South Kensington flat with ‘summer house’ shed for sale for £3.25 million
An apartment in Malvern Court, SW7 has gone on the market for £3.25 million ($4.2 million, €3.9 million or درهم15.3 million). It comes with an extra one wouldn’t expect to find with a pre-war mansion block flat just by South Kensington Underground Station – a rather snazzy14’ wide shed described as a “summer house or office”.
Offered by Knight Frank, the 1,571 square foot 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom lateral ground floor apartment has a good sized reception room, a dining kitchen and a utility room and is directly adjoined by a private landscaped garden with a water feature. It is held on a lease with approximately 99 years remaining and is subject to a service charge of £8,000 per annum ($10,300, €9,400 or درهم37,700 per annum).
Residents of this portered block also have the right to apply for access to the communal gardens of Onslow Square.
Hidden house in Knightsbridge for sale for £1.595 million; it might suit those with an aspiration to live like Julian Assange
A cleverly refurbished ‘hidden house’ behind 163 Pavilion Road in Knightsbridge has been brought to the market by Savills.
699 square foot Hans Cottage has its own private front door, a patio garden and features an open plan reception-kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a utility room. It is available on a leasehold basis with approximately 99 years remaining.
£1.595 million ($2.044 million, €1.906 million or درهم7.507 million) is sought for the property – which is just a few hundred metres from the hideout of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. It was previously marketed for £1.25 million ($1.60 million, €1.49 million or درهم5.88 million) in an unrenovated state in May 2012.
Though never a cross word was uttered between this duo during their visits to the sadly now defunct Chelsea restaurant La Brasserie, their dislike of what they perceived as “loud music” (and other forms of noise) made them retreat to a quiet corner. Known to occasionally ‘share’ a cocktail – though firm believers in “one between two will do” – ‘The Cross Word (or Crossword) Couple’ enjoy puzzles but intensely dislike pointless chit-chat. Cross them at your peril.
Known for plaguing the streets of SW3 with her beast of a vehicle, ‘The Horror in the Hummer’ was a skeletal-like, bleach blonde haired woman. Thankfully not seen in recent times, this shockingly bad driver could not park her contraption and often blocked First Street by leaving it in the middle of the road. Of her, one Chelsea local was once heard to comment: “Some people have severe brain damage. She has it on a humongous scale”. She is not missed and nor is her gas guzzling 2001 Hummer H2, HU09 MER.
Custard yellow Rolls-Royce complete with ‘0800’ numberplate takes to the streets of Knightsbridge
Each year a bevvy of Arab and Russian owned supercars arrives in London and each year they get more outlandish. An especially fine example has just descended in the form of a bright yellow Rolls-Royce Phantom coupé complete with the registration plate ‘0800’.
Spotted in Knightsbridge’s Cadogan Place on Sunday, this custard coloured creation most certainly plays homage to the vehicles designed by Nicolas Bijan Pakzad in Malibu, California. It will no doubt delight the snap-happy youngster’s on Sloane Street in the coming days but we also very much doubt the owner will be the kind to spend much of their time calling freephone numbers.
As 50% of care homes in Kensington & Chelsea are rated “inadequate”, we suggest this reflects what the area has become: A money park for the selfish rich
A society that does not care for its elderly is, as the Pope pointed out in 2015, a “perverse society” and bizarrely, it has just been revealed, Britain’s richest borough, Kensington and Chelsea, has some of the worst care homes in the country.
A study by the charity Independent Age found that Kensington and Chelsea falls within the five worst areas in the United Kingdom for its percentage of care homes rated “inadequate”. It found that one was even infested with mice and another “put residents at risk from poor management of medicines”. Out of ten care homes in the borough, five were rated poor.
On Tuesday, Andrew Kaye, head of policy and campaigns at Independent Age, told the MailOnline:
“It definitely surprised us to find affluent areas among those with poor rates, but this shows older people who pay to enter care homes, as well as those who are funded, are losing out”.
“This might be because of staff vacancies, difficulty recruiting, or a lack of support. It is unacceptable that some older people are forced to choose a care home that is unsatisfactory”.
In an area where basement flats sell for upto £5 million and houses and flats go for upto £250 million, it is shocking that so little effort is being put into taking care of the old and infirm. It is a reflection on the priorities of our society and yet another sad indication of what the money park that is the Royal Borough has become.
1996 Mercedes-Benz SL500 that has been driven just 81 miles and stored in a Knightsbridge garage since new to be auctioned for 1,000% more than a normal example of its age
A Mercedes-Benz with a difference is to be auctioned on its twenty-first birthday on 12th April. The car to be offered is an SL500 that effectively has covered an average of just 3.9 miles per year during its lifetime and it is presented in “virtually new condition”.
Offered by Coys of Kensington, the Imperial Red with Mushroom leather two-seat roadster was bought from Normand of Mayfair and was only recently recommissioned after spending the vast majority of its life locked in a Knightsbridge garage.
Of the time warp car, Chris Routledge, CEO of Coys of Kensington, remarked:
“This is a car with a fantastic story. Purchased as a birthday present and driven only 81 miles before the [female] owner lost the keys and never drove it again. It even comes with a letter written by the owner’s butler verifying its mileage and its provenance”.
“Had she not lost the keys and used it regularly, we estimate it would now be worth between £5,000 to £7,000 ($6,200 to $8,700, €5,900 to €8,200 or درهم22,800 to درهم31,900), but the fact that it has kept such a low mileage and has not been driven in more than twenty years makes it worth between £45,000 and £55,000 ($56,000 to $68,000, €53,000 to €64,000 or درهم205,000 to درهم251,000)”.
“What happened with the keys remains a mystery but the car comes with new keys for the new owner”.
Former Toto’s site in Lennox Gardens Mews, Knightsbridge to become a “contemporary Japanese” restaurant named Dinings
In April 2014, just off Walton Street in Knightsbridge’s Lennox Gardens Mews, Toto’s prepared to reopen after a £3 million makeover at the behest of a new Indian owner. In spite of serving the most delicious Italian food, its slightly off-piste location proved difficult and it again closed in early 2016. Now, after remaining empty for some time, this former artist’s studio is set to become a “contemporary Japanese restaurant”.
First mentioned by the lifestyle app Urbanologie earlier this week, Dinings, the Japanese tapas and sushi restaurant that has taken the site, already has an outpost in Marylebone and describes its offering as “a new style of Izakaya; Japanese tapas which combines traditional Japanese with modern European cuisine”.
The restaurant is due to open on 16th May and will feature two dining bars and a ten cover sushi counter. Its interior has been designed by David d’Almada of Sagrada – a man whose previous commissions include The Arts Club on Dover Street and Sartoria on Savile Row – and, in spite of many recent closures in the area due to soaring rates and rents, we wish the new operators all the best in their venture.
Image depicts the restaurant and garden as it was in 2014.
Chelsea “studio with living rooms” built for Augustus John and later owned by Dame Grace Fields DBE available to rent
Though the Pembrokeshire born artist, bohemian and pacifist Augustus John (1878 – 1961) was best known for his portraits of Lawrence of Arabia and Dylan Thomas, he is also said to have fathered as many as 100 children over the course of his life. A Grade II listed “Dutch farmhouse-style” studio he built and occupied for twenty years in Chelsea, London is currently available to rent.
This vast studio room is the most impressive feature of 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6U
Built in 1913 to 1914 from designs by a Dutch architect named Robert van ’t Hoff and Grade II listed, 28 Mallord Street cost an estimated £2,200 to build (the equivalent of £233,000, $291,000, €272,000 or درهم1.1 million today). It includes features influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright and was described by Augustus John as “my new studio with living rooms” on completion. He lived there until 1934 and though initially delighted by the building’s “solidity and tautness”, ultimately termed it “this damned Dutch shanty” and moved to a new, purpose-built ferro-concrete at Fryern Court in Fordingbridge, Hampshire.
Owned by the thrice married actress and singer Dame Gracie Fields OBE (1898 – 1979) – who described it as “feeling like home” and “a love nest” – in the 1930s and sold for £5.4 million in 2009 (the equivalent of £6.6 million, $8.2 million, €7.7 million or درهم30.2 million today). 28 Mallord Street is now available to rent for £9,500 per week ($11,800, €11,100 or درهم43,500 per week) or £494,000 per year ($616,000, €576,000 or درهم2.3 million per year) through Aylesford International.
Augustus John OM, RA was celebrated for brilliant figure drawings, and for a new technique of oil sketching; his work was often favourably compared with Gauguin and MatisseA Blue Plaque commemorating the artist was installed on the building in 198128 Mallord Street in 1981Actress and singer Dame Gracie Fields OBE took up occupancy of the building soon after Augustus John sold it
Expanded to provide 5,109 square foot of accommodation over five levels, the house is dominated by a 38’3” by 25’2” studio reception room with a ceiling height of 18’4” and also includes upto 6 bedrooms, 2 kitchens and a temperature controlled wine cellar with Hermès wallpaper.
Aylesford describe 28 Mallord Street as “a true family home, the ultimate blank canvas and ideal for any art collector”. They offer it on an unfurnished basis.
More pictures from Matthew Steeples and Rowena Romulo’s party at Romulo Café
Today, we share a further selection of images from the party Matthew Steeples of The Steeple Times co-hosted with Rowena Romulo at Romulo Café in Kensington High Street.
Guests on the night numbered the Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom H.E. Evan P. Garcia and the country’s Commercial Attaché and Director A. M. Kristine Umali as well as Anthony Abrahams, Leke Adebayo, Mark Agate, Stephen Annett, Lucas Bitencourt, Brian Blick, Julian Byzantine, Mark Captain, Michael Clark, Jacina Coyne, Millie Dean, Heimir Helgason, David Hencke, Saint Hill, Iqbal Latif, Mr and Mrs Alan Millinder, Alexandra Naylor, Angelique Neumann, Oliver Newton, Hannah Norman, Simon Ogilvie-Harris, Su-Lin Ong, Alexis Parr, Tarik Remila, Claire Rubinstein, Alyssa Sherman, Alexandra and Mark Sykes, Roger Townsend and Lady Jane Duncombe Townsend, John Wellington, Mr and Mrs Bill Wiggins and Paul Wooley.
