Homes& Property Wednesday 25 March 2015 Folk art Design trends Page 20 LIVERPOOL STREET’S BEST COMMUTES P8 THE NEW CHELSEA P9 SPRING FORWARD: CLOCKS P12 SPOTLIGHT ON RICHMOND P32 The new homes catch of the day Page 6 * .*$&&2*$1&(-$* *!$)$.1$ &($-*$*11.,$&,*$$" $$#$$$$%%+ $$$$ $$$$/-*1&)'0*, */(/0 DANIEL LYNCH Fish Island 4 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Online homesandproperty.co.uk with This week: homesandproperty.co.uk news: ‘Save Blossom Street from the wrecking ball’ Threatened: British Land wants to build glass office blocks on the site of historic warehouses in Blossom Street, Spitalfields A BATTLE has been launched to save an entire city block in a Spitalfields conservation area from demolition. British Land wants to tear down historic warehouses in Blossom Street, E1, to build mostly glass office blocks of up to 13 storeys. Objectors say the project will include just 40 new homes, with only 10 earmarked as affordable. Plans submitted to Tower Hamlets planners centre 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 and cast iron pillars. Protesters hope the scheme will meet a similar fate to plans to demolish part of Smithfield Market, which were thrown out last summer by government ministers. Property search Trophy buy of the week Georgian gem has pedigree £5.5 million: this Sussex pile, in all its Georgian glory, sits among 34 acres. As one would expect, it comes with a tennis court, swimming pool, full equestrian facilities, including a sand school and stables to house a fine filly or two, plus beautiful manicured lawns. The 8,700sq ft home features eight bedrooms and six bathrooms, six reception rooms, a vast kitchen and sun terrace. A separate twobedroom cottage is perfect for parking the staff or a troublesome guest. Through Hamptons International. O homesandproperty.co.uk/trophy London buy of the week fly high in the style stakes with smart apartments £459,950: new to the market is a stylish collection of modern flats at Beaufort Park, built on an old RAF base in Colindale, NW9. This two-bedroom apartment comes with a high-spec finish throughout, an open-plan living room and a slick kitchen, complete with the latest appliances. The master bedroom O Read Philippa Stockley’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk Life changer make your mark on bright blank canvas Visit our new online luxury section HomesAndProperty.co.uk/luxury £900,000: cream of the Cornish crop can be found in Trevone Bay near Padstow — one of north Cornwall’s 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. O homesandproperty.co.uk/lifechanger Facebook: has an en suite shower room, while the second bedroom has use of a luxury bathroom. There is also a large decked balcony, perfect for soaking up views over parkland. A health and fitness suite, 24-hour concierge and underground parking complete the deal. It’s on the market with Foxtons. ESHomesAndProperty • Twitter: @HomesProperty • Pinterest: Editor: Janice Morley adorably soft... VISIT homesandproperty.co. uk/rules for details of our usual promotion rules. When you respond to promotions, offers or competitions, the London Evening Standard and its sister companies may contact you with relevant offers and services that may be of interest. Please give your mobile number and/or email address if you would like to receive such offers by text or email. The Peggy chair from £460. For reader offers visit www.sofa.com/eve, pop in to our London or Bath showroom or call us on 0345 400 2222. By Faye Greenslade Editorial: 020 3615 2524 Advertisement manager: Jamie McCabe Advertising: 020 3615 0527 Homes & Property, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, London W8 5TT. @HomesProperty Digital stars prefer the fringe WEALTHY and young digital entrepreneurs looking for a home in the capital are ignoring prime central London in favour of new emerging districts on the fringes of the Square Mile, from Farringdon in the west to Whitechapel in the east, a new Knight Frank report reveals. Fifteen thousand design and digital start-up businesses have opened near Old Street’s Silicon Roundabout alone during the past two years, with global giants Google, Facebook and Amazon moving there. The new research shows that, over the From £735,000: flats at Goodman’s Fields, Aldgate, with pool and gym (homesandproperty.co.uk/gfa) same period, house prices in the area have outperformed average prime central London, with soaring demand for handsome Georgian terrace homes and airy loft conversions that will be on the doorstep of three Crossrail stations by 2018. Join us as we take a property tour of London’s booming “City central” hotspots. O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/prime 5 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 News Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with Strut your stuff in Versace’s mansion Got some gossip? Tweet @amiranews É KENSINGTON’S Logan Mews is known for its ties with rock legends Queen. Freddie Mercury once lived at Number 1 and the band enjoyed many parties in the grounds. Those wanting to relive the Mercury magic will be drawn to a four-bedroom house in the private cobbled enclave that is on Mountgrange Heritage’s books. It hits all the right notes for lovers of urban chic, as it has a decked roof terrace that makes the ideal party spot. Near the artisan cafés of Stratford Village, the home, priced at £3.495 million, could be a refuge for Brian May, who lives nearby, but grumbled about building works on his own street. É JESSICA CHASTAIN, below, has splashed out £3.4 million on a four-bedroom apartment in central New York. The Oscar-nominated actress, who is set to play Marilyn Monroe in upcoming film Blonde, which is directed by Andrew Dominik, plans to live there with her fashion executive boyfriend Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo. The property, which boasts plenty of character, includes a master suite with floor-to-ceiling closets, hand-carved mahogany windows with Tiffany glass, a music room and a library. It once belonged to legendary composer Leonard Bernstein, but Chastain bought it from Tony-winning composer and lyricist Adam Guettel. The man who sold his house GETTY RETNA Homes gossip By Amira Hashish New York flat’s Jess the ticket Logan Mews will rock you ÉTWO homes once lived in by David Bowie have come on the market, but are worlds apart. Mandalay, left, was built for the singer on the Caribbean island of Mustique. It has Indonesian-style décor and it is for sale through Knight Frank for £13.5 million. Sitting just above the water, it has a card room decorated with mussel shells, a recording studio with a bamboo ceiling and a stage for gigs. Bowie originally sold the place to publisher Felix Dennis for £3.3 million. Meanwhile, Bowie’s childhood home at 106 Canon Road in Bromley, south London, is a more modest offering. Despite undergoing a recent refurbishment, the two-bedroom property is available to rent from this Saturday through Cannon Kallar (cannonkallar.co.uk) for £1,350 a month. REX É FASHION house Versace is about 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 atriumstyle conservatories in the West End. The 18th century property at 50 Charles Street had many aristocratic owners before being converted into offices after the Second World War. Now reverted to a single home, it has a marble entrance hall and a 34ft long Milanese-style patio garden. 6 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property New homes homesandproperty.co.uk with F ISH ISLAND may be an unlikely and unpromising candidate, but this 50-acre triangular tract of industrial land with a small colony of creatives 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 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 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 in a former sofa factory, is Fish Island Labs, a Barbican Centre-backed initiative offering low-rent space to techno creatives. ANOTHER OLYMPIC WINNER 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 neighbouring Stratford that has altered its fortunes. Not only is Fish Island a beneficiary of all the new infrastructure and local amenities, it is a key component of an ambitious master plan for the wider Hackney Wick area, one that is bringing a new Overground station and up to 5,500 new homes. Crucially, London Legacy Development Corporation, which owns a lot of the land, has taken control as the planning authority and is fast-tracking change. NEW HOMES A RARITY All this physical change has transformed public perceptions of Fish Island as a place to live and work as well as propelling the value of land and buildings, many of which are empty or under-utilised. Currently, Smokers welcome: Lance Forman, boss of Fish Island salmon producer Forman & Son Arty, edgy and the catch of the day Fish Island, Stratford’s last colony, is sharing in the Olympics legacy with new homes and artists’ studios, says David Spittles homes for sale are scarce. Omega Works, a pioneering apartment scheme built in the Nineties, had a troubled start after the developer got into difficulties, but the block is now extremely sought-after. “Two-bedroom flats cost £400,000 to £500,000, but rarely come up for sale or rent,” says Gavin Ridding, a civil engineer and planning consultant whose association with the area goes back 30 years. Today he is chairman of the local business forum group and owner of estate agent Fish Island Properties, selling mainly commercial premises. Iron Works is another canalside apartment complex, adjacent to Greenway, a new pedestrian and cycle route built above sewers designed by Joseph Bazalgette, the great Victorian engineer. What was a virtual no-go zone for home buyers is now a promising new frontier, with eager developers swooping to snap up sites and estate Artistic: Fish Island Labs, left, is housed in a former sofa factory; right, a pedestrian and cyclist cross Old Ford Lock agents plotting the future. Peabody’s Neptune Wharf will provide 578 homes. L&Q, another housing association developer, is poised to unveil a scheme of canalside homes on Stour Road, while developer Aitch Group is moving into this territory and is progressing four schemes with up to 250 homes. Hackney Stratford Fish Island City Tower Hamlets Newham CHASING THE LONDON FIELDS EFFECT The area has all the ingredients to become another London Fields, the trendy Hackney district of east London centred around the eponymous park and enlivened by boutique-strewn Broadway Market, according to estate agent Currell, which is extending its reach by setting up a “resource centre” covering Fish Island and Hackney Wick. Initially this will be a pop-up showroom with a 3D model of the area and a digital database of land ownership, transport proposals, cultural and community initiatives, development opportunities and apartments coming up for sale and rent. “London Fields’ rise has been dramatic during the past decade and there are strong parallels between the two places: pockets of ‘I like the rawness of Hackney Wick’ NATALIE HALL, 36, a marketing director who works in Shoreditch, bought one of the new flats at The Mission. She has lived in the Hackney borough for 13 years, moving from Hoxton to Dalston to London Fields and now to Hackney Wick. “I suppose I’ve followed the wave of gentrification as it has spread out from Shoreditch. Often areas become victims of their own success. I like the rawness of Hackney Wick, but it has a special quality and I hope this is not lost with the planned regeneration.” 7 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 New homes Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with £1.127 million: for a striking penthouse in the listed tower at The Mission, next to St Mary of Eton Church in Hackney Wick 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 semiderelict waterfront, while the 15-minute walk to the nearest train stations — Puddle Dock, Bow Road and Hackney Wick — is through a 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. ALL PICTURES: DANIEL LYNCH GETTING THE RIGHT BALANCE Afloat: houseboats have colonised the River Lee, as seen from new homes at Omega Works on Fish Island, which was for years a forgotten backwater gentrification alongside pockets of deprivation, some fabulous yet decaying industrial buildings, and a pleasant open green space on the doorstep,” says owner Anne Currell. Fish Island has the advantage of being plugged into the mini city that is Stratford, where the former Media From £400,000: resale flats are sought-after at Omega Works, a pioneering scheme, but apartments rarely come up for sale or for rent This patch needs a boost. Postindustrial 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 and ensure this new neighbourhood is “balanced”, with a tenure mix of owners and renters, and that its rooted community of small businesses and creatives is not dislodged by fashionistas. 8 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Commuting: Liverpool Street CHELMSFORD: GETS TOP MARKS This is the most popular choice for commuters, with almost five million season ticket journeys each year from its station, largely because of the city’s excellent schools. For boys, King Edward VI Grammar — known as Kegs — is one of the top secondary schools in the UK, and Chelmsford County High, for girls, has an almost equally stellar reputation. Both operate a 12-mile catchment limit, which has pulled more families out of Essex villages and into the city. Granted city status in 2012, Chelmsford has first-rate sports facilities, open country on the doorstep, and Stansted airport is a 20-minute drive away. The Essex ‘tickets’ all the right boxes for rail commuters Nine locations beyond the M25 get you into Liverpool Street in under an hour. Chelmsford tops the bill, says Ruth Bloomfield town centre is a bit on the Towie side, but Old Moulsham has a great mix of cafés and independent shops. An average home in the city costs £269,072, up 8.6 per cent in the last year. Stephen White, a director of Savills, says Chelmsford is booming. “Over the last three years, there has been an explosion of development and house prices, and businesses and people are coming in,” he said. To the north of the city, thousands of new homes are being built at Beaulieu Park, a 604-acre site that was once the summer residence of King Henry VIII. Modern houses there are priced up to about £900,000 for a five-bedroom detached home, or for buyers lower down the ladder, a two-bedroom Victorian cottage would cost from about £250,000. Two-bedroom flats are priced from about £200,000. ESSEX’S TOP COMMUTER DESTINATIONS Station Shenfield Ingatestone Chelmsford Hatfield Peverel Witham Kelvedon Marks Tey Colchester Manningtree Journey time in minutes 27 29 35 43 44 48 54 52 60 Season ticket price £2,868 £3,320 £3,728 £4,016 £4,160 £4,364 £4,488 £4,796 £5,360 Average price of a home £369,037 £536,415 £269,072 £313,516 £218,975 £283,546 £292,111 £200,088 £227,945 Growth rate in a year (%) 8.6 11.2 8.6 9.4 6.5 4.0 4.7 4.0 5.5 SHENFIELD: IT’S UP-AND-COMING This is a semi-suburb with a journey time of just 27 minutes. Prices here have soared by close to 15 per cent since 2007, to an average of £369,037. Shenfield is at the easternmost point of the Crossrail line and, by 2018, will have fast direct routes to both the West End and Heathrow airport. Critics might find the area a little soulless, with rather too many gated developments of executive homes, but its high street very much passes the coffee shop test. COLCHESTER: HISTORY AT HOME This is the big-town option out of Liverpool Street with average prices just a shade over £200,000 thanks to its 52-minute journey time. The oldest town in England, Colchester has character and culture with a ALAMY L IVERPOOL STREET is one of London’s busiest stations — partly because of its prime position in the City, and partly because it serves some of the most popular commuter villages and towns east of the capital. The destinations it serves fit the principal requirement for most commuters — getting home in less than an hour. So where should house hunters start looking for a property this Easter? Basically, from Liverpool Street, it’s Essex. Exclusive research on the nine locations that lie beyond the M25, but within an hour of Liverpool Street, reveals a huge price difference between Shenfield — a 27-minute journey — and Manningtree, which takes the full 60 minutes. The average property in Shenfield costs £369,037, while up the track in Manningtree it’s £227,945, according to analysis by Savills. Shenfield residents pay the extra to save 66 minutes each day on a round trip to Liverpool Street. Every saved minute costs them £2,137. homesandproperty.co.uk with Boating on the River Cam: Chelmsford is a winner with commuters and families new £28 million art centre, designed by Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly and clad in gilded metal. It is known locally as the Golden Banana. Schools are great, in particular the highly sought-after Colchester County High School, for girls, and the Royal Grammar School, for boys, and there are plenty of good pubs. Its location £895,000: Growth rate since 2007 (%) 14.9 10.9 11.7 13.7 9.8 13.1 0.2 5.1 7.4 Source: Savills using Office of Rail Regulation and Land Registry an impressive five-bedroom house in Cressing Road, Witham. Through Walkers O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/cressingroad on the Essex/Suffolk border means the beauties of the Stour Valley are close by and you are only 15 miles from Frinton-on-Sea. On the downside, the high street has too many chain stores to be anything more than useful, but the Dutch Quarter, just north of the town centre, has some lovely and characterful period cottages with painted façades. Expect to pay about £175,000 to £200,000 for a two-bedroom home, or from about £250,000 to £300,000 for a house with three bedrooms. The grandest address in town is Lexden, about 15 minutes’ walk from the centre, and full of sprawling Victorian villas. The largest properties, with at least six bedrooms and going on for 4,000sq ft of space, are priced at £1 million or more, but you could buy a four-bedroom Victorian semi for about £600,000. 9 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 Renting Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with 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 ALAMY To dine for: Blue Elephant in Imperial Wharf, a favourite for Thai dishes Marina chic: riverside developments near Chelsea Harbour, above, are attracting new types of renters From dirty secret to shiny new address T HE now-fashionable Fulham neighbourhood of Sands End is a parable of our times — the triumph of development in a cut-off corner of London. Despite the negatives of a tract of industrial land blighted by gas works and dissected by train tracks, developers have transformed the area into an enclave of coveted flats and houses, now one of Fulham’s best addresses. During the Victorian period, it was a very grim place, lined with factories and a coal-fired power station, before it gained a reputation for slums and troubled council estates. Only when nearby Chelsea Harbour was built alongside a muddy inlet in the Eighties did residential developers look at this waterfront strip with different eyes. It has become a new suburb in SW6. Today, there is a riverside path to Chelsea Harbour via Chelsea Creek, another swish residential scheme, and the Sands End district has offices, bars, restaurants, hotels, small businesses and a settled hinterland that stretches to trendy New King’s Road, packed with galleries and boutiques. THE NEW RENTERS “The riverside developments have enticed a new type of Fulham renter,” says Glen Neligan, manager % &( ' " $ # # Gone are the grime and the slums. Sands End has become a swish new riverside residential quarter, says David Spittles ‘Waterfront homes have enticed a new type of Fulham renter and command a premium’ £2,925 a month: a two-bedroom flat in Doulton House, Chelsea Creek, with use of gym and pool of Benham & Reeves Lettings. “People, mainly young professionals and downsizers who had previously only considered a period home, started to appreciate the lifestyle benefits of a development — the security, the parking and the amenities. “In general, the waterfront homes now command a premium and are on a par with fully refurbished properties at Parsons Green, traditionally Fulham’s best address.” Studios start at £350 a week and two-bedroom flats from £550 a week, with rents rising to £2,500 a week for a glamorous penthouse and £3,000 a week for a five-bedroom house. Tucked away behind the waterfront are original artisan cottages and smart, small three-bedroom terrace houses that let for £750 to £800 a week, and conversions, including garden flats, from £450 a week. COMMUTE BY RIVERBUS The Thames Clipper riverbus service is hugely popular. Boats leave as early 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 O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/doultonhouse 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 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 T HE Cayman Islands share much of the eye-popping beauty of any Caribbean island with sandy beaches, crystalline blue seas and world-class diving. However, Grand Cayman is one of the safest, wealthiest, most tax-friendly places in the world, and it is these “extras” that make it of particular interest to many. For a UK overseas territory — one of 14 along with Gibraltar and Bermuda — the Cayman Islands, made up of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, don’t seem very British. Yes, you see a picture of the Queen in the arrivals hall at Grand Cayman airport after the 10-hour direct flight from London, but Miami is only an hour away and 80 per cent of visitors are from the US. HEAVEN IS... NOTHING TO PAY THE Cayman Islands have no restrictions on foreign ownership of land. Anyone with an EU passport who owns property there can come and go at will as long as they are able to prove they can support themselves. A straightforward way to become resident in the Caymans is to apply for Residency for Persons of Individual Means. Anyone investing a minimum of £393,000 in property and with an annual income of £94,000 without needing to work can get a 25-year renewable residency certificate for a fee of £15,700. Residents in the Caymans pay no income, capital gains, inheritance, property or sales taxes, or on their investment portfolio. Stamp duty is 7.5 per cent. Grand Cayman is by far the most developed of the three Cayman islands, but at about 22 miles long by an average four miles wide, it is hardly a giant. It is a colossus, however, in the financial world. Cayman is the sixth largest international banking centre with a top-grade AAA credit rating, on a par with London and Switzerland. “Cayman is little-known globally, but we want to get our brand out there so the world knows we are a world-class financial destination,” says the Hon Moses Kirkconnell, deputy premier and tourism minister of the islands. “Tourism and finance are our two drivers. Tourism is set to grow 12 per cent this year, substantially above the regional average of five per cent.” Infrastructure is key to this plan and the Caymans have excellent roads, several international schools and modern hospitals. A larger airport is being built and Camana Bay, a new town with 600 acres of thoughtfully designed boutique shops, apartments, offices and openair restaurants, has transformed life for residents. “For lifestyle, Cayman is ALAMY BANKING GIANT £3,058,000: this five-bedroom waterfront home at Canal Point in Grand Cayman is close to Seven Mile Beach hard to beat,” says James Burdess of estate agent Savills. “It has an established business community with 130 different nationalities, which From £162,660: Ironwood resort in Grand Cayman offers one- to three-bedroom apartments for sale through Savills brings a diverse social life and wellestablished facilities.” Property for sale in Grand Cayman through Savills includes comfortable, new one- to four-bedroom flats, townhouses and villas on the water at Cypress Pointe North priced from £250,500. This 38-unit development is five minutes from prime Seven Mile Beach in family-friendly Crystal Harbour. Savills is also selling off-plan property at Ironwood, a golf and sports resort being developed at the quieter eastern end of Grand Cayman, priced from £162,660 for one- to three-bedroom flats. This ambitious, long-term project offers supermarkets and smaller shops, and an Arnold Secluded setting: family-owned Brac Reef Beach Resort is on the south-west end of Cayman Brac Palmer-designed championship golf course is planned. The first homes will be ready in 2017. Buyers looking for large, detached waterfront properties can opt for the canal, where a boat mooring is part of the deal, or the beach. British-born engineer Mike Burcombe and his American wife Joyce, an architect, are selling the fully furnished substantial house they built at Canal Point for £3,058,000, but have no plans to leave the island. “Why wouldn’t you live here?” says Joyce, whose children are at boarding school in the UK. “Number one is the safety and security combined with a friendly and varied expat community. Then there is great healthcare, restaurants, flight access and grocery stores. “Mike and I have worked all over the Caribbean and nowhere compares to Cayman.” O Savills: savills.co.uk (020 7016 3843) O Cayman Islands Tourism: caymanislands.ky IT’S PARTY TIME LONDON COUPLE BRING CAMDEN TO THE BEACH We’re the No 1 choice for both cottage owners and holidaymakers Join Britain’s favourite holiday letting agency and benefit from: • A personal and friendly service with a dedicated Regional Manager based in your area • £Multi-million marketing campaigns • All properties graded to tourist board standards FREE of charge • FREE photography and professional copywriting Call our Property Recruitment team on 0345 268 8517 Email [email protected] or visit www.cottages4you.co.uk HURRICANE IVAN damaged half of all homes in Grand Cayman in 2004, destroying many heritage buildings. Recent architecture on the island is largely uninspiring, but Londoners Lisa and Vidal Brewer, pictured, have taken their experience from remodelling period homes in Camden and Westminster to build Grand Cayman’s most striking contemporary home. Camden House at Rum Point is an ocean front property designed by UK-based architect Nicholas Tye. The strong architecture includes glass walls, a cantilevered steel staircase and a roof terrace made for parties. Striking style: Camden House at Rum Point is a contemporary property on the ocean front “Building this house has been unbelievably difficult,” admits Lisa. “We had terrible arguments with Nick, but he pushed us to be purists and I am glad he did. Finding contemporary products even in the US is challenging. For example, all the light fittings came from Ambiente Direct in Germany.” The couple, with six-year-old daughter Emily, arrived in Grand Cayman four years ago and own a property development company. “We live an easy, happy, outdoor life here,” says Lisa. “It’s relaxed, it’s safe and everything works.” They also own a large four-bedroom detached house on the beach at Rum Point, which they rent out from £420 a night. “It’s ranch style, which we painted white and furnished with modern pieces,” says Lisa. “It rents very well, even in low season because people are mad for modern.” O Camden House is on the market for £4,457,000 through Savills 12 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Clocks homesandproperty.co.uk with A brief history of As the clocks go forward, Philippa Stockley meets the man in charge of the world’s most famous timepiece S HOULD you happen to be standing near the Houses of Parliament this Saturday evening, you’ll notice two things: first, at 8.30pm, all four faces of Big Ben will go dark. Second, at around 10pm (if you have keen eyes), you’ll spot its gigantic hands starting to race round. This is the night that the clocks spring forward an hour. For the rest of us, it heralds the start of British Summer Time and an extra evening hour of sunlight, but for the people who have to change Big Ben it means a hard slog until 2am. The Palace of Westminster has three full-time clockmakers who look after its 2,000 clocks, of which the most famous is the one we all call Big Ben (though, in fact, that’s the name of the bell inside the Elizabeth Tower). One of the clockmakers, Paul Roberson, who is also the chair of the British Watch and Clockmakers’ Guild, still can’t believe his luck at having this job — even though it means getting in at 7am, being on call all hours, and climb- ing 334 stairs up to the top of Big Ben three times a week to wind the clock, because there’s no lift. What if you leave a spanner at the bottom? “What do you think?” he asks. Once he had to go up and down 10 times in a single day, doing repairs. “But the worst thing,” he laughs, “is leaving your pass at the top when you’re heading home.” Roberson trained as a watch and clockmaker in Hackney. “I’ve always been mechanically minded, but this is more fun than rolling around under a car, he says. TIME TO TEST The clock mechanism itself was designed by an eccentric barristerturned-horologist called Edmund Beckett Denison, and made by Dent of Pall Mall, in London. It was finished in 1854 but, Roberson explains, the Houses of Parliament were way behind schedule, so there was time to thoroughly test the mechanism. “Then it was one of the wonders of the world,” he says, admiringly. No one believed CAMERA PRESS our time Crunch time: clockmaker Paul Roberson, above and left, examining one of Big Ben’s four faces, will be busy on Saturday night when the clocks go forward by an hour such a huge clock could be accurate to the second, but it was and, according to Roberson, “I see no reason for it not to go on working for ever. “When I first heard Big Ben, I expected the noise would blow my brains out but, in fact, because of the way sound carries, it almost seems louder outside. And it keeps humming afterwards. The sound of its chimes, which we call the Westminster chimes, are in our blood, but they are copied from the Cambridge chimes.” Big Ben is called a three-train clock because it has three sets of weight- driven gears, or “trains”. One runs the quarter chimes, one runs the strike, and one, the “going train”, runs the four sets of hands. This train is still manually wound three days a week using a crank handle, winding its weight right back up to the top of the tower. WOUND UP It’s hard work and the men take turns, at about 30 turns each. It takes an hour to wind. The other trains have been wound by motor since 1912. Because Big Ben has to be accurate, the clockmakers have a tried and tested system that is reassuringly low-tech. To check that Big Ben’s chime is spot on, they phone up the speaking clock just before the hour, then belt up to the belfry with a stop-watch to check the accuracy of the strike. If it is a tiny bit out, they place pre-decimal pennies on the pendulum to make adjustments. Adding one penny speeds the clock up by two-fifths of a second over 24 hours; taking one off does the reverse. Just twice a year, when the clocks change, the clockmakers are allowed to stop the clock (that’s when the clock 13 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 Clocks Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with 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) STEVE FORREST/PANOS ■Twitter: @stockleyp Clockwise from below: Diamantini & Domeniconi Lollogio wall clock, £225, from John Lewis; Big Ben wall clock, £14.99, from the National Gallery shop (as before); the Diamantini & Domeniconi Arcoiris Cuckoo clock, £170, from John Lewis 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 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. “If you’d told me when I was growing up in the East End that one day I’d be looking after the most famous clock in the world,” Roberson says, “I wouldn’t have believed it. Being a clockmaker is a fantastic career, I wouldn’t change 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) hammer struck it. Recast in 1858 at the 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 patched, and adds to the bell’s unforgettable tone. Big Ben, and the four “quarter bells” that ring just before it, is run by one of the oldest and most accurate mechanical 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 An exceptional new collection of 1 & 2 bedroom apartments woven into the heart of Islington Register your interest 16 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Design homesandproperty.co.uk with By Amira Hashish L EE THORNLEY and Harriet Roberts are the creators of reclaimed and bespoke tile brand Bert & May, based in Vyner Street, Bethnal Green. They 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 For inspiration: Lee loves the architectural detailing at Wilton’s, the world’s oldest surviving grand music hall, in east London Our design London LEE THORNLEY AND HARRIET ROBERTS together — resulting in the birth of Bert & May (bertandmay.com) in September 2013. We both understood how important location is to a business and so wanted to be within a creative part of east London. We were delighted to find our fabulous warehouse in Vyner Street, which opened last October. OUR SECRET SHOPS Harriet: there is an amazing vintage shop in Hackney Road called Rospo (rospo.co.uk). Hidden away in the basement is a beautiful collection of antique furniture. They also make bespoke pieces to order. I had my kitchen table made there. Lee: I love Earl of East London (earlofeastlondon.com) for its scented candles, which are essential at home and in the office. They smell divine. MOST STYLISH EATERY Lee: I often stay at the Town Hall Hotel (townhallhotel.com) in Bethnal Green, which is home to an amazing restaurant called Corner Room as well as a great cocktail bar, Peg + Patriot. Both have a stripped-back, TONY BUCKINGHAM DANIEL LYNCH Meeting of minds: Lee Thornley and Harriet Roberts chatted over drinks at Lee’s boutique hotel in Spain and agreed to work together Lee: Harriet and I met at my boutique hotel Casa La Siesta (casalasiesta.com) in Andalucia, Spain, while she was on holiday with her mother. We chatted over drinks and I explained my plan to open a shop in London selling the sort of tiles that featured in the hotel. Harriet loved the idea and, by the time we had finished our drinks, we had decided to begin working industrial finish with nice homely touches and interesting design features. Harriet: it has to be The Blues Kitchen (theblueskitchen.com) in Shoreditch. They serve a delicious brunch and have an Airstream trailer that acts as a private dining space. FOR INSPIRATION Harriet: Building BloQs (buildingbloqs.com) in north London is a hidden gem for design inspiration. After an hour spent in the wood workshops among a community of artists, anyone would be inspired to create something amazing. Lee: any Londoner must visit Wilton’s Music Hall (wiltons.org.uk) at some point. Between Aldgate East and Tower Hill, it is a reinvention of a mid-19th century grand music hall and an 18th-century terrace of three houses and a pub. The detailing is like nowhere else. 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 Tucked away: Netil Market is great for unusual gifts 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 (mortyandbobs.com). 17 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 Design Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with 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 Favourite for fabrics: Harriet tips Dalston Mill Fabrics in Ridley Road, Hackney, above, while her most coveted object is an Atollo light, by Italian Vico Magistretti, left (mathiashahn.com), an incredible product designer who has a studio in Stoke Newington. Sebastian Cox’s designs are timeless and I love his approach to sustainability (sebastiancox.co.uk). Harriet: my absolute favourite is Philippe Malouin (philippemalouin. com). He is an architectural and interiors genius who transforms spaces using the most unusual and unexpected materials. I also love International Studio (internationalstudio.co.uk) for unique lighting and furniture design. FIND YOUR FABRICS WHERE WE LIVE Harriet: there is a little curtain and fabric shop, Alexander Furnishings (alexanderfurnishings.com) in Marylebone. I go there for print inspiration and to pick up fabric for furnishings at home. Dalston Mill Fabrics (dalstonmillfabrics.co.uk) in Ridley Road, Hackney is also great. Harriet: I live in a Georgian townhouse in the Barnsbury area of Islington with my husband. When I was looking to buy I instantly fell in love with the area — it is so quiet on our street yet only a short walk home from the City, where I used to work, and a quick taxi ride home from the West End after an evening out. The architecture is beautiful and there’s a Lee: Labour and Wait (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 in my living room and the children know that it is my chair and only I am allowed to sit on it. COVETED OBJECTS Harriet: I am desperate for an Atollo light by Vico Magistretti. Lee: anything by Jean Prouvé — I’m a bit chair obsessed — so maybe his Cité lounge chair. DESIGNERS WE ADMIRE Lee: we are constantly inspired by the creativity in the capital, especially in east London. One of my favourites is Mathias Hahn Designer we admire: Mathias Hahn, above, is a master of geometric shapes. His lamps, right, have a homely appearance, but at the same time possess a clearly defined personality 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 Canal. We have a mooring at the Bert & May warehouse, so I’ll be able to roll out of bed and into the office. The design of the barge is striking, geometric and minimalist. It is a fabulous, simple space with everything I need to enjoy London life. Harriet: I have a few dream houses that match different parts of my personality. A villa in the Caribbean, a cottage in the countryside — I’m a bit of a traditionalist — or my dream house in London would be Fenton House in Hampstead. It is the most stunning property with a walled garden. MY SATURDAYS Harriet: mornings are usually reserved for leisurely breakfasts with my husband. Then we will meet friends for a drink in our local pub. Lee: usually I spend my weekends in Yorkshire with my family, heading out to the moors for bracing family Timeless quality: designer Sebastian Cox, above, and his beautifully crafted oak and hazel side table for Heal’s, £695 walks. Sometimes I cannot make it back up to Yorkshire because of work, so I spend the weekend on my friend’s houseboat. We will make breakfast then take the boat towards Camden or Hackney Wick, where we will stop off at Crate Brewery (cratebrewery.com) for pizza and a pint of local ale. %%% %*&'+ % % &$%%% %%# % %" $!!! $%! % %%)+(% %% % %% $ $$,$$$$ $"(#$$$ #$+)$$'&$$*$ #$+*$$'&$$)$ #$+%$$'&$$ $$$$$$$$#! ""# 20 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Interiors ▼ PUTTING an eye-catching spin on simple folk-style florals is a new porcelain line called Beatrix at Oliver Bonas. The espresso coffee cups, below, are £27.50 for a boxed set of four (oliverbonas.com). homesandproperty.co.uk with ► HOTEL decorating legend Kit Kemp includes the Rabbit Folkthread Rug in flatweave cotton in her new collection curated for Anthropologie. Measuring 5ft x 7ft, it costs £498 (anthropologie.eu). ▼ HAND-EMBROIDERED cushion covers are made in organic cotton by the Otomi community in Mexico, with motifs based on ancient wall art. Price £45 without a pad, size 50cm x 40cm (mayalma.com). go gypsy By Barbara Chandler ▼ LONDON designer Karolin Schnoor’s Fable range is now on Royal Doulton, with plates, mugs, platters and more. The Red Tree mug is £7 (royaldoulton.co.uk). Design Des De esi sig ign gn tr tre tren ren en en " ## ! !# # $# $ $ $#$ $ !$ " KING’S CROSS ON A NEW LEVEL Flowers, trees, birds and rabbits, all in striking colours, lead a strong folk strand in homeware and interiors this spring 21 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 Interiors Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with ▼ 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 tassles and polyester pad, £16. Cotton Flower Cart cushion, 40cm x 40cm, and Sewing Machine cushion, 45cm x 45cm, both with polyester pad, £20 each. Demi floor lamp with blue shade, 157cm high, £135. Bennett wing armchair in a stout cotton, £699. Blue Small Bird plaque, £15. All at Bhs (bhs.co.uk; 0344 411 6000). Harriet Taylor Seed’s Four Seasons table mats are £9.50 each, or you can buy a set of four for £35 (beastinshow. com). £3.49, and embroidered table mat, £4.99. Folk plate, small, £3.49, large, £3.99. Faux flowers, £4.99, all at Homesense stores (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 T 2 HERE are times in life when, if you see the right thing, you must jump. That’s what happened to Lindsey and Chris Reed in 2011 when, after looking for a new home for two years and giving up hope of ever finding the right one, they were told about a house that had potential. Lindsey, a market researcher, and Chris, who runs his own PR company, had been living with their two boys; 12-year-old Fin, and Ollie, nine, in a big house in Finsbury Park. They’d bought it from Iwona Blazwick, who runs the Whitechapel Gallery, so it was very stylish. But the basement kitchen where the couple, both 44, spent a lot of time was dark. As well as more light, they wanted somewhere safer for the boys, with more outside space, and a more neighbourly feel. They had looked around the desirable village of Crouch End, but gardens there tend to be small. Then the Edwardian terraced house near Alexandra Palace popped up. At the top of their budget, it was on a street they had earmarked. “The moment we saw it, Chris and I had the same vision for what to do to it — which has never happened to us in our lives,” says Lindsey with a grin. They made an offer on the spot, before it went on the market, and before they’d put their own home up for sale. “So the owners knew we were serious,” adds Lindsay. In their old house they’d had a bathroom added by architect Andrew Mulroy, so they took him round too, to see if he agreed with their idea for extending the back. Then they put their house on the market and sold it to the first people who saw it. And that was that. They moved in. Families in this part of north London stay for a lifetime in these well-built, charming houses with big gardens near the park. “People leave their wellies on the front doorstep,” says Lindsey. The old owners had stayed for 25 years. The 1910 houses were often built from a pattern book, and many still have lovely details, such as encaustic tiled floors, stained glass windows and original fireplaces with Art Deco tiles. All that was the case here. However, the house was a rabbit warren at the back. The ground floor was carved into three little rooms — a small breakfast room, an even smaller kitchen “with the same cooker I had at university!” laughs Chris, and a tight living room with a French window offering views to the unspoiled garden, which is perfect for teenage footballers. Chris and Lindsey wanted to knock it all into a big kitchen diner, and extend out as well, with full-width sliding glass doors. They also fancied an unusually big skylight over the dining area, made from a single pane of toughened, triple-laminated glass. “We didn’t want a bar down the middle, but as soon as you start talking glass, the price skyrockets,” says Chris. For the whole works their architect estimated it would cost £80,000-£120,000, depending on the quality they went for. He started making drawings six months after the family moved in, and the works began six months after that, with no planning problems, and using the same builder, who brought with him the same team. “He rebuilt the little kitchen in our back bedroom,” says Lindsey, “and sealed off the ground floor with lockable doors.” Such attention to detail meant they could stay on site, save thousands, and feel secure during the five months of the job. Lindsey and Chris admire their architect. Not only because he can, they say, draw in perspective upside down, but because he didn’t try to talk them out of or into anything. However, the one special thing he suggested was to set the sliding garden doors into a 15cm shadow gap at the top, totally concealing runners, so that all you see is floor-to-ceiling garden and sky. This is a neat touch. The local kitchen design company did a good job too, trying to save the couple money — although an attempt to talk Lindsey out of a 27 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 My home Homes & Property y.co.uk with 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 Get the look Quooker boiling-water tap fell on deaf ears and so blew the budget. One brilliant idea is that the dishwasher (in the island) is directly opposite the cutlery and plate drawers, which means that you unload and store its contents standing on one spot. Over the years, this will save literally miles of walking around with armfuls of tableware. WHAT IT COST: House bought for £940,000 in 2011. Works, including architect: £120,000. Value now (estimate): £1.5 million SUPPLIERS: U NUSUALLY in a project this big, nothing went wrong, and Lindsey says the whole thing is exactly what she had dreamed of. More importantly, in a modern world where teenagers are constantly plugged in to technology, rather than being tucked away in their bedrooms, in this home they often go online in the same family room as their parents, who are busy cooking or relaxing — “and that’s got to be a good thing, hasn’t it,” says Chris. Photographs: Adrian Lourie and Arcaid Images Design guru: architect Andrew Mulroy played an integral part in the refurbishment Architect: Andrew Mulroy at mulroy.info Builder: Alex Baran on 07796 008275 Sliding glass doors to garden by Sunparadise at sunparadise.co.uk Skylight by Glazing Vision at glazingvision.co.uk Weitzer parquet (suitable with underfloor heating) from local company Jordan Andrews at jordanandrews.com Kitchen units from Abacus, in Harrow, at Abacus-interiors.com Silestone quartz work surface from silestone.co.uk Quooker boiling-water tap from quooker.co.uk Metro wall tiles from local company Checkalow Tiles at checkalow.co.uk Woodburner from Clearview at clearviewstoves.com Enamel hanging lamps over kitchen island bought “for 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 F OR THE time-poor gardener wanting a lot of flowers for little input, shrubs are the solution. Plant half a dozen flowering shrubs in the border or in containers and summer is sorted. Bypass the seductive but high-maintenance perennials at the garden centre and, instead, choose the trouble-free, long-flowering options that merely need a sharp pair of secateurs and an annual spring feed to keep them in great shape. For example, if you want the effect of hollyhocks without the high-maintenance palaver and threat of rust, grow Lavatera x clementii Barnsley. The flowers of palest pink are similar and bloom generously from midsummer to autumn. All you need do to prevent enthusiastic lavatera from outgrowing its welcome is to cut the stems back hard in spring. Some shrubs are so beautiful that you Give them a good clip each year and they’ll come back for more GAP PHOTOS: GEOFF KIDD Full-on fuchsias aren’t everyone’s choice, but elegant Fuchsia magellanica var molinae is far removed from the more usual pink and purple trouper. Delicate-looking, long flowers of two-tone shell pink appear from midsummer until early autumn and belie a tough disposition. Just cut right back to the hardwood in early spring for a glorious repeat performance. If you’re looking for an evergreen to give year-round structure, why not have one that produces beautiful blooms, Effortless blooms: Lavatera Barnsley delivers flower sprays similar to hollyhocks but wihout the high-maintenance hassle MARIANNE MAJERUS can forgive their brief flowering. Lilac is typical, representing the speed with which spring segues into summer, but if you don’t mind breaking with tradition — and want a small plant, not a large tree — try compact lilac Syringa Bloomerang Dark Purple. After its first springtime flush, it blooms intermittently until mid-autumn, so you can enjoy those purple-pink scented flowers for months, not days. MARIANNE MAJERUS Pattie Barron too. Sheltered, warm, town gardens suit Pittosporum tobira perfectly. From late spring to midsummer, waxy white flowers smother the rounded, deep green leaves and their mock orange blossom perfume is sublime. Variety Nanum is a smaller, rounded version that makes a great container plant. Repeat performer: the papery flowers of Cistus purpureus keep on coming LOAFINGLY LOVELY FURNITURE Long playing: Potentilla Tangerine Variegated leaves can be jarring, but Weigela Nana Variegata’s lemon-edged, soft, green, dainty leaves are the perfect complement for the rose-pink funnel flowers that crowd the arching stems from early summer. An easygrowing, tolerant shrub, this weigela reaches a modest five foot and just needs pruning after flowering. Cistus revels in a dry, sunny spot and is a perfect partner for other Mediterranean evergreens such as rosemary and lavender. For maximum impact, plant aromatic Cistus x purpureus, which at the start of summer produces spectacular large, papery, deep pink flowers blotched with carmine at the centres. Each bloom lasts just a day, but more keep on coming. Sambucus nigra is sensational, especially when the liquorice-black, lacey leaves are highlighted against a brick or pale rendered wall. Given a sunny or part-shaded site, the black elder produces rose pink flower sprays in midsummer that put the icing on an already gorgeous cake. To keep the foliage deep and dark, cut back to ground level in early spring. If you have little space but fancy some razzmatazz, plump for a potentilla, which offers masses of bright, pretty flowers from early spring right through to autumn on a small, neat bush with attractively deep-cut foliage. Tangerine and fire-engine red Marian Red Robin are just two of the vibrant Potentilla fruticosa varieties to look for, but Primrose Beauty, with soft yellow flowers, is a subtler choice. With all that flower power on offer, buying a pair of potentillas seems only sensible. O Garden queries? Email our RHS expert at [email protected] O For outdoor events this month, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/events 32 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Property searching homesandproperty.co.uk with W £6.5 MILLION A five-bedroom detached house in Richmond Hill, backing on to Richmond Park, with spacious rooms, an indoor pool, separate studio, two garages and off-street parking (Foxtons). O homesandproperty.co.uk/rhill £1.25 MILLION This five-bedroom Victorian terrace house in Duncan Road, Richmond, is full of original features and an easy walk from Richmond railway station (Gascoigne-Pees). O homesandproperty.co.uk/dunc £3.4 MILLION A modern, three-bedroom, “futureproof” family house in Marchmont Road, Richmond, surrounded by exquisite landscaped gardens (Hamptons International). O homesandproperty.co.uk/march ITHOUT a doubt Richmond is one of the top choices for Londoners with a bit of money looking to buy 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 adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and our continuing fascination with the Tudors, no one can now forget the importance of Richmond Palace that once occupied the space between Richmond Green and the river. The royal residence was built by King Henry VII in 1501 on the site of an earlier palace. Henry’s other title was Earl of Richmond and he gave this riverside district and the neighbouring village of Sheen the same name. When Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was forced out of Hampton Court by Henry VIII, he was exiled to the palace. The building was later given to Anne of Cleves after her divorce from Henry and it was where Elizabeth I died in 1603. The palace was demolished after the English Civil War and today the most prominent reminder of Richmond’s royal past is the gatehouse, which is still owned by the Crown and was let out as a house in 1986 on a 65-year lease. PICTURE PERFECT The view from the top of Richmond Hill is one of breathtaking beauty. Below is the meandering Thames, lush meadows and grazing cattle in a scene that remains largely unaltered since it was captured by painters such as Sir Joshua Reynolds and William Turner in the 18th and 19th centuries respectively. Talking of views, on a clear day from a gap in a hedge on King Henry’s Mound in Richmond Park, it is possible to see St Paul’s Cathedral — a view strictly protected by the London View Management Framework. Richmond, with the river, park, good schools, theatres, wide choice of shops and easy commute to Waterloo, is one Down by the river: Richmond is a haven for walkers and cyclists Royal history on your doorstep The home of kings is the perfect townand-country spot for families, discovers Anthea Masey of the capital’s favourite places to bring up children. It sits nine miles southwest of central London with Kew to the north, Sheen to the east, Kingston to the south and Isleworth to the west. The average property price in the borough, according to the Land Registry index, is £630,489, making it the sixth most expensive borough in London in which to buy a home. According to estate agent Oliver Griffiths, of Jackson-Stops & Staff, t e r r a c e d h o u s e s c o s t b e t we e n £700,000 and £800,000 and large family houses between £2 million and £3 million with prices as high as £6.5 million on Richmond Hill. Spotlight Richmond What there is to buy: Richmond has some fine period properties around The Green and in nearby Petersham. There are also Victorian detached and terraced houses, cottages, period conversions and modern flats, especially in the Ham area. The most expensive homes are around The Green or on Richmond Hill. The price per square foot ranges between £900 and £950. The area attracts: Griffiths says Richmond is popular with families who come here for the excellent primary schools, such as The Vineyard and Marshgate. “We also see buyers looking for a weekday home within easy reach of Waterloo, but not in central London,” he adds. Staying power: Once in Richmond, people tend to stay and downsizers usually want to remain in the area. SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS Richmond has a busy town centre with a good spread of independent shops. Upmarket brands also feature and there’s a branch of House of Fraser plus a Waitrose supermarket. The alleyways that connect the high street with The Green are full of interesting shops and cafés, including a branch of the Margaret Howell fashion brand — the only one outside central London. To find a home in Richmond, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/richmond For more about Richmond, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightrichmond F ( !!( % (#!#%! !"" " "" "' "'""$"&" "" $ "%)"++ ) ##$*#% !+(% #!' '&## 33 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 Property searching Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with 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 GO ONLINE FOR MORE 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 prepares for another busy day; Ty Burke at work in Argentinian eatery Chango; a quiet pint at The Prince’s Head; Jackie McKernan serves at William Curley Patissier Chocolatier; and a jogger enjoys the views from Richmond Hill shops at the top of the Hill along Friars Stile Road, the corner locals like to call “The Village”. Here you will find Food on the Hill and the Richmond Hill Bakery. Lots of chain restaurants, including Carluccio’s, YO! Sushi, Zizzi, HAVE YOUR SAY RICHMOND Other designer names include Massimo Dutti, Comptoir des Cotonniers, Matches and Zadig & Voltaire. For homeware, there are branches of Anthropologie and Zara Home. Maison on Hill Rise specialises in French and Scandinavian-inspired painted furniture. The Enchanted Forest in Lichfield Terrace is a well-stocked toy shop and The Alligator’s Mouth is a new children’s book shop in Church Court. Celebrated chocolatier William Curley is based in Paved Court. There are also @Studio__Online We love Bramble & Moss — a stylish, petit florist on Richmond Hill. @ellamakescakes Highly recommend @WhiteHorseTW10. It has lovely food and great service. @Studio__Online The best sportswear in Richmond and free yoga classes are at @lululemonUK. @alwalker83 I wish I lived in Richmond. Love the place! @Studio__Online Gelateria Danieli for the best ice cream — just off Richmond Green. @Studio__Online Rincón is brilliant for tapas, great wines, live music and flamenco! @RedDeskVA We love @VillionnJewels — gorgeous #bespoke #handmade #jewellery NEXT WEEK: West Hampstead. Do you live there? Tell us what you think @HomesProperty $ #"## " " " ## "# ! # # "## #"# " # !#$" TOWNHOUSE PRICES START FROM £950,000 (,$( *$ $ $#$*$! * $$* "++ ' $( # !$'! ' # , $$# *#$,$# )&$( #% $ # '!$! $!$ (* * ' Jamie’s Trattoria, Pizza Express, Côte, Strada and Giraffe, have branches in Richmond. La Buvette, tucked away in Church Walk, is a popular local French restaurant, and the Bingham boutique hotel in Petersham Road has a fine dining restaurant. The teahouse at Petersham Nurseries also serves meals in a relaxed setting. Photographs: Daniel Lynch ■Twitter: @antheamasey TRANSPORT LINKS Richmond has frequent trains to Waterloo that stop at Clapham Junction, where commuters can change for Victoria. The journey to Waterloo takes between 16 and 30 minutes depending on whether it is a fast or stopping train. Richmond is also on the District Line. The station is in Zone 4 and an annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs £1,844. Council: Richmond upon Thames is Conservative controlled and Band D council tax for 2015/2016 is £1,582.39. TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE Why did the Wicked Queen — the tallest of them all — not have far to get home last Christmas? Discover the answer and more at homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightrichmond 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 the deal. Diary of an estate agent THURSDAY Today I am writing my monthly market comment for a local magazine and exploring the positive implications of the forthcoming Crossrail station and proposed traffic rerouting and improvements at Tottenham Court Road. It’s a very exciting time for the surrounding area, with the iconic Centre Point tower to be transformed into luxury homes that offer enviable views across the London skyline. The planned redevelopment of Denmark Street, also known as Tin Pan Alley, where the Rolling Stones recorded some of their albums, has provoked protests. It becomes a popular topic of conversation at the networking meeting that night at the Phoenix Artist Club. Events like these give me a chance to meet other local business people and residents, with the hosts providing a live cabaret performance to entertain their guests. MONDAY I have worked in the Covent Garden property market for the past 18 years witnessing many changes but, throughout, the area has retained its unique atmosphere and eclectic appeal. Friends often ask me: “Do people actually live within Covent Garden?” Anyone who truly knows the area is well aware of the thriving and fantastically diverse local community of piedà-terre owners, theatre lovers and young people. Today I meet the owner of a refurbished flat in Drury Lane who bought through our office some months earlier, and now he wants to rent the flat out. The building is a former tobacco warehouse and was one of the first old commercial spaces in the area to be converted into exciting, new West End homes. I have the ideal tenant in mind; a leading ballerina soon to be performing at The Royal Opera House, which is only a short stroll away. FRIDAY TUESDAY This morning I am off to a sales valuation in Tavistock Street. Although I manage the Hudsons lettings and property management department, I come from a background in property sales, which is especially useful when our existing Covent Garden landlords are considering selling. This property has the distinction of once being the home and workplace of Charles Dickens, who used locations throughout Covent Garden as inspiration for many novels. Such is the diverse nature of property in the area that providing accurate advice requires an intimate and thorough knowledge. As I head back to the office, I stop off at the Monmouth Coffee Shop in Monmouth Street. The delicious aroma makes it hard to resist. WEDNESDAY The ballerina has agreed to rent the Drury Lane flat, so we have a very happy landlord and tenant. I am now off to show a Singaporean couple around a flat we have for sale in Shorts Gardens. This flat was once councilowned. A previous tenant exercised their right to buy and now the current owner is looking to sell to fund a move out of London to the West Country. This property does have the rather unusual feature of overlooking the outdoor swimming pool of the neighbouring Oasis Sports Centre. These buyers are looking for a property for their daughter. She is studying at the London School of Economics PROFIT FROM PROPERTY EXCEL LONDON 17–18 APRIL 2015 If you’re buying, selling or letting for profit – at home or abroad – here’s your one stop shop for education, advice, finance and a huge choice of UK and overseas property investments. REGISTER ONLINE FOR FREE ENTRY & FREE SEMINARS !! !! nearby and would rather buy than pay rent for the three years of her studies. I mention that I will go to any “lengths” to find them the perfect property, but with my weak attempt at humour politely ignored, we are off to the next property. It is in a portered block on Newton Street, where there is a resident porter in the building that offers Almost always the busiest day of the week, today is no different, with everyone in our team having full diaries and deals to finalise. I have a morning meeting with a new landlord in Wellington Street, who instructs us to market their beautiful two-bedroom flat within a lovely Georgian terrace. These flats are highly sought-after by corporate tenants and we have plenty of people looking to pay a premium rent for such a beautiful property. I visit the building manager of a neighbouring development where we recently sold the home of one of BBC’s Dragons from the Dragons’ Den programme. I am invited to lunch by the owner of On The Bab in Wellington Street, a new restaurant serving traditional Korean drinks and dishes. It’s delicious. O Robert Burwood is manager of lettings and Covent Garden at Hudsons (020 7631 8700). For beginners and seasoned pros… it’s all under one roof 120+ exhibitors 70+ free seminars & debates 40 WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Letting on Y ET AGAIN, a couple of tenants have moved out of one of my flats leaving a bit of a mess behind, which makes me wonder whether I should make it a condition of the tenancy that they pay for the property to be professionally cleaned when they leave. 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 “deep cleaned”, I didn’t mean “have a bit of a wipe around”. Even though I write to tenants shortly before the end of their lease spelling out in black and white all the things they need to do when they leave to ensure the safe return of their deposit, they never seem to appreciate that a property should be as clean when they move out as when they moved in. Or perhaps they just underestimate how long it takes to give every room, every appliance and every item of furniture a really thorough clean. These two were still frantically sweeping and dusting when the check-out clerk arrived, so obviously there was no time to de-grease the oven, wash the windows, hack away two years’ worth of limescale from the bathroom taps or shampoo the sofa and the mattress. One of them complained that the clerk was being “picky” when he pointed out the dirty floors, but what on earth was he there for? They were homesandproperty.co.uk with Messy tenants should clean up their act Victoria Whitlock offers a clear solution to a dirty problem when renters want to move out — they should get the cleaners in The accidental landlord decent tenants, so I’m not going to charge them much for the proper cleaning, but if an agent had been managing the property, I’m sure they would have deducted several hundred pounds from their deposit. I’ve heard tenants moaning about letting agents charging them because they “forgot” to vacuum a room, but if they leave it dirty, it’s dirty. Right? And who do they think will clean it? Their cleaners, that’s who, and the tenant will have to pay. The solution is for tenants to hire a professional cleaning agency that provides a deposit guarantee with its end-of-tenancy clean, so if the checkout report shows the job wasn’t up to scratch, or the landlord or letting agent complain, they’ll do it again. In London, it costs about £150 to £200 for a professional end-oftenancy clean for a one-bedroom flat, including shampooing upholstery and mattresses. Cleaning carpets will cost more. This might seem a lot, but it’s better than losing your deposit. Talking of deposits, I’ve been slapped on the £800: in Old Brompton Road, SW5, Faron Sutaria has a three double-bedroom flat with rooftop views available to rent (homesandproperty.co.uk/rentbromp) wrist by Trading Standards for writing in this column that I take a “non-refundable” holding deposit of £100 to £150 from tenants when they put an offer on a property, which I deduct from the first month’s rent if they move in. As this is a practice widely used by letting agents and other landlords to prevent tenants changing their minds at the last minute, I thought I should pass on Trading Standards’ position. It says that while it is acceptable to ask tenants for a holding deposit to secure a property, landlords must explain what it’s for and they mustn’t use the term “non-refundable”. A landlord can deduct out-of-pocket expenses such as credit checks from the holding deposit and also any loss of rent if the tenant doesn’t rent the property, as long as the landlord can quantify the loss, but any surplus must be refunded to the tenant. I hope this clarifies the situation. Victoria Whitlock lets three properties in south London. To contact Victoria with your ideas and views, tweet @vicwhitlock Find many more homes to rent at 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? Q Q A Fiona McNulty WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM? IF YOU have a question for Fiona McNulty, please email legalsolutions@ standard.co.uk or write to Legal Solutions, Homes & Property, London Evening Standard, 2 Derry Street, W8 5EE. We regret that questions cannot be answered individually, but we will try to feature them here. Fiona McNulty is legal director in the real estate team of Foot Anstey LLP (footanstey.com) OUR LAWYER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS I HAVE been left a Grade II-listed cottage in someone’s will — but the inheritance is turning into a bit of a poisoned chalice. The old chap who left me the property bought the place in 1987 and gutted the downstairs and moved the staircase. I’d like to sell the house, but he got no listed building consent from the council. As it was so long ago, am I in the clear? A ENFORCEMENT action can still be taken. If the property was listed when the works were carried out in 1987, it is very likely to have required consent. A surveyor experienced in listed buildings can advise if an application for retrospective listed building consent is likely to succeed. If the surveyor feels that it may be granted, make an application so that the current situation where you have unauthorised works is rectified before you try to sell. But if the surveyor considers it unlikely that you will be able to get Best man speech retrospective consent, you can take out indemnity insurance, which can then be offered to a future buyer. However, if that buyer wishes to carry out further works to the property that, again, are likely to require consent, then indemnity insurance may not be appropriate, as the cover may be affected in such circumstances. In your case, building regulation and planning consent are not a concern. More legal Q&As Visit: homesand property.co.uk MY SISTER has just fled from her home with her baby because she was suffering domestic abuse. She has a joint mortgage with her partner, but he has not contributed to the bills, mortgage or upkeep of his daughter, apart from the first three months. Is there anything she can do to ensure he does not get half of the property, or will this be a very expensive lesson in joint mortgages? THEY have a joint mortgage and so are jointly and severally liable for it. They are joint owners of the property and could be either tenants in common or joint beneficial owners. We do not know which, but unless they have made a declaration of trust confirming that they own the property in unequal shares, they are likely to each own 50 per cent of the property. If the property goes up in value, your sister’s partner will benefit, even though he has contributed very little financially. Your sister should ask her partner to agree to the property being transferred into her sole name. However, to keep the existing mortgage, she would have to satisfy the lender’s criteria for lending. If her partner does not agree to the transfer of the property, then your sister could apply to the court for an order for sale. She may also wish to consider applying to the Child Maintenance Service for extra financial support. If she can reach an agreement with her partner, then a familybased arrangement can be set up. But if an agreement is not possible, she can apply to the statutory Child Maintenance Service, who could set up an arrangement for her. O These answers can only be a very brief commentary on the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor RINGS for wedding Hmm... Pouty profile pic to the Upload to APP GETTING A DATE for the WEDDING in 3 HOURS IS. . . 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 Smart S Sma m mar art mo art o Spit and polish A new leafy square with homes for a spring sale FASHIONABLE parts of north-west London, such as Hampstead and Finchley, have had a lower profile in recent years as the regeneration spotlight shines brightly on the old East End, and south of the river. But homes are now being created in keeping with the tradition of the area’s Victorian and inter-war housing boom, retaining green spaces. Woodside Park takes its name from the time when Finchley was part of the Forest of Middlesex. Into this leafy swathe of west Finchley has arrived Imperial Square, a gated development of family houses and apartments designed around five communal gardens and built in an eclectic architectural style. Prices from £835,000. Call Knight Frank on 020 7718 5225. A RTILLERY LANE is where the City meets Spitalfields. It is where shiny new global bank offices loom over earlyGeorgian townhouses and terraced artisan cottages, where many of the Huguenot silk merchants lived. The conservation area wrapping around the ancient market has a medieval street pattern, a network of winding lanes and narrow passageways, once forlorn but now buzzing with activity as office lights stay on late in the Square Mile. Planners keep a tight rein on residential development. Conversions of old buildings provide most new homes, but measured against the number of workers, properties are always in short supply. Armoury Court, right, is a small yet sensitive refurbishment of an 18th century building that is now seven apartments and two shops, next to listed Raven Row, a stunning art gallery owned by the Sainsbury family. Jason Moody, the developer, grew up in the neighbourhood. “My first job was as a French polisher in my uncle’s factory,” he says. “I’ve seen this area change many times over the years. We need to move forward, but at the same time ensure its unique character is not lost, and that starts with protecting the heritage of buildings.” A new in-keeping mansard roof has been added. They are compact, wellplanned apartments for singles, and couples prepared to sacrifice space to live centrally. One flat has a roof terrace, another a small garden. Prices from £445,000 to £959,500. Call Tarn & Tarn on 020 7377 8989. Moody has another local scheme in the pipeline — four new townhouses in Calvin Street. To register, call 01702 230308. 45 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2015 New homes Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with 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 of the Thames, Chiswick attracts families in search of good schools, and greenery is everywhere. Dukes Meadows on the riverbank, Gunnersbury Triangle nature reserve, the grounds of Chiswick House, the awesome expanse of Richmond Park and Kew’s botanical gardens are on the doorstep, too. The tree-lined Chiswick High Road runs from Hammersmith to Kew Bridge, a major thoroughfare that successfully mixes chain stores, independent boutiques, bookshops, bars and brasseries to create a sort of urban village. The western end of this highway, closer to Heathrow, used to be the commercial area, but apartment schemes are sprouting up on former office sites, and the redevelopment of a bus depot, designed by architect Richard Rogers, proves that a new business estate can be a welcome addition. The Opus Collection, moments from Chiswick Park Tube station (Zone 3), brings 137 new energyefficient homes plus the “placemaking” expertise of a major developer, Lend Lease, which is improving the public realm and incorporating street-level shops. Apartments and townhouses are powered by a central heat and power plant, while residents can use communal rooftop gardens. Prices from £515,000. Call 020 3772 1000. From £695,000 to £1.95 million: solar tubes have been added to the striking architecture at Solstice Point, reducing water and heating bills Cutting-edge flats with a solar twist SOLSTICE POINT in Camden is a return to the area’s tradition of bold, contemporary architecture, with an eco-friendly twist. The razor-sharp five-storey glassand-steel building generates renewable heat through its striking curved façade of 150 solar thermal tubes that harness the power of the sun to contribute to each apartment’s water and heating, reducing running costs by 70 per cent. Light-filled flats start at £695,000 and rise to £1,950,000 for a threebedroom, superb-view penthouse. Call 020 7586 2777. Read more: visit our new online luxury section HomesAndProperty.co.uk/luxury
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