Homes& Property Wednesday 3 June 2015 Furniture maker Sebastian Cox My design London Page 16 MILLWALL ROARS: NEW HOMES P6 COMMUTING HOTSPOTS P8 PAINT YOUR GARDEN P32 SPOTLIGHT ON KING’S CROSS P36 Poptastic ADRIAN LOURIE Our home: Page 26 4 WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Online homesandproperty.co.uk with This week: homesandproperty.co.uk Property search Trophy buy of the week pale pink tops the style chart Last Zone 4 hotspot: Barking, with its new town square, is a first-timers’ option, with homes averaging £274,173 news: first-time buyers need to load up their Oyster cards LONDONERS are having to travel further to find their first home because strong annual property price rises mean key areas affordable to those on an average budget are now only found in the depths of Zones 4, 5 and 6. The latest Land Registry house price index, published this week, shows there are now only three boroughs in London where an average home costs less than £350,000: head to Zone 6 and Ewell, £304,205, the south-west London, to find this fouraverage budget bedroom house for a growing family of a first-time O See homesandproperty.co.uk/4ewell buyer. These are: O Barking and Dagenham, with an average price of £274,173 — a planned London Overground extension, linking the Barking Riverside regeneration project to the Gospel Oak to Barking line, will improve transport links. O Bexley, with an average price of £287,732 — voted the best place to bring up a child in London in the last Family Hotspots report by Family Investments, due to its good schools, low crime rate, amenities and green space. O Newham, with an average price of £295,306 — an area that is not only affordable but has seen London’s strongest annual price rise, at 17.2 per cent. O Read Ruth Bloomfield’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk Facebook: £9.5 million: well, the neighbour may have contrasting taste, but the soft, pale pink façade of this elegant Chelsea Green home is an indication of the sophistication to be found within. It is two houses knocked into one to provide a luxurious Italian kitchen, a fabulous skylit dining and reception area, three en suite bedrooms and a superb upper drawing room that opens out on to one of the house’s three roof terraces. Through John D Wood. O homesandproperty.co.uk/trophy London buy of the week window of opportunity. Own a flat with striking views £317,000: first-time buyers looking for that next regeneration hotspot to invest in should visit Greenland Place, Surrey Quays SE8, where a collection of smart new homes is springing up by the Thames. This one-bedroom flat has bright, open-plan living/kitchen and dining areas, a double bedroom with a £650,000: this lovely Cornish farmhouse on Bodmin Moor comes with 11 acres of paddocks, manicured gardens, a stable yard, sand school and barn. The Grade II-listed home is full of period charm throughout its four reception rooms, spacious kitchen/breakfast room and four bedrooms. There’s a one-bedroom annexe by a pretty lake that could also be let for extra income. Through Country & Waterside. O homesandproperty.co.uk/lifechanger Editor: Janice Morley 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 O homesandproperty.co.uk/botw Life changer rural retreat with room for holiday letting ESHomesAndProperty • Twitter: We’re the No 1 choice for both cottage owners and holidaymakers fitted wardrobe, and a sleek shower room. Striking skyline views of the capital are one of its main appeals, along with 24-hour concierge and a fitness suite on the doorstep. Completion from next month, through Barratt London. 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. Editorial: 020 3615 2524 Advertisement manager: Jamie McCabe Advertising: 020 3615 0266 Homes & Property, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, London W8 5TT. By Faye Greenslade @HomesProperty • Pinterest: @HomesProperty New playgrounds in the sky THIS is the first image of London’s latest regeneration hotspot — a vertical village containing 1,500 new homes within six skyscrapers, complete with the capital’s first playgrounds in the sky. Millharbour Village is to be built on a six-acre site alongside South Dock on the Isle of Dogs, just south of Canary Wharf. It will one day be home to more than 4,000 people. The multi-billion-pound project, designed to be family-friendly, is expected to be given the green light this week. Developer Galliard Homes says that more than a quarter of the homes will be earmarked for low-income Londoners. It will be served by the Crossrail station at Canary Wharf, due to open in 2018, and will include a new state primary school, a nursery school and two parks, plus almost 4,000sq ft of playground space for under-fives, on the tops of two of the skyscrapers. O Read Ruth Bloomfield’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk 5 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 News Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with This is the headline that goes like this Money can buy me lofty views £11 million. Sir Paul’s American home, above, has five bedrooms, magnificent 40ft floor-to-ceiling windows and a terrace overlooking Central Park. The former Beatle, 72, currently on a world tour, will leave the UK for the US later this month, so perhaps he’ll relax on his new terrace with New York-born wife Nancy, 55 By Amira Hashish Got some gossip? Tweet @amiranews Starchitect in ‘factory sale’ Fulham square’s celebrity gardens É DAVID ADJAYE, the UK architect with a global reputation, has designed homes for artist Jake Chapman and his wife Rosemary Ferguson, right, as well as photographer Jürgen Teller and actor Ewan McGregor. A recent exhibition at Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany, was devoted to him. In London, he has converted a factory, above, between the Union Canal and Harrow Road on the fringes of Queen’s Park. Called Silverlight, it is on five levels, with four bedrooms and a bold green kitchen. With direct access on to the canal, as well as a roof garden and bar, this supercool home is on Domus Nova’s books for £5.5 million. É FANCY buying a garden designed by one of this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show winners? Jo Thompson, below, who won a silver-gilt medal for the M&G Garden, recently designed picturesque terraces and the private garden of the show home at London Square Fulham. Thompson also scooped a gold medal at Chelsea last year for her garden full of early summer scented roses and jasmines in a palette of whites. Two properties in the square, above, are currently available, each priced at £3.95 million with Savills. DAVE BENETT É PAUL McCARTNEY has just splashed out £10 million-plus for a Manhattan penthouse, but it isn’t the most expensive asset in his property portfolio. His five-bedroom detached house in St John’s Wood, a short stroll from Regent’s Park and his beloved Abbey Road Studios, holds that title and is valued at more than ÉA MANSION which Marilyn Monroe used as her party palace is for sale on its own private island. The six-bedroom, Tudor-style house, right, at Tavern Island in Connecticut, left, overlooks New York. A favourite among the Hollywood glitterati, golden girl Marilyn was so taken by the retreat that she regularly used it for a spot of escapism with pals. Barbra Streisand has also rented the mansion, which sits in three-and-ahalf acres. Now on the market for a cool £7.1 million, it comes with a twobedroom cottage in the grounds as well as a 25ft x 75ft swimming pool. ALEX LENTATI REX Monroe’s £7m private island party palace 6 WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property New homes homesandproperty.co.uk with On track: this is still a gritty district but many of its railway arches, left, are gradually being turned into creative workshops and retail spaces Inspiration: the Southwark Street area of Bermondsey, right, has a café culture that nearby New Bermondsey hopes to match We are Millwall! But we’ll soon be B ERMONDSEY’S residential rise has been unstoppable in the past decade, with buyers and renters flocking to its fashionable riverside neighbourhoods, such as Shad Thames. Now change is spreading to the gritty hinterland — Millwall Football Club territory — where Mayor Boris Johnson has stepped in to fast-track regeneration of a run-down, semi-industrial tract, renaming it N e w B e r m o n d s e y. E v e n p o s h Boris Johnson’s push to revamp this run-down area is paying big dividends, says David Spittles Grosvenor Estates, the Duke of Westminster’s property company, has set its sights on this promising patch, buying up the former Peek Frean’s biscuit factory for new homes and workspaces for small businesses. TURBO-BOOSTING THE HOMES ZONE The area under the spotlight is sandwiched between Peckham and Rotherhithe, and is so close to central London that it gets into the large-print pages of the A-Z. By designating it as a housing zone, the Mayor is giving the area a turbo-boost, accelerating development. What was initially planned as a 12-year initiative is now expected to take half that time. A new Overground station, already partly built due to the recent East London line upgrade, is expected to open within two years. It is located at Surrey Canal Triangle, a 30-acre site wrapping around railway viaducts, where developer Renewal will soon unveil the first phase of 2,400 new homes — high rise and low rise, a mix of apartments and family houses. Other planned developments include shops, parks and squares, cycle ways and footpaths, a “creative quarter” with galleries, artists’ studios and livework units, plus the biggest new sports complex since Crystal Palace National Sports Centre was opened in 1964. Derelict railway arches will be refurbished and re-let as commercial premises and some will be opened up as part of new pedestrian routes. GREEN GIANT Green architecture plans focus on community gardens and allotments on top of apartment blocks, while an estate recycling system will link into a neighbourhood heat and energy centre that incinerates rubbish. Rainwater will be collected and used for fountains and street sculptures. To register, call 020 7358 1933. Currently raw and uninviting, this Zone 2 area is relatively cheap and likely to attract lower-budget buyers — certainly investors — as the new station will open up quick commutes to the City, West End and Canary Wharf. The proposed Bakerloo line extension runs through this swathe of Bermondsey, too. There is also a proposal to reinstate Grand Surrey Canal, built in 1807 as a trade route to the docks, but concreted over in 1971. This opens up the possibility of popular waterside homes. Badge of pride: Millwall FC’s club logo, left, reflects the side’s Lions nickname Much of the land is being sold off by Lewisham council. Builders are past masters at talking up rough urban areas and glossing over the negatives, peppering brochures with gyms, concierges and car clubs, so do your homework before you rush in to buy off-plan. Is this the location for you? Home side: Millwall, in League One for the 2015/16 season, play at The Den, below, in South Bermondsey, soon to be “New Bermondsey” LAUNCHING THIS WEEK Bermondsey Works, in Rotherhithe New Road, is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2017. It is being built above a new free school and City of London sixth-form academy — another improvement to the area’s infrastructure. There will be 148 homes, mainly apartments, but also two-storey “villas”. Prices start from £342,500. Call Telford Homes on 01992 809800. Chevron Apartments, in St James’s Road, comprises 37 loft-style flats behind a Fifties factory façade, with an impressive double-height entrance foyer created from the original loading bays. A warm-brick warehouse-style extension at the rear links with a landscaped cobbled courtyard. Prices start from £250,000. Call estate agent Stirling Ackroyd on 020 7749 3810. Roomy: Chevron Apartments, in St James’s Road, has 37 loft-style flats behind a Fifties factory façade 7 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 New homes Homes & Property From £250,000: Chevron Apartments surround a landscaped courtyard New Bermondsey Old Kent Road, which forms the western boundary of this patch being sold as an “opportunity area”, is also getting a facelift. One of the oldest routes in England, it was created by the Romans and famously used by Chaucer’s pilgrims travelling from Southwark to Canterbury. In Victorian times, it was a handsome thoroughfare lined with famous pubs and music halls, later converted to cinemas. A sprinkling of heritage buildings survive amid the large retail stores, which are now being bulldozed for homes. A former car showroom has been demolished to make way for Park View, occupying a prominent corner site overlooking 140-acre Burgess Park, recently refurbished. Under way nearby is Old Kent Road, a scheme of 27 flats by Higgins Homes. Call 020 8508 6000. Spark, a develop- ment by Hyde housing association, has apartments for sale or rent. Sharedownership options start at £101,500 for a 35 per cent share. Call 0845 6061221. in “place-making” — creating and enhancing neighbourhoods — and says that it is “starting the process at Bermondsey by getting to know the people and the area”. GROSVENOR COMES OVER FROM MAYFAIR C Grosvenor’s foray into this traditionally working-class area is highly significant, as the company normally confines its activities to the gold-plated territory of Mayfair and Belgravia, where it owns 300 acres. Peek Frean closed in 1989 and the 11-acre site became an industrial estate. Grosvenor paid £51 million for it and lobbied Boris Johnson to make the area a high-density development zone. The company is now working on fresh plans for a mixed-use scheme of homes and small business premises. Grosvenor has a track record O M M U N I T Y initiatives include planting a new orchard in nearby Southwark Park and support for Old Vic Workrooms, an outpost of the famous theatre company, while a new secondary school is proposed as a way of enticing more families to the area. Photographs: Daniel Lynch Loft look: nearby Spa Road has New York-style warehouse apartments similar to those planned for New Bermondsey, next to Millwall FC 2 8 WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Commuting £220,000: a three-bedroom Victorian semi in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, through Malcolms O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/euston £550,000: four-bedroom detached house near a nature reserve in Hatfield, Herts. Through Connells O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/bramble homesandproperty.co.uk with Put the home into the home counties Ruth Bloomfield finds family homes for £150,000, only 50 minutes from King’s Cross and close to great schools T ## ### "&$" ## ### "&$" # ## '# # #$' ''# #&#%# ## #%$!#! HERE’S a wealth of destinations in the home counties north of the capital that offer great-value homes with plenty of selling points — and they’re all reachable from King’s Cross station. For example, for “outstanding” Ofsted-rated schools and average property prices of £153,819, you need only travel about 50 minutes to reach Peterborough — voted one of the best commuter destinations among Londoners. But the surrounding areas also have plenty to offer. HERTFORDSHIRE HATFIELD Research by Savills shows that one of the strongest price performers in the county is Brookmans Park, a Hertfordshire village about four miles from Hatfield, which is surrounded by green belt countryside with a nature reserve nearby. Another huge draw for the area are the schools — Brookmans Park Primary School and Chancellor’s School (seniors) are both rated “good” by Ofsted. Matthew Craker, a partner at Fine & Country, says the majority of his buyers are families leaving north London. Brookmans Park is not cheap, but in comparison to the capital’s N postcodes, houses here are a steal and a good investment. Property prices have increased by 17 per cent in the past year to an average of £450,217, according to Savills. Locals tend to be young families, empty-nesters keen to stay in the area and veteran footballers — Gary Mabbutt, former Tottenham Hotspur captain, and Brian Talbot, ex-Arsenal player, both live in the area. Most # £850,000: a Grade II-listed, five-bedroom house with a pool in Glinton, Peterborough. Through Hurfords O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/glinton homes are substantial, detached and built in the Thirties or Fifties. A fourbedroom detached house with a good-size garden would cost about £800,000. Homes in Brookmans Avenue, which are within minutes of the station, start at about £1.2 million. Trains to London take half an hour and an annual season ticket costs £2,068. CAMBRIDGESHIRE HUNTINGDON The market town of Huntingdon is a 48-minute train ride from London, with an annual season ticket costing £4,964. Homes here are excellent value, with average property prices at £194,138, an increase of more than four per cent in the past year. This is an ancient town on the banks of the River Great Ouse that features some lovely buildings, although it is more a working town than a picturepostcard one. Portholme Meadow offers plenty of green space, with more than 250 acres of open land alongside the river. About 45 minutes’ drive north is Rutland Water, a hotspot for watersport lovers, while horse racing fans will enjoy the racecourse located in Brampton, about seven minutes’ drive away. There is a good selection of primary schools well-rated by Ofsted, but the local seniors — Hinchingbrooke School and St Peter’s School — both “require improvement”. Roger Stoneham, a director at Peter Lane & Partners, says the town and surrounding villages are now so busy with London commuters that last year, the local council finished work on a new road access to the station to prevent long rush-hour tailbacks. In town, modern developments at Hinchingbrooke are popular with commuters since they are only seconds from the station and are also close to Hinchingbrooke Country Park. Prices range from about £200,000 for 9 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 Commuting Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with ALAMY £275,000: a four-bedroom, Grade II-listed terrace house in High Street, Huntingdon, through Sharman Quinney O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/highhunt Landmarks: the cathedral and Butter Cross Guildhall in Peterborough a two-bedroom, semi-detached property to about £500,000 for a detached, five-bedroom executive home. GODMANCHESTER If your idea of a commuting destination is a little more traditional, then Godmanchester, a lovely period village south of Huntingdon town centre, might be for you. It is just 20 minutes’ walk away from its neighbouring town, and is located by the river, which sets off its 17th-century houses a treat. It has some good pubs, including the pretty, timbered White Hart. Prices start at about £250,000 to £275,000 for a two-bedroom cottage, rising to about £600,000 to £750,000 for a wonderful fivebedroom manor house. PETERBOROUGH More good value is to be found in this cathedral city, with homes priced at an average of £153,819, up more than five per cent in the past year. But these low prices need to be set against its 50-minute commute to King’s Cross and the expensive cost of an annual season ticket at £7,276. On the plus side, Peterborough was recently named one of the best destinations outside London for commuters in a study by property consultants Carter Jonas, based on analysis of factors such as house prices, train services and education. It has some great schools, such as Fulbridge Academy (primary), The Deepings School and The King’s School (both senior), which are all rated “outstanding” by Ofsted. Annabel Morbey, an associate at Smiths Gore, says buyers interested in being close to the station head for Thorpe Road, where a four- to fivebedroom detached house costs about £540,000, while a two-bedroom converted flat is priced at about £180,000. But Peterborough’s real charm lies in its outlying villages — even though they are being rapidly absorbed by new buildings expanding out from the city centre. L o n g t h o r p e v i l l a ge i s l ove ly, surrounded by woodland, and with some pretty homes priced at about £700,000 for a period property with four to five bedrooms and a good-size garden. The Hamptons and Ortons, two communities of a series of villages, both to the south-west of the city, are also well worth exploring for homes with a country feel. Morbey says her London exiles tend to want this type of property. “They are usually young families who find Oxfordshire or Gloucestershire too expensive,” she adds. “So they come here, where the commute is actually quicker.” Welwyn Garden City Welwyn North Hatfield, Herts Knebworth Stevenage Hitchin Brookmans Park Biggleswade Welham Green Arlesey St Neots Sandy Huntingdon Peterborough 20 20 21 23 24 28 31 31 34 36 40 45 48 50 2,748 2,888 2,560 3,092 3,516 3,704 2,068 4,240 2,304 3,892 4,756 4,404 4,964 7,276 283,487 584,711 238,677 423,448 226,900 308,339 450,217 230,247 540,799 194,353 227,713 233,553 194,138 153,819 Annual price growth Price growth since 2007 4.2% 11.4% 8.6% 33.6% 9.1% 9.8% 17.0% 9.4% 11.1% 0.8% 5.2% 6.6% 4.1% 5.1% 19.1% 22.1% 18.1% 31.3% 12.6% 15.6% 27.7% 12.9% 28.8% 2.5% 6.9% 7.4% 7.2% 2.6% Source: Savills # "" TOP KING’S CROSS COMMUTER DESTINATIONS Journey time to Price of an Average annual season property London ticket (£) price (£) in minutes ALAMY Picturesque: the small village of Godmanchester features period homes along the River Great Ouse # ! Spotlight on King’s Cross: turn to Page 36 10 WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Second homes homesandproperty.co.uk with : A PLACE TO STAY BARNSLEY HOUSE Barnsley House is an 18-room hotel, 10 minutes from Cirencester, where traditional 17th-century Cotswolds architecture combines with modern and comfortable interiors. Stand-out service without any stuffiness, just 90 minutes from Hammersmith, means that nearly 90 per cent of guests are from London, says general manager Michele Mella. “The Cotswolds has upped its game, with a strong local organic food movement and some excellent pubs with rooms opening,” he says. “The luxury market is still buoyant, but has had to adapt. It’s about great service and comfort in an informal, beautiful place.” The hotel design is by Londonbased Martin Hulbert, who has created calm, elegant interiors based on natural colours. The garden’s 11 acres include four of formal planting by renowned garden designer Rosemary Verey, who lived at Barnsley House in the Fifties. Rates start at £300 per room per night, including breakfast. O Barnsley House: visit barnsley house.com (01285 740000). O Martin Hulbert Design: visit martinhulbertdesign.com Elegant: the designer interiors £365,000: a three-bedroom cottage in picturesque Bourton-on-the Water. Call Butler Sherborn (01451 830731) S TONE cottages, slate roofs, village pubs and countryside pursuits have always attracted Londoners looking for a rural home. Just two hours west of the capital, among gentle folds of green countryside, the Cotswolds meets all those requirements. While traditional, this piece of England is certainly not stuffy, says Sam Butler, of estate agents Butler Sherborn. “The Cotswolds is relaxed and has moved with the times,” he adds. With excellent schools, attractive cities including Oxford, Bath and Cheltenham and swift access to the capital by road and rail, there is a clear trend for Londoners switching their main home to the Cotswolds and keeping a pied-àterre in town, says Butler. £985,000: Dowdeswell Place, a fine listed manor between Northleach and Cheltenham. Call Savills (01242 548000) £650,000: pretty Gilly Flower Cottage, near Stroud (Butler Sherborn as before) Traditional or modern, the choice is yours in the Cotswolds, a top spot for commuters and holiday home buyers. By Cathy Hawker Everything you could wish for BRIMMING WITH CHARACTER The Cotswolds reaches towards Broadway in the north, Cotswold Water Park to the south, Cheltenham to the west and Burford to the east. Regency Cheltenham and the Roman town of Cirencester, with its market square and independent shops, are popular. Prices peak in small valleys, including the Coln, Windrush, Evenlode and Churn. Eastleach, Heythrop and Southrop carry a premium, along with Bledington. Expect to pay from £350,000 for a three-bedroom semidetached cottage and £900,000-plus for a four- or five-bedroom detached house in just less than an acre of land. Grander homes, with 10 or more acres, start from £2.5 million. A four-bedroom listed stone cottage with many period features near Stowon-the-Wold is £460,000, while a threebedroom 17th-century cottage in Windrush is £565,000, both through From £500,000: new waterside homes at gated Lower Mill Estate, Cotswold Water Park, with shared pools, tennis courts, a gym and spa (lowermillestate.com) Butler Sherborn. A larger five-bedroom house in Lechlade, painstakingly restored, is £850,000 through Savills. LETTING OPPORTUNITIES Cotswold Water Park, with more than 150 lakes and protected wildlife, provides secure gated environments, with activities and facilities on tap. Lower Mill Estate opened in 1996 and today has 325 owners across its eight lakes. Owners buy a plot and build their own home, with completed prices from £500,000. Most owners do not let their homes, but those who do can earn £3,000 a week for a fouror five-bedroom house. Facilities include indoor and outdoor pools, tennis courts, a spa and gym and fishing and children’s play areas. Annual service charges average £3,200 plus VAT. 12 WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property London life homesandproperty.co.uk with Regent Street? Now that’s a good address W £1,000 a week: a two-bedroom flat with porter in Maddox Street, W1 O homesandproperty.co.uk/moxrent £3.5 million: a two-bedroom flat at Verge Apartments, in Dering Street O homesandproperty.co.uk/dering £1,200 a week: a three-bedroom sixth-floor flat in Sackville Street, W1 O homesandproperty.co.uk/sack ITH its flagship shops for Karl Lagerfeld, Burberry, Michael Ko r s a n d App l e , Regent Street has become a luxury shopping destination to rival Paris’s Champs-Élysées or New York’s Fifth Avenue, but it is also at the heart of a thriving city village. Some people are lucky enough to live in the street itself, while many more have found homes in the cobbled lanes, quiet mews and newly created courtyards tucked away behind Regent Street’s grandly sweeping terraces, built to a plan by John Nash in 1825. The “parish” of Regent Street has a church with a primary school close by, a doctors surgery and a cobbler’s. There is a Whole Foods shop for groceries and John Lewis has a Waitrose. Berwick Street food market is less than five minutes away. “Regent Street has everything for day-to-day living,” says Nasa Hadadi, an investment manager for Genii Capital, who lives in neighbouring Swallow Street. The Apple store — in the former Hanover Chapel — has its own theatre and has staged gigs by acts including REM, while the Kaiser Chiefs have played Christopher Bailey’s Burberry store. And now the street has its own cinema. Following a multimillion-pound restoration, the 200-seat Regent Street Cinema has just opened at number 309 — where moving pictures were first shown almost 120 years ago by the Lumière brothers. Architects have preserved the original plasterwork, cornicing and barrel-vaulted ceiling, while creating a state-of-the-art auditorium for red-carpet film premieres, lectures and seminars. It is just the latest stage in the Crown Estate’s £1 billion regeneration of Regent Street, which stretches 1.2 miles and, along with its shops, has a million square feet of office space rented by an impressive list of blue-chip tenants. Office workers in the area have been joined by 5,000 BBC staff in Broadcasting House at the top of the street. As the main landlord, the Crown Estate has been coaxing more people to live in and around Regent Street by encouraging the conversion of former commercial space into new homes. Japanese student Hiroka Miyama, 26, who has just finished an MA at Regent’s University, also lives in Swallow Street. “It’s walking distance from everywhere. And it feels incredibly safe and quiet walking home at 2am,” she says. Her top-floor flat has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a living room and a skylight overlooking the curve of Regent Street, for £1,000 per week. Flats are rented from the Crown Estate. “We furnish them all and dress them differently, depending on the location,” says Bradley Williams, of Regent Street Management Direct, the managing agent. A split-level apartment in Hanover Street, with two Star attraction: gigs have been held in Apple’s European flagship store ALAMY Top brand: high-end US fashion store J Crew is a recent Regent Street arrival This famously elegant street is linked to secret courtyards and lanes now filled with homes for young Londoners, says Liz Hoggard 13 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 London life Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with From £615 a week: the latest residential additions to the area are 14 smart balconied flats at Shaftesbury’s Carnaby Court, part of a fresh district emerging around Kingly Street and Carnaby Street, with many new shops, cafés, bars and restaurants Open for business: Regent Street caters for shoppers and tourists with traffic-free days and pop-up markets shoppers, there is a “secret” gin bar upstairs at Hackett. The “gateways” to Regent Street, Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus have also been upgraded, while the site of the old Regent Palace Hotel has been turned into the Quadrant building, housing 2,000 workers. On top of the building are eight apartments. Below is Parisian-style café Brasserie Zedel, with its restored Art Deco interiors. Regent Street attracts the art crowd, with new galleries from Sadie Coles, Hauser & Wirth and Blain|Southern. The Crown Estate has commissioned 13 pieces of public art and is producing an art walking tour of the area. For Hadadi, it is home: “I live on the top floor, so it is quiet, with great views across the city.” An exceptional new collection of 1 & 2 bedroom apartments woven into the heart of Islington ALAMY double bedrooms, two bathrooms, a study and a spacious reception/dining area, is £1,550 a week. A penthouse in Sackville Street — two double bedrooms, two bathrooms and an openplan reception — is £1,050 a week. There are 18 more modestly priced flats in Albany House at 324 Regent Street, where rooms have the feel of a traditional London townhouse. Expect to pay £400-£500 a week for a onebedroom flat and up to £2,000 a week for a two-bedroom flat. Regent Street Management Direct has also unveiled six flats in Mortimer Street, just off Oxford Circus, aimed at BBC workers. More than £25 million has been invested in and around Regent Street, anticipating Crossrail’s arrival in 2018 — with stations at Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street, and a station exit planned for Hanover Square. Two pedestrianised food quarters have been created, and there are pop-ups, markets and traffic-free days. Chefs Jason Atherton, Gordon Ramsay and Angela Hartnett are leading a “backstreet” foodie revolution, and for tired -#!+-%&( !#!-%&! + -%'!%!%*% %"%#%%& Register your interest Fine dining: chefs Angela Hartnett, Jason Atherton and Gordon Ramsay are leading a “backstreet” foodie revolution in areas such as Heddon Street )...$.,$.,)$. 16 Homes & Property Design WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD homesandproperty.co.uk with By Katie Law S EBASTIAN COX transforms sustainable British timbers, such as coppiced hazel, into beautiful furniture and accessories. Since 2010 the furniture designer has run his own Woolwich-based studio. MY HOME I live in a one-bedroom flat with my girlfriend, Brogan, in Deptford, right by the river with views from the London Eye and Big Ben to the City. The landmarks stay, but the view is always changing. The weather means no two days look the same. From our windows, I can watch the rain roll in and the sunshine burn off the city fog. I’m incredibly lucky to have this view. We moved in two years ago and, at that point, I discovered that my ancestor, John Cox, lived in the same street in 1794 and plied his trade as a waterman, rowing people from one side of the Thames to the other, right outside what is now our front door. I feel a great sense of place at home, My design London SEBASTIAN COX Shaping the future: Sebastian Cox takes time out at his Woolwich studio FURNITURE DESIGNER knowing he trod the same streets and earned his living from the river that flows by my flat, to Woolwich where my workshop is. Abstriacticus. I repinned them into a new frame. Our house is incredibly modern but creative, colourful and representative of our personalities and interests. MY STYLE Our home is decorated with William Morris fabrics, lovely geometric Eleanor Pritchard cushions from Heal’s on our sofa, piles of books on sustainability and design, colourful rugs and lots of prototype furniture, as well as my aunts’ prints, paintings by artist Heidi Plant and unusual maps, plus framed pictures and postcards. In pride of place are some very old taxidermied butterflies. I picked them up for about £5 from an oddly charming little shop in Deptford Broadway, SE8, called FAVOURITE THING My vinyl record collection would be top of the list — music is really important to me. It started out with wanting to have a copy of my five favourite albums when I was 22. As my list of “favourite albums” has changed, the collection has grown. I buy vinyl Favourite thing: Rough Trade, Brick Lane, is a key source for Sebastian’s treasured vinyl record collection from Flashback Records in Islington, Casbah Records in Greenwich and, of course, Rough Trade in Brick Lane. 17 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 Design Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with Best design shop: ceramicist Billy Lloyd goes to work on a new creation at his studio in Iliffe Yard, Kennington Luxury at home: Le Creuset pans, left, both look and act the part when it comes to slow cooking Money no object: A sought-after D-Type jag, below, with its distinctive fin, would cost about £2 million My style indoors: Sebastian loves Eleanor Pritchard’s geometric cushions, sold in Heal’s. His secret escape is to St Nicholas’s churchyard near his Deptford home a dramatic fin that projects backwards from the driver’s head, and it makes a fantastic sound. It was the fastest car in the Fifties when British design and engineering were among the best in the world. My dad restores vintage cars, mostly Jaguars — I’ve definitely caught the bug. I love the history of classic cars. You can repair or restore them and, in doing so, thoroughly understand the evolution of car design. LAST WORD IN LUXURY Cooking with my Le Creuset pans. They represent cooking slow meals. I can dip in and out of the process and do other things, call my mum and put on a record. Le Creuset is made to last, functionally and aesthetically. I’d like the Classic Cast Iron Grillits. A worthwhile investment at about £100 each. BEST DESIGN SHOP My favourite way to shop is one that lets me see the making process, which adds to the story of everything I buy. So I would pop over to ceramicist Billy Lloyd’s studio and buy something. I recently got a special cup and saucer from him, which I love. MONEY NO OBJECT TALENTED NEW DESIGNER I would buy an original Jaguar D-type, which would cost about £2 million. It has beautiful lines with I think you should keep your eye on designer Phil Cuttance. He has a fantastic eye for detail. He works in Talented new designer: Phil Cuttance produces beautiful faceted vases Lazy Sunday: The Garrison in Bermondsey Street for Eggs Royale for brunch FAVOURITE RESTAURANT resin, making incredible faceted vases and lampshades and hosts wonderful casting workshops for £80 a person in Crouch End. SECRET ESCAPE St Nicholas’s churchyard, near me in Deptford. It’s where my ancestor was christened and the playwright Christopher Marlowe is buried. I feel connected to the history of London and my family’s small part of that when I’m there. It is so peaceful. The last time I was there I saw a magnificent jay and goldfinches flitting around in the trees. I love the new pop-up dining experience Tentacle SE8. The chef, Olivia Bennett, formerly worked for Bompas & Parr but recently set up her own eatery, creating wonderful seafood dinners in celebration of “what the water gave us”. For £40, everyone sits around one table with sharing platters of incredible food, their own bottle of wine and gets to know one another. I’d recommend Maddy’s Fish Bar in New Cross. It is everything you want fish and chips to be — comforting, greedy and delicious. For about £12 you can have the fresh catch of the day, from Dorset, in a light tempura-esque, gluten-free batter, served with a delicious cabbage slaw, minted peas and the thickest, creamiest tartare sauce I have ever had. LAZY LONDON SUNDAY A relaxing day would start at about 8am with coffee, listening to Radio 4. Occasionally, for a treat, I’ll cycle out for brunch. The Garrison in Bermondsey Street does a beautiful Eggs Royale and is just the other side of Southwark Park. Paying a visit to the new Meantime Brewery in Greenwich is on my list of many things to do. APARTMENTS WHERE CONTEMPORARY CHIC MEETS WAREHOUSE AUTHENTICITY &$'$ )#'%""' + ( '"&$,"),',' ' '"*$,"" ' + *)&$," #&! "' $' '$% $ % *'+' '"'%"+')"%*",' '( '"' )(+(" %"($( ! $'$'$"')+ +'( 20 WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Reader promotion homesandproperty.co.uk with Quirky canine floor lamp will be your best friend ANIMAL-INSPIRED lamps from Iconic Lights are quirky and fun. At 82cm tall, the large Modern Sitting Dog with Cone Shade floor lamp is an accurate life-size replica of a dog. Iconic Lights is offering 20 per cent off its entire range until next Tuesday, reducing the lamp, right, to £60 from £75. To claim, visit iconiclights.co.uk or call 0161 837 6092 and quote ICONICFRIEND at checkout. All lights come with free delivery. Similar items are available in this range, including a matching table lamp. Parasols have it made in the shade Bargain Barg Bargai arga rga gain g ga ain ne ne GEAR up for summer in style with the Lotus, above, and Geisha parasols from One Regent Place. Currently on offer at £79.99, they come with an oriental touch and in a variety of vibrant colours to suit any garden. The unique Lotus parasol features a double canopy, while the multifaceted Geisha is an eye-catching design. Each has a crank handle and a push-button tilt. To claim, visit oneregentplace.co.uk or call 020 7087 2900 (Monday to Friday) before next Monday. Alison Cork Make an entrance THE Aurelia mirrored and chrome dressing console from my-furniture. co.uk features high-quality bevelled mirror finishing and two drawers on steel chrome-plated legs. Ideal for any hallway or bedroom, it has matching bedside tables available to buy separately. Readers can claim a £20 discount, reducing the price of the console to £179.99, with free UK mainland delivery. To order, visit my -furniture.co.uk or call 0800 092 1636 and quote MYAURA before June 14. Table’s simply stylish PAINTED in French grey, the Hampton side table from Within is simple, sleek and hand-carved in solid mango wood. It would look lovely next to Within’s Fitzgerald armchair, too. Set up perfect alfresco dining Readers can claim 15 per cent off, taking the price from £145 to only £123.25. To claim, visit withinhome. com/hamp or call 020 7087 2900 and quote HAMP15 before June 23. THE LA two-seat bistro set by Maze Living is ideal for small gardens. Its weatherproof curved rattan chairs and table can be left outside year-round, and come with a five-year guarantee. While the price is already reduced from £399 to £349, readers can receive a further £50 off by using code ESBN50 at mazeliving.co.uk or by calling 01440 710 673. O The companies listed here are wholly independent of the Evening Standard. Care is taken to establish that they are bona fide, but we recommend that you carry out your own checks prior to purchases and use a credit card where possible. To offer feedback on any of these companies, email [email protected] with “Bargain News” in the subject line. For more bargains, visit alisonathome.com or homesandproperty.co.uk/offers. “ 24 WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Exhibition homesandproperty.co.uk with T FLAMBOYANT JEWELS THE WADDESDON BEQUEST. © THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM Bold, black cabinets hold glittering rock crystal, pure gold, diamonds, emeralds and miniature carvings in boxwood that, under the terms of the bequest, have to be shown together in one room. Most items date to the 16th and 17th centuries, but there are a few funerary handles from the third century BC in superb condition that look just like bronze door knockers. The collection also included masterfully faked 19th-century pieces, so fine that it is hard to tell the difference, particularly among the flamboyant of the Rothschilds is a classic rags-toriches story. They escaped the Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt to create an international banking dynasty. By the end of the 19th century the family, whose surname is a byword for unimaginable wealth, controlled a rail network, a global mining industry and invested in art. Ferdinand became a British citizen in 1860. Delicate touch: a curator installs items from the Waddesdon Bequest in a new gallery at the British Museum KEEN ON PROVENANCE There’s fakery and fun How a Rothschild dressed for a party. By Philippa Stockley PA REASURES beyond your wildest dreams. That’s the only way to describe the contents of the British Museum’s latest display, the Waddesdon Bequest, showing 265 medieval and Renaissance pieces c o l l e c t e d by B a ro n Fe rd i n a n d Rothschild in the 19th century. The beautiful collection was left to the museum by the banking heir on his death in 1898. He had inherited part of the collection from his father, Baron Anselm Rothschild, and originally displayed it at his country home, Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire. The bequest is being presented anew from next Thursday in a purpose-built gallery which was once a library used by novelists Charles Dickens and William Thackeray. Fitted out for an undisclosed sum by the Rothschild family, it has been designed by architects Stanton Williams. Renaissance jewels, some shaped like mermaids and other fantastic creatures with baroque pearls for their torsos. Ferdinand enjoyed wearing them to fancy-dress parties. He also liked people to gasp at the intricate detail of his superb possessions. On his death he was keen that they should be seen by a wider audience. The miniature carvings in boxwood are certainly worth a look under a magnifying glass. Take the Boxwood Tabernacle. A prayer aid, its top opens in four petals to show the Virgin Mary, while the middle section contains a tiny account of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection in mind-boggling detail. The gorgeous Lyte Jewel is an exquisite enamel and diamond locket holding an equally brilliant miniature for James I, the first Stuart king of England, produced by Nicholas Hilliard in London in 1610. The tale Dr Dora Thornton, curator of the Waddesdon Bequest who has been involved in creating the collection’s new home since 2012, says: “Ferdinand was very keen on provenance, and bought from individuals such as Horace Walpole.” He bought two superb majolica vases from Strawberry Hill in Twickenham, Walpole’s Gothic fantasy home. Made in Urbino, central Italy, the vases feature writhing snakes for handles and luscious figurative painting. There are brilliant vessels in rock crystal, as perfect and magical as the day they were painstakingly carved out of single lumps of crystal 400 or more years ago. The silver-gilt drinking cups shaped like animals must have amused Ferdinand. The portly boar, whose head comes off to reveal a cup, is an absolute charmer, while one of his companions, a deer, apparently still smells of cherry brandy. O The Waddesdon Bequest at the British Museum opens on June 11. Visit britishmuseum.org for details. O From left: a turquoise glass goblet from the late 15th century is enamelled and gilded with pairs of lovers. O A stunning 17th-century silver-gilt boar cup — the head comes off to allow the user to drink the contents. O One of a pair of vases circa 1565-1571. Formerly owned by Horace Walpole at Strawberry Hill, they are made of tin-glazed ceramic. O Miniature tabernacle and case featuring boxwood, leather and gold fittings circa 1510-1525. A prayer aid, it opens like a flower to reveal a minute carving with scenes from the life and passion of Christ. O A glass beaker, c1673. Adding arsenic to the glass before firing gave it a remarkable opalescent finish. 26 WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Our home homesandproperty Souped up: Charlotte and Philip Colbert at home in Jesus Green near Bethnal Green We live in an art house A photographer and her fashion designer husband stripped an east London house to create their pop art world. By Amira Hashish C Photographs:: Adrian Lourie HARLOTTE and Philip Colbert belong in a Woody Allen movie. She is a photographer, whose film noir works hang at Mayfair’s Gazelli Art House. She also dabbles in cinema with credits including a new screenplay for Olivier Dahan, director of La Vie en Rose. Philip is a fashion designer who created pop art label The Rodnik Band. André Leon Talley, contributing editor of American Vogue, described him as “the godson of Andy Warhol”. Together, Charlotte and Philip form a pow-tastic couple with a knack for making cultural projects commercial and fun. “We first met in a massive warehouse in Farringdon,” says Philip. “We had both studied philosophy and Charlotte was writing a script on Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher, composer and poet, so luck was on my side when I took her to his house in Switzerland to impress her.” They married at St Bartholomew the Great in east London. Philip wore a suit from his label decorated with lobsters — it is the same three-piece he pulled off at this year’s Vanity Fair Oscars bash, where Charlotte sported a gown inspired by a leg of ham. Such eccentric ensembles aren’t reserved for weddings and red carpet occasions. At the couple’s Victorian terrace house in Jesus Green E2, Charlotte is kitted out in a dress parodying a tin of Campbell’s soup and Philip rocks a Snoopy suit. That’s just how they roll. I am welcomed with open arms and a plate of biscuits by Charlotte, whose soft French accent complements her kookiness. She grew up in France with her socialite/journalist mother Laure Boulay de la Meurthe. Her father is the late Anglo-French billionaire financier and tycoon, Sir James Goldsmith. Now, home is “a strange Escher-type building near Bethnal Green that used to be a shop before the Second World War”. I am ushered to the bright yellow submarine-style sofa in the living room, which faces a shark armchair — one of Philip’s furniture designs, for sale on Made.com. Cactus and lobster-shaped seats are a fun touch and the TV is hidden away in a giant popcorn stand. “When we got the space it was quite run-down and Charlotte did an art show called A Day at Home, where she took pictures of the house and staged scenes of imagined domestic life with the backdrop of crumbling walls,” says Philip. Prickly pair: cactus and lobster-shaped chairs by The London Workshop Favourite spot: the kitchen opens on to a conservatory filled with beautiful plants PEELING OFF THE PAPER Once the show was complete, they enlisted the help of friend Patrick Williams, who runs architectural design practice Berdoulat (berdoulat.co.uk). “We stripped back the property to what it would have been like before the Fifties décor. Peeling off the wallpaper, we discovered the history of the people that had lived there prior to us,” says Charlotte. “The walls also shaped the overall colour scheme. There was an element of surprise as to what we would find under 27 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 y.co.uk with Our home Homes & Property Artistic licence: the design for a paint palette table was conceived during breakfast Surreal at the seaside: left, the shark armchair makes a wacky match with the submarine sofa and the popcorn television cabinet the peeled paper.” As well as revealing cuttings from old newspapers, they found colour, a sort of Thirties yellow. “We left the rest as apparent plaster. We kept the original floorboards upstairs, which we painted a grey/blue colour, and downstairs we used reclaimed boards.” They describe the style as romantic nostalgia reminiscent of the French countryside merged with bold, surreal touches. “It is old-world vibe meets graphic humour,” adds Philip. There are three storeys and three bedrooms. Making extra space, they knocked down and pushed back walls to form mezzanine levels that double up as reading nooks or sleepover pods for after-parties. The lower ground floor is Philip’s workspace, where he has hosted gigs for friends such as pop singer Kate Nash. The ground-floor kitchen opens on to Charlotte’s favourite spot, a conservatory filled with beautiful plants and a dining table. The upstairs master bedroom is a mash-up of Mexican rugs, gramophones and antiques. Trinkets from their travels fill shelves and walls. “We stayed one night in this small and legendary hotel in the South of France called La Colombe d’Or, where Pablo Cactus- and lobster-shape seats are a fun touch, while the television is hidden away in a giant popcorn box Picasso, Fernand Léger, César Baldaccini and Georges Braque would all go,” says Charlotte. “It is filled with pieces they left there, often for payment for meals when they were poor, making it a living art house. We wanted to bring a bit of that magic back to our pad, so I made the stained-glass window above our front door with glass master Anthony Bristow. Philip designed the fox wallpaper in our bathroom with Katja Behre, who runs homeware brand Elli Popp.” LOVING THOSE LOBSTERS Friends Alfred and Tess from furniture maker The London Workshop created many of the original pieces, such as a paint palette table, “from sketches drawn up while eating slices of toast at breakfast”. Prop-maker Tess Gammel also chipped in to paint some pieces. Pottery shapes were created by art dealer and ex-Burberry model Harry Scrymgeour. “I’ve bought a kiln and we are planning on creating our own mini series called The Lobster Pottery,” says Philip. A colourful Niki de Saint Phalle sculpture and a Karel Appel painting Continued on page 28 28 WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Our home homesandproperty.co.uk with Bold touches: far left, a multicoloured duvet lifts a bedroom; left, the pair’s prized Niki de Saint Phalle sculpture ‘We wanted to bring a bit of magic to our pad’ Continued from page 27 are the couple’s most treasured art pieces. Pendant lights hang from the ceilings — “we found a box-load of industrial shades at a flea market and thought they were quite amazing”. They are teamed with lamps from Dickinson’s Period House Shops (periodhouseshops.com). The space is always evolving. In their spare time, the Colberts potter around Old Spitalfields Market and Golborne Road, or peruse Lassco in Vauxhall for antiques and salvage items. Petersham Nurseries is the go-to place for plants and Columbia Road Flower Market is conveniently round the corner from O therodnik band.com O charlotte colbert.com Photographs:: Adrian Lourie them. Other highly recommended hangouts include The Gallery Café in Old Fort Road, a vegan café that supports charity projects, and Leila’s Shop, a community café in Arnold Circus. “E Pellicci’s in Bethnal Green Road is a must,” says Charlotte. “Run by Nev and his sister Ana, it is a staple that makes everyone feel at home around a gorgeous dish of cannelloni cooked by their mum from the open kitchen.” As we say goodbye, I am inspired to sample these hidden gems. But for all of east London’s hip haunts, something tells me that finding another space as surreal as Charlotte and Philip’s wacky, wonderful world will be no easy feat. $ *! "%% *0% ' % %!!.% + - Stripped back: the Colberts used reclaimed floorboards in the charming conservatory " "%$ !!0% !$ ) "%$ +/%% +#% '0 ! ) "%$ !!0% !$ #!(% +#% '0 )& %!"$!/%-#-. ! 29 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 Events Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with 1 2 4 5 3 Five things to see in June 1 SPIRIT OF SUMMER FAIR AND HOUSE EVENT June 17-20, Grand Hall, Olympia Exhibition Centre, W14 (spiritof summerfair.co.uk; 0844 412 4623) THE new House event is a heavierweight companion to Olympia’s popular Spirit of Summer fair, with its fashion, gifts and food. House has 100 home design exhibitors, from big brands to small specialists. Taking centre stage is a Georgian show home by designer April Russell, but don’t miss stand A9 and the Safari collection of wallpapers from London-based designer Juliet Travers, pictured. Tickets cost £16 (adult); £8 (ages 13 to 16); free for under-12s. Use code HSE2 for a 15 per cent discount. By Barbara Chandler 2 RHS HAMPTON COURT PALACE FLOWER SHOW June 30-July 5, tickets from £13 to £36 (rhs.org.uk/hamptoncourt) THE world’s biggest annual flower show celebrates its 25th year with a large maze, a turf sculpture and giant floral birthday cake. As well as the main show gardens, Festival of Roses and Floral Marquee with its 90 plant nurseries, there will be conceptual gardens and an RHS community street feature in the Inspire zone, historic gardens in the Grow zone and the popular cookery theatre and food stands in the Feast zone. PB 3 RE-WORK IT: CHAIRS FOR THE ART ROOM Until June 14, Selfridges, Oxford Street, W1 (selfridges.com) HERE is a jaw-dropping display — a cascade of chairs in the atrium of the largest store in Oxford Street. It is the work of 90 celebrities, architects, artists and designers, each invited to transform a simple chair. The results are beautiful, witty, provocative and/or surreal. Spot Paul Smith’s Sunshine Chair, Patrick Hughes’s rainbow print, pictured, and Cara Delevingne’s Together slogan. There is also an online auction in aid of The Art Room, which helps young people through art therapy, at paddle8.com/ auction/TheArtRoom. /+* !#+ !$ $%+!"/% *0% /#!%$ + *% *%! ' !$* "%$ !!0% Launching Wednesday 10 June +#% '0 ) ! %/ %/ %// !! !+/!"/% !+/+/!" ! !"/ "/% /% % %/ %/%#%$ /%#%$$ **0%/%# /% 0% 0 %% 0% +$+#!+ %% / 0 % (%%!%$ +0!(% !% +$+#!+ / !$ ",%# ",%# #*!(%#*!(% +#% #%# ! +0% ' (+( %% 5 AFFORDABLE ART HAMPSTEAD 4 OLYMPIA INTERNATIONAL ART & ANTIQUES FAIR June 18-28, Olympia, W14 (olympiaart-antiques.com; 0115 896 0269) THIS huge fair, in its 43rd year, is set to attract 30,000 visitors. They will find 160 specialist dealers parading high-quality vetted art and sculpture to 20th century classic movie art such as the Italian poster for Caccia al Ladro (To Catch a Thief ), pictured. Tickets for preview day on June 18 cost £100, and from £15 for other days, with a two-for-one offer for readers online and on the door with code EVESTAND2015. June 11-14, Lower Fairground Site, East Heath Road, Hampstead NW3 (affordableartfair.co.uk) CHOOSE well at this fun show and get a classy finishing touch for your home. Browse a marquee hosting more than 100 galleries, with a mix of genres and artists. Prices start at £100, with a cut-off point of £5,000. The best work from new graduates is curated by Made in Arts London. We love this surreal take on Battersea Power Station with miniature people by Roy’s People for the Curious Duke Gallery, pictured. Tickets cost from £10. Readers can get two tickets for the price of one online by quoting code EveningStandard. 32 WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Outdoors Get the bright stuff Paint garden walls and chairs to match your flowers BENNET SMITH/MMGI/DESIGN CHRIS BEARDSHAW B OLD, vibrant colour transforms an outdoor space like nothing else can. Choose a paint shade with punch for tired garden furniture and, at a brush stroke, you give the whole garden a lift. Amid safe pastel planting, for instance, a pair of fire engine-red chairs looks spectacular — Little Greene’s Atomic Red in Estate Emulsion fits the bill. Alternatively, find six sizzling colours — including scarlet, turquoise and sunshine yellow — of Adirondack chairs, those handsome American slatted wood outdoor armchairs, at countryfieldgardens.co.uk. These are, however, made of recycled plastic, are UV resistant, and won’t need repainting. You can also bring overwrought metal café tables and chairs into the 21st century — and get rid of the rust at the same time — with Hammerite’s Direct To Rust Metal Paint in luscious Rhubarb Compote, which will do more for your patio than regulation dark green or grime-gathering white. If you’re planting up containers, include a few glazed pots that will make your displays twice as vibrant — a glazed turquoise pot teamed with homesandproperty.co.uk with Pattie Barron Mood indigo: paint a wall a strong, clean colour and you create a great backdrop that suggests exciting plant possibilities MARIANNE MAJERUS purple petunias, a lavender longtom making rose-pink calibrachoa all the rosier — see Kew planters at terraceandgarden.nordicshops.com. Alternatively, paint cheap-as-chips terracotta flowerpots with Cuprinol’s Garden Shades tester pots, available in a wide matte palette from lime and olive to raspberry and navy iris. Paint the patio or garden wall a strong, clean colour and you open up a world of enticing possibilities — a burgundy potted acer with a backdrop of pale pink, a scarlet-flowered Japanese quince against lemon. In front of a cool blue wall on a London terrace, landscape designer Christopher Bradley-Hole planted a grove of violet bearded irises, thus intensifying both High drama: sumptous shades of deep purple lupins add impact colours. Instead of pulling out the living room cushions, invest in deckchair stripes with a dash of Deauville. Find RE’s French canvas cushions in primary brights at re-foundobjects.com, or check out Kirkby Design’s new Terrazzo range of water-repellent outdoor fabrics in zingy stripes, chevrons and basketweaves, at dcch.co.uk. Throw a bold-striped canvas runner from RE down the patio dining table and, believe me, nobody will notice the jasmine hasn’t flowered. One fabulous plant colour won’t make the garden sing, but put two or three great shades together — in one small group, or with bold colour blocking — and you’ve got a whole rhythm section. Chelsea Flower Show was full of great colour combos this year, including the chartreuse green of euphorbia with the purple of flowering sage, colours which translate well to containers too, with, say, acid-green golden marjoram teamed with purple petunias. Matthew Wilson’s tangy choice for Royal Bank of Canada was Euphorbia Fens Ruby with sage Salvia Caradonna. From these striking bass notes, it’s a simple matter to add highlights of bright orange from Geum Totally Tangerine, which Adam Frost on the Homebase garden contrasted with taller crimson Cirsium Atropurpureum. In the Sentebale garden, Matt Keightley contrasted grey-green grasses with bright orange perennial wallflower, Erysimum Apricot Twist. In the L’Occitane garden, a scattering of scarlet poppies throughout the space provided a great colour pop, while burgundy rose Chianti made a luscious counterpoint to apricot foxgloves. Designers love to use rich shades to create drama, and we all can, in the simplest way. For example, purple lupins, everywhere at Chelsea this year, needed just a tall, slate planter to show them off at Capital Garden Products, and in the Morgan Stanley Healthy Cities Garden, Chris Beardshaw gave them a perfect supporting cast of crimson Cirsium and sugar pink Verbascum. O Garden queries? Email our RHS expert at: expert [email protected] O For outdoor events this month, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/events #!$$!$$! %# %#% ! & !' ! % ' ! $/*$(&&2$/)*$)* *23*$(3//.$%"$$$ '*)3$&&3*1$** *$,3$-+" !( ! " !! (% " ! (% ! % ! !' $ % %# '!' ! ! !! ! $ '# ! %% %! $ % " "" ! --$ $$-%+$ 2/*&(/&221(10 36 WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Property searching homesandproperty.co.uk with Spotlight King’s Cross T £650,OOO A ONE-BEDROOM garden flat in Wharton Street, WC1, with goodsize rooms and its own entrance. Through Hamptons International. homesandproperty.co.uk/whart £849,950 A MODERN third-floor flat with two en suite bedrooms and a balcony in Acton Street, WC1, would make an ideal city home. Through Foxtons. homesandproperty.co.uk/actst £5 MILLION A DETACHED three-bedroom house is for sale in Flaxman Terrace, WC1, on Bloomsbury’s edge. Grade II-listed, it has large rooms, an additional loft space and a generous rear terrace. Through Stones. homesandproperty.co.uk/flax HIS has got to be London’s biggest transformation story. In just six years, King’s Cross has gone from a shabby, grim district to avoid, to being the hottest property ticket in town. The numbers say it all — there are now 2,000 new homes, 67 acres of derelict land reclaimed, 50 new buildings, 20 new streets, 20 heritage buildings restored, 10 new public squares, 26 acres of open space and even a new postcode, N1C. This newly emerging neighbourhood has risen, phoenixlike, from what were the old railway badlands behind King’s Cross station. Now it is a vibrant district, energised by the fashion, design, art and media students of Central Saint Martins college, making the area lively and stylish. Granary Square, with its fountains and restaurants, has already become a favourite new destination. The backdrop is the Victorian Granary Building that became the home of Central Saint Martins, part of the University of the Arts London, four years ago. Much has already been achieved since outline planning permission was granted in 2006. The Great Northern Hotel has been restored and reopened, the buildings next to Granary Square now house the Art Fund and the House of Illustration, there are new social and student housing developments, and offices have been let to major companies including Google, Havas and Louis Vuitton. There is also plenty more to come. Opening soon is an £18 million flagship Waitrose store and cookery school, while the landmark German Gymnasium will house a new restaurant. The historic Coal Drops are being converted into a new retail precinct called Coal Drops Yard, while the Grade II-listed Gasholder No.8 will become a park. Gasholders 10, 11 and 12 are being restored and will house a series of A great success story is right on trend It took six years and some seriously good design to turn this grim place around, says Anthea Masey modern flats. In the meantime, the famous KERB street food market has a new home in Lewis Cubitt Square on the western side of the Granary Building. It lies close to the new outdoor swimming pond, the only natural public swimming pool in London purified with plants rather than chlorine. WHAT THERE IS TO BUY There is a mix of early Victorian houses between York Way, Caledonian Road and Pentonville Road, as well as on the Lloyd Baker estate south of Pentonville Road and east of King’s Cross Road. Converted Victorian houses and tenement flats are found in the roads and squares south of Euston Road. You can also find estates of council houses — HAVE YOUR SAY KING’S CROSS @iamfabish So many great places in Kings X but @rotundalondon and @GandFCafe are my go-to places for a relaxing drink @brandmcqueen Check out the hidden gem @rotundalondon for a lovely canalside view @chrisjwalker84 Without doubt dinner & drinks @rotundalondon and coffee & cake from @GandFCafe @ILGouldy Simmonds happy hour(s) is fun. Grain Store with outdoor bar @Barchetta66 Lived here for 18 yrs. Best tip would be coffee from the best coffee cart in LDN — from the boys at @Noble_Esp at KX station. @Izybella1 Best coffee bar @HarrisAndHoole Caledonian Road @ChloeFletcher_x @lunchTimeLondon is the best café in #KingsCross by far NEXT WEEK: Abbey Wood. Do you live there? Tell us what you think @HomesProperty To find a home in King’s Cross, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/kingscross For more about King’s Cross, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightkingscross F 1, 2 AND 3 BEDROOM APARTMENTS AND PENTHOUSES, PRICES FROM £659,950* DISCOVER MORE | LONDONDOCK.CO.UK | 020 3773 3679 Computer generated image is indicative only. *Price correct at time of going to press. 37 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 homesandproperty.co.uk with GRAHAM HUSSEY Clockwise from right: The Big Chill House bar and club, Pentonville Road; Philip Litanzios, owner of 2K Mirror UK; fun in Granary Square fountains; the square’s canalside steps Creative: Central Saint Martins students bring colourful vitality to King’s Cross most notably the Priory Green estate designed by Tecton, the mid-century firm led by Berthold Lubetkin — and converted warehouses. The latter have been occupied by pioneers such as photographer David Bailey and inventor Sir Clive Sinclair in the time before King’s Cross underwent its major transformation. SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS Walk along the concourse of St Pancras station and you will find plenty of shops and cafés, including a John Lewis gift store and Cath Kidston, Fat Face, LK Bennett, Fortnum & Mason, Searcys Champagne Bar and Searcys St Pancras Grand brasserie. Sitting outside one of the restaurants in Granary Square on a sunny day watching children splashing in the fountains is a joyful experience, but you can also find delight in the wide range of eateries on offer. Marcus Wareing’s The Gilbert Scott brasserie and bar serves British classics at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, while Caravan is an all-day Antipodean restaurant, a larger branch of the Exmouth Market favourite, and Chef Bruno Loubet’s Grain Store specialises in vegetable-inspired dishes without being especially vegetarian. Tea lovers can have tea — any type — and cake at a branch of the small Yumchaa chain, while round the corner in Stable Street there is Dishoom, which draws inspiration from the Irani café culture of Thirties Bombay. Wine bar Vinoteca has recently opened a branch in Battle Bridge Place, while Australian chef Bill Granger’s Granger & Co opens soon. At Plum & Spilt Milk, the restaurant in the restored Great Northern Hotel, Michelin-star TV chef Mark Sargeant devises the menu. It is easy to get sucked into all the new openings in the King’s Cross development, but it is also worth looking into the streets beyond. In and around Caledonian Road, you will find an eclectic mix of independent cafés and bars. They include tapas bars, Camino and Bar Pepito. Drink, Shop & Do is described as a “café by day, bar by night and fun things to do”, while TED restaurant stands for Think, Eat, Drink and follows an ethical and sustainable ethos. The Driver is a gastropub and restaurant with a roof terrace and vertical garden growing on its exterior walls, while burger fans can get their fill at Honest Burgers in Pentonville Road, which is a branch of the eatery that started life in Brixton Village. There are surprising discoveries, too, in Amwell Street on the Lloyd Baker estate, where Scottish designers Timorous Beasties and textile designers Wallace#Sewell are joined by delicatessens Charlotte’s Fine Foods and Myddeltons. Council: King’s Cross mainly lies in Camden, which is Labour-controlled. Band D council tax for this year costs £1,336.81. But some areas lie in Islington, also Labour-controlled, with Band D council tax for this year amounting to £1,276.01. Property searching Homes & Property CHECK THE STATS ■WHAT HOMES COST BUYING IN KING’S CROSS (Average prices) One-bedroom flat £659,000 Two-bedroom flat £979,000 Three-bedroom flat £2.62 million Source: Zoopla RENTING IN KING’S CROSS (Average rates) One-bedroom flat £1,880 a month Two-bedroom flat £2,676 a month Three-bedroom flat £3,250 a month Source: Zoopla GO ONLINE FOR MORE O The best schools in and around King’s Cross O All the latest housing developments in the area O The best streets (not necessarily the most expensive) O Where to find outside and sporting facilities O Smart maps to plot your property search O How King’s Cross house prices compare with the rest of the UK Photographs: Daniel Lynch TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE At which King’s Cross station platform does this trolley disappear into a wall? Find the answer at homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightkingscross 40 if you’re in the market for a London property, we’re WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Ask the expert Tell us how to exploit our hidden depths Q LOTS of our friends have recently added value to their properties with a basement conversion. We’ve got a vault under our house which we hardly use. We can’t afford to convert it ourselves, but think it could be a good selling point when we eventually move. The new owners wouldn’t need to excavate as the space is already there. However, the vault is not shown on our title deeds. An estate agent told us we should sort out the paperwork before trying to sell. We are the only people with access to the vault. What do we need to do? A IT’S not that difficult, although you may wish to instruct a solicitor to act for you. Application needs to be made to the Land Registry for title to the vault to be registered. Search the index map to ensure the vault is not already registered. A statutory declaration must be prepared to support your application OnTheMarket.com is the new simple way to search hundreds of thousands of properties. More and more estate and letting agents are moving all their properties from other sites to OnTheMarket.com and are advertising them exclusively with us first. So, for a head start in the hunt for properties you won’t find anywhere else, search OnTheMarket.com. '" ""#""!""!" %"!"$"(&)%"""""%" %""" """"""'" "% ! " Q MY godfather left me a penthouse flat in his will. The property is currently occupied by a tenant who is due to leave in two months’ time. My wife is pregnant and it would be great to get a quick sale before the baby arrives. My godfather’s solicitor and I are the executors, but he reckons we can’t sell until probate is granted and the tenant has gone. My wife thinks this isn’t true and we can sell now. Who is right? A THE flat can be marketed before the grant of probate is issued and when the tenant is in occupation. Your co-executor is being cautious. Contracts cannot be exchanged until the grant of probate is available, but a suitable offer can be accepted and the conveyancing process can go ahead. Sometimes exchange of 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) 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. More legal Q&As Visit: homesand property.co.uk Fiona McNulty OUR LAWYER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS for registration of title to the vault. The declaration should explain all the circumstances which confirm you are entitled to the vault, such as the length of time you have owned the property, whether you have had exclusive use of the vault, if anyone has ever tried to stop you using it or demanded rent for it from you. Once prepared, the statutory declaration must be sworn before a solicitor — but not the one who prepared it for you. You are likely to be granted possessory title rather than absolute title as your application is based on adverse possession. Possessory title is granted if the person claiming ownership cannot produce documents of title to prove ownership, as in your case where you only have a statutory declaration. contracts does take place when the tenant is still in occupation, but on the basis that the tenant will vacate prior to completion. This can be risky as problems arise if the tenant fails to leave, which means that the seller cannot give vacant possession on completion. To avoid this, contracts are not exchanged until a tenant has vacated the property — unless the buyer is purchasing subject to the tenancy. Remember that the tenant may not be too keen to allow prospective buyers to view the flat. Look at the tenancy agreement to see if it requires the tenant to allow access for viewings. Tell your co-executor you understand his concerns, but wish to progress the sale as much as possible so that once the grant of probate is issued and the tenant leaves, contracts can be exchanged and the sale completed. 42 WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Inside story homesandproperty.co.uk with Enchanted by twinkling home of Peter Pan MONDAY Arriving at the office at 7.45am, I am preparing myself for the frantic week that lies ahead. I am off on holiday to Norfolk next week with my wife and three daughters, and no doubt I will be taking plenty of unfinished work with me. It has been noticeably busier around Notting Hill since the general election a month ago. Confidence is certainly back and we are receiving bids and serious interest on properties that have been for sale for a few months. These are all good houses that had simply been the victim of a nervous and indecisive market. What we must now be careful of is an expectation gap that seems to be opening between buyers and sellers. Some vendors mistakenly think the value of their home has rocketed since the Tories won a majority and the threat of a “mansion tax” on properties of £2 million-plus vanished — but it would be wrong to believe buyers have any more cash to spend than they did three weeks ago. I think I’m going to have some awkward client conversations this week. TUESDAY A number of second viewings are booked in at Leinster Corner, one of the most exciting properties I have ever been involved with. It was launched for Diary of an estate agent THURSDAY Good news travels fast. I receive a call first thing from an industry journalist who has heard about an impressive property we sold last month and wants to run a story on it. It’s a substantial and imposing 11,660sq ft end-of-terrace house in Kensington Park Gardens, one of the largest and most impressive private houses to have been sold in Notting Hill for several years. Sales like this show that the upper end of the market is very much alive for the most exceptional properties in prime addresses. sale very recently and is an exceptional place. The former home of author JM Barrie, it is where he wrote Peter Pan and has been in the same family for five generations. It’s a Grade II-listed, late-Georgian semi-detached house that was built in 1820 — one of the two last remaining of its type in Bayswater Road — with almost 5,000sq ft of space. It is unusual to come across a property in London with such personality. Rather magically, the exterior of the house is covered in tiny pieces of broken mirrors, embedded into the brick façade, and they twinkle in the light like fairies in homage to Tinkerbell. FRIDAY WEDNESDAY Racing back and forth from appointments on my scooter in the spring sunshine today, I feel as though I should be wearing branded trainers and gym kit, rather than a suit and tie. It’s fair to say this year’s spring property market — typically one of the busiest periods of the year — was something of a late bloomer. Now that we are into June, families seem to be out in force looking for homes before the start of the school summer holidays, when the Notting Hill house market becomes much quieter. It is crucial that we make the most of this period. Ask free on 0800 302 9396 or view our property investment guide at martinco.com/askmartin I have a meeting with our client at Clarendon Works — a quirky and unusual listing. A former Victorian foundry, the house has an industrial atmosphere and Manhattan loft style, including an impressive wine room and integral glass-walled garage. It’s not your typical W11 period property, but it has definitely got the wow factor and is attracting a variety of buyers. The afternoon is spent tying up loose ends and briefing the team for when I’m away. Somehow I think my week in Norfolk may well feel like another week in Notting Hill. O Miles Meacock is a partner at Strutt & Parker in Notting Hill (020 7221 1111). 44 WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Letting on D AVID CAMERON ruffled a few feathers when he slipped into a speech on immigration his plans for a “mandatory licensing regime” for landlords. It would be a weapon in the fight against illegal immigration. But wait, what? There was no mention of “mandatory licensing” in his election manifesto. Prior to the election, landlords had assumed the “Leftie lot” were the bad guys, what with those threats of compulsory three-year tenancies and rent caps. The Tories were cast as the party that would leave landlords be. But then Cameron announced that he is going to be the one to “crack down on unscrupulous landlords who cram houses full of illegal migrants” by introducing licensing. Seriously, it was enough to make me think of selling up. I’ve nothing against licensing in principle, but the thought of dealing with inefficient town halls stuffed with bureaucrats makes me want to go and lie in a darkened room. However, panic not. It doesn’t look as though the Tories are going to force all landlords to obtain a licence. As far as I am aware, full details of the plans haven’t been revealed, but the Department for Communities and Local Government, which looks after housing, has since said that the PM was referring only to homes in multiple occupation — HMOs. At the moment, any property with three storeys or more let to five or more tenants who form more than homesandproperty.co.uk with Immigration red tape will tie me up in knots Mandatory licensing of landlords won’t root out people living in Britain illegally and could cause hardship, warns Victoria Whitlock The accidental landlord one household — ie sharers — must have an HMO licence for health and safety reasons. Councils can choose to license smaller HMOs if they wish, but most do not. Now Cameron is looking at using this legislation to weed out illegal immigrants. So most of us can relax... a little. However, I’m nervous that the Tories are going to insist on licensing for all properties let to any number of sharers, because I’ve got a two-storey maisonette let to four students. I certainly would not invest in any largish rental properties until the proposals become clearer. A further concern is that the PM is pushing ahead with his plan for landlords to check the immigration status of every tenant under his Right to Rent scheme, which he plans to roll out nationwide, even though a pilot scheme running in the West Midlands has yet to be evaluated. We don’t know yet when Right to Rent will be introduced in London, but when it is, we will all have to check every new tenant’s right to live in the UK. That will mean taking a NO BIGGER! £750 a week: in Prince of Wales Drive, Battersea, John D Wood has available to rent a three-bedroom flat with a double reception room, a balcony overlooking the park, and a porter living on site (homesandproperty.co.uk/alrent) copy of their passport and relevant visa, and presumably keeping these under lock and key to make sure we don’t fall foul of the Data Protection Act. It sounds simple enough but, as I’ve previously written, I wouldn’t know a genuine visa from a fake and if I make a mistake, I risk a nasty fine. Mr Cameron is also planning to change the law so we can evict illegal immigrants more quickly and he is looking into the idea of tenancies being automatically cancelled when a tenant’s visa expires. Sadly, I think this will only make it harder for foreigners from outside the EU living here legally to find accommodation, while it will do nothing to weed out illegal immigrants. Landlords will be reluctant to let to anyone requiring a visa, especially if they want longterm tenants, forcing immigrants into the clutches of “unscrupulous landlords”, who will continue to stick two fingers up at the law. O 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 Brought to you by 46 WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property New homes By David Spittles Smart S Sma m mar art mo art o ALAMY Super-fast trains and a river to mess about on homesandproperty.co.uk with Tradition: a “Victorian day” at Boulters Lock, Maidenhead MAIDENHEAD is a Crossrail winner in Berkshire and the impact of the east-west train link continues to be felt ahead of the scheduled opening in 2018, with London buyers attracted by the prospect of a direct 37-minute commute to Paddington. While the Thames-side town is not pretty, the local area is full of lovely villages. “About 30 per cent of people relocating here are moving out of west London,” says David Redmond, manager of the local Hamptons International branch. “By crossing the M25 divide, they can get much better value for money while enjoying the quick commuter links. Buy-to-let investors are making their presence felt, too.” The train station is getting a Crossrail facelift and a much-needed new shopping precinct is being created, with homes as part of the mix. There are also plans to restore a stagnant stream into a showpiece waterway. Buy now and get furniture free B UY AND complete on a one-bedroom flat before the end of next month and you get £26,000 worth of furnishings. That’s the deal at Great Minster House, above and right, a new development close to the Houses of Parliament where flats cost from £885,000. Can this be a sign of an ailing market in Westminster village? Developer Barratt insists that’s not the case. The firm says the deal is simply part of its routine end-of-financialyear drive to boost sales. Included in the interior design package are a bespoke sofa and armchair, wenge dining table and chairs, a bronze and glass TV unit, satin weave curtains and an — anonymous — piece of abstract art. The building, opposite the Home Office, echoes the area’s Edwardian mansion blocks with parquet floors O Alexandra Park, above, on the edge of the town, is a collection of new semi-detached and detached traditional family houses, with redbrick and cream-render exterior. Prices from £585,000. Call Shanly Homes on 01494 685800. Shanly is also building town centre flats for sale from £515,000 at Hitcham Court. O New rentals have been launched at Athena Court, a five-minute walk from the mainline station. Rents for two-bedroom properties start at £1,150 a month. Call Sorbon Estates on 01494 683823. O One notable address for the future is Skindles, a former hotel alongside listed Maidenhead Bridge. The 42-acre development by Berkeley will bring a new waterfront community of more than 150 properties, with restaurants and a riverside promenade. ,& $$$&, "*,,,*,* From £1,150 a month: two-bedroom homes to rent at Athena Court, five minutes from Maidenhead station 47 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 3 JUNE 2015 New homes Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with Read more: visit our new online luxury section HomesAndProperty.co.uk/luxury Trinity Crescent is a Tooting favourite and high ceilings. There is also 24-hour porterage. Show apartments are open for viewing. Call 0844 811 4334. Nearby Westminster Quarter, in Great Peter Street, has 91 flats grouped around a landscaped courtyard. Crisp architecture features floor-to-ceiling windows and incorporates communal roof gardens. Some of the apartments have a view of Big Ben and there is underground parking, a gym and concierge. Prices start at £990,000. Call JLL on 020 3053 0743. LIKE a lot of south London, Tooting spent much of the 20th century asleep in run-down respectability — until the late-Nineties property boom, when buyers priced out of Clapham started to search further down the Northern line. Today, homes in coveted spots such as the Heaver Estate — bordering Tooting Bec Common, with its splendid refurbished lido dating from 1906 — are similar in price to Clapham. But in general, property prices in Tooting remain a good 15 per cent or more below those of its prestigious neighbour. Trinity Crescent is a Tooting favourite, with splendid mid-19th century stucco houses and mansion flats. This leafy enclave now features two new-build, secluded 3,000sq ft family houses, above, behind a high-walled garden and with off-street parking. Inside and outside space integrate well and one of the homes has a spacious, well-lit basement level with cinema room. Prices from £2.25 million. Call estate agents Featherstone Leigh on 020 7228 2278. '!&%&' *$& "&)*$&'-&& &!&& !&&)&&&-&-& &) $+( Score a charming mews by Kia Oval THERE is more to Vauxhall than the giant Nine Elms regeneration zone dominated by the brutalist power station and shiny new skyscrapers. Percival Mews, above, moments from Kia Oval cricket ground, is more in keeping with the area’s low-rise Victorian fabric of terraces, mansion blocks, charitable housing and council estates. Four freehold classic-style mews houses with modern, open-plan interiors and private parking cost from £1,265,000. Call estate agents Lurot Brand on 020 7590 9955. -& &-&+ &!! ! &!&&!-&'+& -&)&+&$ !-&' +& --&+&( -+& !&&)&&'-& &!&&)-&* '$ & & !&-&( )#,' #% % &'+% ')'*%# !%!%!%()) %')%% %%%' Dalston’s on the right lines REVITALISED by its new Overground station, Dalston in east London is no longer a spillover territory for buyers priced out of Shoreditch, and developers are finding corners away from the lively hub around Broadway Market and towards Stoke Newington. Artisan, above, is a low-rise scheme of 21 flats priced from £440,000. Call Bellway on 0845 257 6064.
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