Fish Island the New Homes Catch of the Day Page 6 DANIEL LYNCH DANIEL

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4 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Online homesandproperty.co.uk with This week: homesandproperty.co.uk news: ‘Save Blossom Street Property from the wrecking ball’ search Threatened: British Land wants to build glass office Trophy buy of the week blocks on the site of historic Georgian gem has pedigree warehouses in £5.5 million: this Sussex pile, in all its Georgian glory, sits Blossom Street, among 34 acres. As one would expect, it comes with a Spitalﬁelds tennis court, swimming pool, full equestrian facilities, including a sand school and stables to house a fine filly or A BATTLE has been launched to save an entire city block two, plus beautiful manicured lawns. The 8,700sq ft home in a Spitalfields conservation area from demolition. features eight bedrooms and six bathrooms, six reception British Land wants to tear down historic warehouses in rooms, a vast kitchen and sun terrace. A separate two- Blossom Street, E1, to build mostly glass office blocks of bedroom cottage is perfect for parking the staff or a up to 13 storeys. Objectors say the project will include just troublesome guest. Through Hamptons International. 40 new homes, with only 10 earmarked as affordable. Plans submitted to Tower Hamlets planners centre O homesandproperty.co.uk/trophy around the ancient Liberty of Norton Folgate and include demolishing Blossom Street’s 1886 Victorian warehouses, said to contain fine interiors of Baltic pine floorboards London buy of the week fly high in and cast iron pillars. Protesters hope the scheme will meet a similar fate to the style stakes with smart apartments plans to demolish part of Smithfield Market, which were thrown out last summer by government ministers. £459,950: new to the market is a has an en suite shower room, while stylish collection of modern flats at the second bedroom has use of a O Read Philippa Stockley’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk Beaufort Park, built on an old RAF luxury bathroom. There is also a large base in Colindale, NW9. decked balcony, perfect for soaking This two-bedroom apartment comes up views over parkland. with a high-spec finish throughout, an A health and fitness suite, 24-hour open-plan living room and a slick concierge and underground parking kitchen, complete with the latest complete the deal. It’s on the market appliances. The master bedroom with Foxtons. Life changer make your Visit our new online mark on bright blank canvas luxury section £900,000: cream of the Cornish crop can be found in Trevone Bay near Padstow — one of north Cornwall’s HomesAndProperty.co.uk/luxury popular holiday spots. Casa Vista and Bella Vista come as a lucrative package offering eight guest bedrooms, four reception rooms and three bathrooms between them. Both homes are bright, airy blank canvases, perfect for creating a dream boutique B&B. Through Country & Waterside. By Faye O homesandproperty.co.uk/lifechanger Greenslade Facebook: ESHomesAndProperty • Twitter: @HomesProperty • Pinterest: @HomesProperty

Editor: Digital stars prefer the fringe Janice adorably WEALTHY and young Morley digital entrepreneurs soft... looking for a home in VISIT homesandproperty.co. the capital are ignoring uk/rules for details of our prime central London usual promotion rules. When in favour of new you respond to promotions, emerging districts on offers or competitions, the the fringes of the London Evening Standard and Square Mile, from its sister companies may Farringdon in the contact you with relevant west to Whitechapel offers and services that may in the east, a new be of interest. Please give Knight Frank report your mobile number and/or reveals. From £735,000: ﬂats at Goodman’s Fields, Aldgate, email address if you would Fifteen thousand with pool and gym (homesandproperty.co.uk/gfa) like to receive such offers by design and digital text or email. start-up businesses same period, house conversions that will Editorial: 020 3615 2524 have opened near prices in the area be on the doorstep of Advertisement manager: Old Street’s Silicon have outperformed three Crossrail stations Jamie McCabe Roundabout alone average prime central by 2018. Advertising: 020 3615 0527 during the past two London, with soaring Join us as we take a

The Peggy chair from £460. For reader offers Homes & Property, Northcliffe years, with global giants demand for handsome property tour of visit www.sofa.com/eve, pop in to our London House, 2 Derry Street, Google, Facebook and Georgian terrace London’s booming or Bath showroom or call us on 0345 400 2222. Kensington, London W8 5TT. Amazon moving there. homes and airy loft “City central” hotspots. The new research shows that, over the O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/prime EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 5 homesandproperty.co.uk with News Homes & Property

Strut your stuff in Got some Versace’s mansion gossip? Tweet É FASHION house Versace is about @amiranews to launch a collection of super-luxury homes in China as part of its growing property arm. Yet none will match the grandeur of the Grade II-listed Mayfair mansion designed for founder Gianni Versace and now on the market for £15 million. The 5,756sq ft space, for sale through Wetherell (wetherell.co.uk), has four bedrooms, three reception rooms and one of the biggest atrium- Logan Mews New York flat’s style conservatories in the West End. The 18th century property at will rock you Jess the ticket 50 Charles Street had many aristo- cratic owners before being converted É KENSINGTON’S Logan Mews is É JESSICA CHASTAIN, below, into offices after the Second World known for its ties with rock legends has splashed out £3.4 million War. Now reverted to a single home, Queen. Freddie Mercury once lived on a four-bedroom apartment in it has a marble entrance hall and a at Number 1 and the band enjoyed central New York. 34ft long Milanese-style patio garden. many parties in the grounds. The Oscar-nominated actress, Those wanting to relive the who is set to play Marilyn Monroe Mercury magic will be drawn to a in upcoming film Blonde, which is four-bedroom house in the private directed by Andrew Dominik, plans cobbled enclave that is on to live there with her fashion Mountgrange Heritage’s books. executive boyfriend Gian Luca It hits all the right notes for Passi de Preposulo. lovers of urban chic, as it has The property, which boasts plenty Homes a decked roof terrace that of character, includes a master makes the ideal party spot. suite with floor-to-ceiling closets, Near the artisan cafés of hand-carved mahogany windows Stratford Village, the home, with Tiffany glass, a music room gossip priced at £3.495 million, could and a library. be a refuge for Brian May, who It once belonged to legendary lives nearby, but grumbled about composer Leonard Bernstein,

By Amira Hashish RETNA building works on his own street. but Chastain bought it from Tony-winning composer and lyricist Adam Guettel. The man who sold his house ÉTWO homes once lived with a bamboo ceiling and in by David Bowie have a stage for gigs. Bowie come on the market, originally sold the place but are worlds apart. to publisher Felix Dennis Mandalay, left, was for £3.3 million. built for the singer on Meanwhile, Bowie’s the Caribbean island childhood home at of Mustique. It has 106 Canon Road in Indonesian-style Bromley, south London, is décor and it is a more modest offering. for sale through Despite undergoing a Knight Frank recent refurbishment, the for £13.5 million. two-bedroom property is Sitting just above the available to rent from this water, it has a card room Saturday through Cannon decorated with mussel Kallar (cannonkallar.co.uk)

GETTY shells, a recording studio for £1,350 a month. REX 6 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property New homes homesandproperty.co.uk with

ISH ISLAND may be an unlikely and unpromising candidate, but this 50-acre triangular tract of industrial land with a small colony of creativesF and small businesses next to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford has ambitions to become the latest cool neighbourhood in the east — another London Fields. Bounded on two sides by canals and on the third side by a roaring dual carriageway, this semi-derelict backwater is not for the faint-hearted. It was once part of a thriving industrial suburb. Here, in 1865, the Gas Light & Coke Company built a small factory town, now a conservation area. Streets were given names of freshwater fish, and Fish Island was born. The Blitz knocked the stuffing out Smokers welcome: Lance Forman, boss of Fish Island salmon producer Forman & Son of it and post-war urban planners finished the job, cutting it adrift from the historic heartland of Homerton. However, a revival of sorts started in the Eighties and quietly gathered pace, spurred by an influx of small creative businesses. It is where renowned artist Bridget Riley worked. Today, 600 artists’ studios and Arty, edgy workshops are clustered in the area, alongside enterprises such as smoked salmon producer Forman & Son, whose showpiece new premises doubles as a restaurant, gallery and exhibition space. Here, too, housed and the in a former sofa factory, is Fish Island Labs, a Barbican Centre-backed initiative offering low-rent space to techno creatives. ANOTHER OLYMPIC WINNER catch of Had it not been for London hosting the 2012 Olympics, Fish Island would have remained a cut-off creative colony largely ignored. It is the staggering regeneration of the day neighbouring Stratford that has altered its fortunes. Not only is Fish Island a beneficiary of all the new infrastructure and local Fish Island, Stratford’s last colony, is sharing amenities, it is a key component of an ambitious master plan for the in the Olympics legacy with new homes wider Hackney Wick area, one that is bringing a new Overground station and artists’ studios, says David Spittles and up to 5,500 new homes. Crucially, London Legacy homes for sale are scarce. Omega forum group and owner of estate agents plotting the future. Peabody’s Development Corporation, which Works, a pioneering apartment agent Fish Island Properties, selling Neptune Wharf will provide owns a lot of the land, has taken scheme built in the Nineties, had a mainly commercial premises. 578 homes. L&Q, another housing control as the planning authority and troubled start after the developer got Iron Works is another canalside association developer, is poised to Hackney is fast-tracking change. into difficulties, but the block is now apartment complex, adjacent to unveil a scheme of canalside homes Stratford extremely sought-after. Greenway, a new pedestrian and on Stour Road, while developer Fish Island NEW HOMES A RARITY “Two-bedroom flats cost £400,000 cycle route built above sewers Aitch Group is moving into this Tower Newham All this physical change has to £500,000, but rarely come up designed by Joseph Bazalgette, the territory and is progressing four City Hamlets transformed public perceptions of for sale or rent,” says Gavin Ridding, great Victorian engineer. schemes with up to 250 homes. Fish Island as a place to live and work a civil engineer and planning What was a virtual no-go zone for as well as propelling the value of land consultant whose association with home buyers is now a promising new CHASING THE LONDON and buildings, many of which are the area goes back 30 years. Today frontier, with eager developers FIELDS EFFECT empty or under-utilised. Currently, he is chairman of the local business swooping to snap up sites and estate The area has all the ingredients to become another London Fields, the trendy Hackney district of ‘I like the rawness east London centred around the eponymous park and enlivened of Hackney Wick’ by boutique-strewn Broadway Market, according to estate agent NATALIE HALL, 36, a marketing Currell, which is extending its director who works in Shoreditch, reach by setting up a “resource bought one of the new flats at The centre” covering Fish Island and Mission. She has lived in the Hackney Wick. Hackney borough for 13 years, Initially this will be a pop-up moving from Hoxton to Dalston to showroom with a 3D model of the London Fields and now to area and a digital database of land Hackney Wick. ownership, transport proposals, “I suppose I’ve followed the wave cultural and community initiatives, of gentrification as it has spread out development opportunities and from Shoreditch. Often areas apartments coming up for sale become victims of their own and rent. success. I like the rawness of “London Fields’ rise has been Hackney Wick, but it has a special dramatic during the past decade quality and I hope this is not lost and there are strong parallels with the planned regeneration.” Artistic: Fish Island Labs, left, is housed in a former sofa factory; right, a pedestrian and cyclist cross Old Ford Lock between the two places: pockets of EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 7 homesandproperty.co.uk with New homes Homes & Property

Centre built for London 2012 has become Here East, a new digital quarter expected to bring 7,500 jobs. “We believe the area will attract buyers, mainly young professionals working in Shoreditch and the City, who would never choose to live in the new-build villages on the Olympic Park. They’ll enjoy being part of ‘a work in progress’, finding it exciting and cool to be part of the area’s transformation,” adds Currell. You need faith. Despite being close to the Olympic Park’s splendid meadows, accessible via a ramshackle footbridge, currently Fish Island is corralled by a semi- derelict waterfront, while the 15-minute walk to the nearest train stations — Puddle Dock, Bow Road £1.127 million: for a striking penthouse in the listed tower at and Hackney Wick — is through a The Mission, next to St Mary of Eton Church in Hackney Wick gritty and formidable urban landscape. Hackney Wick train station is getting a major facelift, with a new entrance and a parade of shops creating a new hub. GETTING THE RIGHT BALANCE This patch needs a boost. Post- industrial decline brought a return to the deprivation that led Eton College in 1880 to establish an outreach mission for the poor. Ironically, the church of St Mary of Eton, where the mission was set up, is at the centre of an ambitious community-based regeneration project called The Mission. It has brought 25 new homes, including a fabulous penthouse in the listed tower. The latter, just released, is on the market for £1.127 million through estate agent Fyfe McDade. Call 020 7613 4044. Loft-style apartments with up to four bedrooms and patio-style terraces have been carved from the double-height, tall-windowed mission hall, while a new vicarage has been built alongside and a café created in the cobbled courtyard. Planners want to protect the best of the area’s industrial architecture

ALL PICTURES: DANIEL LYNCH ALL PICTURES: DANIEL and ensure this new neighbourhood is “balanced”, with a tenure mix of Aﬂoat: houseboats have colonised the gentrification alongside pockets of doorstep,” says owner Anne Currell. From £400,000: resale ﬂats are owners and renters, and that its River Lee, as seen from new homes at deprivation, some fabulous yet Fish Island has the advantage of sought-after at Omega Works, a rooted community of small Omega Works on Fish Island, which decaying industrial buildings, and a being plugged into the mini city that pioneering scheme, but apartments businesses and creatives is not was for years a forgotten backwater pleasant open green space on the is Stratford, where the former Media rarely come up for sale or for rent dislodged by fashionistas. 8 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Commuting: Liverpool Street homesandproperty.co.uk with

IVERPOOL STREET is one of London’s busiest stations — partly because of its prime position in the City, and Essex ‘tickets’ partly because it serves some ofL the most popular commuter villages and towns east of the capital. The destinations it serves fit the all the right principal requirement for most commuters — getting home in less than an hour. So where should house hunters start looking for a property this Easter? Basi- boxes for rail cally, from Liverpool Street, it’s Essex. Exclusive research on the nine locations that lie beyond the M25, but within an hour of Liverpool Street, commuters reveals a huge price difference between Shenfield — a 27-minute journey — and Manningtree, which takes the full Nine locations beyond the M25 get you into 60 minutes. The average property in Shenfield costs £369,037, while up the Liverpool Street in under an hour. Chelmsford track in Manningtree it’s £227,945, according to analysis by Savills. tops the bill, says Ruth Bloomfield Shenfield residents pay the extra to save 66 minutes each day on a round town centre is a bit on the Towie side, SHENFIELD: IT’S UP-AND-COMING trip to Liverpool Street. Every saved but Old Moulsham has a great mix of This is a semi-suburb with a journey minute costs them £2,137. cafés and independent shops. time of just 27 minutes. Prices here An average home in the city costs have soared by close to 15 per cent CHELMSFORD: GETS TOP MARKS £269,072, up 8.6 per cent in the last since 2007, to an average of £369,037. This is the most popular choice for year. Stephen White, a director of Shenfield is at the easternmost point commuters, with almost five million Savills, says Chelmsford is booming. of the Crossrail line and, by 2018, will season ticket journeys each year from “Over the last three years, there has have fast direct routes to both the West its station, largely because of the city’s been an explosion of development and End and Heathrow airport. excellent schools. house prices, and businesses and Critics might find the area a little

For boys, King Edward VI Grammar people are coming in,” he said. soulless, with rather too many gated ALAMY — known as Kegs — is one of the top To the north of the city, thousands of developments of executive homes, but Boating on the River Cam: Chelmsford is a winner with commuters and families secondary schools in the UK, and new homes are being built at Beaulieu its high street very much passes the Chelmsford County High, for girls, has Park, a 604-acre site that was once the coffee shop test. new £28 million art centre, designed on the Essex/Suffolk border means an almost equally stellar reputation. summer residence of King Henry VIII. by Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly the beauties of the Stour Valley are Both operate a 12-mile catchment Modern houses there are priced up to COLCHESTER: HISTORY AT HOME and clad in gilded metal. It is known close by and you are only 15 miles from limit, which has pulled more families about £900,000 for a five-bedroom This is the big-town option out of locally as the Golden Banana. Frinton-on-Sea. out of Essex villages and into the city. detached home, or for buyers lower Liverpool Street with average prices Schools are great, in particular the On the downside, the high street has Granted city status in 2012, Chelms- down the ladder, a two-bedroom just a shade over £200,000 thanks to highly sought-after Colchester County too many chain stores to be anything ford has first-rate sports facilities, open Victorian cottage would cost from its 52-minute journey time. High School, for girls, and the Royal more than useful, but the Dutch Quar- country on the doorstep, and Stansted about £250,000. Two-bedroom flats The oldest town in England, Colches- Grammar School, for boys, and there ter, just north of the town centre, has airport is a 20-minute drive away. The are priced from about £200,000. ter has character and culture with a are plenty of good pubs. Its location some lovely and characterful period cottages with painted façades. ESSEX’S TOP COMMUTER DESTINATIONS £895,000: Expect to pay about £175,000 to an impressive £200,000 for a two-bedroom home, Average Growth Growth Journey time Season ticket price of a rate in a rate since ﬁve-bedroom or from about £250,000 to £300,000 Station in minutes price home year (%) 2007 (%) house in Cressing for a house with three bedrooms. Shenfield 27 £2,868 £369,037 8.6 14.9 Road, Witham. The grandest address in town is Ingatestone 29 £3,320 £536,415 11.2 10.9 Through Walkers Lexden, about 15 minutes’ walk from Chelmsford 35 £3,728 £269,072 8.6 11.7 the centre, and full of sprawling Hatfield Peverel 43 £4,016 £313,516 9.4 13.7 Victorian villas. Witham 44 £4,160 £218,975 6.5 9.8 The largest properties, with at least Kelvedon 48 £4,364 £283,546 4.0 13.1 six bedrooms and going on for Marks Tey 54 £4,488 £292,111 4.7 0.2 4,000sq ft of space, are priced at Colchester 52 £4,796 £200,088 4.0 5.1 £1 million or more, but you could buy Manningtree 60 £5,360 £227,945 5.5 7.4 a four-bedroom Victorian semi for O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/cressingroad about £600,000. Source: Savills using Office of Rail Regulation and Land Registry EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 9 homesandproperty.co.uk with Renting Homes & Property

GO WHERE THE LOCALS GO Gastropubs Sands End Pub & Kitchen Lots Road Pub & Dining Room Riverside eateries The Waterside Bar & Kitchen Yamal Alsham (Lebanese food) Blue Elephant (Thai food) Furniture and interior design bargains Lots Road Auction Rooms

To dine for: Blue Elephant in Imperial Wharf, a favourite for Thai dishes

"'% ALAMY Marina chic: riverside developments near Chelsea Harbour, above, are attracting new types of renters $ &( From dirty secret to # # shiny new address HE now-fashionable &!&$ & Fulham neighbourhood of Gone are the grime and the Sands End is a parable of slums. Sands End has become !&$ &( our times — the triumph of development in a cut-off a swish new riverside residential ,&&!&$ & cornerT of London. Despite the negatives of a tract of industrial land quarter, says David Spittles blighted by gas works and dissected by train tracks, developers have transformed the area into an enclave of Benham & Reeves Lettings. “People, of coveted flats and houses, now one ‘Waterfront mainly young professionals and of Fulham’s best addresses. homes have downsizers who had previously only During the Victorian period, it was considered a period home, started to a very grim place, lined with factories enticed a appreciate the lifestyle benefits of a and a coal-fired power station, before new type of development — the security, the it gained a reputation for slums and Fulham parking and the amenities. troubled council estates. “In general, the waterfront homes Only when nearby Chelsea Harbour renter and now command a premium and are was built alongside a muddy inlet in command on a par with fully refurbished the Eighties did residential properties at Parsons Green, developers look at this waterfront a premium’ traditionally Fulham’s best address.” strip with different eyes. It has Studios start at £350 a week and "" " " " become a new suburb in SW6. two-bedroom flats from £550 a week, Today, there is a riverside path to with rents rising to £2,500 a week for "" ! Chelsea Harbour via Chelsea Creek, a glamorous penthouse and £3,000 a another swish residential scheme, week for a five-bedroom house. and the Sands End district has Tucked away behind the waterfront ! # offices, bars, restaurants, hotels, are original artisan cottages and small businesses and a settled smart, small three-bedroom terrace hinterland that stretches to trendy houses that let for £750 to £800 a ! New King’s Road, packed with week, and conversions, including galleries and boutiques. £2,925 a month: garden flats, from £450 a week. a two-bedroom & ' !& && "& ! " & ", & THE NEW RENTERS ﬂat in Doulton COMMUTE BY RIVERBUS &$* ",&,&* &$ &" "&*&( " “The riverside developments have House, Chelsea The Thames Clipper riverbus service enticed a new type of Fulham Creek, with use is hugely popular. Boats leave as early &* "& -&&,( " (& "& renter,” says Glen Neligan, manager of gym and pool as 6.10am and Costa coffee is served on board. Most people commute to % &"$& $ & +& $+ ,#&& Embankment or Blackfriars or go all the way to Canary Wharf, without ( * $(&$" & &(&"( ( $# $) , ( !+ having to change. BORIS BIKE EFFECT Boris bikes at Imperial Wharf have caused property ripples in what was ) an urban backwater. Rental demand has jumped 25 per cent since the + bikes were introduced, according to Benham & Reeves. # * There are times when the slab of riverside apartment blocks looks somewhat forlorn. But this is an evolving district that has come a long way over the past decade and is likely O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/doultonhouse to gain more cachet as the years go on. 10 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Homes abroad homesandproperty.co.uk with Crystal clear Caymans where you pay no tax Claim your piece of paradise in the super-safe Cayman Islands from less than £163,000, says Cathy Hawker

HE Cayman Islands share much of the eye-popping HEAVEN IS... beauty of any Caribbean island with sandy beaches, NOTHING TO PAY crystalline blue seas Tand world-class diving. However, THE Cayman Islands have no Grand Cayman is one of the safest, restrictions on foreign ownership of wealthiest, most tax-friendly places in land. Anyone with an EU passport who the world, and it is these “extras” that owns property there can come and go make it of particular interest to many. at will as long as they are able to For a UK overseas territory — one of prove they can support themselves. 14 along with Gibraltar and Bermuda A straightforward way to become — the Cayman Islands, made up of resident in the Caymans is to apply Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and for Residency for Persons of Little Cayman, don’t seem very Individual Means. Anyone investing a British. Yes, you see a picture of the minimum of £393,000 in property Queen in the arrivals hall at Grand and with an annual income of Cayman airport after the 10-hour £94,000 without needing to work can direct flight from London, but Miami get a 25-year renewable residency is only an hour away and 80 per cent certificate for a fee of £15,700. of visitors are from the US. Residents in the Caymans pay no income, capital gains, inheritance, BANKING GIANT property or sales taxes, or on their Grand Cayman is by far the most investment portfolio. Stamp duty is developed of the three Cayman 7.5 per cent. islands, but at about 22 miles long by an average four miles wide, it is Secluded setting: family-owned hardly a giant. It is a colossus, Brac Reef Beach Resort is on the however, in the financial world. south-west end of Cayman Brac ALAMY Cayman is the sixth largest international banking centre with a top-grade AAA credit rating, on a par Palmer-designed championship golf with London and Switzerland. course is planned. The first homes “Cayman is little-known globally, will be ready in 2017. Buyers looking but we want to get our brand out for large, detached waterfront there so the world knows we are a properties can opt for the canal, world-class financial destination,” where a boat mooring is part of the says the Hon Moses Kirkconnell, deal, or the beach. deputy premier and tourism minister British-born engineer Mike of the islands. “Tourism and finance Burcombe and his American wife are our two drivers. Tourism is set to Joyce, an architect, are selling the grow 12 per cent this year, fully furnished substantial house substantially above the regional they built at Canal Point for average of five per cent.” £3,058,000, but have no plans to Infrastructure is key to this plan leave the island. “Why wouldn’t you and the Caymans have excellent live here?” says Joyce, whose roads, several international schools children are at boarding school in the and modern hospitals. A larger £3,058,000: this ﬁve-bedroom waterfront home at From £162,660: Ironwood resort in Grand Cayman offers UK. “Number one is the safety and airport is being built and Camana Bay, Canal Point in Grand Cayman is close to Seven Mile Beach one- to three-bedroom apartments for sale through Savills security combined with a friendly a new town with 600 acres of and varied expat community. Then thoughtfully designed boutique hard to beat,” says James Burdess of brings a diverse social life and well- Beach in family-friendly Crystal there is great healthcare, restaurants, shops, apartments, offices and open- estate agent Savills. “It has an established facilities.” Harbour. Savills is also selling off-plan flight access and grocery stores. air restaurants, has transformed life established business community with Property for sale in Grand Cayman property at Ironwood, a golf and “Mike and I have worked all over for residents. “For lifestyle, Cayman is 130 different nationalities, which through Savills includes comfortable, sports resort being developed at the the Caribbean and nowhere new one- to four-bedroom flats, quieter eastern end of Grand Cayman, compares to Cayman.” townhouses and villas on the water at priced from £162,660 for one- to Cypress Pointe North priced from three-bedroom flats. This ambitious, O Savills: savills.co.uk (020 7016 3843) £250,500. This 38-unit development long-term project offers supermarkets O Cayman Islands Tourism: is five minutes from prime Seven Mile and smaller shops, and an Arnold caymanislands.ky IT’S PARTY TIME LONDON COUPLE BRING CAMDEN TO THE BEACH

HURRICANE IVAN US is challenging. For example, all damaged half of all homes the light fittings came from Ambiente in Grand Cayman in Direct in Germany.” 2004, destroying many The couple, with six-year-old We’re the No 1 choice for both heritage buildings. daughter Emily, arrived in Grand cottage owners and holidaymakers Recent architecture on Cayman four years ago and own a Join Britain’s favourite holiday letting agency and benefit from: the island is largely property development company. • A personal and friendly service with a dedicated Regional uninspiring, but “We live an easy, happy, outdoor life Manager based in your area Londoners Lisa and Vidal here,” says Lisa. “It’s relaxed, it’s safe • £Multi-million marketing campaigns Brewer, pictured, have taken and everything works.” • All properties graded to tourist board standards FREE of charge their experience from remodelling They also own a large four-bedroom • FREE photography and professional copywriting period homes in Camden and detached house on the beach at Westminster to build Grand Rum Point, which they rent out from Cayman’s most striking £420 a night. “It’s ranch style, contemporary home. which we painted white and Camden House at Rum Point is an Striking style: “Building this house has been furnished with modern pieces,” says ocean front property designed by Camden House unbelievably difficult,” admits Lisa. Lisa. “It rents very well, even in low Call our Property Recruitment team on 0345 268 8517 UK-based architect Nicholas Tye. The at Rum Point is a “We had terrible arguments with season because people are mad Email [email protected] strong architecture includes glass contemporary Nick, but he pushed us to be purists for modern.” or visit www.cottages4you.co.uk walls, a cantilevered steel staircase property on the and I am glad he did. Finding O Camden House is on the market for and a roof terrace made for parties. ocean front contemporary products even in the £4,457,000 through Savills 12 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Clocks homesandproperty.co.uk with

A brief history of our time As the clocks go forward, Philippa Stockley meets the man in charge of the world’s most famous timepiece CAMERA PRESS

HOULD you happen to be ing 334 stairs up to the top of Big Ben Crunch time: standing near the Houses of three times a week to wind the clock, clockmaker Parliament this Saturday because there’s no lift. What if you Paul Roberson, evening, you’ll notice two leave a spanner at the bottom? “What above and left, things: first, at 8.30pm, all do you think?” he asks. Once he had to examining one of fourS faces of Big Ben will go dark. Sec- go up and down 10 times in a single day, Big Ben’s four ond, at around 10pm (if you have keen doing repairs. “But the worst thing,” faces, will be eyes), you’ll spot its gigantic hands he laughs, “is leaving your pass at the busy on Saturday starting to race round. This is the night top when you’re heading home.” night when the that the clocks spring forward an hour. Roberson trained as a watch and clocks go forward For the rest of us, it heralds the start of clockmaker in Hackney. “I’ve always by an hour British Summer Time and an extra been mechanically minded, but this is evening hour of sunlight, but for the more fun than rolling around under a such a huge clock could be accurate to driven gears, or “trains”. One runs the clockmakers have a tried and tested people who have to change Big Ben it car, he says. the second, but it was and, according quarter chimes, one runs the strike, system that is reassuringly low-tech. means a hard slog until 2am. to Roberson, “I see no reason for it not and one, the “going train”, runs the To check that Big Ben’s chime is spot The Palace of Westminster has three TIME TO TEST to go on working for ever. four sets of hands. This train is still on, they phone up the speaking clock full-time clockmakers who look after The clock mechanism itself was “When I first heard Big Ben, I manually wound three days a week just before the hour, then belt up to the its 2,000 clocks, of which the most designed by an eccentric barrister- expected the noise would blow my using a crank handle, winding its belfry with a stop-watch to check the famous is the one we all call Big Ben turned-horologist called Edmund brains out but, in fact, because of the weight right back up to the top of the accuracy of the strike. If it is a tiny bit (though, in fact, that’s the name of the Beckett Denison, and made by Dent of way sound carries, it almost seems tower. out, they place pre-decimal pennies on bell inside the Elizabeth Tower). Pall Mall, in London. It was finished in louder outside. And it keeps humming the pendulum to make adjustments. One of the clockmakers, Paul Rober- 1854 but, Roberson explains, the afterwards. The sound of its chimes, WOUND UP Adding one penny speeds the clock up son, who is also the chair of the British Houses of Parliament were way behind which we call the Westminster chimes, It’s hard work and the men take turns, by two-fifths of a second over 24 hours; Watch and Clockmakers’ Guild, still schedule, so there was time to are in our blood, but they are copied at about 30 turns each. It takes an hour taking one off does the reverse. can’t believe his luck at having this job thoroughly test the mechanism. “Then from the Cambridge chimes.” to wind. The other trains have been Just twice a year, when the clocks — even though it means getting in at it was one of the wonders of the world,” Big Ben is called a three-train clock wound by motor since 1912. Because change, the clockmakers are allowed 7am, being on call all hours, and climb- he says, admiringly. No one believed because it has three sets of weight- Big Ben has to be accurate, the to stop the clock (that’s when the clock

EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 13 homesandproperty.co.uk with Clocks Homes & Property

Clockwise from left: green retro alarm clock, £10, Imperial War Museum shop (iwmshop.org.uk); Umbra Ribbon wall clock, £60, and the Lascelles Pastis clock, £34.95, both from John Lewis (johnlewis.com); Book clock, £25, and Victorian Style Watch Dome, £65, both from the National Gallery shop (nationalgallery.co.uk)

■Twitter: @stockleyp

faces go dark). This gives them precious time to do any necessary maintenance. So on Saturday, at precisely 9.05pm, the strike will be “locked off”; then, at 9.46pm, the quarter chimes as well. Just before 10pm the hands will whizz round to move the time forwards, to midnight — making sure they don’t overrun, or they would have to go all the way round again. Then the clockmakers have

STEVE FORREST/PANOS STEVE almost an hour to get cracking with maintenance. At the new midnight exactly the giant hands are started once more, but the clock stays dark and utterly silent. Finally, a bit before 2am, the chimes and strike are set going again, and the lights go back on. All this happens with military precision, and Big Ben will have been put in apple-pie order for another six months. Clockwise from below: Diamantini & “If you’d told me when I was growing Domeniconi Lollogio wall clock, up in the East End that one day I’d be £225, from John Lewis; Big Ben wall looking after the most famous clock in clock, £14.99, from the National the world,” Roberson says, “I wouldn’t Gallery shop (as before); the have believed it. Being a clockmaker is Diamantini & Domeniconi Arcoiris a fantastic career, I wouldn’t change Cuckoo clock, £170, from John Lewis this job for anything.” He then adds with a laugh: “Don’t tell this lot, but I would have done it for nothing!” BIG BEN FACTS Big Ben first chimed in the clock tower in 1859. The clock mechanism that operates it weighs five tonnes and is about 15ft across. Originally cast in Stockton-on-Tees, the 16-tonne bell, Big Ben, was put on show, but broke when the massive 13 hundred-weight (about 586 kg) ham- An exceptional new collection of 1 & 2 bedroom mer struck it. Recast in 1858 at the apartments woven into the heart of Islington Whitechapel Bell Foundry, E1, the bell was installed in the clock tower, now renamed the Elizabeth Tower, with a lighter (200kg) hammer, but still cracked four months later; however, that small crack was successfully Register your interest patched, and adds to the bell’s unfor- gettable tone. Big Ben, and the four “quarter bells” that ring just before it, is run by one of the oldest and most accurate mechan- ical clocks in the world. The sound produces 114 decibels and the clockmakers wear ear defenders.

O Find out more from British Watch and Clockmakers’ Guild: bwcmg.org and parliament.uk/bigben 16 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Design homesandproperty.co.uk with

By Amira Hashish EE THORNLEY and Harriet Roberts are the creators of reclaimed and bespoke tile brand Bert & May, based in Vyner Street, Bethnal Green. TheyL find their inspiration among the capital’s specialist shops and buzzing cultural hubs. Here, they reveal the secrets of their little black books.

THE BIRTH OF BERT & MAY Lee: Harriet and I met at my boutique hotel Casa La Siesta Meeting of (casalasiesta.com) in Andalucia, For inspiration: minds: Lee Spain, while she was on holiday with Lee loves the Thornley and her mother. We chatted over drinks architectural Harriet Roberts and I explained my plan to open a detailing at chatted over shop in London selling the sort of Wilton’s, the drinks at Lee’s tiles that featured in the hotel. world’s oldest boutique hotel in Harriet loved the idea and, by the surviving grand Spain and agreed time we had finished our drinks, we music hall, in

DANIEL LYNCH DANIEL to work together had decided to begin working east London Our design London

LEE THORNLEY AND HARRIET ROBERTS together — resulting in the birth of BUCKINGHAM TONY Bert & May (bertandmay.com) in September 2013. We both industrial finish with nice homely understood how important location touches and interesting design is to a business and so wanted to be features. within a creative part of east London. We were delighted to find our Harriet: it has to be The Blues fabulous warehouse in Vyner Street, Kitchen (theblueskitchen.com) in which opened last October. Shoreditch. They serve a delicious brunch and have an Airstream trailer OUR SECRET SHOPS that acts as a private dining space. Harriet: there is an amazing vintage shop in Hackney Road called Rospo FOR INSPIRATION (rospo.co.uk). Hidden away in the Harriet: Building BloQs basement is a beautiful collection of (buildingbloqs.com) in north London antique furniture. They also make is a hidden gem for design bespoke pieces to order. I had my inspiration. After an hour spent in kitchen table made there. the wood workshops among a community of artists, anyone Lee: I love Earl of East London would be inspired to create (earlofeastlondon.com) for its scented something amazing. candles, which are essential at home and in the office. They smell divine. Lee: any Londoner must visit Wilton’s Music Hall (wiltons.org.uk) MOST STYLISH EATERY at some point. Between Aldgate East Lee: I often stay at the Town Hall and Tower Hill, it is a reinvention of a Hotel (townhallhotel.com) in Bethnal mid-19th century grand music hall Green, which is home to an amazing and an 18th-century terrace of three restaurant called Corner Room as houses and a pub. The detailing is well as a great cocktail bar, Peg + like nowhere else. Patriot. Both have a stripped-back, WHERE TO ESCAPE Harriet: my favourite escape is a place called Sunday in Islington. There is a courtyard in the back garden, which is a little haven tucked away from the busy streets. I like going there for brunch on a Sunday.

Lee: I love football, so a trip to the Emirates Stadium is a serious treat when I am in London. MUST-VISIT MARKET Lee: there are so many great markets in London, but our favourites have to be the two that are most local to our warehouse, Broadway Market in Haggerston, and Netil Market, rather hidden in Westgate Street in E8. Sometimes when we are working on a Saturday we will take a stroll down to Broadway Market, grab a coffee at Climpson & Sons (climpsonandsons. com) and then head over to Netil Market. It is the best place for unusual finds and gifts, and we can’t resist a grilled cheese sandwich from Morty and Bob’s Tucked away: Netil Market is great for unusual gifts (mortyandbobs.com). EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 17 homesandproperty.co.uk with Design Homes & Property

Harriet’s designer to watch: Philippe Malouin with his new Mollo sofa for Established & Sons, right

Harriet’s secret shop: Rospo in Hackney Road has a beautiful collection of antique furniture, left

quirky and forever-changing selection of design and antiques shops dotted around which I love visiting when I have time.

Lee: I split my time between Yorkshire, where my family live, and London for Bert & May. I’m very lucky to have a beautiful Georgian house in the Yorkshire countryside, a fabulous Spanish holiday home and the exciting and inspirational buzz of city life in London. My home in Yorkshire is my family hub and the place I share with my two gorgeous children, Lyla and Iris. It is the perfect place to relax, unwind and enjoy time being a dad. OUR DREAM HOMES Lee: it is hard to give only one example of my dream home because I dream about so many homes. I am currently building a dream home in London — a canal boat on Regent’s Favourite for (mathiashahn.com), an incredible Canal. We have a mooring at the Bert fabrics: Harriet product designer who has a studio in & May warehouse, so I’ll be able to tips Dalston Mill Stoke Newington. Sebastian Cox’s roll out of bed and into the office. Fabrics in Ridley designs are timeless and I love his The design of the barge is striking, Road, Hackney, approach to sustainability geometric and minimalist. It is above, while her (sebastiancox.co.uk). a fabulous, simple space with most coveted everything I need to enjoy object is an Harriet: my absolute favourite is London life. Atollo light, Philippe Malouin (philippemalouin. by Italian Vico com). He is an architectural and Harriet: I have a few dream houses Magistretti, left interiors genius who transforms that match different parts of my Timeless quality: spaces using the most unusual and personality. A villa in the Caribbean, designer unexpected materials. I also love a cottage in the countryside — I’m a Sebastian Cox, International Studio (international- bit of a traditionalist — or my dream above, and his studio.co.uk) for unique lighting and house in London would be beautifully furniture design. Fenton House in Hampstead. It is the crafted oak and most stunning property with a hazel side table FIND YOUR FABRICS WHERE WE LIVE walled garden. for Heal’s, £695 Harriet: there is a little curtain and Harriet: I live in a Georgian fabric shop, Alexander Furnishings townhouse in the Barnsbury area of MY SATURDAYS walks. Sometimes I cannot make it (alexanderfurnishings.com) in Islington with my husband. When I Harriet: mornings are usually back up to Yorkshire because of Marylebone. I go there for print was looking to buy I instantly fell in reserved for leisurely breakfasts with work, so I spend the weekend on my inspiration and to pick up fabric for love with the area — it is so quiet on my husband. Then we will meet friend’s houseboat. We will make furnishings at home. Dalston Mill our street yet only a short walk home friends for a drink in our local pub. breakfast then take the boat towards Fabrics (dalstonmillfabrics.co.uk) in from the City, where I used to work, Camden or Hackney Wick, where we Ridley Road, Hackney is also great. and a quick taxi ride home from the Lee: usually I spend my weekends in will stop off at Crate Brewery West End after an evening out. The Yorkshire with my family, heading (cratebrewery.com) for pizza and a Lee: Labour and Wait architecture is beautiful and there’s a out to the moors for bracing family pint of local ale. (labourandwait.co.uk) has great household goodies — we sourced our Alpine bucket sink from there.

TREASURED MEMORABILIA Harriet: I bought a Danish school gym mat many years ago and had a frame built for it. I use it as my coffee table — I still absolutely love it.

Lee: my Verner Panton bachelor chair. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it. Now it takes pride of place Designer we in my living room and the children admire: % % % %*&'+ know that it is my chair and only I am Mathias Hahn, % % allowed to sit on it. above, is a &$%% % master of COVETED OBJECTS geometric %% # % %" $!!! $% ! % Harriet: I am desperate for an Atollo shapes. His light by Vico Magistretti. lamps, right, have a homely % %)+(% %% Lee: anything by Jean Prouvé — I’m a appearance, bit chair obsessed — so maybe his but at the same % %% $ $$,$ $ $ $ $"( #$ $ $ Cité lounge chair. time possess a clearly deﬁned #$+)$ $'& $$*$ DESIGNERS WE ADMIRE personality #$+*$ $'& $$)$ Lee: we are constantly inspired by #$+%$ $'& $$ the creativity in the capital, especially in east London. One of $$ $ $ $$$$# ! ""# my favourites is Mathias Hahn 20 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Interiors homesandproperty.co.uk with

▼ PUTTING an eye-catching spin on ► HOTEL decorating legend Kit Kemp ▼ HAND-EMBROIDERED cushion covers simple folk-style ﬂorals is a new porcelain includes the Rabbit Folkthread Rug in are made in organic cotton by the Otomi line called Beatrix at Oliver Bonas. The ﬂatweave cotton in her new collection community in Mexico, with motifs based espresso coffee cups, below, are £27.50 curated for Anthropologie. Measuring on ancient wall art. Price £45 without a for a boxed set of four (oliverbonas.com). 5ft x 7ft, it costs £498 (anthropologie.eu). pad, size 50cm x 40cm (mayalma.com).

▼ LONDON designer Karolin Schnoor’s go gypsy By Barbara Chandler Fable range is now on Royal Doulton, with plates, mugs, platters and more. The DesignDeDesesisigigngn trtretrenrenene Red Tree mug is £7 (royaldoulton.co.uk). Flowers, trees, birds and rabbits, all in striking colours, lead a strong folk strand in homeware and interiors this spring

KING’S CROSS

ON A NEW LEVEL

$ $

$# $ $ !$ "

!# # " # # ! EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 21 homesandproperty.co.uk with Interiors Homes & Property

▼ DESIGNER Jamie Graham was inspired by Suzani fabric to cover a limited-edition chair. There are 40 pieces at £450 each (grahamand green.co.uk).

◄ LARGE, round Life is Beautiful cushion, ◄ ILLUSTRATOR ▲ ROSE plate, 35cm diameter, cotton cover, oversize Harriet Taylor £3.49, and tassles and polyester pad, £16. Cotton Seed’s Four embroidered table Flower Cart cushion, 40cm x 40cm, and Seasons mat, £4.99. Folk Sewing Machine cushion, 45cm x 45cm, table mats are plate, small, £3.49, both with polyester pad, £20 each. Demi £9.50 each, or large, £3.99. ﬂoor lamp with blue shade, 157cm high, you can buy a set Faux ﬂowers, £135. Bennett wing armchair in a stout of four for £35 £4.99, all at cotton, £699. Blue Small Bird plaque, £15. (beastinshow. Homesense stores All at Bhs (bhs.co.uk; 0344 411 6000). com). (homesense.com). 26 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property My home homesandproperty

Just our cup of tea: Lindsey and Chris soak up the bright and breezy atmosphere of their beautiful kitchen diner

Philippa Stockley meets a north London couple who saw in an instant how they could transform an Edwardian terraced house near Alexandra Palace A big kitchen diner and

HERE are times in life when, if you of their budget, it was on a street they had details, such as encaustic tiled floors, stained months after the family moved in, and the see the right thing, you must jump. earmarked. “The moment we saw it, Chris glass windows and original fireplaces with Art works began six months after that, with no That’s what happened to Lindsey and I had the same vision for what to do to it Deco tiles. All that was the case here. planning problems, and using the same and Chris Reed in 2011 when, after — which has never happened to us in our However, the house was a rabbit warren at builder, who brought with him the same looking for a new home for two lives,” says Lindsey with a grin. the back. The ground floor was carved into team. yearsT and giving up hope of ever finding the They made an offer on the spot, before it three little rooms — a small breakfast room, “He rebuilt the little kitchen in our back right one, they were told about a house that went on the market, and before they’d put an even smaller kitchen “with the same cooker bedroom,” says Lindsey, “and sealed off the had potential. their own home up for sale. “So the owners I had at university!” laughs Chris, and a tight ground floor with lockable doors.” Such atten- Lindsey, a market researcher, and Chris, who knew we were serious,” adds Lindsay. living room with a French window offering tion to detail meant they could stay on site, runs his own PR company, had been living In their old house they’d had a bathroom views to the unspoiled garden, which is save thousands, and feel secure during the with their two boys; 12-year-old Fin, and Ollie, added by architect Andrew Mulroy, so they perfect for teenage footballers. five months of the job. nine, in a big house in Finsbury Park. They’d took him round too, to see if he agreed with Chris and Lindsey wanted to knock it all into Lindsey and Chris admire their architect. bought it from Iwona Blazwick, who runs the their idea for extending the back. Then they a big kitchen diner, and extend out as well, Not only because he can, they say, draw in Whitechapel Gallery, so it was very stylish. put their house on the market and sold it to with full-width sliding glass doors. perspective upside down, but because he But the basement kitchen where the couple, the first people who saw it. They also fancied an unusually big skylight didn’t try to talk them out of or into anything. both 44, spent a lot of time was dark. As well And that was that. They moved in. over the dining area, made from a single pane However, the one special thing he suggested as more light, they wanted somewhere safer Families in this part of north London stay of toughened, triple-laminated glass. was to set the sliding garden doors into a 15cm for the boys, with more outside space, and a for a lifetime in these well-built, charming “We didn’t want a bar down the middle, but shadow gap at the top, totally concealing run- more neighbourly feel. houses with big gardens near the park. as soon as you start talking glass, the price ners, so that all you see is floor-to-ceiling They had looked around the desirable village “People leave their wellies on the front door- skyrockets,” says Chris. For the whole works garden and sky. This is a neat touch. of Crouch End, but gardens there tend to be step,” says Lindsey. The old owners had stayed their architect estimated it would cost The local kitchen design company did a good small. Then the Edwardian terraced house for 25 years. The 1910 houses were often built £80,000-£120,000, depending on the quality job too, trying to save the couple money — 2 near Alexandra Palace popped up. At the top from a pattern book, and many still have lovely they went for. He started making drawings six although an attempt to talk Lindsey out of a EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 27 y.co.uk with My home Homes & Property

Spacious: the couple replaced three small, dingy rooms at the back of the house with an extension that features a kitchen diner leading directly on to the garden d a slice of the sky

Quooker boiling-water tap fell on deaf Get the look ears and so blew the budget. One brilliant idea is that the dishwasher (in the WHAT IT COST: island) is directly opposite the cutlery House bought for £940,000 in 2011. Works, including and plate drawers, which means that you architect: £120,000. Value now (estimate): £1.5 million unload and store its contents standing on one spot. Over the years, this will save SUPPLIERS: literally miles of walking around with Architect: Andrew Mulroy at mulroy.info armfuls of tableware. Builder: Alex Baran on 07796 008275 Sliding glass doors to garden by Sunparadise at NUSUALLY in a project this sunparadise.co.uk big, nothing went wrong, Skylight by Glazing Vision at glazingvision.co.uk and Lindsey says the whole Weitzer parquet (suitable with underfloor heating) from thing is exactly what she local company Jordan Andrews at jordanandrews.com had dreamed of. More Kitchen units from Abacus, in Harrow, at importantly,U in a modern world where Abacus-interiors.com teenagers are constantly plugged in to Silestone quartz work surface from silestone.co.uk technology, rather than being tucked Quooker boiling-water tap from quooker.co.uk away in their bedrooms, in this home Photographs: Metro wall tiles from local company Checkalow Tiles at they often go online in the same family Adrian Lourie checkalow.co.uk room as their parents, who are busy and Woodburner from Clearview at clearviewstoves.com cooking or relaxing — “and that’s got to Arcaid Images Enamel hanging lamps over kitchen island bought “for be a good thing, hasn’t it,” says Chris. Design guru: architect Andrew Mulroy played an integral part in the refurbishment a song” from ebay.co.uk 28 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Outdoors homesandproperty.co.uk with Shrubs love it when you treat them rough

OR THE time-poor gardener too. Sheltered, warm, town gardens wanting a lot of flowers for Give them a good clip each year and they’ll come back for more suit Pittosporum tobira perfectly. From little input, shrubs are the late spring to midsummer, waxy white solution. Plant half a dozen flowers smother the rounded, deep flowering shrubs in the green leaves and their mock orange borderF or in containers and summer blossom perfume is sublime. Variety is sorted. Bypass the seductive but Nanum is a smaller, rounded version high-maintenance perennials at the that makes a great container plant. garden centre and, instead, choose the trouble-free, long-flowering options Variegated leaves can be jarring, but that merely need a sharp pair of seca- Weigela Nana Variegata’s lemon-edged, teurs and an annual spring feed to keep soft, green, dainty leaves are the per- them in great shape. fect complement for the rose-pink For example, if you want the effect of funnel flowers that crowd the arching hollyhocks without the high-mainte- stems from early summer. An easy- nance palaver and threat of rust, grow growing, tolerant shrub, this weigela Lavatera x clementii Barnsley. reaches a modest five foot and just The flowers of palest pink are similar needs pruning after flowering. and bloom generously from midsum- Cistus revels in a dry, sunny spot and mer to autumn. All you need do to is a perfect partner for other Mediter- prevent enthusiastic lavatera from ranean evergreens such as rosemary outgrowing its welcome is to cut the and lavender. For maximum impact, stems back hard in spring. plant aromatic Cistus x purpureus, Some shrubs are so beautiful that you which at the start of summer produces spectacular large, papery, deep pink flowers blotched with carmine at Pattie the centres. Each bloom lasts just a day, but more keep on coming. Barron Sambucus nigra is sensational, especially when the liquorice-black, lacey leaves are highlighted against a brick or pale rendered wall. Given a sunny can forgive their brief flowering. Lilac or part-shaded site, the black elder

is typical, representing the speed with MARIANNE MAJERUS produces rose pink flower sprays in which spring segues into summer, but Effortless blooms: Lavatera Barnsley delivers ﬂower sprays similar to hollyhocks but wihout the high-maintenance hassle midsummer that put the icing on an if you don’t mind breaking with tradi- already gorgeous cake. To keep the tion — and want a small plant, not a foliage deep and dark, cut back to large tree — try compact lilac Syringa ground level in early spring. Bloomerang Dark Purple. After its first If you have little space but fancy some springtime flush, it blooms intermit- razzmatazz, plump for a potentilla, tently until mid-autumn, so you can which offers masses of bright, pretty enjoy those purple-pink scented flow- flowers from early spring right through ers for months, not days. to autumn on a small, neat bush with attractively deep-cut foliage. Full-on fuchsias aren’t everyone’s Tangerine and fire-engine red Marian choice, but elegant Fuchsia magel- Red Robin are just two of the vibrant lanica var molinae is far removed from Potentilla fruticosa varieties to look for, the more usual pink and purple but Primrose Beauty, with soft yellow trouper. Delicate-looking, long flowers flowers, is a subtler choice. With all that of two-tone shell pink appear from flower power on offer, buying a pair of midsummer until early autumn and potentillas seems only sensible. belie a tough disposition. Just cut right back to the hardwood in early spring O Garden queries? Email our RHS expert for a glorious repeat performance. at [email protected] If you’re looking for an evergreen to give MARIANNE MAJERUS year-round structure, why not have KIDD GEOFF GAP PHOTOS: O For outdoor events this month, visit one that produces beautiful blooms, Repeat performer: the papery ﬂowers of Cistus purpureus keep on coming Long playing: Potentilla Tangerine homesandproperty.co.uk/events

LOAFINGLY LOVELY FURNITURE 32 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Property searching homesandproperty.co.uk with

ITHOUT a doubt Richmond is one of the top choices for Londoners with a bit of money looking to buyW a home. A happy blend of town and country, its location is close to central London, and a Thameside setting and prominent place in English history make it an enticing choice. Following the success of the television Down by the river: Richmond is a adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall haven for walkers and cyclists £6.5 MILLION and our continuing fascination with A five-bedroom detached house the Tudors, no one can now forget the in Richmond Hill, backing on to importance of Richmond Palace that Richmond Park, with spacious once occupied the space between rooms, an indoor pool, separate Richmond Green and the river. Royal studio, two garages and off-street The royal residence was built by King parking (Foxtons). Henry VII in 1501 on the site of an O homesandproperty.co.uk/rhill earlier palace. Henry’s other title was history Earl of Richmond and he gave this riverside district and the neighbouring village of Sheen the same name. on your When Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was forced out of Hampton Court by Henry VIII, he was exiled to the palace. The doorstep building was later given to Anne of Cleves after her divorce from Henry and it was where Elizabeth I died in The home of kings 1603. The palace was demolished after the English Civil War and today is the perfect town- the most prominent reminder of Richmond’s royal past is the gatehouse, and-country spot for Spotlight £1.25 MILLION which is still owned by the Crown and This five-bedroom Victorian terrace was let out as a house in 1986 on a families, discovers house in Duncan Road, Richmond, 65-year lease. Richmond is full of original features and an Anthea Masey easy walk from Richmond railway PICTURE PERFECT station (Gascoigne-Pees). The view from the top of Richmond Hill of the capital’s favourite places to bring What there is to buy: Richmond has reach of Waterloo, but not in central O homesandproperty.co.uk/dunc is one of breathtaking beauty. Below is up children. It sits nine miles south- some fine period properties around London,” he adds. the meandering Thames, lush mead- west of central London with Kew to the The Green and in nearby Petersham. Staying power: Once in Richmond, ows and grazing cattle in a scene that north, Sheen to the east, Kingston to There are also Victorian detached and people tend to stay and downsizers remains largely unaltered since it was the south and Isleworth to the west. terraced houses, cottages, period usually want to remain in the area. captured by painters such as Sir Joshua The average property price in the conversions and modern flats, espe- Reynolds and William Turner in the borough, according to the Land Regis- cially in the Ham area. SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS 18th and 19th centuries respectively. try index, is £630,489, making it the The most expensive homes are around Richmond has a busy town centre with Talking of views, on a clear day from sixth most expensive borough in The Green or on Richmond Hill. The a good spread of independent shops. a gap in a hedge on King Henry’s London in which to buy a home. price per square foot ranges between Upmarket brands also feature and Mound in Richmond Park, it is possible According to estate agent Oliver £900 and £950. there’s a branch of House of Fraser plus to see St Paul’s Cathedral — a view Griffiths, of Jackson-Stops & Staff, The area attracts: Griffiths says a Waitrose supermarket. strictly protected by the London View terraced houses cost between Richmond is popular with families who The alleyways that connect the high Management Framework. £700,000 and £800,000 and large come here for the excellent primary street with The Green are full of interest- Richmond, with the river, park, good family houses between £2 million and schools, such as The Vineyard and ing shops and cafés, including a branch £3.4 MILLION schools, theatres, wide choice of shops £3 million with prices as high as Marshgate. “We also see buyers looking of the Margaret Howell fashion brand A modern, three-bedroom, “future- and easy commute to Waterloo, is one £6.5 million on Richmond Hill. for a weekday home within easy — the only one outside central London. proof” family house in Marchmont Road, Richmond, surrounded by exquisite landscaped gardens To find a home in Richmond, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/richmond (Hamptons International). O homesandproperty.co.uk/march ForF more about Richmond, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightrichmond

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CHECK THE STATS

■WHAT HOMES COST BUYING IN RICHMOND (Average prices) One-bedroom flat £361,000 Two-bedroom flat £529,000 Two-bedroom house £609,000 Three-bedroom house £795,000 Four-bedroom house £1.15 million Source: Zoopla RENTING IN RICHMOND (Average rates) One-bedroom flat £1,578 a month Two-bedroom flat £2,204 a month Two-bedroom house £2,284 a month Three-bedroom house £2,935 a month Four-bedroom house £4,272 a month Source: Zoopla

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O The best schools in and around Richmond O The lowdown on the rental scene O The latest housing developments in and around the district O The arts and leisure facilities O How this area compares with the rest of the UK O Smart maps to plot your property search

Clockwise from above: a boatman shops at the top of the Hill along Friars on the Hill and the Richmond Hill Jamie’s Trattoria, Pizza Express, Côte, Photographs: Daniel Lynch prepares for another busy day; Stile Road, the corner locals like to call Bakery. Lots of chain restaurants, Strada and Giraffe, have branches in Ty Burke at work in Argentinian “The Village”. Here you will find Food including Carluccio’s, YO! Sushi, Zizzi, Richmond. La Buvette, tucked away in ■Twitter: @antheamasey eatery Chango; a quiet pint at Church Walk, is a popular local French The Prince’s Head; Jackie McKernan restaurant, and the Bingham boutique serves at William Curley Patissier HAVE YOUR SAY RICHMOND hotel in Petersham Road has a fine din- Chocolatier; and a jogger enjoys the ing restaurant. The teahouse at Peter- views from Richmond Hill @Studio__Online We love Bramble & @ellamakescakes Highly sham Nurseries also serves meals in a Moss — a stylish, petit florist on recommend @WhiteHorseTW10. It relaxed setting. Richmond Hill. has lovely food and great service. Other designer names include Massimo TRANSPORT LINKS Dutti, Comptoir des Cotonniers, @Studio__Online The best sportswear @alwalker83 I wish I lived in Richmond has frequent trains to Water- Matches and Zadig & Voltaire. in Richmond and free yoga classes are Richmond. Love the place! loo that stop at Clapham Junction, For homeware, there are branches of at @lululemonUK. where commuters can change for Anthropologie and Zara Home. @RedDeskVA We love Victoria. The journey to Waterloo takes Maison on Hill Rise specialises in French @Studio__Online Gelateria Danieli @VillionnJewels — gorgeous #bespoke between 16 and 30 minutes depending TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE and Scandinavian-inspired painted for the best ice cream — just off #handmade #jewellery on whether it is a fast or stopping train. furniture. The Enchanted Forest in Richmond Green. Richmond is also on the District Line. Why did the Wicked Queen — the Lichfield Terrace is a well-stocked toy The station is in Zone 4 and an annual tallest of them all — not have far to NEXT WEEK: West Hampstead. shop and The Alligator’s Mouth is a new @Studio__Online Rincón is brilliant travelcard to Zone 1 costs £1,844. get home last Christmas? Do you live there? Tell us what children’s book shop in Church Court. for tapas, great wines, live music Council: Richmond upon Thames is Discover the answer and more at you think @HomesProperty Celebrated chocolatier William Curley and flamenco! Conservative controlled and Band D homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightrichmond is based in Paved Court. There are also council tax for 2015/2016 is £1,582.39.

$ #"# # " " " ## "# ! # # "# # #"# " # !#$" TOWNHOUSE PRICES START FROM £950,000 ( ,$ ( *$ $ $ # $*$! * $ $* "++ ' $( # !$'! ' # , $ $# *#$,$ # ) & $( #% $ # ' !$! $! $ (* * ' 38 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Inside story homesandproperty.co.uk with The aroma that gives me great expectations

the added security the parents are looking for, which I hope will help clinch Diary of the deal. an estate THURSDAY Today I am writing my monthly market agent comment for a local magazine and exploring the positive implications of the forthcoming Crossrail station MONDAY and proposed traffic rerouting and I have worked in the Covent Garden improvements at Tottenham Court property market for the past 18 years Road. It’s a very exciting time for the witnessing many changes but, through- surrounding area, with the iconic out, the area has retained its unique Centre Point tower to be transformed atmosphere and eclectic appeal. into luxury homes that offer enviable Friends often ask me: “Do people views across the London skyline. actually live within Covent Garden?” The planned redevelopment of Anyone who truly knows the area is Denmark Street, also known as Tin Pan well aware of the thriving and fantasti- Alley, where the Rolling Stones cally diverse local community of pied- recorded some of their albums, has à-terre owners, theatre lovers and provoked protests. young people. It becomes a popular topic of conver- Today I meet the owner of a refur- sation at the networking meeting that bished flat in Drury Lane who bought night at the Phoenix Artist Club. through our office some months ear- Events like these give me a chance to lier, and now he wants to rent the flat meet other local business people and out. The building is a former tobacco residents, with the hosts providing a warehouse and was one of the first old live cabaret performance to entertain commercial spaces in the area to be their guests. converted into exciting, new West End homes. I have the ideal tenant in mind; FRIDAY a leading ballerina soon to be perform- Almost always the busiest day of the ing at The Royal Opera House, which week, today is no different, with eve- is only a short stroll away. ryone in our team having full diaries and deals to finalise. I have a morning TUESDAY meeting with a new landlord in Wel- This morning I am off to a sales valua- lington Street, who instructs us to tion in Tavistock Street. Although market their beautiful two-bedroom I manage the Hudsons lettings and flat within a lovely Georgian terrace. property management department, I These flats are highly sought-after by come from a background in property corporate tenants and we have plenty sales, which is especially useful when of people looking to pay a premium our existing Covent Garden landlords rent for such a beautiful property. are considering selling. This property I visit the building manager of a neigh- has the distinction of once being the bouring development where we home and workplace of Charles Dickens, recently sold the home of one of BBC’s who used locations throughout Covent Dragons from the Dragons’ Den Garden as inspiration for many novels. WEDNESDAY owner is looking to sell to fund a move nearby and would rather buy than pay programme. Such is the diverse nature of property The ballerina has agreed to rent the out of London to the West Country. rent for the three years of her studies. I am invited to lunch by the owner of in the area that providing accurate Drury Lane flat, so we have a very This property does have the rather I mention that I will go to any “lengths” On The Bab in Wellington Street, a new advice requires an intimate and thor- happy landlord and tenant. I am now unusual feature of overlooking the to find them the perfect property, but restaurant serving traditional Korean ough knowledge. off to show a Singaporean couple outdoor swimming pool of the neigh- with my weak attempt at humour drinks and dishes. It’s delicious. As I head back to the office, I stop around a flat we have for sale in Shorts bouring Oasis Sports Centre. politely ignored, we are off to the next off at the Monmouth Coffee Shop in Gardens. This flat was once council- These buyers are looking for a prop- property. It is in a portered block on O Robert Burwood is manager of Monmouth Street. The delicious aroma owned. A previous tenant exercised erty for their daughter. She is studying Newton Street, where there is a resi- lettings and Covent Garden at Hudsons makes it hard to resist. their right to buy and now the current at the London School of Economics dent porter in the building that offers (020 7631 8700).

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ET AGAIN, a couple of tenants have moved out of one of my flats leaving a bit of a mess behind, Messy tenants which makes me wonder whetherY I should make it a condition of the tenancy that they pay for the property to be professionally cleaned when they leave. should clean This latest pair did make an effort to clean up after themselves, but they — like all the other tenants before them — clearly didn’t realise that when I said the property must be up their act “deep cleaned”, I didn’t mean “have a bit of a wipe around”. Victoria Whitlock offers a clear solution Even though I write to tenants shortly before the end of their lease to a dirty problem when renters want to spelling out in black and white all the £800: in Old Brompton Road, SW5, Faron Sutaria has a three double-bedroom things they need to do when they move out — they should get the cleaners in ﬂat with rooftop views available to rent (homesandproperty.co.uk/rentbromp) leave to ensure the safe return of their deposit, they never seem to appreciate that a property should And who do they think will clean it? wrist by Trading Standards for explain what it’s for and they mustn’t be as clean when they move out as The Their cleaners, that’s who, and the writing in this column that I take a use the term “non-refundable”. A when they moved in. tenant will have to pay. “non-refundable” holding deposit of landlord can deduct out-of-pocket Or perhaps they just underestimate accidental The solution is for tenants to hire a £100 to £150 from tenants when they expenses such as credit checks from how long it takes to give every room, professional cleaning agency that put an offer on a property, which I the holding deposit and also any loss every appliance and every item of provides a deposit guarantee with its deduct from the first month’s rent if of rent if the tenant doesn’t rent the furniture a really thorough clean. landlord end-of-tenancy clean, so if the check- they move in. property, as long as the landlord can These two were still frantically out report shows the job wasn’t up to As this is a practice widely used by quantify the loss, but any surplus sweeping and dusting when the scratch, or the landlord or letting letting agents and other landlords to must be refunded to the tenant. check-out clerk arrived, so obviously decent tenants, so I’m not going to agent complain, they’ll do it again. prevent tenants changing their minds I hope this clarifies the situation. there was no time to de-grease the charge them much for the proper In London, it costs about £150 to at the last minute, I thought I should oven, wash the windows, hack away cleaning, but if an agent had been £200 for a professional end-of- pass on Trading Standards’ position. Victoria Whitlock lets three properties two years’ worth of limescale from managing the property, I’m sure tenancy clean for a one-bedroom It says that while it is acceptable to in south London. To contact the bathroom taps or shampoo the they would have deducted several flat, including shampooing ask tenants for a holding deposit to Victoria with your ideas and views, sofa and the mattress. hundred pounds from their deposit. upholstery and mattresses. Cleaning secure a property, landlords must tweet @vicwhitlock One of them complained that the I’ve heard tenants moaning about carpets will cost more. clerk was being “picky” when he letting agents charging them because This might seem a lot, but it’s better Find many more homes to rent at pointed out the dirty floors, but what they “forgot” to vacuum a room, but than losing your deposit. Talking of on earth was he there for? They were if they leave it dirty, it’s dirty. Right? deposits, I’ve been slapped on the homesandproperty.co.uk/lettings 42 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Ask the expert homesandproperty.co.uk with Is my listed cottage a poisoned chalice? Fiona WHAT’S MY SISTER has just fled from her home with YOUR her baby because she was suffering domestic McNulty PROBLEM? Q abuse. She has a joint mortgage with her IF YOU have a partner, but he has not contributed to the OUR LAWYER ANSWERS question for bills, mortgage or upkeep of his daughter, apart from YOUR QUESTIONS Fiona McNulty, the first three months. Is there anything she can do to please email ensure he does not get half of the property, or will this I HAVE been left a Grade legalsolutions@ be a very expensive lesson in joint mortgages? II-listed cottage in standard.co.uk Q someone’s will — but the or write to Legal THEY have a joint mortgage and so are jointly and inheritance is turning Solutions, Homes severally liable for it. They are joint owners of the into a bit of a poisoned chalice. The & Property, A property and could be either tenants in common old chap who left me the property London Evening or joint beneficial owners. We do not know bought the place in 1987 and Standard, 2 Derry which, but unless they have made a declaration of trust gutted the downstairs and moved Street, W8 5EE. confirming that they own the property in unequal shares, the staircase. I’d like to sell the We regret that they are likely to each own 50 per cent of the property. house, but he got no listed building questions cannot If the property goes up in value, your sister’s partner consent from the council. As it was be answered will benefit, even though he has contributed very little so long ago, am I in the clear? individually, but financially. Your sister should ask her partner to agree to we will try to the property being transferred into her sole name. ENFORCEMENT action can feature them However, to keep the existing mortgage, she would have still be taken. If the property here. Fiona to satisfy the lender’s criteria for lending. If her partner A was listed when the works McNulty is legal does not agree to the transfer of the property, then your were carried out in 1987, it is director in the sister could apply to the court for an order for sale. very likely to have required consent. real estate She may also wish to consider applying to the Child A surveyor experienced in listed team of Foot Maintenance Service for extra financial support. If she buildings can advise if an application Anstey LLP can reach an agreement with her partner, then a family- for retrospective listed building (footanstey.com) based arrangement can be set up. consent is likely to succeed. But if an agreement is not possible, she can apply to If the surveyor feels that it may be the statutory Child Maintenance Service, who could set granted, make an application so retrospective consent, you can take require consent, then indemnity up an arrangement for her. that the current situation where you out indemnity insurance, which can insurance may not be appropriate, have unauthorised works is rectified then be offered to a future buyer. as the cover may be affected in More legal O These answers can only be a very brief commentary on before you try to sell. However, if that buyer wishes to such circumstances. Q&As the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. But if the surveyor considers it carry out further works to the In your case, building regulation and Visit: homesand No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar unlikely that you will be able to get property that, again, are likely to planning consent are not a concern. property.co.uk issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor

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Brought to you by ...CLOSER THAN YOU THINK Rent a 1 - 4 bed home in the former Athletes’ Village Find out more at rentE20.co.uk 44 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property New homes homesandproperty.co.uk with By David Spittles SmartSmartmoSSmSmamaraartrt moo Spit and polish RTILLERY LANE is next to listed Raven Row, a stunning A new leafy square with where the City meets art gallery owned by the Sainsbury homes for a spring sale Spitalfields. It is where family. shiny new global bank Jason Moody, the developer, FASHIONABLE parts of north-west offices loom over early- grew up in the neighbourhood. London, such as Hampstead and GeorgianA townhouses and terraced “My first job was as a French Finchley, have had a lower profile in artisan cottages, where many of the polisher in my uncle’s factory,” he recent years as the regeneration Huguenot silk merchants lived. says. “I’ve seen this area change spotlight shines brightly on the old The conservation area wrapping many times over the years. We need East End, and south of the river. around the ancient market has a to move forward, but at the same But homes are now being created medieval street pattern, a network time ensure its unique character is in keeping with the tradition of the of winding lanes and narrow not lost, and that starts with area’s Victorian and inter-war housing passageways, once forlorn but now protecting the heritage of buildings.” boom, retaining green spaces. buzzing with activity as office lights A new in-keeping mansard roof has Woodside Park takes its name from stay on late in the Square Mile. been added. They are compact, well- the time when Finchley was part of Planners keep a tight rein on planned apartments for singles, and the Forest of Middlesex. Into this residential development. couples prepared to sacrifice space leafy swathe of west Finchley has Conversions of old buildings provide to live centrally. One flat has a roof arrived Imperial Square, a gated most new homes, but measured terrace, another a small garden. development of family houses and against the number of workers, Prices from £445,000 to £959,500. apartments designed around five properties are always in short supply. Call Tarn & Tarn on 020 7377 8989. communal gardens and built in an Armoury Court, right, is a small Moody has another local scheme in eclectic architectural style. Prices yet sensitive refurbishment of an the pipeline — four new townhouses from £835,000. Call Knight Frank on 18th century building that is now in Calvin Street. To register, call 020 7718 5225. seven apartments and two shops, 01702 230308. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 45 homesandproperty.co.uk with New homes Homes & Property

CHIC CHISWICK LIVE AND WORK DOWN BY THE GREEN RIVERBANK

From £515,000: ﬂats at the Opus Collection beneﬁt from a central heat and power plant, with rooftop gardens adding to the appeal

PROTECTED on three sides by a curl apartment schemes are sprouting From £695,000 of the Thames, Chiswick attracts up on former office sites, and the to £1.95 million: Cutting-edge flats families in search of good schools, redevelopment of a bus depot, solar tubes have with a solar twist and greenery is everywhere. designed by architect Richard been added to Dukes Meadows on the riverbank, Rogers, proves that a new business the striking SOLSTICE POINT in Camden is a Gunnersbury Triangle nature estate can be a welcome addition. architecture at return to the area’s tradition of bold, reserve, the grounds of Chiswick The Opus Collection, moments Solstice Point, contemporary architecture, with an House, the awesome expanse of from Chiswick Park Tube station reducing water eco-friendly twist. Read more: visit Richmond Park and Kew’s botanical (Zone 3), brings 137 new energy- and heating bills The razor-sharp five-storey glass- our new online gardens are on the doorstep, too. efficient homes plus the “place- and-steel building generates The tree-lined Chiswick High Road making” expertise of a major renewable heat through its striking luxury section runs from Hammersmith to Kew developer, Lend Lease, which is curved façade of 150 solar thermal Bridge, a major thoroughfare that improving the public realm and tubes that harness the power of the HomesAndProperty.co.uk/luxury successfully mixes chain stores, incorporating street-level shops. sun to contribute to each apartment’s independent boutiques, bookshops, Apartments and townhouses are water and heating, reducing running bars and brasseries to create a sort powered by a central heat and power costs by 70 per cent. of urban village. The western end of plant, while residents can use Light-filled flats start at £695,000 this highway, closer to Heathrow, communal rooftop gardens. Prices and rise to £1,950,000 for a three- used to be the commercial area, but from £515,000. Call 020 3772 1000. bedroom, superb-view penthouse. Call 020 7586 2777.