as Belgravia and St James’s, and the area also offers great transport links,’ says Claire March, Associate Partner, London Residential Development and Investment. ‘Buyer expectations are higher than ever, and the demand for services such as cooling systems, home automation, high specifi cation, concierge services, gym and leisure facilities is on the increase. Developers in Victoria have had the opportunity to build what the buyers want.’ To date, overseas buyers and savvy UK investors are leading the trend, buying into developments that are two or more years away KINGS GATE 55 VICTORIA STREET from completion. 100 residences, from studio Education is one of London’s biggest exports: 54 residences, from studio apartments to four-bedroom around 100,000 overseas students come to apartments to split-level penthouses penthouses London each year, according to London & Partners. Key features Key features ‘Overseas buyers are often purchasing 24-hour concierge 24-hour concierge apartments for their children in London, close to Gymnasium Secure underground parking* universities that they hope they will be attending Zipcar club membership for 10 years Private balconies and terraces* in the years to come,’ confi rms March. ‘With Two communal gardens: landscaped Developer rear courtyard and an eighth-fl oor, many of the developments a few years away Land Securities south-facing ‘sky garden’ from completion, buyers are seeing it as a good Architect Developer Lynch Architects opportunity to capitalise on the ever-growing Alchemi Group Interior design London market, while only having to commit to Architect This page: Kings Gate with Millier London a fraction of the total purchase price now.’ Stiff + Trevillion Architects city vistas. Centre: Kings Landscape design Lighting consultant Gate interior with balcony. For more information, please contact Vogt Landscape Limited .PSLAB Right: 55 Victoria Street Strutt & Parker on 020 7318 4677 Landscape design kitchen (above) and exterior or [email protected] * Available with selected properties Townshend

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pp50-51_&London_resdev Victoria_des4.indd 50 05/09/2013 16:23 pp50-51_&London_resdev Victoria_des4.indd 51 05/09/2013 16:24 London is steaming ahead in the artisan coffee business, with connoisseur cafés and independent roasteries taking our love of coffee to new levels. Scott Bentley, Founder of Caffeine magazine, talks shop

ILLUSTRATION Craig Ward PHOTOGRAPHY Amelia Hallsworth

or many years, getting a decent cup of café-culture enthusiasm and accomplished coffee in London was nigh-on impossible. coffee-making skills, independent outfits F In much the same way that we were mocked saw a gap in the market for the post-Friends for our stodgy, bland food, the coffee cognoscenti generation. They seized the opportunity to scoffed at our notions of sophistication – a jar of offer not just good but great coffee. Carte Noire instead of Mellow Bird’s. ‘The chains paved the way for a lifestyle of Then came Starbucks. In 1998, the Seattle- coffee and created a receptive market,’ confirms based company invaded our shores, bringing Jeffrey Young, founder of the London Coffee coffee to the masses. Having survived on a diet Festival, now in its third year at the Old Truman of freeze-dried coffee and boiling water, we Brewery in east London. ‘The Antipodean gratefully lapped up the glamorous tall-skinny- workforce was in the right place at the right time, flat-caramel-soy-decaf lattes (with optional cream with the right skills to shape the artisan coffee and marshmallows), and got a taste for taking culture. Our two world barista champions have time out in cafés with our papers and laptops. also been great advocates and teachers.’ Yet, under the radar in the East End of London, Where the hip east leads, the west follows, changes were afoot. When British coffee geek and the trend for connoisseur coffee bars and James Hoffman won the World Barista cafés has filtered through to the enclaves of Championship in 2007, followed by fellow Brit Knightsbridge, Belgravia, Chelsea, Notting Hill Gwilym Davies in 2009 (using coffee roasted by and Fulham. Stuart Ritson, Manager of Monocle James’s company, Square Mile), London seemed Café in Marylebone, acknowledges that the higher to be switching on to the idea of speciality coffee. rents of the West End were beyond the reach of Influenced by Kiwis and Australians, with their many boutique independents. The key, says

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the fine art of the Perfect Brew

Good-quality coffee This is paramount. (powdery) and cafetière is quite coarse Make sure your coffee is, above all, fresh. Coffee (sandy). Don’t buy pre-ground coffee (it goes Ritson, is to offer a high-quality design aesthetic, to think we educate in a subtle way, by inviting roasted more than one month previously will stale within a matter of hours). For the best premium table service and quality produce of people in, guiding them through a slightly have already lost a lot of its flavour. Buy little home experience, buy a burr grinder and do and often, and if the coffee doesn’t have a it yourself just before you need it. sound provenance – their notable coffee comes different menu and offering them an overall roasted date, don’t buy it. from the Allpress roastery in Shoreditch. great experience of the diverse and interesting Brew ratio This is the correct amount of We are now riding the third wave of coffee world of high-quality coffee.’ StoraGe Don’t put your coffee in the fridge or coffee to the amount of water. The benchmark connoisseurship, in which independents are The capital is now home to at least 15 high- freezer. This will not extend its freshness. In fact, is generally 60 grams of coffee to each litre of it will only absorb other food smells. water, but it can be changed according to taste. flourishing; their coffee celebrated, respected and quality roasteries, with many more commercial lingered over in the same way as wine. Only the roasting businesses. New independent cafés are Good water Your coffee is 99 per cent water extraction This is the time that the coffee best arabica coffee is now sourced and roasted popping up every week: the London coffee guide and if that’s hard (as it is in London), the coffee grounds are in contact with water. The longer lightly to keep the natural flavour of the bean. anticipates a further 70 artisan coffee shops won’t absorb the water, leaving your brew flat the extraction, the more flavours you pull out and dull-tasting. Always use filtered or, better, of the grounds. The last flavours are generally Water is purified and extractions are weighed opening up in 2013 (in 2012, 50 new artisan bottled water. bitter, so the trick is to not let it over-brew. and timed to get repeatable optimum results. establishments were launched in the capital). Four minutes is the optimal time for a cafetière; Highly trained baristas eagerly educate customers Demand is clearly still growing, with coffee the Grind How you brew your coffee depends 25 seconds for espresso (the finer the grind, that, from South America’s deep chocolates to lovers ready to engage in a lively discourse on on how coarse you grind it: espresso is very fine the smaller the contact time). Ethiopia’s floral brights, coffee isn’t one generic the flavours of their brews. London’s unique taste, but a wide-ranging variety of flavours melting pot is working its magic, too. Cross- dependent on many different factors, including cultural exchange is opening up the debate: Kiwis bean variety, altitude, terroir and roast style. are talking to Swedes, Italians are learning from Isa Verschraegen is the 2013 UK Aeropress Brits, Africans are sharing with South Americans. Champion and general manager of Talkhouse Jeffrey Young, among others, is thrilled with the Coffee, the latest artisan café in Notting Hill. success of the artisan coffee revolution. ‘London ‘We make great coffee accessible,’ she says. ‘I like now really is one of the great coffee capitals.’

A TASTE OF THE EXOTIC

KOPI LUWAK, JACU BIRD, BAT COFFEE, BLACK IVORY COFFEE, INDONESIA BRAZIL COSTA RICA THAILAND Made famous by Jack Jacu Bird coffee has a This fruity and floral coffee It takes an elephant Nicholson and Morgan pleasing natural coffee taste. is incredibly rare and has between 15 and 30 hours Freeman in The Bucket List, The bird droppings are a very delicate acidity. to digest the beans in their relax and enjoy Don’t be in a rush to sink Kopi Luwak has been collected and processed The bats are picky eaters, massive stomachs. The your brew. Let it cool a little. Your taste buds consumed by the Asian before being roasted lightly only choosing to consume beans stew together with work best at around body temperature, so as palm civet, a raccoon-like to produce a sweeter and the flesh of the ripest bananas and sugar cane your coffee cools down, you can taste more creature that eats the coffee more acidic coffee than coffee cherries, which to create the world’s most complex flavours. cherry and subjects it usual for this region. are the best on the tree. expensive coffee. to fermentation in its 250g, £64 250g, £61 250g, £160 gastrointestinal tract. 250g, around £75 These coffees are available at Sea Island Coffee in Knightsbridge seaislandcoffee.com

CAFFEINE-HIT HOTSPOTS

TOMTOM FERNANDEZ & WELLS TALKHOUSE COFFEE chairS & coffee workShoP coffee co. taylor Street BariStaS KNIGHTSBRIDGE & BELGRAVIA CHELSEA & SOUTH KENSINGTON KENSINGTON & HOLLAND PARK fulham & ParSonS Green maryleBone mayfair This corner café offers a large selection of single- Expanding to Exhibition Road, this pioneering New to Portobello Road, Talkhouse rotates coffee New to the coffee scene in Fulham. Guest A boutique coffee experience. With seating for Tucked away behind Claridge’s, this comfy retreat origin (coffee grown in a specific region) filter gourmet deli and coffee house uses its own on a regular basis. It boasts award-winning coffees from some of the UK’s premier coffee a cosy 14 people, the emphasis is on incredible offers Union hand-roasted house brews, guest coffees and house espresso blend options. All the coffee signature blend from Has Bean roastery. baristas, an architect-designed interior and Square roasters, such as Volcano, Round Hill and coffee and intimate customer interaction. and single-origin coffees from around the world. is roasted at their facility in Dorset. tomtom.co.uk fernandezandwells.com Mile speciality coffee. talkhousecoffee.com Extract, are rotated. workshopcoffee.com taylor-st.com

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pp52-55_&London_Coffee_des3.indd 54 05/09/2013 16:27 pp52-55_&London_Coffee_des3.indd 55 05/09/2013 16:27 & LONDON COFFEE CAPITAL

These handsome properties are located within easy reach of some of London’s fi nest independent cafés

Lansdowne Road W11 Fulham Road SW10 Jermyn Street SW1 A well-presented two-bedroom With off-street parking, This unique development fl at with direct access to one of this superb three/ elegantly incorporates the Notting Hill’s most sought-after four-bedroom house original facades with communal gardens. offers well-proportioned contemporary design by the £1,050 per week. Unfurnished space suitable for both acclaimed Eric Parry Architects. Contact 020 7221 1111 family life and Furnished with real fl air in entertaining. a modern style, this two- £1,700 per week bedroom, two-bathroom fl at Furnished is incredibly light and boasts Contact 020 7373 1010 large windows. £1,450 per week. Furnished Contact 020 7235 9959

Onslow Square SW7 Belgravia SW1 A superb raised ground This three-bedroom fl oor fl at with access to maisonette with private the communal gardens entrance is arranged in this prime South over the fi rst, second Kensington square. The and third fl oors of a property has wooden red-brick period building fl ooring, with parquet in and offers fl exible the large reception room. accommodation spanning £1,200 per week. nearly 2,000 sq ft. Furnished/unfurnished £2,950,000. Leasehold Contact 020 7589 9966 Contact 020 7235 9959 Kensington Place W8 A newly refurbished townhouse Mirabel Road SW6 in the desirable Hillgate village. An impressive three-bedroom The property has wooden fl oors garden maisonette that benefi ts throughout, with a high-spec from an open-plan living space kitchen, beautiful double reception with doors opening onto a room and a private terrace. decked terrace. £1,695 per week. Unfurnished £825,000. Leasehold Contact 020 7938 3866 Contact 020 7731 7100

Harwood Road SW6 Bedford Gardens W8 This spacious maisonette has been Fulton Mews W2 An outstanding and unusually wide 12-bedroom newly refurbished, with a large A beautifully presented four- Grade II Listed family house, occupying reception room leading to a light bedroom house with off-street 6,783 sq ft over four fl oors. Situated just off and modern kitchen/breakfast room. parking and a roof terrace, Kensington Church Street, the property offers The two double bedrooms both have situated in this attractive excellent entertaining space, a fabulous garden ensuite bath/shower rooms and there mews close to Hyde Park. and off-street parking for three cars. is an extensive private garden. £1,950 per week. Unfurnished Price on application. Freehold £575 per week. Unfurnished Contact 020 7221 1111 Contact 020 7938 3666 Contact 020 7731 7100

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pp56-57_Coffee Properties_des2.indd 20 11/09/2013 15:12 pp56-57_Coffee Properties_des2.indd 21 12/09/2013 12:15 & LONDON CAMBRIDGE ST ALBANS HARPENDEN OXFORD

CHELMSFORD

NOTTING HILL HOLLAND PARK MAIDA VALE

KENSINGTON MARBLE ARCH

BAYSWATER

GLOUCESTER SOUTH NEWBURY EARLS COURT ST JAMES’S ROAD KENSINGTON KNIGHTSBRIDGE MAYFAIR

BELGRAVIA GREEN PARK CHELSEA WORLD’S SW10 END

CHELSEA CHELSEA SLOANE SQUARE PIMLICO HARBOUR

PARSONS GREEN BATTERSEA VICTORIA

FARNHAM

FULHAM SEVENOAKS

HORSHAM

GUILDFORD LEWES Strutt & Parker offi ces and contacts

Chelsea & South Kensington Kensington & Holland Park Jonathan Inglis (Sales) Rupert Wiggin (Sales Head) Head Offi ce Simon Fernandes Lulu Egerton (Partner) James Gow (Sales, Houses) 13 Hill Street, W1J 5LQ (London New Homes) 020 7318 4677 43 Cadogan Street, SW3 2PR Will Allen (Sales, Flats) Andrew Scott, Head of [email protected] 020 7225 3866 103 Kensington Church Street, W8 7LN London Residential [email protected] 020 7938 3666 020 7629 7282 James Mackenzie [email protected] [email protected] (Country Department) Alice Umfreville (Lettings) 020 7318 5109 Jemilla Divito (Lettings) Zoë Rose, Head of 33-35 Cadogan Street, SW3 2PR james.mackenzie@ 104 Kensington Church Street, W8 4BU London Lettings 020 7589 9966 struttandparker.com [email protected] 020 7938 3866 020 7589 9966 [email protected] [email protected] City Offi ce 20 Gracechurch Street, EC3V 0BG when one tires of london... Chelsea SW10, South Kensington Knightsbridge, Ian Asbury & Earls Court Belgravia & Mayfair (London Residential Valuations) Peter Hunt, Head of City Offi ce Simon Rose (Sales) Located about a mile outside the conservation village of Wroxton, this Charlie Willis (Sales) 020 7318 5109 020 7600 3456 Nicky Upton (Lettings) [email protected] [email protected] idyllic property is believed to date back to the 17th century. Built of local Nina McDowall (Lettings) 140 Fulham Road, SW10 9PY 66 Sloane Street, SW1X 9SH stone and clad in purple flowering wisteria, it offers a wonderful family 020 7373 1010 020 7235 9959 For details of other residential home surrounded by immaculate gardens and a six-hole private golf [email protected] [email protected] London Residential Property course, which is available separately. All the benefits of rural life are Management sales and lettings offi ces in the Fulham & Parsons Green Notting Hill & Bayswater Veronica Evans UK and affi liate offi ces around the complemented by regular trains from Banbury to London Marylebone, Barclay McFarlane (Sales) Miles Meacock (Sales) (Property Management) world, visit struttandparker.com which take approximately 50 minutes. To see the latest selection Georgina Cartwright (Lettings) Emilie Beard (Lettings) 33-35 Cadogan Street, SW3 2PR of Strutt & Parker residential 701 Fulham Road, SW6 5UL 303 Westbourne Grove, W11 2QA 020 7052 9417 For details of this and other properties for sale in Oxfordshire, properties for sale or to let, simply hover your phone 020 7731 7100 020 7221 1111 property.management@ please contact our new Oxford office on 01865 366660. over the QR code (right). [email protected] [email protected] struttandparker.com

58 A particular take on property

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A particular take on property AUTUMN 2013 GE01

struttandparker.com/andlondon London City Office 020 7600 3456 Head Office, London 020 7629 7282 Notting Hill & Bayswater (Sales & Lettings) 1111 020 7221 Knightsbridge, Belgravia & Mayfair 020 7235 9959 (Sales & Lettings) Kensington & Holland Park 020 7938 3666 (Sales) 020 7938 3866 (Lettings) Fulham & Parsons Green Fulham & Parsons Green 020 7731 7100 (Sales & Lettings) Chelsea SW10, South Kensington & Earls Court 020 7373 1010 (Sales & Lettings) Chelsea & South Kensington 020 7225 3866 (Sales) 020 7589 9966 (Lettings) pp01-60_&London_Covers_desWRAP2.indd 7