HomesWednesday 5 February 2014 & Perfect pitchers

What’s new at the Paris interiors shows Property Page 12

NEW HOMES: THE ULTIMATE FIRE SALE P4 CROSSRAIL BARGAINS P7 TREASURE HUNT: INDIA P10 SPOTLIGHT ON PIMLICO P34

Gardening grows on you Fashion and flowers: Page 24 CLIVE NICHOLS/DESIGN BY MICHAEL SEMINI AND, INSET, CATWALKING.COM INSET, MICHAEL SEMINI AND, BY CLIVE NICHOLS/DESIGN London’s best property search website: homesandproperty.co.uk 2 WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Online homesandproperty.co.uk with This week: homesandproperty.co.uk news: Property The £20,000 house for singles in partnership with wins a property ‘Oscar’ search Singled out for praise: Glass Mill Leisure Centre, in London buy of the week a 28-storey Lewisham tower goes to the top of the class with new homes above, has a gym £462,500: in Kennington, a stone’s throw from and a 25-metre Westminster, a conversion of a Sixties school is taking swimming pool shape, creating 89 flats in a boutique development that gets top marks for style. This one-bedroom beauty is on A £20,000 home designed to get young Londoners on the the first floor of the Grade II-listed modernist building and property ladder is one of the winners of the London showcases high-spec design including oak laminate floors Planning Awards, dubbed the building world’s Oscars, in an open-plan kitchen, and a reception area with doors to announced by Mayor Boris Johnson at City Hall last night. a balcony. The double bedroom has floor-to-ceiling The concept home — called Pop-up Hawse — could be windows. Through Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward. built in a disused garage to help single Londoners get a property start. Other winners and runners-up include the O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/buyoftheweekkennington Glass Mill Leisure Centre — offering a gym and an eight- lane, 25-metre swimming pool on the lower floors of a new 28-storey residential tower in Lewisham — and a Out of town buy of the week revamp of a romantic public space built over a substation at Brown Hart Gardens, W1. keep cosy and warm in The Old Lodge O Read Philippa Stockley’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk £465,000: prepare to be charmed by cabinets. The conservatory is perfect this lovely Oxfordshire cottage within for a relaxing read, with its plentiful beat future Tube strikes: a few minutes’ walk of lively bookshelves. There are four Deddington Market Place. Inside The bedrooms upstairs with views over walk-to-work homes Old Lodge you’ll find oak floors, the garden and open countryside. chunky-beamed ceilings and a Through Hamptons. £485,000: a roaring fire in a cosy sitting room that one-bedroom steps up to a kitchen/diner with O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/ duplex flat in a exposed stone walls and Shaker-style outlodge period building at Old Street Life changer Devon-sent, O homesand property.co.uk/old a former B&B with a thatch

WITH London Underground staff unleashing strike chaos £525,000: a dreamy location at the foot of the Quantock on the capital, walk-to-work homes have never been more Hills is home to this Grade II-listed village house in Bishops appealing. Lydeard, near Taunton. Bags of space can be found in the Homes in the heart of town come with premium price renovated thatched home, previously used as a popular tags, but rising rail fares, longer working hours and the B&B, which can bring in about £30,000 a year. There are strong investment potential of city-centre properties can five bedrooms, three with en suite bathrooms, while make them an affordable option. downstairs there are spacious sitting, drawing and dining So get ready to step it out. Join our property tour to find rooms. Through Chesterton Humberts. a home that’s close to your place of work. By O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/lifechangerbishops Faye Greenslade O Find walk-to-work homes at homesandproperty.co.uk

Editor: Win this food processor Janice Or buy one in our online shop for only £79.99 Morley CREATING VISIT homesandproperty.co. delicious meals uk/rules for details of our and drinks is usual promotion rules. When easy with this you respond to promotions, 800 watt Cooks offers or competitions, the Professional London Evening Standard and food processor.  its sister companies may It comes with contact you with relevant attachments for
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LAURENCE LLEWELYN-BOWEN is keen to move to London and is said headline that to have put the family home, a 16th- century Gloucestershire country goes like this mansion, up for sale at £1.75 million. The interiors guru and television É HERE is some text that goes like personality, 48, and his wife Jackie, this and runs on and on but this is right, have lived in the Grade II-listed only for dummy purposes and house for seven years with their two sometimes the par must end. daughters. But the couple, who Then it starts again like this and appeared on ITV’s dance show goes on again for a further few lines Stepping Out last year, are said to before coming to and end. it starts fancy a complete change. again like this and goes on again for They might consider a house swap a further few lines before coming to with film star couple Sienna Miller and end and Tom Sturridge, who recently put Then it starts again like this and their home in north-west London on goes on again for a further few lines the market for £3 million, and are before coming to and end. it starts rumoured to want to settle in again lÉ HERE is some text that

Gloucestershire. Could it be fate? goes like this and runs on and on but ALAMY GETTY this is only for dummy purposes and Emma’ssometimes the par student must end. Kaley falls for Then it starts again like this and digsgoes on again come for a further with few lines Khloé’s bang-on before coming to and end. it starts aagain £9m like this price and goes on tag again for job with the décor a further few lines before coming to É
andLONDON end actress Emma Watson É
REALITY TV star Khloé is lookingThen it for starts an apartmentagain like this in and Kardashian, above, put the California Newgoes York. on again for a further few home she shared with basketball linesThe 23-y beforeear-old coming Harry to Potterand end. player Lamar Odom on the market starit starts is hoping again to like find this a luxurious and goes only recently following news they By Amira Hashish padon inagain Manhattan for a further and has few been lines were divorcing, but it has been swiftly spottedbefore viewingcoming propertiesto and end in snapped up by Kaley Cuoco, star of the area. American TV sitcom The Big Bang Fashion fan Watson, who is Theory. Cuoco and her tennis pro A short walk dating Oxford University husband Ryan Sweeting offered student Matthew Janney, is nearly £904,000 above the asking to work for apparently taken by a new price to seal the deal for £3.3 million. building at 150 East 72nd The interiors are said to have enticed Mr Selfridge Street, above, which has the newlyweds — but you needn’t apartments priced up to break the bank to steal the style. Ikea’s É
PARK CRESCENT in Marylebone £9 million. Stockholm chair is just like the provided a fitting location for the Currently studying for her final Kardashian version, below, but only latest series of Mr Selfridge. Jeremy year of an English degree at £300. Its Kristaller chandelier, similar Piven, left, and his co-stars shot Brown University in Rhode Island, to one Khloé chose, is only £52. scenes inside a glamorous portered the young actress will be putting apartment block on the street. a whole new spin on the concept The exterior of the John Nash of student digs. stuccoed terrace building can also be spotted in the Twenties-set ITV drama, making for a spectacular Got some gossip? backdrop. Tweet @amiranews If the idea of living in the block

appeals, there is a studio on Wallsway O For more celebrity news GETTY Estates’ books for £450,000. And of see our online gallery at course, Selfridges isn’t far away... homesandproperty.co.uk/

celebrityhomes GETTY O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/self

BATHROOM SALE/C.P. HART NOW ON EST. 1937

 
   
    
             
 
  
 

      4 WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property New homes homesandproperty.co.uk with

Cop that: New Ideas, please: Scotland Yard, Whitehall’s old on a coveted site War Office, right, in Victoria, is one of London’s among major most imposing public buildings buildings, is up up for grabs in for sale in a the rush to government development move to see redundant public premises converted into new housing ALAMY Everything must go

ONDON is having the scrapped in most of the London Great properties will ultimate fire sale. Ten of the boroughs, sparking a stampede to capital’s fire stations have develop buildings across the capital. be up for grabs this been put on the market for “Since May 2010, the Government spring as fire and conversion into homes, has sold more than £1 billion of alongL with major public buildings in property and this new tranche of ALAMY police stations and Knightsbridge and Westminster. buildings coming on to the market The move is part of a government could greatly reduce the capital’s is a striking Edwardian building, already bought Whetstone station landmark buildings drive to offload land and public housing shortage,” says Andrew perhaps the jewel in the crown of the for redevelopment into 83 flats and buildings for housing development. Palmer, director at property 10 stations up for sale. Another houses. Call 01753 784 417. become new homes Police stations, including New consultant DTZ. station, at Greycoat Place, SW1, “For developers it’s an opportunity Scotland Yard, are up for grabs, too, As an example, he cites builder would bring swish homes to to create characterful loft-style opportunities, reports along with high-profile former Redrow’s acquisition of the national improving Victoria, while the station spaces with high ceilings and tall ministry buildings such as the old police training centre in Hendon for at Clerkenwell faces Mount Pleasant windows, which really strike a chord David Spittles War Office in Whitehall. transformation into a new postal depot, where Royal Mail is with homebuyers,” says Andrew A website enabling individuals, neighbourhood with 1,650 new proposing to build 683 homes. Bridges of estate agent Stirling communities and businesses to homes, a primary school, shops, Belsize fire station in Camden is Ackroyd. Apartments plan: Archway Tower in submit online applications to buy cycle routes and open space. also up for grabs, along with others in Older conversions such as Barnes north London, below, a former social sites is being set up, paving the way Southwark, Woolwich, Hackney and Putney police stations have security office, is to be converted for thousands of new homes. STATIONS WITH STYLE and Silvertown, all property evolved into fashionable addresses. Coinciding with this is part- For a real trophy building look no hotspots, while the brigade’s former A three-bedroom duplex at a former privatisation of the Land Registry, further than the former Basil Street riverside headquarters on Albert station in Westminster has views the nation’s property data bank. fire station in Knightsbridge, in a Embankment is also earmarked for over lovely Vincent Square and is on Spending cuts closure: Clerkenwell Planning permission for pretty lane behind Harrods. It closed housing. Developer Native Land’s the market for £2 million. Call fire station, below right, is opposite commercial-to-residential last month as part of London Fire proposal for 265 luxury apartments Foxtons on 020 7558 4000. Mount Pleasant sorting office, where conversions has already been Brigade cuts to save £29 million, and behind the listed frontage has been rejected and a scheme with a higher CONVERSION FEVER number of affordable homes is being The pace of commercial-to- sought. residential conversions has accelerated since last May, when the FROM BLUE LAMPS Government scrapped the need for TO RED FOR SALE SIGNS planning permission in most local Blue lamps are being replaced by red authorities in a bid to create 130,000 “for sale” signs at handsome new homes. In London, several areas Metropolitan Police stations in including the City financial district, sought-after locations across the Canary Wharf, the Royal Borough of capital. Kensington and Chelsea and the West On the list are Hampstead station End business zone were exempted. and magistrates’ court and classic In December, a group of councils red-brick stations at Clapham, including Islington, Camden and Brockley, Hackney, Winchmore Richmond lost a legal challenge to be Hill and Wanstead. Another one, at declared exempt. Boroughs claim St John’s Wood, dating from 1847, is that the loss of offices will lead to among the earliest established police economic decline by forcing out stations in London. Estate agent businesses, and will create Knight Frank is handling the sales, “dormitory” areas in outer London. mostly by a tender process. Call 020 Archway Tower, a former social

GETTY IMAGES 7861 5443. Berkeley Homes has security office in N19, is to be turned EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 5 homesandproperty.co.uk with New homes Homes & Property

From £1.95 million: for apartments in a development of 71 homes at former police section houses in Ebury Square, Pimlico, right

From £1.81 million: apartments at Abell & Cleland House, right, former ministry buildings near Millbank. Call 020 7118 9190

Westminster council has been seeking However, this has not stopped a clampdown on conversions. The redevelopment of former ministry borough is in the eye of the buildings including Abell & Cleland conversion storm and wants to House, close to Millbank. Prices maintain a “mix and balance of uses from £1.81 million — call Berkeley to protect the small-scale, lower-value Homes on 020 7118 9190. The same building stock suitable for small and developer is poised to launch into flats without planning create hundreds of new flats in having to go down the normal medium-size businesses that bring 190 Strand, another big office-to- permission by developer Essential former commercial premises have planning permission route, may be vitality to an area and are the lifeblood residential project. Living, despite objections by the been given prior approval since the able to avoid providing amenities of the economy”. Old police section houses are also local council. new rules came into force. Camden such as shops and parking. spawning posh flats. Ebury Square The level of interest appears to be has received 58 applications, also Other say the chase for office LISTED STATUS SAFETY NET in Pimlico has 71 apartments priced much higher than the Government higher than normal. buildings could destabilise the Because many buildings in central from £1.95 million, while at anticipated, according to Stuart Robinson says many of the property market by creating an Westminster borough are listed and Trenchard House in Soho Robinson, head of planning at buildings may be unsuitable for oversupply of residential property layers of restrictions apply, the developers Barratt and United House property consultant CBRE. In housing, and could attract less and a shortage of well-located offices council may be able to thwart are creating 78 flats with a communal Richmond, 107 schemes that will reputable developers who, not in central London. Behind the scenes, developers’ ambitions to convert. roof terrace and restaurant. 6 WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD   #    Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with   
##  Landlords  #
#  will have to pay up or sell up when April’s new tax rules bite The cut in capital gains tax relief means a nice little rental earner could end up costing thousands, discovers Steve Lodge

ANDLORDS who let their former homes may have to pay thousands of pounds more in tax when they sell these properties after AprilL 5, following a reduction in a valuable tax break. Lost tax break: In some cases, the cutback to “final period capital gains tax (CGT) relief could exemption” is make it worth bringing forward a sale being halved to to avoid the extra cost, say 18 months as accountants. George Osborne The increase in value in a rental seeks to raise property is generally liable to CGT at £360 million in

up to 28 per cent. But landlords five years ALAMY selling a rental property that has previously been their home have long benefited from a number of With landlords facing a substantial tax increase covering reliefs. profits from property they have mostly let, rather than lived The period when they lived in the property is tax-free. “Letting relief” in, there could be a rush to sell before April reduces taxable gains by up to £40,000. And, currently, there is no capital gains tax for the three-year worth seeking to offload their of gains (£30,000) would still be period before the property is sold. property by April. Lucy Brennan says covered by the landlord’s letting However, for sales after April 5 this the extra tax “could easily be relief. “final period exemption” is being thousands of pounds”. On the other hand, where a halved to 18 months. Take, for example, a rental landlord has made big gains on a The reduction, announced in property bought 10 years ago as a property they have mostly rented Chancellor George Osborne’s most home that has increased in value by out, they may well be facing a recent Autumn Statement, is forecast £200,000. substantial increase to an already to raise an extra £360 million in tax The halving of the exemption to 18 significant CGT liability. Blipp for the public coffers over the next months means that £30,000 the advert to five years. (£200,000 divided by 10 years, DROPPING THE SALE watch our Shared “It’s very significant,” says Tim multiplied by 18 months) of PRICE V SAVING IN TAX Ownership video Norkett, head of private clients at previously exempt gains could be accountants Crowe Clark Whitehill. liable for capital gains tax. Experts have suggested that the “There are big profits to be taxed.” The additional tax could therefore relief change could trigger a mini be as much as £8,400 (£30,000 rush to sell properties by April, and    #  !   # COUNTING THE COST multiplied by 28 per cent). that after that point, landlords However, some landlords face may be more inclined to hang Many landlords in the capital could lower increases, or even no extra tax, on to properties rather than selling     #        
be sitting on six-figure gains from a thanks to their other reliefs. them because of the less-generous   
         
property bought a decade ago. This could be the case for a landlord CGT rules. Londoners who have moved in with who lived for a long time in a In order to benefit from the existing      "  !  #    their partner and rented out their old property they are now renting out, three-year exemption, the exchange    
  
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  #  home are among those who could be Brennan says. of contracts on the sale must go    
 
        hit by a higher tax bill when they sell, through before April 6, with says Lucy Brennan, partner at completion before April 6 next year. accountants Saffery Champness. F, SAY, the property in our Given the potentially tight deadline, 
   As well as “accidental” landlords example was the landlord’s Norkett warns that prospective like these, the cut in relief will reduce home for the first seven years, sellers should “watch out for buyers www.lqgroup.co.uk/pricedin the benefit of “flipping” — where, for currently, the combination of dragging their feet and trying to get example, a buy-to-let investor that tax-free period with the some ‘wriggle room’ on price”. looking to sell a property they have three-yearI exemption would mean Brennan also cautions: “There’s no Industrial and Provident Society 30441R exempt charity. Details correct at time of going not lived in previously makes it their gains for all 10 years of ownership point in taking a £20,000 drop in to print 2/14. Your home is at risk if you fail to keep up repayments on a mortgage, rent or home temporarily to qualify for the were free of capital gains tax. price to sell a property just to save other loan secured on it. Please make sure you can afford the repayments before you take out a mortgage. *The fi gure quoted is based on a 35% share for a £200,000, 1 bedroom exemption. After April, with the reduced £5,000 in tax.” property at Capworth Court, E10. This fi gure may vary according to individual incomes and circumstances. £80,000 income is the maximum income allowable to purchase a Accountants said that landlords exemption, eight and half years of 3 bedroom Shared Ownership property. FOR FULL TERMS & CONDITIONS please see who have been considering selling gains (seven plus the 18 months) O For more information on property www.lqgroup.org.uk/pricedin for details. CGI is representative of an L&Q development. should calculate the potential would be accounted for by these gains and tax go to hmrc.gov.uk/cgt/ increase in tax to see whether it is reliefs. But the other year and a half property/index.htm EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 7 homesandproperty.co.uk with Affordable homes Homes & Property Go by Crossrail to find your first home ORK on Crossrail is £86,250: for a 25 now well under way, per cent share of with the first trains a three-bedroom scheduled to run on flat at Pier the London east-west Street, Canary Wrail link some time in 2018. Wharf, left and The project is set to have a big impact inset below, on house prices along its route from which will have a Maidenhead in Berkshire to Shenfield Crossrail stop in Essex and wise investors are already almost on the spotting the potential rises over the doorstep next four years. However, there is no reason why first-time buyers shouldn’t grab a small piece of the action. The east-west rail link is pushing up house prices. To get on the bandwagon, young buyers must act fast, says Ruth Bloomfield

WHITECHAPEL Tube station (a two- to three-minute Living is selling fast — just a single GREAT FOR URBANITES walk), Whitechapel is just over half a property remains on the market with A rare chance to buy a shared-owner- mile away, providing a valuable alterna- Felicity J Lord (homesandproperty. ship home in central London comes tive commuting option via Crossrail. co.uk/pier). The three-bedroom flat is SOUTHALL courtesy of Notting Hill Housing (homes priced at £86,250 for a 25 per cent HOMES BY THE WATER andproperty.co.uk/oldcastle) which has WOOLWICH share. The location, in Pier Street, Notting Hill Housing has two flats left at £145,625: for a 13 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats BUY A FLAT IN A FUNKY BLOCK means the Thames is on one side and From £67,500: The Boatyard, a waterside develop- quarter share of at a development in Old Castle Street. L&Q has 11 homes available (homesand Mudchute Park and city farm is on the for a quarter ment, from £80,000 for a 40 per cent a two-bedroom Prices start at £145,625 for a 25 per cent property.co.uk/wcentral) at the L&Q other. Mudchute DLR is the closest sta- share of a share of a one-bedroom flat (homesand flat in Old Castle share of a two-bedroom home. The @ Woolwich Central development, tion but Canary Wharf is within walking one-bedroom property.co.uk/boatyard). The scheme Street, below, in location is amazing for urbanites — you priced from £51,250 for a 25 per cent distance, just over a mile away, which Triathlon Homes, is 1.6 miles from Southall station, in Whitechapel. can walk to Shoreditch, Brick Lane and share of a one-bedroom flat, and means residents will have a Crossrail flat, below, in private grounds beside the Grand Union A Crossrail link Spitalfields Market. Whitechapel £92,750 for a 35 per cent share of a two- stop virtually on the doorstep. Stratford, joining Canal. The National Trust’s Osterley will be half a Gallery and Altab Ali Park are moments bedroom home. Another 40 shared- the east-west House is near, and every flat has a bal- mile away away, and while Aldgate is the nearest ownership homes will be sold in later STRATFORD line in 2018 cony, terrace, or a private garden. phases of this scheme. NEW SUBURB WITH GREAT LINKS The flats are in funky, modern blocks, The former Olympic Village is in the with huge windows, and there is a com- process of being transformed into a munal roof terrace for residents. The whole new suburb of London, complete nearest station is Woolwich Arsenal, with a Westfield shopping centre, a new just a couple of minutes’ walk away, Royal Park, and thousands of homes. but it is also less than half a mile from The area already has amazing trans- the new Woolwich station close to the port links and in 2018 will join the Royal Arsenal — which means direct Crossrail line, too. Triathlon Homes trains to the City, West End and Heath- (homesandproperty.co.uk/eastvillage) row are within an easy walk. has 348 shared-ownership homes for sale in the area. A 25 per cent share of CANARY WHARF a one-bedroom flat starts at £67,500. HOT PROPERTY, SELLING FAST Shares of two-bedroom flats start at A newly launched development of 10 £87,000, and of three-bedroom flats, shared-ownership homes by Gateway from £108,750.

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0333 666 2737 www.londonsquare.co.uk

Computer generated image of London Square Fulham. Price correct at time of going to press. 8 WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Commuting homesandproperty.co.uk with

New rail services will The city of dreaming spires: put Oxford on the the dome of the Radcliffe commuter map. It’s no Camera, part of the Bodleian bargain city but has Library, and the quad of All Souls London’s buzz and College, Oxford schools for bright kids. By Ruth Bloomfield

OR anyone who wants to enjoy the city-centre lifestyle without having to fork out for the central London price tag, Oxford could provide the Fperfect option. This beautiful city is already a commuter choice with trains to Paddington taking from an hour, and the journey is poised to become even swifter in 2016 when Network Rail completes its project to electrify the line to London. Chiltern Railways, meanwhile, will begin running a 58-minute service next year from Water Eaton, north of the city, which will open up some lovely

villages. CORBIS Aspire to live the dream in Oxford BENEFITS OF OXFORD And it has fabulous country villages scriptwriter Simon Beaufoy calls it home, weekly farmers’ market. There are also Those who love urban life won’t be just 10 minutes away.” along with Mark Haddon, author of The some great options around Water FIVE THINGS disappointed. Oxford has got the lot Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night- Eaton, where train services to London — amazing architecture, a buzzing town THE PRIME ADDRESS Time. Expect to pay £1 million for a four- start from its new station, Oxford Park- TO LOVE centre full of great shops, bars and In Park Town, in north Oxford, you bedroom house, or from £500,000 for way, next year. Residents of Kidlington ABOUT OXFORD restaurants, and a lively arts scene. could spend £5 million-plus on a a three-bedroom terrace home. will be within walking distance of the Regency pile with five bedrooms, or station and although it is not the ON THE DOWNSIDE between £3 million and £3.5 million on WHERE TO FIND A BARGAIN prettiest of locations, it has a good 1. The Creation Theatre Company: Oxford houses don’t come cheap — and a Victorian terrace. Buyers flock to the Sales manager Roddy Aris at Winkworth selection of shops and schools, includ- over the last 16 years some 350,000 an annual season ticket costs £5,436. area for its grand homes and top says the village of Wolvercote is the up- ing Gosford Hill secondary, which is people have enjoyed shows by this “We believe that our prime prices are schools, such as The Dragon School, and-coming address. Three-bedroom rated “good” by Ofsted. super-creative company which takes about equivalent to what you would pay Magdalen College School and Oxford Thirties semis cost about £420,000, and Richard Branson owns a £7 million on anything from fairytales to in Wandsworth,” says Damian Gray of High School. there are two-up, two-down cottages at manor close to the village and Jonathan Shakespeare, performing wherever Knight Frank, who estimates a quarter about £330,000, with farmhouses Bramwell, a partner at The Buying it can, from bookshops to Oxford of the properties on his books are THE TRENDY OPTION around the £575,000 mark. Solution, says a period family house Castle. Next up is Macbeth in the bought by Londoners. Jericho, with its narrow streets full of Aris likes Wolvercote for its “great close to the River Cherwell would cost grounds of Lady Margaret Hall. “Why would you live in Oxford if you gaily painted cottages, its pubs and canal pubs, great primary school and village in the region of £1.25 million. A cottage can afford London? It is not as big and boats, is a historic area outside the old community feel”, and it is only three with three or four bedrooms would 2. The Ashmolean is the most busy, it is safer, you have amazing city wall and popular with students and miles from the city centre. There are a cost more than £500,000. famous of Oxford’s many excellent schools and you can walk everywhere. commuters alike. Slumdog Millionaire couple of local general stores and a A little further away is Beckley, a pic- museums, but the Pitt Rivers ture-perfect village blessed with a Museum is a quirkier gem, featuring couple of pubs and some beautiful everything from shrunken heads to stone cottages. This unspoiled location lanterns made of puffer fish. It is the • Part of the UK’s biggest holiday letting organisation is highly sought after and a five-bed- home of Oxford University’s • Group multi £million marketing room family house with a generous anthropology and archaeology budget for promoting your property garden would set you back £1.25 mil- collection and ideal for an • Free additional listing on our popular lion. A three-bedroom cottage would atmospheric, slightly macabre sister website www.cottages4you.co.uk cost about £500,000. afternoon. • Free photography, free copywriting All the experts agree that while it isn’t and free grading to tourist board cheap, Oxford property represents a 3. London has its Royal Parks but a standards (UK only)* sound investment. A recent report by stroll through meadows and along • Enjoy the face-to-face support of a friendly Regional Manager estate agent Savills described the city riverbanks at Christ Church based in your area as a “little London” where mounting Meadow or Port Meadow is a very interest from commuters, overseas worthy alternative. The glasshouses buyers and strong local economies at the University of Oxford equalled growth in prime areas of Botanic Garden are not quite as big about 11 per cent last year. as Kew’s but equally fascinating. “The thing about Oxford is that there is a finite supply of houses and increas- 4. Science Oxford runs a superb ...and make it work ing demand from buyers, and I can see programme of (mostly) free events harder for you! prices going up and up,” says Gray. for adults and children, featuring talks, workshops and seminars by £2.5 million: Highfield House, above world authorities on everything Call our Property Recruitment team on 0845 268 8896 left, near Boars Hill, is just two miles from outer space to sleep patterns. Email [email protected] from Oxford city centre. Visit homes or visit www.letmycottage.co.uk andproperty.co.uk/hink 5. Historic Oxford embraces the modern world. Contemporary Art £975,000: a six-bedroom Edwardian Oxford has a particularly inventive house, left, in walking distance of the programme of shows plus free market town of Thame, Oxon. Visit staff-led tours at weekends. homesandproperty.co.uk/tham 10 WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Inspiring destinations homesandproperty.co.uk with

UROPEANS have been bring- ing back treasures from India since the late 16th century. Exotic artworks, ornate furniture, lavish silks — the country’sE rich heritage informs some of the most celebrated interiors around the world. Today, India’s export rules are tighter. Antiquities, anything more than 100 years old, cannot go abroad but if you are looking for bargain homeware, India will not disappoint. There is plenty you can fit into a suitcase — king-size bed linen and silken-soft cashmere blankets in the palest of pastels for £100, for example. Or find furniture for your home or garden and have it shipped back to Britain, surprisingly cheaply. DISCOVERING DELHI Amid India’s new high-rise cities, Delhi with its classic Lutyens architecture and palatial monuments is the old master. There’s history from the Red Fort to the elegant arches of the 15th-century tombs in tranquil Lodi Gardens. There are shopping opportunities Glorious: The Leela Palace hotel in pretty much everywhere you look, but Udaipur, left, has views across Lake searching out quality is key. Beside Lodi Pichola to the Lake Palace. Above, the Gardens is Khan Market, a U-shaped city’s Ganesh Emporium sells top- street of upmarket shops. Bypass west- quality textiles, furniture and artwork ern brands like Nike and Lacoste and head for Indian design. Fabindia works UDAIPUR, THE TREASURE with more than 80,000 craftspeople TROVE OF RAJASTHAN selling contemporary home furnishings, One hour’s flight from Delhi, Udaipur fabrics and lighting, while Goodearth is in the south of Rajasthan, India’s largest a crammed treasure trove of delicate collection, is the main shop of the state, is the City of Lakes whose beauti- etched glassware, fine linens and col- Crafts Council of India. There’s linen ful Rajput-era palaces starred in the ourful cushions, with a popular café on from Lucknow, colourful ceramics James Bond film, Octopussy. High the top floor. from Jaipur and stone carved trays above Lake Pichola the magnificent Khan Market also has jewellers laden from Agra. Prices are good and you are granite and marble City Palace is home with gold and silver, plus Dayal Optical supporting rural workers. to the Maharana, the latest in a con- — full of Europeans buying value spec- HOT TIP — SHARMA FARM: not to be tinuous line of 76 princely rulers. tacles. And the bookshops alone are missed in Delhi is Sharma Farm in His lakeside palace of sugarloaf-white worth an hour or two. Chattarpur. Don’t be put off by the 50- walls, his private home, has a stunning As India’s costliest shopping street and minute car journey or the ramshackle collection of British crystal. To help the 21st most expensive worldwide, India warehouses and barns on arrival. It’s fund the maintenance of such a fabu- according to Cushman & Wakefield a delightful hunting ground, and top lous edifice the Maharana has branched commercial property consultants, of the shopping list. out into tourism. Two of the 10 hotels Khan Market is not the place for bar- Bringing it home Reclaimed furniture, etched mirrors, in his HRH Group are in the palace. gain hunters. If you want better value, sandstone pillars, stone and marble The City Palace Complex has good brace yourself for the noise and crowds carved peacock plinths (for holding a shops, too. Aashka has beautiful stock and head to the lanes around senses- glass tabletop), super-size Buddhas and chosen by the Maharana’s daughter, heightening Chandni Chowk in Old Stay in a palace, soak up intriguing history, let carved wooden door panels: the dusty including traditional furniture inlaid Delhi. Search for lace in Kanari Bazaar, warehouses of Sharma Farm have it all with mosaic glass. Next door, Anokhi is fabrics in Katra Neel and hunt out treas- your senses be dazzled, but be sure to scour and will ship anywhere in the world. a chain that sells textiles and clothes. Its ures in Dariba Kalan, the antique silver The US ambassador is a fan and on my fabrics are used by Stella McCartney and market. the bazaars and markets for bargain textiles, visit an Indian high court judge was Oka. Look out for the block printing, an Back in New Delhi, Kamala, a small solemnly choosing a new wardrobe ancient Indian skill, and piled-high shop with a thoughtfully edited artwork and homewares, says Cathy Hawker while his official car idled outside. pashminas. Immediately outside the EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 11 homesandproperty.co.uk with Inspiring destinations Homes & Property

Dazzling variety: fabric shops in Udaipur. Right, the stunning Leela Palace New Delhi ALAMY city walls, down a narrow, high-walled LONDONER STEAL THE STYLE: THE alley, visit Ganesh Handicraft Empo- LEELA PALACE HOTELS rium, a mega Aladdin’s cave with a LAURA’S IN fanbase including Sarah Burton, the CHARGE THIS hotel group — with awards creative director at Alexander McQueen, including Condé Nast Traveller’s and the actors Bill Nighy and Dame Judi WEDDING favourite hotel spa and Best of the Dench when they filmed The Best Exotic PLANNER Best worldwide from Robb Report Marigold Hotel nearby. This family — mixes top hospitality with shop, established in 1970, is housed in TO INDIAN exceptional design. It’s eight hotels a stunning, 350-year-old haveli, or man- in India include five-star palaces in sion, with cool marble floors, intricate ROYALTY New Delhi and on Lake Pichola in carved Gujarati doors and a jumble of Udaipur, with direct views of the inner courtyards. much-photographed Lake Palace. Ganesh showcases antique textiles, The Leela Palace New Delhi is a pashminas, art, carvings and marble modern take on how a Maharaja statues. The quality is exceptional, Exotic treasures: GETTING THERE: a seven-night trip to EVENTS organiser Laura insight into Indian life. would live: everything is super-luxe prices are good and they ship world- Sharma Farm, Delhi and Udaipur with Kuoni McGowan, 27, pictured, “India is a happy place to and super-size. The 11-floor wide — in the UK they supply Graham above, a (01306 747008; kuoni.co.uk) costs from Earls Court, has live, its people carry such sandstone building with the city’s & Green. Brothers Vipul and Vishal, 50-minute drive from £2,023 per person, including worked in London and a special energy,” she largest bedrooms has Murano grandsons of the founder, will serve from Delhi, has three nights at The Leela Palace New York but her says. “No matter how chandeliers, crystal Buddhas, hand- you sweet chai and leave you alone to barns full of New Delhi in a deluxe room and four greatest challenge so far tough things are for woven Turkish carpets and jewelled explore their wondrous shop. reclaimed nights at The Leela Palace Udaipur was in Udaipur where many of the country’s miniature Rajasthan paintings. Gold furniture for in a lake view room, breakfast, flights she arranged wedding inhabitants, people is ingrained throughout. In Udaipur CONTACTS AND FACT FILE home and with Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow, celebrations for two of smile. I put this down to along with gold leaf ceilings, it is DELHI: Khan Market (khan-market. garden, mirrors, private transfers and domestic flights the Maharana’s children. religion and strong sense mixed with duck egg blue on fabrics com); Sharma Farm (sharma_farm@ doors and wall with Jet Airways. For further His daughter married in of family.” and with silver and white. hotmail.com); Kamala (craftscouncil panels all information on The Leela Hotels, 2010 and his son this Laura’s local top tips The group was established in 1987 ofindia.org/craftretail.html); available to ship visit theleela.com. month, each with a guest include a must-do by Captain Nair, now 92 and still a Fabindia (fabindia.com); Goodearth worldwide WHEN TO GO: October to March is list of up to 5,000 VIPs. shopping visit to Ganesh hands-on team member. “India is (goodearth.in). UDAIPUR: Ganesh best, when days are sunny and nights Staying at the City Emporium (see fact file) famous for its palaces, so why Emporium (ganeshemporium.com; are cool. April to June is very hot. Palace and working and lunch at Jagat Niwas wouldn’t you want to celebrate this 00 910 294 252 3647); The City June to September is monsoon closely with the Haveli (jagatniwaspalace. architecture?” he says. Palace and Aashka (eternalmewar. season. Maharana’s family has com) or Millets of Mewar Visit theleela.com in). Anokhi (anokhi.com). VISA: from vfsglobal.co.uk. given Laura a unique (milletsofmewar.com). 12 WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Design homesandproperty.co.uk with

By Barbara Chandler

ONDON brands wowed Left: light shades covered in new interior designers in Paris Sonia Rykiel Maison Frivole fabric, in last week at Maison & Objet, Blanc, Or and Mastic colourways a show filling eight (lelievre.eu/collections-tissus.php) cavernous halls with homewares.L Britons were on every Right: Sanderson’s Manila Green and aisle — confident, assured and pulling Ivory wallpaper, No. 213367, £52 a 10m in the punters. roll, width 68cm. Tablecloth in Rona In 2005, only seven fledgling design (231364), £38 per metre (stockists: firms showed on a group British stand 0844 543 9500; sanderson-uk.com) at the biannual festival. This time there were 37 firms, and making substantial solo splashes were Ercol, Below: polished brass pitchers by Alex Anglepoise, Case Furniture, Tom Meitlis by Hazorfim, from £1,714 Dixon, Russell Pinch and many more. (meitlisbyhazorfim.com) “Europe and America are loving British makers,” says Clapham-based Pinch (pinchdesign.com), cheerfully showing off the workmanship of perfectly poised dressing tables with six different types of wood joint. London’s shops, decorators and web merchants are speedily offering the new designs and themes of the show — pale wood, copper, pastels and a sense of fun were keynotes. In central Paris at the separate Déco Off event, the big fabric houses Design trends had re-papered their showroom walls with gusto, adding lavish drapes and trimmings. Here again Britain excelled, with stand-out from Paris collections from Coles, Sanderson, Osborne & Little, Zoffany and Designers Guild. You couldn’t miss PATTERN POWER the butterflies and big botanical prints, plus the patterns conjured British pattern was indeed the talk of Zoffany (zoffany.co.uk) have hand- In the hands of painter Jo Bound of from our inimitable British Paris. Designs were underpinned by painted the bountiful bouquets boeme.co.uk, cushions are almost archives. impressive artwork — you could bursting out from their new art; it’s that watercolour look again. Osborne & Little (osborneandlittle. clearly see the influence of our Woodville collection. And a spate of new rugs are a clever com) even won the prize for the countrywide art colleges. Kristjana In contrast were neat, sharp upgrade for a downtrodden board best window display, pipping all Williams now floats her trademark geometrics — crisp and modern, floor or part-worn carpet. This year, Europe to the post with an butterflies from intricate fine art often on ceramics — washes of dip- rugs by a bevy of international “underwater” trimmings prints over urban walls, courtesy of dyed indigo and exotic tropical designers at Ligne Roset (ligne-roset. extravaganza that is coming to its two new Osborne & Little brights for a quick colour fix. Explore co.uk) are especially cool — visit their King’s Road shop soon. wallpapers. Designer/artists at Sanderson’s Voyage of Discovery. shops in W1 and E1. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 13 homesandproperty.co.uk with Design Homes & Property

COLOUR HARMONY Those ubiquitous pastels — apricot, vanilla, sky and lemon — rub along happily, a pretty antidote for the small, dark room. Designers Guild showed fabrics washed with watercolours and inspired by Japanese kimonos. “Over-dying” is a new idea — an extra layer of colour that adds a faded, aged feel. Many young designers from London bravely fronted their own stands and did it very well, getting a global audience for their fabrics, papers, ceramics and glass. Kirath Ghundoo (kirathghundoo.com), celebrating her Indian heritage, has transcribed soft fragments of the Taj Mahal and other buildings on to pastel papers. Katja Behr, trading as ellipopp.co.uk, conjured feathers, fronds and butterflies into pale, surreal panels of shimmering silk. GET INTO SHAPE Furniture forms have polarised. On the one hand are those wafer-thin but super-strong chairs and tables. By contrast is slump-happy, oversize upholstery — such as Bill Amberg’s fat leather armchairs, like posh Above: crystal beanbags. Ligne Roset’s radical bottles, £235 Prado seating is a large lounging each (cumbria platform with chunky weighted crystal.com) cushions you can put anywhere. On a fun note, Maison was barking mad Right: Sonia with dogs, cats, birds and woodland Rykiel Maison creatures on cushions, lamps and sofa covered in tableware. Arty fabric (as before) MAKING GOOD Below: Zaha Designers use computers to Hadid’s vases for implement patterns and control Lalique launch in machines. London-based Cristian London this week Zuzunaga (cristianzuzunaga.com) is besotted by pixels and bitmaps. And MATERIAL WORLD now a hi-tech, high-definition, multicolour Brintons loom in The emphasis is on shapely objects Wustenberg, meanwhile, combine Kidderminster turns them into rugs, including vases, dishes and jugs. materials and crafts from Finland, yielding every detail over huge panels. Zaha Hadid’s vases for Lalique — the Czech Republic, England, At the same time, craft is dubbed crystal architecture — stood Austria and Germany (visit flourishing. Studios and small stately on spotlit plinths. They arrive utopiaandutility.eu). workshops are very professional, in London tomorrow. Taking the copper crown is Tom making in batches to sell at keen More affordable is simple glass Dixon. But, though inspired by prices in stores rather than galleries. tableware, mouth-blown and hand- Birmingham heavy engineering, his Furniture-maker Russell Pinch has incised by Norwood’s Michael Ruh. new eco-candlesticks are made in the last word: “Technology and craft The delicate vessels of Pia Indian brass-plated aluminium. can happily co-exist.”


 
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              "$ + +        '  16 WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Reader promotion homesandproperty.co.uk with Alison Cast a glow with Cork a hint of a tint

THE Harrow table lamp from Lights On Lights Off will liven a dull area with its tinted red glass base and matching fabric shade. A storage story’s Also offered in yellow, blue and purple, it stands 36.5cm high by happy ending 25cm across. Lights On Lights Off is offering a TURN tricky corners into storage 10 per cent discount across its entire space with custom fittings from website, reducing the Harrow lamp Bluefield Wardrobes. The Bluefield from £37.44 to £33.70. team will help you every step of the To claim your offer or view other way, from free, no-obligation design products, visit lightsonlightsoff.co.uk service to no-hassle installation and or call 01525 552037 and use code clean-up. HARROW10 before February 19. Maximise your home’s potential with effective storage solutions and take comfort in Bluefield’s 10-year, no-quibble guarantee and 20 years of experience. Readers receive a 20 per cent discount. To claim the offer, visit Bargain news bluefieldwardrobes.co.uk or call 0800 610 2020 and use code AAH14 before February 28. To book your Boxing hares are free design service, email sales@ bluefieldwardrobes.co.uk. a stylish knockout WEIGHING an impressive 3kg per pair, these solid bronze Large Boxing Hares by Sue Maclaurin (23cm high, Hot gift shows edition of 250) are bursting with life. Hand cast in Britain, they come gift you’ve got bottle packaged with a certificate. Nelson & Forbes is offering readers a A GIFT of the Year finalist this year, 15 per cent discount on any order, the YUYU Bottle, the world’s first reducing Large Boxing Hares from luxury long hot water bottle, made it £760 to £646 per pair. For a brochure into the top 20 Harrods bestsellers in or to claim your offer, visit nelsonand just 14 weeks. Readers are offered an forbes.co.uk or call 01442 256290 and exclusive 20 per cent discount across use code BN332 before February 21. the company’s range, reducing this cashmere-covered version from £69 to £55.20. THE Fleuris vintage-style stainless Cut a dash at dinner Designed by Richard Yu, this steel cutlery set lends dining a hint of show-stopping piece is covered in heritage. Alison at Home is offering Grade A Mongolian cashmere, readers 15 per cent off the 24-piece elegantly decorated with mother-of- set, down from £29.40 to £24.99. The pearl buttons and presented in six dishwasher-safe knives, forks, beautiful packaging. dessert and teaspoons have cream It could be the perfect Valentine’s handles with floral detailing on the gift — to keep your loved one cosy on collar. Visit alisonathome.com or call a wintry day. 0800 4725533 and use code FLEUR14 To claim your discount, visit to claim your offer before February 19. yuyubottle.com and use code friendswithyuyu before March 31.

O The companies listed here are wholly independent of the Evening Standard. Care is taken to establish that they are bona fide but we recommend that you carry out your own checks prior to purchases and use a credit card where possible. To offer feedback on any of these companies, email [email protected] with “Bargain News” in the subject line. For more bargains, visit alisonathome.com or homesandproperty.co.uk/offers.

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# %10#$##+)#+ /&%2(.&-/&/0 Call for entries The 23rd annual London Evening Standard New Homes Awards will celebrate and commend innovation and excellence in today’s new homes.

For more information and to request an entry form email [email protected] or call 01753 880 390 or visit www.homesandproperty.co.uk/nha Closing date for entries Friday 14th February 2014 24 WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Outdoors homesandproperty

Hat’s fantastic: Philip Treacy’s collection of orchid hats were inspired by the real thing, grouped in pots on his workbench. A new orchid has been named after the London milliner

French vogue: the Provence garden, right, of fashion patron and co-founder of Yves Saint Laurent Couture,

JOOST VAN MANEN VAN JOOST Pierre Bergé Cultivating couture

ASHION & GARDENS opens on gardens, like fashion, are always Friday, an exhibition that changing. celebrates the strong, silken “Like gardeners working in their threads between gardening gardens, the modern fashion world design and the clothes we follows a seasonal cycle, always looking Fwear, from the age of Queen Elizabeth I ahead to the next one. We deck out our to the London Fashion Week catwalks. gardens, as we do our bodies, to magnify In Lambeth’s Garden Museum, our impressions of the passing year,” where the uninformed might expect notes the exhibition’s curator and researcher Nicola Shulman, whose favourite exhibit dives back to the 17th As Lambeth’s Garden Museum century, a pair of buff leather gauntlets named faux-gloves because silk foxgloves celebrates the enduring link are satin-stitched on to every finger. That detail — and these were men’s between fashion and flowers, gloves — typifies the passion for flowers that chimed with the first printed herbals Pattie Barron sneaks a preview and the excitement of new arrivals brought back by plant collectors, such to see collections of rusted lawn as tulips from Turkey and marigolds mowers and antique hoes, Alexander from Africa. Overblown rosettes of McQueen’s spectacular lilac silk anemones and carnations bloomed organza evening gown, resembling an on shoes while, points out Shulman, open flower and with more layers than “men and women appeared in public a centifolia rose, will be on display covered in cornflowers, pinks, alongside Valentino’s decoratively pansies, strawberries, honeysuckles, scrolled opera cloak, inspired by the borage, narcissus, all worked in silks and wrought-iron gates of Italian spangled with silver thread.” Renaissance gardens — horti-couture The early 16th-century parterres de at its very finest. broderie make the point that sometimes, Three thousand spring blooms, the process works in reverse, and that chosen for their vibrant colours to gardens take their cue from fashion. reflect fashion through the years, will These knot gardens, the first of which was hang from the fine ceiling of the nave created for Louis XIV’s garden at — the museum is housed within the Versailles, were elaborate patterns of low ancient church of St Mary-at-Lambeth hedging, all arabesques and curlicues, — for as long as they last through the which emulated the raised embroidery three-month show, making the point along the borders of clothes.

better than any exhibit could, that The exhibition looks, too, at the CATWALKING.COM
EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 25 y.co.uk with Outdoors Homes & Property

Reflection of nature’s perfection: embroidery, right, of flowers and foliage on a man’s waistcoat, from the 19th century COURTESY OF SOUTHEND MUSEUM COURTESY

Nattily hatted: detail from an anonymous English print, right, The Beautiful Fruit Gatherer, circa

1790 OF THE GARDEN MUSEUM COURTESY

Antony Price’s night-flowering cactii, the comfortable chic. Even Marie first cutting carefully brought back from Antoinette, when in her beloved garden holiday in Mustique, decorated his at Le Petit Trianon, wore simple, loose workspace — until the dangling stems got robes that she called “le style in the way of the sewing machines and Anglais”. threatened production. Zandra Rhodes We tend to wear clothes that are as finds floral inspiration in her garden, distressed as the rusted supports of a where she paints the blooms that will fashionable sweet pea arbour: the appear on her fantasy dresses. cashmere sweater gone into holes, the Christopher Bailey’s collection for this patched jacket, the comfy cords. coming spring and summer is So unsurprisingly, the star exhibit of

CLIVE NICHOLS/DESIGN BY MICHAEL SEMINI BY CLIVE NICHOLS/DESIGN inspired, he says, by the idea of the part of the show that looks at an English rose garden. But his what gardeners wear is not a pair Inspired by the garden: from left, floral creative director of Dior, caused a summer 2009 Garden Girls of shiny lavender Hunter wellies print from the new Oscar de la Renta, sensation with a collection of ballgowns collection, for Burberry, or flashy pink suede spring/summer 2014 collection, a that resembled flowers. His only possible drew direct inspiration gauntlets, but the ballgown in bloom by John Galliano for artistic reference could be botanical from the gardeners much-loved, much- Dior, Paul Smith’s take on daffodils for illustrations. themselves, notably lived-in, weatherworn 2014, and a Valentino cloak, the pattern “Fashion interest in gardens goes in those photographed gardening coat inspired by Renaissance garden gates and out of style, and we’re having a by Valerie Finnis, belonging to Prince moment when they’re walking together including a straw- Charles. Unfortunately popularity of certain flowers through again,” says Shulman. “Now designers hatted Nancy Lancaster it will not be on show the years, such as the camellia craze in like Paul Smith, Prada and Mary — the American who until April, the 1840s, sunflowers in the 1890s and Katrantzou are scattering whole gardens contrarily invented presumably daisies in the Sixties, exemplified by on to a dress. And there is a new the relaxed English because the fashion designer Mary Quant’s iconic engagement with botanical embroideries country house Prince of Wales daisy image. One exhibit is a photograph that swarmed over silks of the 18th- style at Colefax & simply can’t of Yves Saint Laurent’s fabulous 1988 iris century court dress. Look at the designs, Fowler — and Vita bear to part with it and sunflower jackets that were for instance, of L’Wren Scott and Sackville-West, who any sooner. encrusted with beads by legendary Vivienne Westwood.” gardened in jodhpurs, riding embroidery house Lesage and inspired That many British fashion designers love boots, tweed jacket and pearls. O Fashion & Gardens runs from by Van Gogh, whose pictures of the same gardens as well as hands-on gardening is Sissinghurst’s current Friday until April 27 at the Garden flowers broke auction house records the no surprise. One of the exhibits is from chatelaine, Sarah Raven, is Museum, Lambeth Palace Rd, SE1 previous year. Philip Treacy’s collection of orchid hats, more likely to don a favourite, (gardenmuseum.org.uk). This illustrates Shulman’s realisation every bit as complex as the tropical flowers faded olive green velvet coat. as she researched that French fashion he copied from those ranged on his As the world’s keenest looks at gardens and sees art, while workbench. A Dutch orchid grower has gardeners, we Brits have always Quirky elegance: the orchid hat British fashion looks at gardens and sees named a new hybrid, complete with had the edge in dressing for the on show will be Philip Treacy’s nature. In 2010, John Galliano, then Treacy’s freckles, after the designer. task, unselfconsciously making the version of a slipper orchid, left
28 WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Events homesandproperty.co.uk with

► 2 DALE CHIHULY: BEYOND THE OBJECT From Saturday to April 5 at 144-146 New Bond Street, W1 (020 7100 7144, halcyon gallery.com) JUST installed in Harrods is a 16ft- wide chandelier made of 1,400 hand-blown pieces of glass by US glass artist Dale Chihuly, who is also transforming Halcyon Gallery in ▲ 1 TRACES New Bond Street, Friday to February 16, 10.30am-7.30pm covering ceiling at 135a Rye Lane, Peckham, SE15 and walls with (traces-london.co.uk) chandeliers and SOME 60 London artists and many sculptures. designers present an “immersive Admission free. installation” recreating the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of Rye Lane’s past, taking the contemporary Thirties as their theme. Homewares, perfumes and fashion will be on sale. Five things to see in February Admission free. By Barbara Chandler ▼4 ARTIST TEXTILES: PICASSO TO WARHOL Until May 17, Fashion and Textile Museum, Bermondsey Street, SE1 (0844 248 5076, ftmlondon.org) SEE your favourite artists turn their hand to fashion and furnishings as rare fabrics flaunt the great 20th- century art movements of Fauvism, Cubism, Constructivism, Abstraction, Surrealism and Pop, from Picasso to Dali. Tickets cost £8.80 for adults, £6.60 concessions and £5.50 for students. Under-12s go free. ▲ 3 LISTED PROPERTY SHOW ▲ 5 THE FESTIVAL OF THE IMAGINATION February 15-16, Olympia, W14 (01795 All month, Selfridges, Oxford Street, W1 (0800 123400, 844939, lpoc.co.uk) selfridges.com) LISTED properties offer all those CURRENTLY fronting Selfridges in Oxford Street is a delights that estate agents drool over stretch of fanciful windows by London artists and — but making alterations is fraught designers, showing winged buses, a moon colony and with regulations. Find out what the rain-watered plants on an umbrella. Inside the store, on rules mean for your home, chat with the lower ground floor enjoy a packed programme of talks specialist architects and planners and and demos in the Imaginarium, above, an avant-garde find a “caring” builder (they promise). theatre designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. Some Show this paper for free entry. talks are drop-in, others need booking and a paid-for ticket.

CRAFTY HEAL’S is rediscovering its role with a conveyor belt showing mâché and foam. Glass is as a design pioneer and work by Swedish design duo prominent. Emilie Voirin’s HEAL’S DESIGN promoter of innovative craft. Soderlund Davidson. There are Virvel Lamp (£650) looks like a The furniture and homewares workshops where customers ship’s vent stack, there are FOR THE HOME department store, which can try creating marble Kristallin foldable, pleated Chill out started off making beds in effects, making table mats, water bottles (£70) by Jule 1810, was a leading exponent veneers and tiles, or watch Waibel that expand when filled of the Arts & Crafts movement demonstrations in ceramics, with liquid, and a series of and a centre for Art Deco, but glass and other media, and pastel-coloured Flamingo Salt came to the fore as the go-to meet the designers. A wide candle holders (from £15) Keep winter at bay store in the early Fifties for sweep of very different makers made from salt by Jungin Lee. contemporary furniture, has been gathered together with beautiful new fabrics, ceramics and glass. with the help of WORKS — a TRAD-M0D CAA makers offer Today it belongs to the Weston collective of Royal College of slightly more traditional, yet timber windows family, who own Selfridges, Arts graduates — the Crafts still modern, approaches. and chairman and chief Council and Contemporary Ceramics include Derek executive Will Hobhouse aims Applied Arts (CAA). Wilson’s porcelain containers to put Heal’s back on top as WORKS designers have come (from £40), Stuart Carey’s Call 020 8877 8920 now to the leading innovative design up with intriguing but tableware (from £25) and Kyra destination. functional wares. James Cane’s pinched porcelain claim 15% off orders placed Thompson’s Cast Table (£425) beakers (from £70). In textiles, DESIGN FEST At the is made of Jesmonite given a Morag McPherson’s zigzag by end February Quote ES09 Tottenham Court Road store contemporary twist, Marian cushions, and in glass Stewart until February 16, Discover is Van Aubel and James Shaw’s Hearn’s coloured bowls, start a modern market featuring Well Proven Stools (from £450) at £60. OR VISIT OUR SHOWROOM AT the best of contemporary are made of foamed wood, and 406 Merton Road, London SW18 5AD craft by innovative designers Will Shannon’s Petrified O Visit heals.co.uk/pcat/ Innovative: Port Mirror by RCA design and artisans. The event also stools/tables (£375) are discovercraft www.ayrtonbespoke.com products graduate Kim Thome takes over Heal’s windows, created from wood, paper- Corinne Julius EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 29 homesandproperty.co.uk with Design Homes & Property

Treasured classic: Thomas has a Spun chair by Thomas Heatherwick at home MyMydesignygy designdesiggn

LondonLonoondndoddonon ALAMY Close to home: Abbey Mills Pumping BRAHAM THOMAS, 36, is Station in E15 is among Thomas’s the new director of Sir Abraham favourite Victorian buildings John Soane’s Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. studio for Ford, did interiors and Soane, the great Thomas then created worlds for films like Aneoclassical architect and educator, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. added a museum to his home in 1812, NEW DIRECTOR OF SIR which remains a major London JOHN SOANE’S MUSEUM FAVOURITE GALLERY/MUSEUM tourist draw to this day. The Mediatheque at the British Film Thomas’s rise has been meteoric. As By Corinne Julius Institute. Just log on for free at a a successful IT consultant at Deutsche viewing station and choose from over Bank nine years ago, he was awarded WHERE I LIVE 2,500 highlights from the BFI an assistant curatorship at the Victoria I’ve lived in Shadwell in E1 for 12 National Archive. My other choice is and Albert Museum and within a year years in an Edwardian two-bedroom the Museum of Brands — its founder was promoted to curator of designs. flat built by the Mercers’ Company. was ephemera collector Robert Opie. With the V&A’s successful Thomas My partner, also a curator, works in I am fascinated by typography design Heatherwick exhibition to his credit, the States, so we have a transatlantic and how it impinges on our lives. he is now on a mission to promote relationship. I am two minutes from Soane’s 19th-century gem. the river, so often walk down there. I MOST TREASURED POSSESSION love the nearby Victorian industrial A paper sculpture that Heatherwick buildings, some now converted like recreated when we filmed him. He the hydraulic power station with its had done this piece of origami and 10 accumulator tower, and the glorious years later he used it as the basis of Abbey Mills Pumping Station. And the design for the vents for the

I’m near enough to London Fields LYNCH DANIEL Paternoster Square project. It sits Lido to enjoy a dip on a lazy Sunday. At work: Abraham Thomas at Sir John Soane’s Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields proudly in my office at the Soane, The flat is a mix of basic echoing Soane’s approach to contemporary. I treasure my G Plan amassing models, artefacts, paintings desk chair covered in an original and drawings as educative tools for Festival of Britain fabric, and my design. We’re opening the next phase maroon Spun chair by Thomas of our redevelopment of Soane’s

REBECCA REID REBECCA Heatherwick. I have lots of my own original model room next year. Lazy Sundays: London Fields Lido, in framed photography on the walls and Hackney, heated and open year-round I collect vintage film posters. SECRET SHOPPING I love Magma bookshop in Covent I LOVE LONDON BECAUSE. . . Garden, they have a wonderful London is so inspiring as a design selection of contemporary design/ city. I love the celebration of architecture/film/photography books Victorian industrial buildings, given a and magazines. They are brilliant for new contemporary purpose. London unusual presents. And Sotheran’s the also has “design permeability” — antiquarian booksellers in Sackville design isn’t confined to one Street. I love to browse for prints. discipline, it stretches across many. Summer venue: Frank’s café, on the 10th floor of a car park in Rye Lane, Peckham I love collaboration and London FAVOURITE RESTAURANT allows that, in part because of the I love to graze at the foodie pop-ups, design and architecture schools. at Street Feast, or the railway arches Designed to help diabetics: Google X by London Fields — Climpson’s Arch, Lab’s smart contact lens measures SPOTTING DESIGN TRENDS for example.Frank’s café, designed by glucose in tears to avoid pinprick tests I go to the graduate shows at the RCA, Practice Architecture on the 10th floor Central St Martins, The Bartlett, the of the Peckham multistorey car park, AA and now the new courses at the is a favourite. It’s open in summer. For Cass, at the London Metropolitan a romantic meal I go to Andrew University, under Professor Robert Edmunds in Lexington Street. Mull, which has architecture, design and applied arts in one school. I also BEST NEW DESIGN look in unlikely places, especially at Google X Lab’s project using a smart the work of film production contact lens which measures glucose designers. They create whole worlds. levels in tears instead of diabetics having to do painful pinprick blood DESIGN HEROES tests. That’s what design should do, it

ALAMY Stephen Frankfurt, who started out should make your life better. Best for browsing: Sotheran’s making ads and created art films antiquarian booksellers in Sackville from them, and then Syd Mead, who Secret shopping: Magma bookshop in Street, Piccadilly, is good for old prints worked in the advanced styling Covent Garden, great for unusual gifts 34 WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Property searching homesandproperty.co.uk with

ITHOUT the marriage of a young heiress and the skill, flair and hard work of a Norfolk carpenter, the south- Spotlight centralW London neighbourhood of Pimlico wouldn’t be what it is today. In 1666, Mary Davies inherited large Pimlico swathes of central London, including what is now Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Pimlico. In 1677, at the age of 12, she was married to Sir Thomas Grosvenor, of far humbler means, and the fate of much of central London was sealed. However, it took another 150 years before the Grosvenor family began to exploit the spoils of that marriage. In 1824, Richard Grosvenor, the 2nd Marquess of Westminster, hired Thomas Central London’s Cubitt, originally a ship’s carpenter, to develop Belgravia and Pimlico. The neighbourhood’s grand stucco terraces and squares are a lasting testament to stucco star is no this great partnership. The Grosvenor family went on to become the wealthiest in Britain. Today, the international Grosvenor property company is part of the Duke of Westminster’s Grosvenor longer the poor Estate, and Cubitt’s statue can be seen at the junction of St George’s Drive and Denbigh Street, the master builder depicted standing on a pile of bricks and property cousin carrying a measuring rod. Pimlico is the poor man’s Belgravia and judging by a cutting from a news- paper of 1877, it has long been thus. Pimlico was the last area to grow from the Pimlico is described in the cutting as “genteel, sacred to professional men lucrative Grosvenor marriage. Now it is not rich enough to luxuriate in Belgra- via proper, but rich enough to live in revealing its secrets, says Anthea Masey private houses.” are also “right to buy” flats on a number floor flat in Warwick Square is on the WHAT THERE IS TO BUY of well-managed estates, including the market for £1,595,000 through Knight Pimlico is characterised by its fine, Arts & Crafts-influenced Millbank Frank (telephone number as before). white stucco terraces and squares. The Estate, an early example of social hous- There are currently two right to buy large five-and six-storey houses in the ing; Churchill Gardens, an estate of flats on the market. Estate agent Faron three garden squares and along the two 1,600 homes designed in 1946 by the Sutaria (020 7836 8427) is selling a one- main access roads, St George’s Drive then young architectural firm of Powell bedroom flat in Morgan House, Lilling- and Belgrave Road, are mostly divided & Moya, and the red-brick 1961 Lilling- ton Gardens for £425,000, and Barnard into flats. The four-storey houses in the ton Gardens, designed by architects Marcus (020 6836 8427) is selling a grid of streets off these two roads are Darbourne & Darke. two-bedroom Churchill Gardens flat smaller and some remain as intact The most expensive property for sale for £325,000. single homes, rather than apartments. in Pimlico now is a three-bedroom flat Knight Frank’s Emma Collins says Estate agent Hugo Headlam, of John D in The Panoramic, a block of flats over- prices in Pimlico are now above the Wood, says lateral conversions — looking the Thames at Vauxhall Bridge, peak reached in autumn 2007 but are spacious flats across two buildings — on the market at £4.25 million through still considerably cheaper than in Bel- are giving similar flats in South Knight Frank (020 3597 7670). The gravia. Price per square foot in Pimlico Kensington a run for their money in most expensive period property is a is about £1,200 for a house and £1,900 terms of price per square foot. five-bedroom house in Sussex Street in for a garden square flat compared with There are newly built flats at Gros- the so-called Pimlico grid, for sale at Belgravia’s £2,000 a square foot for venor Waterside in blocks clustered £3.25 million through Douglas & houses and £2,500 for a flat. around a canal basin — a former waste Gordon (020 7963 4600). The area attracts: buyers are looking transfer site — off Ebury Bridge Road. The most desirable flats in the garden for a central London location without Dolphin Square, much favoured by squares are on the raised ground floor the prime price tag. They come mainly MPs, was the largest block of flats in and first floor with access to a balcony from the UK, Europe and America — the Europe when it was built in 1937. There Fresh fruit: Tachbrook St’s Monday to Saturday market had a £1.7 million facelift over the portico. A two-bedroom, first- area doesn’t generally seem to attract To find a home in Pimlico, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/pimlico

£2.75 MILLION A FOUR-BEDROOM flat in Warwick Square, set across the third floors of a pair of handsome, white stucco Grade II-listed buildings, comes with a lift and £85O,000 £750,000 is for sale through £1.65 MILLION A WELL-PRESENTED two-bedroom garden flat A TWO-BEDROOM garden flat in a beautiful John D Wood. THIS two-bedroom flat, which has lots of living in Alderney Street, in the popular Pimlico grid stucco-fronted building close to the Thames in O Visit and entertaining space, is in Sloane Square and area, is for sale through Winkworth. Claverton Street is for sale through Marsh & Parsons. homesandproperty. comes with a private balcony. Through Foxtons. O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/grid O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/claverton co.uk/warwick O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/sloane EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 35 homesandproperty.co.uk with Property searching Homes & Property

Stuccoed splendour: Denbigh Place in Pimlico. The area bears lasting testament to the enterprise of the Grosvenor family and the workmanship and vision of Victorian master builder Thomas Cubitt

Local flavour: assistant Daniel Curless at Rippon Cheese, above left. Daylesford organic deli and café, Pimlico Road, above

made up of Moreton Place, Moreton Street and Moreton Terrace. CHECK THE STATS Up and coming: the right to buy flats in Pimlico’s well-maintained council ■WHAT HOMES COST: HAVE YOUR SAY blocks on the Millbank Estate, and in BUYING IN PIMLICO PIMLICO Churchill Gardens and Lillington Gar- (Average prices) dens, represent value for money. In the One-bedroom flat £952,000 garden squares the lower ground-floor Two-bedroom flat £2.17 million @pimlicat #Pimlico has some of flats are cheaper even though they Two-bedroom house £2.62 million London’s best charity and curiosity often come with outside space. Three-bedroom house £4.51 million shops. It has Tate Britain, Kazan Four-bedroom house £6.51 million restaurant & Tachbrook market OPEN SPACES Source: Zoopla.co.uk A key to one of the private garden @paulsylva #Pimlico Independent squares is much sought after. Other- RENTING IN PIMLICO beauty salon @appuruUK in Moreton wise there is a public garden in St (Average rates) Street for fabulous natural and George’s Square and there are riverside One-bedroom flat £3,335 a month organic treatments walks to Battersea Park, while the vast Two-bedroom flat £5,117 a month expanse of Hyde Park is within walking Two-bedroom house or cycling distance. £5,895 a month @DanielCobbLDN If you want to Leisure and the arts: two long-run- Three-bedroom house highlight some of the culinary ning, popular musicals are based in £10,698 a month delights of @TachbrookStMkt then theatres in Victoria — Billy Elliot at the Four-bedroom house sample some of @Boca_Foods Russian, Asian, Middle Eastern or Victoria Palace and Wicked at the £11,862 a month amazing empanadas! Chinese buyers. Access to one of the Apollo. The Royal Court Theatre, Source: Zoopla.co.uk private garden squares is a huge attrac- dedicated to new work by innovative tion in an area with few or only small writers, is in nearby Sloane Square. @faronsutaria #Pimlico there is a private gardens. John D Wood’s Hugo The local council-owned swimming GO ONLINE FOR MORE fabulous chocolate shop on Rochester Headlam says Pimlico is benefiting pool is at the Queen Mother Sports Row which in the summer also does O The best schools from redevelopment in Victoria and Centre in Vauxhall Bridge Road and great ice cream the coming relocation of the American there is a private fitness centre with a O The best shops and restaurants The latest housing developments and Dutch embassies to Nine Elms swimming pool in Dolphin Square. O @Thenadish the market is a local across the river. Travel: going by Tube, Pimlico is on O How this area compares with the institution for fresh fruit and veg. Staying power: there is a strong com- the Victoria line, while Victoria is on rest of the UK on property prices #pimlico munity spirit in Pimlico and many the Victoria, District and Circle lines. O The rental scene in Pimlico families have lived in the area for Both stations are in Zone 1 and an several generations. TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE annual travel card costs £1,256. For all this and more, visit NEXT WEEK: Shepherd’s Best roads: Eccleston and Warwick How is this screen idol linked with Council: Westminster city council is homesand Bush. Do you live there? Squares; the Pimlico grid streets, the Queen of Hearts in Pimlico? Find Tory-controlled and Band D council including Cambridge, Alderney, tax is currently £832.01. property.co.uk/ Tell us what you think the answer at homesandproperty.co.uk/ @HomesProperty Clarendon, Sussex and Gloucester spotlightpimlico spotlightpimlico Streets, and the Moreton triangle — Photographs: Graham Hussey

38 WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Ask the expert homesandproperty.co.uk with Our moving-in experience was rubbish Fiona WHAT’S MY HOUSE was the scene of a gruesome YOUR Victorian murder and is haunted. I am unclear McNulty PROBLEM? Qwhether I have to declare this to potential IF YOU have a buyers. I thought that “let the buyer beware” OUR LAWYER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS question for applied, but isn’t there a catch-all section in the Fiona McNulty, Questions for Sellers form that might cover this? please email Naturally I would prefer to keep quiet about anything WE BOUGHT a house legalsolutions@ that may put buyers off. recently and the sellers left standard.co.uk Qseveral big bits of furniture, or write to Legal CONTRACTS for the sale and purchase of land are including a sofa and the Solutions, Homes governed by the legal principle of caveat emptor — dishwasher — even though we said in & Property, Alet the buyer beware. This basic principle means writing via solicitors that we didn’t London Evening that it is up to the buyer to investigate fully the want them. There is also a large Standard, 2 Derry property they intend to buy. They should inspect it for amount of rubbish, paints and Street, W8 5EE. defects and their solicitor should raise relevant enquiries chemicals, children’s toys and garden We regret that and searches. A seller is not generally obliged to ensure items. We were also unhappy that we questions cannot the buyer has all the information they might consider couldn’t get into the place until the be answered relevant. evening, 10 hours after completion, individually but However, if a buyer enquired whether you had ever seen as they were still moving out. What is we will try to or experienced any paranormal activity, or felt that your our best course of action? We have feature them house was haunted, you would have to say yes if you believe no direct contact details for them. here. Fiona that it is. If you gave the buyer a misleading answer and they McNulty is a bought your house and then believed they saw a ghost, it is USUALLY a contract for the partner in the possible that they may have a case for misrepresentation sale of a property provides Property Information Form could seek compensation for any residential against you — though it might be difficult to prove it. Afor vacant possession upon completed by the seller in which they extra removal costs resulting from property, farms To ask if there is anything else that the buyer should know completion, meaning it will should have confirmed that all the difficulties you experienced and estates team is far too wide an enquiry, and you or your solicitor should be both unoccupied and empty of rubbish would be removed and that accessing the property. at Withy King LLP say so, and not respond to such an enquiry. contents then, apart from any items the place would be left clean and tidy. If the sellers refuse to help, court (withyking.co.uk). There was a case where the seller did not disclose that a the parties agreed should be left. Talk to your solicitor. They should action is an option but it is costly and murder had occurred in the house, and in that case they

The contract should include a contact the sellers’ solicitors and you will need their address. Note that were not found liable for misrepresentation. condition stating the time by which request that the sellers remove the their solicitors should not divulge the sale should be completed — items left behind forthwith and their clients’ new address without More legal O These answers can only be a very brief commentary on usually 2pm unless this has been explain that if they fail to do so, you their permission. Talk to the selling Q&As the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. varied. Before exchange of contracts will arrange disposal of the items and agents to see if they can influence the Visit: homesand No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar you should have been provided with a will look to their clients to pay. You vendors in a positive way. property.co.uk issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor.

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Joint Sole Agents: Development by: Contact us Visit our show apartments 020 8421 9139 10am – 5pm, 7 days a week [email protected] Hammers Lane, Mill Hill, London NW7 4AQ [email protected] [email protected] millhillplace.com 020 8954 8626 020 8731 9500 heronslea-group.co.uk 40 WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Inside story homesandproperty.co.uk with

It’s not until I get back to the office that I notice the email has the subject line An enlightened “Hotty”. My heart sinks but I send the client another email explaining what has happened. Fortunately, she thinks buyer will fall for it’s all hilarious. Moral of the story: check and double-check before sending this place. But not from your phone. FRIDAY We receive a recommendation to help a young buyer who is focused on living as hard as I did in central London but has so far been unable to get on the housing ladder. She scours the online property portals MONDAY on a daily basis but hasn’t had any luck, With a successful January under our Diary of as buyers often scoop up prime central belts, I am sticking to my new year London homes before they are even resolution to be more organised and marketed. to encourage fresh ideas and plenty of an estate This is such a common problem motivation among the team. nowadays as the race to buy gets more As always, I have a morning meeting agent frantic. Buyers have to make a special with the staff but the people in the hotel effort to be first in an agent’s mind, so opposite must think we’re bonkers, as seller who previously went with when the next property appears we have an energetic warm-up with another agent who gave them a higher “off-market” the agent knows who to exercises to get the blood circulating valuation than ours, even though we well-lit. Having been to the place a few spending a lot of time and effort to call first. We have already informed our before discussing figures, new ideas provided proof our assessment was times before, I know the pitfalls well ensure every detail is finished to the determined flat-hunter about a couple and suggested improvements. based on market data and demand. and guide the buyers around carefully, highest standard. I am in love with all of potential places, so hopefully we will After weeks of low viewings, the seller pointing out an easy-to-miss step to the flats and have been really involved be the ones to bring her search to a TUESDAY instructs us to handle the sale after all. avoid any embarrassing tumbles. I fail in the process — they are going to be successful conclusion soon. The sales team are today concentrating It is important when marketing your to heed my own advice, however, and superb. All in all, it has been a solid week and on unearthing more properties for sale home to get the best possible price, but as I follow the prospective buyer I miss Dealing with another matter, I make we’ve got plenty of offers to tie up and for our worldwide buyers. The prob- you have to be wary, because the initial the step and hit the floor, much to their a small iPhone-related faux pas. discuss at Monday morning’s meeting lem is that with so many forecasts golden time of marketing — normally amusement. A client asks me to send her an email — after we’ve amused the hotel guests suggesting growth again this year, not the first four weeks — could be hin- with some information, so I hurriedly opposite with our bonkers warm-up,of many people are inclined to sell. If dered by the property being labelled THURSDAY punch in her email address and copy course. interest rates rise we certainly don’t as overpriced. I attend a planning meeting this morn- myself in. expect the masses to be rushing to sell ing for a high-end residential scheme I’m hurrying along in the rain as I type — but it might slightly ease the present WEDNESDAY that we will be instructed to sell. The “HOTs” — short for heads of terms of O Jonathan Hudson is a director of lack of available properties. My day starts with a viewing at a free- local property company developing the agreed offer — and send it off, Hudsons Property, based in Charlotte We receive some good news from a hold property nearby whichis not very these apartments has been amazing, unaware that it has been autocorrected. Street, W1 (020 7323 2277).

 
    
  
  
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HEN advertising a rental property, is it best to show it well- dressed or completely To dress or not bare? I don’t mean the Wlandlord — in my opinion you should always stick some clothes on for view- ings — but should you also “dress” your property? to dress? That Almost half of all rental properties are let unfurnished, and these are no less popular with tenants and com- mand just as much rent as furnished properties. However, a recent little is the question experiment seems to suggest that prop- erties photographed with furniture let Victoria Whitlock quicker than those photographed doesn’t recommend empty. being totally bare — but nor is she convinced £750 a week: at Hepworth Court, SW1, John D Wood has a two-bedroom, Upad, the online letting agent, adver- sixth-floor waterside flat available to rent (homesandproperty.co.uk/hep) tised the same three-bedroom flat in you should be all dressed up… central London twice, but one listing had photos of the property completely David Phillips (davidphillips.com). At armchair or a fan of lifestyle magazines empty, show it empty, I say. If you do bare and in the other it was dressed more than £1,300 for a minimum of displayed on a coffee table. want to furnish it — and there is a tax with a few items of stylish, contempo- The three months, hiring isn’t a cheap Who knows, maybe I would have advantage in that you can claim a 10 per rary furniture, rugs on the floor, blinds, option either but, as Upad points out, found tenants faster if I had furnished cent wear and tear allowance for fur- light shades, that sort of thing. accidental if you want to dress the property just it in the photos, and maybe I would nished rentals — make sure everything After three weeks the “dressed” ad for the sake of the photos you only need have got more rent. Upad’s experiment is modern and neutral and chuck out had attracted 75 per cent more enquir- to do it once, and then re-use the same certainly seems to show that well- any old pieces. Tenants will be put off ies and a tenant was secured from this landlord pictures every time you re-advertise. dressed rooms look better, but it’s a bit by tired sofas and saggy beds. one, not the advert which showed the managing director of Loft Interiors However, I don’t think all this is really of bother and I’m not sure the expense But as for going for the well-dressed property empty. (loft-interiors.co.uk), which provided necessary. I’ve let an unfurnished prop- can be justified. option or totally bare, I think that’s Upad admits its experiment doesn’t the furniture for Upad’s photo shoot, erty without going to the expense of I’m not opposed to buying tenants really up to you. prove that you have to furnish a prop- said dressing a property well in photos dressing it for a photo shoot, or for the essential pieces of furniture if they erty, but says it does show that creating makes it easy for prospective tenants purpose of showing prospective request them but half of all renters want Victoria Whitlock lets three properties a “show home look” for the photos can to see the potential of the space. tenants. Viewers have never said: to bring their own, so they might skip in south London. To contact Victoria generate more interest. His company sells furniture packs for “Where on earth will I put my bed?” adverts with photos of furnished prop- with your ideas and views, tweet It’s even more important if you are landlords. It charges from £714 to or: “I just can’t imagine a sofa in erties. If you’d prefer to let a place @vicwhitlock looking to achieve more than the furnish a one-bedroom flat. here.” market rate, says Upad. A few choice Alternatively, you can hire everything They seem to be able to visualise Find many more homes to rent at pieces of furniture can make all the including rugs, lamps, pictures, towels themselves living there without the difference, apparently. Ben Hall, and linen, from a company such as benefit of a strategically placed homesandproperty.co.uk/lettings 44 WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property New homes homesandproperty.co.uk with David Spittles has the word from the street Smart mo

From £284,950: Brentford Lock West flats (020 8569 7449) The dining Brentford buffs up nicely

BRENTFORD waited a long is Canal and River Trust, time for a fashionable new formerly British apartment scheme but like Waterways. New moorings, room is dead London buses, several pontoons and a footbridge have come along at once. are being created, the OPEN-PLAN living is the number one terrace on the upper floor and a utility A disused factory on the towpath is being widened design preference for home buyers, room with separate external access, a high street is getting a fresh and Art Deco warehouses according to a poll of 1,200 practical solution for children and pets lease of life as Kew Reach, refurbished. Homes have Londoners. Men in particular want with muddy feet. with 47 riverside flats high energy-efficiency super-rooms — free-flowing spaces The 14-acre estate is on the site of a grouped around a new ratings, rooftop allotments where they can combine cooking, former hospital, with new streets, garden square. Bellway, and solar panels. From eating, entertaining and relaxing. squares and crescents. Residents have the developer, is extending £284,950 (homesand “Such spaces are always the hub of a exclusive access to a restored formal the riverpath via a property.co.uk/lockwest). family house,” says Sean Ellis, rose garden belonging to Roehampton cantilevered walkway. Kew Bridge West looks managing director of developer House, a Palladian mansion split into Prices start at £294,995. across the Thames to the St James, which commissioned the flats, and there is a private shuttle bus Call 0845 676 0255. Royal Botanic Gardens. research. The Quadrant is the final to East Putney Tube station. Prices Brentford Lock West Crisply designed blocks phase of homes in the listed grounds of from £1,685,000 (homesand has 530 townhouses and have corner towers with Queen Mary’s Place, Roehampton, and property.co.uk/quad). flats, part of an 11-acre curved-wall flats and arguably the best yet. Eight new three- Family houses with super-rooms project on the banks of the terraces. Prices from storey, five-bedroom semis in a quiet can also be found at St Peter’s Place, Grand Union Canal. One of £345,000 (homesand corner each have a ground-floor Chiswick. Prices from £3 million. Call the development partners property.co.uk/bridgewest). “super-room” for family living, a sun Crest Nicholson on 020 3667 5113. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2014 45 homesandproperty.co.uk with New homes Homes & Property

Super-room for HAPPENING HUB CLOSING THE GAP IN GREENWICH family living: The Quadrant, at Queen GREENWICH SQUARE, being built Mary’s Place, on the site of a former district Roehampton, has hospital, aims to plug the gap homes from between the gracious old naval £1,685,000 town’s historic centre and the O2 arena, a mile away. The development is being trumpeted as a new hub, with more than 500 homes, a new public square, shops, bars, restaurants and a leisure centre. Trains from From nearby Maze Hill station to London £545,000: Bridge take 11 minutes. Greenwich Apartments and maisonettes Square with gardens are being launched homes are next week. built on an Prices from £545,000 (homesand ex-hospital property.co.uk/square). site

Bicester’s not just for the discount fashionistas. . .

BEFORE the Oxfordshire town of the former Ministry of Defence site Bicester became known for discount south of Bicester at Graven Hill. fashion shopping, it was famous for Bicester is near the M40, and by its RAF base, now being redeveloped 2016 the 55-minute train service to into a new village-like settlement Marylebone will be cut by 15 minutes. called Heyford Park. Kingsmere is another modern A new phase of homes has been local village, where a broad range of launched, with 30 houses priced community facilities and amenities from £289,950 (homesandproperty. are planned — pub, primary school, co.uk/park). GP surgery, shops and sports park. The wider Cherwell district is a Developer Countryside Properties is designated “growth area”, with From £289,950: homes at Heyford selling houses priced from £225,000 3,000 homes in the pipeline Park, a new “village” in Bicester, to £530,000 (homesandproperty.co. including a new neighbourhood on Oxfordshire. Call 01869 238238 uk/kingsmere).