Wednesday 2 August 2017 Art of the Homes& ridiculous

Ben Luke on London’s public art Property Page 10

BUY IN BLACKFRIARS FOR £160K P8 OUR HOME: TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE P14 SPOTLIGHT ON P22

Islands in the Thames The remarkable regeneration of our industrial riverside Page 6

London’s best property search news: homesandproperty.co.uk 4 WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | News ‘We can’t afford to build for locals’ Trophy NE of Britain’s biggest home of property developers has been allowed to flout rules the week an on affordable housing in central London, claiming ultra-modern Oit can’t afford to build homes for locals and first-time buyers. oceanfront Despite Westminster council’s policy that all new housing schemes should Sussex house contain at least 35 per cent affordable £2.64 million: living a life of homes, it has given Berkeley Homes luxury is a (sea) breeze with permission to build 200 new flats at a weekend home like this in Paddington Green in W2 with only 32 the portfolio. Waterside designated affordable — just 16 per cent makes a glamorous, new- of the total. The developer initially build statement among its offered none at all, saying the scheme, beachfront neighbours sliding doors to a balcony tub. Further treats await you an extension of its huge West End Gate She told the London Real Estate Forum within the exclusive coastal with uninterrupted sea outside, in the shape of a development, would not be financially in June: “I do not want to preside over West Kingston Private Estate views. substantial terrace and viable with cheaper homes. a borough where the housing market is in West Sussex. Take the lift again to a top landscaped garden that The planning committee gave the go- polarised between multimillion proper- The ground floor features floor devoted to the master leads directly out to a private ahead only weeks after council leader ties for oligarchs and council-run four bedroom suites, then bedroom suite which stretch of greensward and Nickie Aiken issued a stern warning to estates, with not much in between. it’s up by lift to the vast includes a lounge, dressing the beach. the property industry that she would “Too many times we have buckled on open-plan living/dining and room and superb bathroom Through Knight Frank not tolerate London’s “golden post- viability or surrendered to the idea that kitchen areas lit by huge fitted with a freestanding (01403 611050). codes” becoming ghettos for the rich. brutal market economics simply denies housing opportunities for most people “Golden and that is just a harsh fact of life.” Lifechanger postcode”: 200 Two-bedroom flats in the sold-out first Editor: new homes at phase of West End Gate started at of the week Janice Paddington £850,000 and Berkeley Homes claimed Morley Green, top, will the new homes would not be financially become a include just 32 viable if any affordable properties were “affordable” included in the scheme. This was que- landlord amid VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk/ flats, despite a ried by Westminster and the offer was rules for details of our usual pledge by upped to 16 per cent affordable, which a lush Cumbria promotion rules. When you Westminster the council’s planners accepted. landscape respond to promotions, offers or council leader The decision has horrified local resi- competitions, the London Evening Nickie Aiken, dents. The Marylebone Association Standard and its sister companies above, to resist lodged an official objection to the £850,000: Ladthwaite Farm may contact you with relevant creating ghettos project. “On such a large development in Cumbria is the ultimate offers and services that may be of for the rich in her on-site affordable housing should be escape. Surrounded by a interest. Please give your mobile number and/or email address if borough provided, particularly given the number carpet of green in 32 acres of full of character with a large could also provide income you would like to receive such of nearby public services employers — St a North Pennines valley, kitchen/dining room, a music once converted, while the offers by text or email. Mary’s Hospital, the police station, City there’s a three-bedroom room, a snug sitting room farm has a woodland that is of Westminster College,” said spokes- farmhouse for you and an and a sun room, all with part of a 30-year Editorial: 020 3615 2650 man William Hulbert. annexe you could let, plus a lovely views of the valley conservation project as a Advertisement manager: However, John Walker, Westminster’s converted three-bedroom taking in flower meadows sanctuary for wildlife. Ann Finan director of planning, insisted the pro- barn that already rents well and the stream that runs It’s on the market with Advertising: 020 3615 0266 posal offered other “public benefits” to through its own website and through the farm. A Carter Jonas (01539 Homes & Property, Northcliffe the area. Berkeley Homes declined to on airbnb. The farmhouse is collection of outbuildings 304033). House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, comment. London W8 5TT. O Find Ruth Bloomfield’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk London buy of the week Shoreditch studio will leave change for a cool new foodie lifestyle

£375,000: enjoy the buzz of central Shoreditch — but slice the price with this neat studio flat in a converted warehouse in Boundary Street. You’ll be at the heart of a foodie hotspot, where you can grab lunch and/or treats to go at Conran’s lively Albion café and in-house bakery, then enjoy evening cocktails and amazing views of the City at Boundary Rooftop. The flat itself has surprisingly high ceilings, while the living space is large enough for a king-size bed, sitting and dining areas and a colourful Columbia Road separate glossy kitchen fitted Flower Market are all just with granite worktops, all around the corner. It’s on the overlooking a peaceful market with Fyfe Mcdade courtyard. The smart (020 8012 6435). bathroom’s fully metro-tiled. Vibrant Redchurch Street, the Shoreditch Triangle and By Faye Greenslade EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 5 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by News | Homes & Property All aboard Good Ship Branson for £900 a week rent

É SIR Richard Branson has put his famous Little Venice houseboat, left, up for rent. The billionaire Virgin boss, right, recently refurbished the two- bedroom, two-bathroom boat, which is moored close to Blomfield Road, a prime spot in this neck of the Westminster woods. The boat has a reception room, dining area, kitchen, private garden and a separate large shed. Listed at £900 a week with Bective Leslie Marsh, it may not be quite as luxurious as Branson’s private Necker Island in the Caribbean,

but it’s also in a lovely stretch of water. GETTY GETTY £7.5m makes you Claudia’s neighbour É SHE’S paid less than her male peers, but top-earning BBC female By Amira Hashish presenter Claudia Winkleman, above, can at least afford to live in Connaught Square, W2, where Tony and Cherie Blair are neighbours. And if you have a spare £7.5 million, so can you — in a lavishly revamped townhouse. The 3,595sq ft turn-key Grade II- listed home, below, comes with furniture by Ralph Lauren, Harvey Probber and Karl Springer. There are six bedrooms, including a master suite with an über-luxe fitted walk-in wardrobe and a fab marble bathroom. The lower ground floor has a Mad A perfect home for Men-style study and a separate entrance with private terrace. There good companions GETTY is also a state-of-the-art gym. With Hyde Park and Street a short ÉTHE former Oxfordshire home of A kitchen each…do they cook? stroll away, this exclusive Bayswater author and playwright JB Priestley, base is for sale with Kay & Co. inset, is for sale. The Yorkshire-born Got some ÉCARA and Poppy Delevingne, right, have bought the author of An Inspector Calls, who died gossip? glamorous Hollywood Hills home of American actor/ in 1984, started writing The Good Tweet director and singer-songwriter Jared Leto — Cara’s co-star Companions, his most celebrated @amiranews in last year’s superhero movie Suicide Squad. novel, while living in the 5,000sq ft The supermodel sisters bought the Fifties-built property house, above, in the pretty village of because they want a Los Angeles base. It comes with the Church Hanborough in 1928. obligatory LA lagoon-style swimming pool, above, and a The six-bedroom house with a recording studio. With Cara’s blossoming acting career separate cottage, pool and garden is going from strength to strength and Poppy set to follow near two stations with London trains suit, the sisters from Hammersmith decided it was the in just over an hour, so it would be a right time to invest in a place in California. lovely commuter family home. It’s Apparently, they splashed out £1.56 million for the

£2.25 million through John D Wood. house, which has four bedrooms and two kitchens. GETTY 6 WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | New homes homesandproperty.co.uk powered by

ONDONERS are irresistibly drawn to the Thames. For so long the lifeblood of the city’s industrial wealth, the river is now being transformed by a Lwave of smart new developments with improved transport links offering easy commutes. But it’s not just happening along the Thames. Numerous tributaries and associated canals are seeing unprece- dented regeneration of waterside sites at locations that can be styled as islands, if sometimes tenuously. New waterside villages are being driven by an emphasis on arts and archi- tecture as well as their watery vistas, and take full advantage of natural loops in the river. However, buyers will pay a heavy premium to wake up to a view of water. A recent study by Cluttons shows homes overlooking the Thames enjoy premiums of up to 93 per cent. FISH ISLAND Once a swathe of rotting warehouses and factories overlooking the Hertford Union Canal where it meets the River Lea, Fish Island Village (fishislandvil- lage.co.uk) is a significant development of 434 private homes, 146 affordable flats, plus workspace for creatives and entrepreneurs. The £200 million village — close to Hackney Wick and an easy walk from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and From £432,500: a studio flat at London City Island on the Leamouth Peninsula Stratford — is centred around a new public square overlooking the canal. Vanessa Coetzee, senior development manager at housing association Pea- body, working with housebuilder Hill to develop the site, hopes to create “vibrant new spaces for people to live, We’re having a work and relax”. The first residents move in next spring, and the village will be complete in 2020. “The area has gone through a creative revival recently, and we want our homes love affair with to become part of the creative commu- nity thriving in Fish Island and Hackney Wick,” she said.

Artists adopted Fish Island when barely the Thames anyone else had heard of it — driven from Hackney by high prices, they settled here, setting up studios and workshops. £2.1 million: The terrible irony of a development that above, a prides itself on including creative work- and island life three-bedroom spaces — to be run by The Trampery, a penthouse with social enterprise with a strong track A new life for our city’s London City Island also has impressive terraces record of providing space for start-ups arts credentials. The English National overlooking the within its mix of homes — is that many hidden rivers must not Ballet and National Ballet School will Thames at Upper of the original artists have been forced occupy a landmark building designed Riverside, to leave the island because their studios drive out communities by architect Glen Howells at the centre Greenwich are being demolished to make way for of the peninsula, and the London Film Peninsula. Right, the new homes. that helped form their School is to move from Covent Garden, a three-bedroom The first homes at Fish Island Village rich history, says bringing with it two cinemas, studios, flat costing went on sale last month and more than and up to 200 students. £1.3 million. 40 were reserved in the first couple of Ruth Bloomfield The first 650 residents moved on to Below, the weeks. One-bedroom flats start at the island late last year and by 2020 the peninsula with £445,000, and Help to Buy London is River Lea as it approaches the Thames peninsula will be home to about 3,000 river boat pier available, meaning buyers need only a near Canning Town, two miles from people, with site sports facilities, shops and Tube station five per cent deposit. Two-bedroom Canary Wharf. The Leamouth Penin- and a deli-bar. But herein lies its con- flats start at £615,000 and three-bed- sula is a former industrial site that sat troversy. The development is one of room flats at £725,000. empty for generations until developers the densest ever seen in the capital and Meanwhile, developer Aitch Group Ballymore and EcoWorld saw its poten- planners and objectors raised concerns has bought six sites on Fish Island (so tial. They are spending £2.25 billion on whether the new footbridge, the main called because it sits between the River the project, where new buildings of up access off the island towards Canning Lea, Hertford Canal and, rather less to 25 storeys are sprouting up. Town, will cope with the sheer volume. lovely, the teeming A12), on which it will create almost 400 homes to rent or buy, From £445,000: plus shops and workplaces. a one-bedroom First to come through are in Monier flat at Fish Island Road, where a former smokehouse is Village, which being turned into four new flats. The offers “vibrant homes are due to go on sale this year new spaces for — prices to be announced — and com- people to live, pleted next year (aitchgroup.com). work and relax” LONDON CITY ISLAND This high-rise, high-density scheme of 1,700 new homes with a Manhattan vibe is being created on a 12-acre teardrop of land encased within a meander of the EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 7 New homes | Homes & Property

£2.25 billion project: London City Island looks across to Canary Wharf and the O2 and will house 3,000 people

Expansion: London City Island will soon be joined by a second neighbouring site, Goodluck Hope, with flats from £335,000

Ballymore says it will and that this kind the first residents move in later this three-bedroom flat. A three-bedroom of ultra-dense housing development is summer. The sales demonstrate an penthouse with terraces overlooking the future, as the capital struggles to appetite for living by the O2 centre with the river is £2.1 million (see greenwich- create enough homes for its ever-grow- its 1.6 miles of waterfront, but also that peninsula.com). ing population. in a currently troubled market, mass developments such as this are going to Greenwich Peninsula will eventually HE latest phase of homes be slow going. include 15,000 new homes — and much was launched late last On offer right now are homes within more. This truly mixed development, month, with prices from Upper Riverside, five waterfront by Knight Dragon, will rival Canary £432,500 for a studio apart- buildings designed by SOM Architects, Wharf, with a £1 billion landmark build- ment, £493,000 for a one- with communal roof terraces, a Tom ing by Spanish starchitect Santiago bedroomT flat and £640,000 for a Dixon-designed lobby, swimming pool Calatrava as its centrepiece. two-bedroom flat (londoncityisland. and gym. The site has water on three His fantastical glass arcade featuring com). sides, and the majority of flats at Upper a cluster of airy towers will house more Meanwhile, Ballymore has begun Riverside overlook the Thames — the homes, plus offices, shops, restaurants, work on a second site on the Leamouth best have views over Canary Wharf and a cinema, a performance venue and a Peninsula, where 804 new homes, plus the City. hotel, all atop North Greenwich station, residents’ sports facilities, a business Prices start from £470,000 for a one- which is to be renamed Greenwich centre, cinema and a restaurant will be bedroom apartment, £775,000 for a Peninsula station. built to a design by award-winning two-bedroom flat, and £995,000 for a architects Allies and Morrison. HE ambitious £8.4 billion The first residents will move into project to build a new sub- Goodluck Hope — named for the farm urb around the O2 is going and smallholding that once occupied Looking for a to take about 15 more years the site — in late 2019. Commuters can new-build home? to complete and will feature use Canning Town station or pick up Ta film studio and a couple of schools, the Thames Clipper to Canary Wharf Start your search along with health facilities and a design in 17 minutes or London Bridge in just district. over half an hour. Prices from £335,000 on Home buyers are going to need to be for a studio apartment. in a position to exercise a little patience as it all comes together. However, the GREENWICH PENINSULA potential for price growth — once the Since the first homes were launched at current cycle of stagnation in the prop- this giant 150-acre regeneration zone erty market has run its course — is in 2014, more than 700 have sold and undeniable. 8 WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | First-time buyer

£499,950: a two-bedroom flat in Coral Step just across Street, close to The Old Vic and Waterloo station the river to enter (dexters.co.uk) a golden triangle Head to Blackfriars for a rare chance to live in the heart of the capital for a starting price From £158,125: a quarter share in a one-bedroom flat in Blackfriars Circus of less than £160k, says Ruth Bloomfield

IRST-TIME buyers who fancy have the regeneration of Elephant and a Zone 1 home but have given Castle to the south, the transport hub up hope of ever living in the of Waterloo to the west and the timeless heart of their city are being appeal of the South Bank to the north. offered a rare chance to buy And South Bank Tower and One Black- intoF a “golden triangle” with brilliant friars are now coming to fruition which local facilities and transport links. will give the area a marked boost. Blackfriars Place, close to Blackfriars “ council has a clear appe- Bridge, sits in an area where billions of tite for regeneration that goes beyond pounds is being poured into high-end new homes, with continued invest- housing schemes. ment in local parks, open spaces and Most of these properties will be sold new amenities.” Southwark Tube sta- to City high-flyers, overseas buyers and tion is on the Jubilee line, but Fildes says affluent downsizers, but housing asso- locals won’t necessarily need the Tube. ciation Latimer, part of Clarion Housing “Most people living in the area walk or Group (latimerhomes.com), has a cycle to work, with the City and London tranche of flats earmarked for novice Bridge within easy reach.” buyers starting at less than £160,000. The homes are part of Barratt Lon- WHAT ELSE CAN I BUY? don’s glitzy Blackfriars Circus devel- With a budget of £500,000 within a opment, and a 25 per cent share of a half-mile of Southwark Tube the short one-bedroom flat (full value: £632,500) answer is not much bar ex-local author- ity, such as a two-bedroom flat in Coral Street through Dexters. Between South- wark and Borough, CP Walker & Son is Looking for your selling a two-bedroom flat in Lancaster Street for offers around £490,000. first home? For better choice and value, move Start your away from the river, towards or Walworth. If you can for- search on give the Army fatigue-style cladding, Reeds Rains has a two-bedroom apart- ment in a modern block in New Kent Road for £475,000. Towards you could buy a three-bedroom ex-council flat with nice gardens in Forsyth Gardens for offers over £495,000 with Barnard starts at £158,125. As well as mortgage Marcus. Good options for a one-bed- repayments, owners will have to pay room flat come at less than £100,000. £633 a month rent, and a fairly punchy Elephant and Castle’s Strata tower monthly service charge of £206. has wonderful views, and is at the heart Two-bedroom flats start at £191,875 of the area’s massive regeneration. for a 25 per cent share (full value: Gordon & Co has a one-bedroom flat £767,500), with monthly rent of £528. there for £495,000. The service charge for these larger Pullens Building, a Victorian tene- homes rises to £255 a month. ment converted into flats in Penton For buyers who can afford them — and Place, Walworth, offers a more period those living or working in south-east type of charm and a private courtyard London will get first dibs — the big sell- garden. Winkworth is selling a one- ing point of these homes is connectivity. bedroom flat there, with fireplaces and Transport links are great, and it’s an exposed brick, for £495,000. easy walk to the South Bank, the Old or In undervalued Walworth, KFH is Young Vic theatres, Tate Modern and selling a one-bedroom flat in a Victo- the Menier Chocolate Factory. rian building for £350,000.

Nightlife is also really good. It’s not a particularly clubby area — apart from the Ministry of Sound — but there are some great pubs, such as the Windmill Tavern and the Union Jack, and bars such as Blackfriars Wine Bar. For dinner there are stacks of neigh- bourhood restaurants but if you prefer a celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay’s Union Street Café is a more recent arrival, joined by Mark Hix’s new ven- ture, Hixter Bankside. Experts believe this whole area is on the up. “It is a long-overlooked ‘golden triangle’ area with positive ripples com- ing from each direction,” says Emma £475,000: a two-bedroom flat in New Fildes, manager of Fyfe Mcdade. “You Kent Road. Visit reedsrains.co.uk EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 9 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Homes abroad | Homes & Property

Beach living: Soneva Fushi homes, built largely from bamboo, wood and For barefoot palm leaves, start from £2.6million

fragile areas. Soneva Fushi was first to luxury, take offer property for sale in the Maldives, selling detached beachfront Robinson Crusoe-style homes on 50-year a dip into renewable leases. The rustic homes, constructed largely from bamboo, wood and palm leaves, start from the Maldives £2.6 million. So far 10 have sold, all placed back into the rental pool for hotel guests. Soneva Jani is in the northern Noonu Only here do you get an Indian Atoll, 40 minutes by float plane from the capital Mal, on five palm-fringed Ocean island and a personal islands around a remarkable turquoise lagoon. It has the largest butler, says Cathy Hawker overwater villas in the Maldives with a fun factor that includes retractable HE exclusive Indian Ocean roofs to watch the night sky, a slide nation of the Maldives is from your private roof terrace into the not your typical holiday lagoon, and an open-air, overwater home destination. There cinema. are no golf course resorts, Residents might be living in barefoot noT Renaissance homes layered in bliss but they are being looked after in culture and certainly no Florida-style five-star luxury, complete with a theme parks. Anyone looking to buy a world-class sommelier managing an home on one of the 1,200 tiny, low- extensive wine cellar. level islands will find only a handful of These are trophy homes, agrees options, all top dollar. Sonu, normally a fourth or fifth Yet the popularity of the Maldives property for the fortunate few buyers, among big spenders has never been but with the additional benefit of a greater, with the number of recent demonstrable net cash yield of four five-star hotel openings reaching fever per cent achieved annually for owners pitch. Ten opened in just a few at Soneva Fushi. months last year, each trying to outdo Four buyers have signed up at the other with underwater Soneva Jani — Swedish, American, restaurants and resident mixologists. Chinese and British purchasers — The Maldives hasn’t always been a paying from £2.3 million for the 24 five-star destination, say Sonu and completed overwater villas or 30 Eva Shivdasani, husband-and-wife off-plan island homes. hoteliers whose newest offering, Soneva Jani, was one of the most OWNING AN ISLAND anticipated openings of last year. Vladi Private Islands is selling entire islands in the Maldives, from four Their first resort, Soneva Fushi, opened undeveloped acres 15 minutes from in 1995 and arguably did more than the international airport, up to a five- any to put the Maldives on the map. star resort on 38.8 acres with 100 There are now 120-plus resorts hotel rooms. keeping to the model of one island, Small virgin islands with a one resort. Yet when Eva first visited development permit start from about in 1980, there were four hotels in all. £3.8 million, says Tatjana Simonsen “Even when we opened Soneva from Vladi. The distance to Mal’s Fushi, the Maldives were regarded as international airport, the quality of more of a three-star destination,” says the house reef, any existing Sonu. “The Maldives truly were mass infrastructure and how the island will market well into the Nineties.” be used all influence the price. Soneva Fushi knocked that concept Along with the other, more out of the crystal-clear Indian Ocean affordable Indian Ocean islands of waters, attracting a wealthy A-list Mauritius and Seychelles, projects in crowd of holidaying celebrities, Paul the Maldives are encouraging British McCartney and Madonna among buyers to look east from more familiar them. After 22 years of operation its CONTACTS Caribbean winter sun homes. repeat rates are nearly double the O Soneva “The Indian Ocean’s excellent region’s average, thanks to its Residences: marine environment, high level of “barefoot luxury” concept of soneva.com/ service and cultural diversity have all personal butlers and laid-back desert soneva-residences helped the region gain ground from island charm. the Caribbean,” says Sonu. “For It’s all wrapped up with a genuine O Vladi Private property owners we can demonstrate drive for marine sustainability in one Islands: vladi- that like-for-like villas have risen 40 of the Earth’s most photogenic but private-islands per cent in price.” 10 WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Comment

HIS is a busy time for public art in London. Two big tem- porary outdoor sculpture shows have opened: Sculp- ture in the City, in which 16T works by artists including Damien Hirst and Paul McCarthy are dotted around the Square Mile, and Frieze Sculpture 2017, a 24-work sculpture show set in Regent’s Park, three months ahead of the art fair that normally Ben Luke ART CRITIC accompanies it. Meanwhile, Daniel Buren, the French master of stripy art, has unveiled his completed commis- sion for the new Tottenham Court Road

Tube station — the latest project from JEREMY SELWYN ALAMY ALAMY Art on the Underground and part of Public art with merit, or “hideous baubles”?: left, She Guardian by Dashi Namdakov; centre, Jelly Baby Family by Mauro Perucchetti; right, Love by Lorenzo Quinn a near-constant trickle of new art, per- manent or temporary, appearing in London’s public spaces. We can thank the relentless building and development going on across Lon- don for the arrival of all this work. The addition of some public art can help ease planning applications through to approval and for every crane you see on the skyline, you can assume an art- work will soon follow. However, this London’s relentless development is bringing a rash of new public art — some of it simply woeful isn’t an entirely positive development, because much of what is appearing is helped young and otherwise not widely simply woeful. This is because, without celebrated artists make bold new work proper scrutiny, we invite a deluge of for developers. Recently, - what the architect James Wines in 1970 based artist Sara Barker made two described as the “turd in the plaza” intriguing abstract pieces for Angel syndrome, producing “plop art”. Court, a new tower at Bank. These works reward revisiting, not giving up THE GOOD, THE BAD AND their secrets at the first viewing. THE DOWNRIGHT DAFT Meanwhile, the Sculpture in the No work has affected me more than City initiative, in contrast to Westmin- Rachel Whiteread’s House, the con- ster’s similarly named scheme, is tem- crete cast of a Victorian terrace house, porarily enlivening numerous created in Bow in 1993 with the help of otherwise humdrum, unexpected or the visionary commissioners of public forgotten corners of the financial dis- works, Artangel. That this masterpiece trict with works by both stellar names had to be demolished — after a public and emerging figures. As with Frieze furore and questions in Parliament — Sculpture, there’s a sense of creatively tells us all we need to know about the exploring the possibilities of art in divisiveness public art can prompt. public space, rather than tokenistic

Part of the problem is that in London, PA/TFL MARC WILMOT plopping or plonking. And both move and the UK generally, the approach to Smarter art: Daniel Buren with his Diamonds and Circles. Right, at Bank, Sara Barker’s intriguing Last of Light (3 Needles) through different registers, prompting commissioning public art is chaotic. amusement, bewilderment, calm, Art is sprung on the public based on the worst offenders is Westminster City hideous baubles, especially at Marble ness, culture and heritage, the initiative surprise — even, occasionally and quite the whims of local councils and devel- Council, which, through its City of Arch and in Park Lane. The brainchild works with various galleries and indi- deliberately, disgust. Some of it fails, opers and the “experts” of arguable Sculpture initiative has become a of Robert Davis, Westminster’s deputy viduals but is most closely associated but it all soon disappears and new credibility who advise them. Among polluter of key London spaces with leader and cabinet member for busi- with New Bond Street’s Halcyon Gal- works emerge next year. lery. The purveyor of London’s tawdri- But even with short-lived projects, est art, Halcyon is responsible for expertise is needed, and an advisory ‘Art is being bringing to Marble Arch such mon- board, including Iwona Blazwick, sprung on strosities as Genghis Khan, a five-metre director of the Whitechapel Gallery, bronze, and the winged She Guardian, and Jane Alison, head of galleries at the the public rising to 11 metres, by Russian sculptor Barbican, oversees the works pre- based on Dashi Namdakov, and Mauro Peruc- sented in the City. chetti’s Jelly Baby Family. the whims It’s a handy arrangement: Halcyon A GLIMMER OF HOPE of local pays for the installation and insurance More than ever, every project involving councils, etc, and can use celebrated London public art in the capital needs this spaces as a shop window for artists depth of professional scrutiny, so lack- developers whose work it sells, while Westminster ing in the Westminster sculpture pro- and advisers demonstrates cultural engagement at gramme and at too many private no cost. Halcyon is currently promoting developments. of arguable its cliché-monger-in-chief, the Italian However, some hopeful news credibility’ contemporary artist Lorenzo Quinn, in emerged last month. It was reported Berkeley Square and Riverside Walk that the Battersea Power Station project Gardens at Millbank. The latter work, has appointed Jude Kelly, artistic direc- an inane piece of aluminium bling fea- tor of the Southbank Centre, as its arts turing clasped hands in a circle, called adviser, and the esteemed non-profit Love, is a stone’s throw from a quiet, Cass Sculpture Foundation is advis- dignified and absorbing Henry Moore. ing on public art projects there. Kelly No local council should give a com- wants a 3km “arts corridor” along the mercial gallery the freedom to display river featuring new artworks. its works publicly that Halcyon is This is what’s needed across the afforded by Westminster. board — serious, knowledgeable, pub- lic-spirited figures working to engage Thankfully, elsewhere, much good art is the public in the art of our times. Only appearing in public. Acting as consult- that way can the turds be flushed from ant, the Contemporary Art Society has our plinths, paths and plazas. 12 WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Events

THE LEARNED SOCIETY OF EXTRA ORDINARY OBJECTS Until September 3 at Somerset House, WC2. Free (somersethouse.org.uk) SUSPEND your disbelief and enter the world of The Learned Society of Extra Ordinary Objects, curated by designer Carl Clerkin and artist Danny Clarke. The Terrace Rooms are the HQ of the imagined Learned Society for this design exhibition inspired by the history of Somerset House, where Royal Academicians and Royal Society members would discuss advancements in their various fields. Thirty contemporary designers, artists and makers help us to explore different ways of engaging with everyday objects, left and below, through creative design.

ANIMAL, VEGETABLE AND heaven with 25 craftspeople on MINERAL parade, 17 of them new discoveries Running until September 9 at The New for the gallery. Pride of place goes to Craftsmen, 34 North Row, W1 Memory Chain, above, a sculpture by (thenewcraftsmen.com) Anastasya Martynova, its giant links THIS elegant Mayfair gallery believes carved from a single chunk of pine. craft is a luxury — not for its price, Browse macramé pot hangers, but for its beauty and rarity. The handmade knives, modernist rugs, a building has a striking white façade wooden bench/table, silk-lined pierced by large windows with grids woollen pencil cases knitted in one of square mullions, and boldly dated piece and many ceramics, with 1891 in an arty-crafty script. Inside, prices from £35 for a toast rack. Take the airy former leather workshop has away what you buy. Workshops, £50, a super-summery show, a collector’s are on August 12, 19, and 26. Five things to see in August By Barbara Chandler

BREATHING COLOUR BY HELLA JONGERIUS SERPENTINE PAVILION 2017, middle to the sky, inspired by the Until September 24 at The Design Museum, 224-238 DESIGNED BY FRANCIS KÉRÉ central tree, a meeting point in the Kensington High Street, W8 (designmuseum.org) Until October 8, Kensington Gardens, African village where architect SHARE the imagination, emotions and long-time research W2. Free (serpentinegalleries.org) Francis Kéré grew up. When it rains, of Dutch designer Hella Jongerius, whose bright sofas and WITH openings all around and walls the water is funnelled downwards, a chairs are outside. Indoors, a show that’s more installation of blue timber blocks in a pattern of torrent framed by slender steel rods, art than design includes “colour catchers” — faceted triangles, there’s a myriad of draining away to irrigate the park. sculptures, above, set against 10 panels that progress from peepholes at this year’s Serpentine Also see Grayson Perry’s free light to dark, echoing the shapes in front of them. Adults Pavilion, above. The slatted wooden adjacent The Most Popular Art Show £10.50; concs £8; children £5.50 — under-6s go free. roof filters sunlight and is open in the Ever! until September 10.

DAY OUT: CELEBRATION OF CRAFTSMANSHIP & DESIGN, CHELTENHAM

August 19-28, Thirlestaine Long Gallery, Bath Road, Cheltenham (celebration ofcraftsmanship.com). LOVE fine furniture and considering a commission? Here is a show worth leaving London for, at neoclassical Thirlestaine Long Gallery set in the elegant surroundings of Cheltenham Spa. See more than 300 pieces from 70 British workshops, including the Retrospect sideboard, left, by Bristol’s Alan Flannery, right, at the UK’s largest show of contemporary bespoke designer-maker furniture. Tickets, £6. Catalogue £5. 14 WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Our home homesandproperty.co.uk

Growing the space: Deenie and Martin went into the loft, adding dormer windows, and expanded living areas with an extension Two bright new homes from one tired old house

AKE a Victorian house, the sort have a more open-plan downstairs. Tim a child draws, with a door in Splitting a Victorian also knew how to level out the floors to the middle and four windows get good head height in the new master evenly spaced. Extend into the house in half gave a bedroom. The couple praise their archi- loft space at the back, adding tect warmly. During the build he came twoT dormer windows overlooking the south London family along every fortnight and costed the job, rear garden. Then build a centrally placed to make sure that the builder stayed on ground-level extension at the back to one home to live in time and budget. enlarge living areas and create two family bathrooms. Now put a lobby behind the and one to let out. By Tim also suggested full-height wooden front door and cut the enlarged house in Philippa Stockley spindles going up the staircase. Painted half, right down the middle. yellow, they add flair. Another tip was Finally, add two new staircases and two getting an off-the-shelf kitchen, topping kitchens… and hey presto, instead of one just tired, it was knackered. So Deenie it with fashionable bamboo, and doing 1,400sq ft home, you’ve got two bright and Martin considered a big renovation. fronts in pre-finished ply that’s colour- three-bedroom, three-storey family Then they had the brainwave — to divide washed so the wood grain shows. houses, a mirror image of each other and it. This was complex so they consulted In October 2015, the couple moved into each with 1,055sq ft of space indoors plus an architect, but he only wanted to con- a rented flat with baby Lilah and the build a good-sized garden. vert it into flats, so Martin decided to got under way. Opening up the ground Deenie Lee, 38, who is in marketing, draw up and submit the plans himself. floor to sliding doors at the back and and her fiancé Martin Thomas, 39, a fur- putting a loo in a pod in the middle gives niture and shop designer, had the idea in Curiously, Deenie’s father had already had front-to-back sightlines. Upstairs are two 2010, when they moved into the house the idea. “My dad was a market trader,” bedrooms for the children and a family Deenie’s parents had bought and let out Deenie says, “and he always said, ‘If you bathroom, while the top floor has a mas- seven years earlier. Deenie’s father had do anything with the house, divide it in ter bedroom under the eaves. died and the plan was to create a family half’.” This bit of Brockley was bombed Martin built storage into the lower home for Deenie and Martin — they now in the war. The house had some cracks, eaves and designed a stylish kitchen have three-year-old daughter Lilah and not to mention different levels in the table and benches finished in beech, plus son Griff, who’s one — plus a house next floors, and needed a good going over. a brilliant system of ply shelves and dis- door for Deenie’s mum to let out. Martin worked up his plans, but the tinctive metal brackets. But he warns planners said the extension was too big. that dividing the services was a night- It’s an absolute winner, and here’s how it He reduced it — but then to his surprise, mare. “The road was dug up three times happened. After her degree, in 2000 his application was rejected. The couple for water, electricity and gas. There has Deenie joined some mates renting an hired a planning consultant, went to to be a better way to do that.” 1870 house in Brockley. The house was appeal and won. tired but had a good vibe and in 2003, Martin saw that improvements could VERY stage had its challenges, looking for an investment, Deenie’s par- still be made, so he and Deenie invited a the biggest being that the ents bought the place. Deenie moved out few architects over. Tim O’Callaghan, of entire house turned out to be and moved on. She met Martin in Bristol new practice nimtim, loved what they six degrees out of true. Tim hid in 2010, just before she was offered a job had done and felt he could help them it by laying the floorboards in London. The couple moved to the make the tweaks they were after. Ediagonally. To pick up the motif, the capital but soon realised how expensive He suggested opening up the design tilers used a chevron idea in the splash- it was compared with Bristol. for better flow. Martin had put in a cor- back and bathroom tiling. Their thoughts turned to the old Brock- ridor and divided rooms to meet fire Now, instead of one tired house with ley house, which by then had seen so regulations, but Tim showed him that by wonky angles, there are two lively, bright much coming and going that it wasn’t putting in a sprinkler system they could family houses, full of good ideas. Great family space: Martin Thomas and Deenie Lee with children Lilah and Griff EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 15 powered by Our home | Homes & Property

What the eye sees, the mind believes: diagonally laid floorboards, as in the kitchen, disguise the fact that the house is six degrees out of true. They’re cleverly picked up by the chevron-patterned splashback

Hello, sunshine: statement yellow full-height stairway spindles

My idea: Martin designed ply shelving with metal brackets

Architect: Tim O’Callaghan at nimtim Get the (nimtim.co.uk) Normandy Grey bricks for extension: look from Modular Clay Products (modular clayproducts.co.uk) Engineered oak floors: from UK wood floors (ukwoodfloors.co.uk) Steel door handles: from SDS (sdslondon.co.uk) Masia tiles in kitchen and bathrooms: from Equipe (equipeceramicas.com) Kitchen carcasses: from Howdens Joinery (howdens.com) Bamboo worktop: from Worktop Express (worktop-express.co.uk) Pendant kitchen lamps: from Nordlux (nordlux.com) All bathroom goods: from Potter Perrin (potterperrin.com) Shutters: from The Shutter Studio (theshutterstudio.com) Pendant lamp in sitting area: from made.com Babouche yellow and Strong White Photographs:: paint throughout: from Farrow & Ball Recurring motif: chevron bathroom tiling, as in the kitchen Room at the top: a light, bright master bedroom was created beneath the eaves Charles Hosea (farrow-ball.com) 18 WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Outdoors

Gardening problems?

Email our RHS expert at: expert gardeningadvice @gmail.com

Round the bend: the garden path has meandering curves designed to slow footsteps so that visitors can enjoy the exuberant plantings on either side Totally tropical… but it’s London Sizzling red and hot pink blooms sit beside palms, olive and bamboo in a city garden

NYONE who thinks town Pattie gardens are past their best in late summer should take Barron a huge leaf — banana, Living it lush: palm, canna — from a west the sheltered, ALondon plot that sizzles with tropical south-facing foliage and brilliant, clashing colour. garden is ideally Ten years ago Antony Watkins and with paddle leaves that soar up to eight suited for Christopher Hutchings moved to a ter- feet and more. The agapanthus leaves growing exotic race house in west London with the alone are a splendid sight; Watkins’ plants but part of ideal outdoor space for this pair of trick for success is to sink the pot into it, at the back, plant lovers: south-facing and backing the ground with the bottom smashed offers a cool on to allotments. Now, instead of a off so the roots can grow through, giv- contrast of patchy lawn surrounded by lacklustre ing them the restriction they prefer. duck-egg blue shrubs, there are palm trees, olive, tree At lower levels, banks of flowers and outdoor kitchen fern and a curtain of towering golden foliage tumble and cascade over the and dining area bamboo, backed up with a very full edges of the beds’ low, retaining brick supporting cast of perennials and walls: Firecracker begonias, grey-green with adjoining planters allow plenty of annuals in luscious shades, such as sky Euphorbia myrsinites, tiny Mexican space for favourite succulents that blue salvias and navy agapanthus, daisies, metallic plum heuchera leaves chime with the more Mediterranean many of which are raised and protected and a mass of white pompom flowers feel of this area. out of season in the couple’s equally that Watkins calls Nana’s Plant because There are several seating areas burgeoning allotment, conveniently a it’s from his grandmother’s garden. throughout the garden, so that it can few steps away. Take a different route higher up the be enjoyed from different viewpoints, path, turning left, and you reach an including a café table and chairs on the In one fabulously eye-watering section, informal, bark-floored clearing in the patio, the chosen spot for breakfast the butter-yellow heads of heleniums jungle, with a great view of the garden’s alfresco. The original terracotta-tiled brush against orange zinnias, crimson architectural evergreens, investments floor of the patio remains, but the pre- monardas and scarlet crocosmias. bought at the start: three different fan viously jarring hot shade now makes a Watkins’ idea of a colour scheme is as palms including the rare blue Brahea perfect foil to the colony of potted follows: “Bang it all in! I purposely put armata, the hardy palm Trachycarpus plants that include shocking pink yellow and pink and red all together fortunei that now has exotic pineapple dahlias, deep crimson scabious, stripy and I love it. Christopher prefers blocks lilies sprouting around its base and an zebra grass and golden rudbeckias. A of colour, so next year it’s his turn.” olive tree, pollarded every alternate big zinc bin holds the large, neon-bright There was, however, a grand plan spring to keep it bushy. daisy heads of gerberas, better known they both agreed on, that cleverly The bark clearing leads to a circle of to most of us as cut flowers, but divides the garden into several zones impossibly perfect lawn, which is Obi Watkins says his have lasted for five and makes the space — just 58ft by 22ft the dog’s domain. He doesn’t mind that years in containers of free-draining — look a lot larger. A broad paved path it’s a very good fake. “When we first compost. leads down the right-hand side of the made the garden, we had real grass but Photographs:: garden, but it has a winding, meander- because we have irrigation and the With faded flowers to deadhead, over- Nicola Stocken ing S shape because, says Watkins, who garden gets sun all day, we were con- zealous plants needing to be checked specialises in designing and planting stantly cutting it,” says Watkins. “So and the next wave of seed-grown annu- Green Eden: left, borders, “We wanted people to take we gave up and switched to the finest als waiting in the wings — the allotment Obi the dog, a their time and really look at the plants, grade of Easigrass.” next door — this sensational garden is Coton de Tuléar, rather than shooting down the path.” as intensive as it gets, but then Watkins in the arms of It’s impossible to imagine anybody At the end of the path, behind a trellised and Hutchings wouldn’t have it any Antony Watkins, shooting past the giant shuttlecock cedar wood panel, is a cool, calm con- other way. with Christopher leaves of the tree fern, the deep red trast — the dining and entertaining Hutchings, has a Abyssinian banana, the giant white area, comprising a duck-egg blue, O Antony Watkins is available for circular fake blooms of Hydrangea Annabelle or the streamlined outdoor kitchen with grill commission. You can email him at lawn as his own mini-grove of giant Canna Musifolia and granite worktops. Built-in benches [email protected] patch of garden 20 WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Reader promotion That’s Alison the TV Cork dinner sorted Cool, contemporary AS PRACTICAL Scandi-style dining as it is stylish, this coffee FOR contemporary dining furniture table from the with style, the Dansk dining set, Alison Cork right, from British furniture designer QVC collection Out & Out Original, fits the bill provides perfectly and is available in a white excellent or grey colour theme, priced at £499. storage, while The Dansk comprises four retro- the table top style chairs and a scratch-resistant can be raised table which can be extended from to enjoy dinner 106cm to 136cm. in front of the Get £200 off when you quote the TV — so, no code danish200, cutting the price to more trays on just £299 — including free two-man laps. delivery. 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[email protected] with “Bargain Made from high-grade 18/10 Simply use code ESBN28 before News” in the subject line. For more stainless steel, the set includes eight August 8 at alisonathome.com/ bargains, visit alisonathome.com or place settings, comprising table marketplace or call 020 7087 2900 homesandproperty.co.uk/offers knives and forks, dessert knives, to claim. 22 WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Property searching

Civic Centre: far left, Sixties-built Crown House is now borough council headquarters

London Road: left, Morden town centre is in for a £10 million revamp under the council’s area masterplan Spotlight on Morden Families are realising the potential for growth in this designated Housing Zone and snapping up good-value Thirties homes. By Anthea Masey

OR a guaranteed seat on the deadheading. Some locals still remem- morning rush-hour Tube to ber generous children’s parties in the the City or the West End, Today in Morden big house. Morden’s other claim to Morden — last stop on the fame is John Innes, whose name graces — is just the rightmove has bags of compost in every garden centre Fticket. And that’s just one factor earn- 158 houses to in the land. ing this south-west London suburb a Innes developed , build- bunch of property brownie points. BUY and 73 ing many fine houses in a garden suburb The River Wandle runs through setting with trees and holly hedges. The National Trust-owned Morden Hall homes to RENT architect for the first of these homes was Park, which also boasts a water wheel, Henry Goodall Quartermain, with later a snuff mill, a wetlands boardwalk, a houses by John Sydney Brocklesby, all rose garden, a café and one of south very sought after today. London’s best garden centres, while Innes died in 1904 and left money to home seekers will discover a plentiful establish an institution for horticultural supply of relatively affordable Thirties training and research. The John Innes detached, semi-detached and terrace uninspiring high street with a new Institute started life in Merton Park, houses, many of which have been public square in front of the Tube sta- where the famous composts were extended into the garden. tion, created by rerouting the gyratory developed, before moving to Hertford- The town centre is dominated by the traffic system, plus new walking routes shire and then to its current headquar- landmark curved Sixties Crown House, to . ters in Norwich where it remains at the home to the local Merton borough Thanks to the generosity of the last forefront of horticultural research. council, which now has big improve- owner of the park, tobacco merchant Nine miles from central London, Mor- ment plans for the area. These started Gilliat Edward Hatfeild, it wasn’t swal- den has Merton and Wimbledon to the with Morden Court Parade, a fine ter- lowed up in the suburban development north, to the east, race of Art Deco flats with ironwork of Morden. Instead, when he died in and Sutton to the south and Morden Hall balconies in London Road, where the 1941, the house — now an exclusive and to the west. Estate Park: a stunning ground floors have had their shop wedding venue — and its park were agent Hayley Blackwell, from the local 125-acre National fronts and shop signs redesigned. bequeathed to the National Trust. branch of Ellisons, has been based in Trust green Morden is one of London’s 20 new Hatfeild designed and planted a rose Morden for 15 years. “It is only in the space straddling Housing Zones and the council is look- garden which the Trust has restored. last three or four years that the area has the River Wandle ing for a development partner to He was such a keen gardener that he is become recognised,” she says. “It is deliver 1,000 new homes, of which 40 said to have kept his basket, secateurs definitely on the up and families can see per cent will be affordable. There are and gloves hidden in a hollow tree there is a chance to make money here Photographs: also £10 million plans to redesign the ready for use, and spent his evenings by investing in their homes.” Daniel Lynch

£360,000 £285,000 £565,000 A TWO-BEDROOM flat in Schoolgate Drive, IN THIS block in London Road, close to Morden town A CLASSIC three-bedroom terrace house in Morden, with open-plan living and a communal centre and minutes from the Tube, a two-bedroom Lynmouth Avenue, , with a garage garden. Call Goodfellows (020 8012 4396). flat is for sale through Turners (020 8012 3282). and off-street parking. KFH (020 8012 9083). £600,000 A THIRTIES three-bedroom semi-detached house in need of modernisation in Mossville Gardens, To find a home in Morden, visit rightmove.co.uk Morden, with a garage, off-street parking, front and rear gardens and a conservatory. There’s no For more about Morden, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/morden onward chain. Call Goodfellows (as before). EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 23 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Property searching | Homes & Property

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STATS CHECK WHAT HOMES COST BUYING IN MORDEN (Average prices) One-bedroom flat £272,000 Two-bedroom flat £324,000 Two-bedroom house £379,000 Three-bedroom house £475,000 Four-bedroom house £609,000

RENTING IN MORDEN (Average rates per month) One-bedroom flat £1,006 Two-bedroom flat £1,226 Prize-winning talent pool: the RSSC Bears Pool Club, one of the best in London, Two-bedroom house £1,327 based at the Royal Snooker and Social Club in Abbotsbury Road, Morden Three-bedroom house £1,583 Four-bedroom house £2,076 Source: Rightmove

FOR MORE, VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk O Use our School Checker to find catchment areas and inspection reports for local schools O The best Morden shops and restaurants O Local arts, leisure and sport O Morden’s best streets — and the up-and-coming spots to watch

Art Deco gem: revamped frontages in Morden Court Parade, London Road

THE PROPERTY SCENE

MORDEN Tube station opened in 904084. Wellsborough Mews in large Barratt development built five 1926, a building boom followed and Bushey Road close to Wimbledon years ago, has two-bedroom, two- the district still has plenty of Thirties Chase train station is a gated develop- bathroom flats that rent for about houses. In the John Innes ment of seven three-bedroom houses £1,400 a month. The primary schools conservation area in Merton Park, and seven one- and two-bedroom in Merton Park and the Hillcross area north of Morden station and south of flats. Houses start at £895,000, with attract families. They expect to pay Kingston Road, houses designed by two-bedroom flats at £525,000. Call about £2,000 a month for a three- Henry Goodall Quartermain from Fine & Country (020 7987 8777). bedroom house in Merton Park and 1873-1903, or by John Sydney In nearby , £1,600 to £1,800 a month in the Brocklesby from 1905-1926, are Madison Heights in Milner Road is a Hillcross area.” particularly popular. scheme of 15 one- and two-bedroom Narloch says most of her landlords A seven-bedroom Brocklesby house flats designed by award-winning are former owners who have held on in Sheridan Road is currently for sale architect Feilden Clegg Bradley to their homes as an investment. for £2,995,000, while a five-bedroom Studios. Two-bedroom flats start at However, these days she advises buy- Quartermain house is for sale in £620,000. Visit madisonheights to-let investors to look at Morden, Dorset Road for £2.65 million. SW19.com. Alternatively, call agents where the rental yield is in the region Three-bedroom Thirties houses are Barnard Marcus (020 8874 4106) or of four per cent, rather than currently on the market for between Caddington Blue (020 7407 6033). Wimbledon, where investors are £385,000 in Garth Close and lucky to get two per cent. £665,000 in Arundel Avenue in the ■ AFFORDABLE HOMES TRANSPORT Hillcross area, west of the town Housing association L&Q has 42 HAVE YOUR SAY: centre. Buyers are beginning to one-, two- and three-bedroom MORDEN is the most southerly station recognise that value can be added to shared-ownership flats at Morris MORDEN on the Northern line Tube. There are these houses by extending into the Court in Christchurch Road, close to LOCALS TWEET THEIR TIPS train stations at Wimbledon Chase, loft and garden. There is the added Tube station. Prices South Merton, Morden South and St advantage of off-street parking — start at £104,375 for a 25 per cent @richardpowley recommends: Helier on the Thameslink Wimbledon something of a rarity in nearby but share in a one-bedroom flat valued at Superfish chippie, Morden Hall Park, loop line with Blackfriars, Farringdon more expensive Wimbledon. £417,500. Two-bedroom flats start at Tariro fairtrade coffee house, Crown and St Pancras services. Direct trains The St Helier estate, south of the £125,000 for 25 per cent of a home House Creative, Crown Lane’s from South Merton to Blackfriars take town centre, is a former London valued at £500,000, while three- “friendliest Londis in London”, Rutlish 38 minutes. Trains to Waterloo require County Council garden estate with bedroom flats start at £162,500 for a School (“outstanding”), Poplar a change at Wimbledon and take about simple terrace cottages. Three- 25 per cent share of a home valued at Primary’s scooter park and Crown 30 minutes. Wimbledon Chase is in bedroom homes here sell for £650,000. Call 020 3858 3057. Lane recording studio. Zone 3, and an annual travelcard costs £400,000-£425,000 and are often £1,520. All the other stations are in snapped up within a week. ■ HOMES FOR RENT @LoveMorden recommends: Zone 4, and the travelcard is £1,860. Jenny Narloch, lettings manager at Morden Hall Park, Tariro Coffee, There are stops at Merton ■ NEW-BUILD HOMES Ellisons Estate Agents, agrees that Crown Lane Studio, South London Park, Morden Road and Phipps Bridge Penmans Row in Canterbury Road being at the end of the Northern line, Stationers, Next Chapter Tattoo, with trams to Wimbledon and Croydon, is a development of 11 four-bedroom especially as it now has a night Crown House Creative and the and there are plans to extend the line terrace houses by Picfare Homes, service, is a big attraction. “We are transport (tram, Tube, bus, train, to Sutton through Morden. with prices from £615,000. Visit getting a lot of professional sharers. cycle routes and scooter park). penmansrow.co.uk or call 01737 The Willows off Central Road, a 24 WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Inside story

THURSDAY The team’s in good spirits because the West End terrace investor from Monday has called to say he is proceeding with the purchase and would like us to market the flats once view is an Eyeful they have completed. We then receive an offer for one of the flats at the new West End development — the virtual MONDAY games room is a real talking point. Bright and early, I am in the office Diary of I’m in the very heart of Soho this after- catching up with emails and messages noon for two valuations, one of which before the rest of the team arrives. We is at an unusual boutique development. always begin the week with a depart- an estate I already have a few potential tenants in ment meeting at 9am to run through mind as I look around, so I am thrilled what everyone is working on, such as agent when we get instructed and I start outstanding offers and deals. This is a organising viewings asap. great way to launch into the morning, will be a lot of interest. Back-to-back and everyone leaves feeling motivated valuations in Soho and Covent Garden FRIDAY and ready to do some deals. fill the afternoon and I’m instructed to We’re looking back on what seems a Preparing for a midday meeting with market all three on the spot. One of the long week, but a very successful one. an investor takes up the rest of the properties has a 65ft roof terrace with As an office this week, we have agreed morning. He is considering buying four views of the London Eye, such a rarity 11 lettings deals on properties in and flats in Covent Garden to rent out and in this part of town. I head straight back around Covent Garden. Summer is wants to discuss what sort of values to the office and start making calls. certainly one of our busiest periods. might be achieved. The Covent Garden I meet another investor who is look- and Soho area is very popular with rent- WEDNESDAY ing to buy a three-bedroom flat in ers at the moment, especially students I meet a landlord who recently invested Bloomsbury and wants to discuss the starting their studies next month. Later in two apartments in one of the West lettings market in depth. All goes well I dash over to Bloomsbury to value a End’s top new developments, complete and he’ll be in touch next week. really quirky flat — fingers crossed we with access to a gym, sauna and spa, In Clerkenwell this afternoon, I’ve a get instructed. as well as a virtual games room. We joint valuation with one of the sales have had a lot of demand from tenants managers on a two-bedroom flat. The TUESDAY looking to rent in this development, so owner decides that selling the flat will An exciting start to the day — I am on a it’s great for us that we’ve landed this work better for him than renting, so site tour of the iconic Centre Point instruction. my services are not needed. building in New Oxford Street. The As soon as I’m back in the office I The rest of the team heads to the pub restoration, by developer Almacantar, inform the rest of the team and we start for a celebratory drink and I start the looks incredible from outside and our booking in viewings immediately, with long drive up to to look at visit to one of the three-bedroom flats the first one due tomorrow morning. potential wedding venues… on the 28th floor does not disappoint, The day ends with our monthly man- with panoramic views across the city. agers’ meeting at CBRE’s headquarters, O Luke Mellor is lettings manager at It is one of the most special apartments and afterwards I head off to the driving CBRE Residential in central London I have seen to date and I expect there range to unwind. (020 7420 3021). 26 WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | New homes

From £815,000: X-N5 apartments slot into the Georgian streetscape of Canonbury, Smart moves By David Spittles Live now where Orwell put his future vision on paper Graffiti that says GEORGE ORWELL wrote his masterpiece Nineteen Eighty-Four at a run-down house in Canonbury Square, Islington, where a heritage plaque commemorates his time there during the bleak post-war years. welcome home Had the prescient author been told then that this pocket of London would one day be a coveted conservation area cherished by the capital’s chattering classes, he would RAFFITI art has been probably have dismissed the assertion as a Ministry of elevated to fresh heights Truth manipulation. in gritty Dalston, where a Looking to buy a This superb Regency square with terraces of tall, thin colourful mural adorns new-build home? houses around a narrow garden is perhaps not as the foyer of the swish peaceful as you might expect, since busy Canonbury Gnew FiftySevenEast apartment Start your search Road dissects it. But it is part of one of London’s nicest scheme. neighbourhoods and even boasts its own art gallery and Following in the footsteps of on café, the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, Banksy, local artist “Jason” was housed in a splendid listed Georgian house and garden. commissioned by developer Taylor New-builds are rare in this conservation quarter but Wimpey to create “an enduring classic graffiti lettering to the art- X-N5, a scheme of 10 apartments, slots neatly into the symbol of the area’s creative energy, form’s influence on graphic design.” streetscape along tree-lined Grosvenor Avenue. Sleek, one that strikes a chord with style- Certainly it is a more polished contemporary interior design is a step up from that found conscious young professionals creation than the wider district’s raw in the area’s period conversions, having parquet flooring, looking for cutting-edge design”. graffiti-covered walls and railway marble bathrooms and Lutron lighting. Jason explains: “Graffiti has been so I decided to amalgamate multiple viaducts — and goes some way to Prices from £815,000. Call estate agent Fyfe Mcdade on through numerous incarnations in aspects of that history, montaging a bridging the gap between street art 020 7354 4044. east London during the past 30 years blend of vibrant visual styles, from and luxury property. The 15-storey EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST 2017 27 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by New homes | Homes & Property COLLEGE CONVERSION PASSES THE ARTS AND CRAFTS TEST

KIDDERPORE GREEN is the another college redevelopment, sensitive redevelopment of a college with 156 homes spread across 13 campus in Hampstead that has buildings, five of which are listed. yielded 128 new Arts and Crafts- The estate has the cloistered feel of style homes. Working within the an Oxbridge college — tranquil and conservation area constraints, comforting — and includes a chapel architect Allies Morrison had to and a magnificent mansion built by balance the different urban contexts an East India Company merchant, of the site, bounded on one side by for sale as a shell for transformation bustling Finchley Road and sedate into a single residence. Kidderpore Avenue on the other. Grand apartments in new and A former library is being converted converted red-brick blocks start at into apartments, while Hampstead £747,500 and rise to over £3 million. School of Art, founded by Henry There’ll be underground parking, a Moore, gets a new contemporary- spa and a gym, and a shuttle service design pavilion. Barratt has unveiled will be provided to local train and a new phase of townhouses and Tube stations. Call 020 3930 5133. apartments, with prices from £675,000. Call 020 7472 0090. From £675,000: Barratt’s new flats Nearby Hampstead Manor is and townhouses at Kidderpore Green Find golf, tennis and football stars where town merges into country SMART and prosperous Hadley training ground here — who value Wood, on the Hertfordshire the close proximity to central border in Enfield, is a hinge London. Into this world has between town and country. arrived The Residence, nine The north London “super- grand apartments set in suburb” lies in Zone 6 on the edge landscaped grounds and 10 acres tower has 83 apartments with floor- From £565,000: of the green belt and has a tennis of woodland. Two of the ground- to-ceiling glass, and there is a chill- flats at Dalston’s club and a renowned local golf floor apartments each have a out communal roof garden with FiftySevenEast, course with a Georgian clubhouse private outdoor swimming pool views of the London skyline. where this on a hill surrounded by parkland. and terrace leading to a lawned Nearby hotspots include Ridley colourful graffiti Gin’n’Jag houses and grand area. Road Market and the popular Rio mural by local Edwardian villas are popular with Prices from £1,795,000. Call Cinema, an Art Deco gem. Prices artist Jason celebrities and Premiership estate agent Statons on 020 8441 from £565,000. Call 020 3296 2222. adorns the foyer From £1,795,000: grand flats at The Residence, Hadley Wood footballers — Arsenal FC has a 9555.