Lady Meyer applies to build a “closet wing”
The wife of the former ambassador Sir Christopher Meyer, once described as “Chanel-clad” by The Telegraph, has applied to The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea to build a number of closets at a property she recently purchased just off the Kings Road.
As David and Victoria Beckham continue their search for a new home in London, The Steeple Times suggests five of the best options
This morning, yet more “sources close to David and Victoria Beckham” were telling the press that they’re on the search for a London home. This unnamed individual stated that they need a “minimum of 10 bedrooms” (more…)
The Steeple Times asks estate agent Edward Thomson: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
Honesty and integrity.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
My favourite is: “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger” but “Try everything once, except incest and Morris dancing” is more amusing.
Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2013?
Mexicans using live dogs and kittens as shark bait.
Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?
Living in the countryside and most of the time, a river and a dog.
What might you swap all your wealth for?
The love of my life.
Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the banking crisis?
My integrity and reputation is all that I am; all that I can absolutely determine. When you give that up what have you become? The banks no longer have a code. A few prison sentences ought to remind them to gamble their money, not ours.
What phrase or word do you most loathe?
“It’s not my problem”: I absolutely hate the mentality of people who say this.
In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?
Family and friends first and then animal welfare. In particular, beasts of burden across the world.
The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?
Mobile phones are anti-social, but absolutely necessary in today’s world.
If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?
Bill Murray, Ranulph Fiennes, that chap who just survived 40 minutes at depth in the North Sea with 20 minutes of mix (seriously interesting chat to be had there I think), Johnny Cash and oh yes, a seriously amazing and beautiful Australian I know.
If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?
Potted shrimp on toast, lamb cutlets and some very good Stilton. I would have it on the banks of the River Nadder near Salisbury.
What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?
12 noon. Sherry.
A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?
Definitely a cocktail. A Porn Star martini is my current favourite.
Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?
Any that end up in Annabel’s. Call me old hat, but I just love the dance floor in there.
Who is the most positive person you know?
My stepfather, Richard. An extraordinary chap.
What’s your most guilty pleasure?
Smoking. I have to stop again soon.
If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?
A rod and a rifle.
If you were a car, what marque would you be?
My Triumph TR6. My dream car is a 1949 Ferrari 166MM Barchetta.
Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.
I like crooning to old Fred Astaire songs in the shower.
What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?
A carriage clock, two candlesticks, a picture of me releasing a salmon, a wedding invitation and a Herend porcelain rabbit.
Edward Thomson works for Strutt & Parker LLP in their Cadogan Street sales office. Website: http://www.StruttAndParker.com
Social yet serious, this talented Cambridge graduate is now the UK youth advisor for the World Council of Peoples for the United Nations in the UK. (more…)
Matthew Steeples exposes the hypocrisy of Kensington & Chelsea Council
The Royal Borough’s announcement that they plan to remove rubbish bins in the area because they view them to “attract the wrong kind of rubbish” received much news coverage last week.
This ludicrous idea is supposedly part of the council’s attempts at money saving but in reality all it will do is make more mess. Where now will Joe Bloggs put his Starbucks takeaway after he’s finished it and where will he dispose of an ice cream wrapper, for example?
Instead of removing something that is truly essential, the council should focus on other areas where they could save money. The Mayor and his deputy, you may or may not know, are provided with a Bentley and a Jaguar.
In my view these “economizing” councilors should be made to walk or even follow Boris Johnson’s lead and take a Barclays bike. If however, they are required, surely these fuel inefficient vehicles should be replaced with something more appropriate like a Toyota Prius. It is the Bentley that should be banished, not the bins.
He looks like a harmless old buffer but he truly isn’t. On approach, there’s always a tale of woe and then a demand for £50. His wife has died in Gloucester and he hasn’t got the train fare or he needs a hotel room for the night as his wallet was stolen. Whatever the story from this swearing pest, £50 is always required and we hope this entry warns off others in SW3 from falling for his con.
Well-known for their numberplates “2 BE” and “NOT 2B,” this power couple live on Cheyne Walk and are a little bit like Marmite. In Chelsea, Bourne has aroused controversy by attempting to gain planning permission to turn George Best’s favourite boozer, The Phene, into a house and in Soho, Greene’s makeover of Ronnie Scott’s caused apoplectic outbursts amongst traditionalists. Labour supporting Bourne is described as a “property and leisure entrepreneur” whilst his wife just happens to control the luvvies favourite theatre, The Old Vic in Waterloo. Bourne and Greene are a duo who should not be underestimated.
Matthew Steeples explores the story of an empty Kensington mansion
A multi-million pound 8-bedroomed house in Kensington isn’t anything unusual. In fact, rather, they’re ten a penny. In this, one of the wealthiest boroughs in the land, large, expensive homes are just the norm.
No. 1 Campden Hill, which is being marketed for an undisclosed eight-figure sum, is in a quite different league. Here is a detached Edwardian house in an acre of grounds just to the north of Kensington High Street. It’s an unrenovated property but it attracted much press attention in October 2011 because it was place on the market in October 2011 at a price of £75,000,000. Yes, you heard it right: £75 million for a fixer-upper. Last week, Radio 4 made a hell of a fuss about a derelict semi-detached house in Newcastle selling for just £14,000 so this truly must be something special.
The architect of the house Edward Prioleau Warren (1856 – 1937), a Bristol born architect and archaeologist, was best known for “Oxford colleges and minor country houses” but also designed the War Cemetery at Basra. He was a friend and adviser to the American novelist Henry James and in addition to building No. 1 Campden Hill in 1915, he also designed a house at 5 Palace Green in 1906 and another, Estcort House in Kensington Palace Gardens, in 1904. Warren’s guiding style is described as having been to recreate an “understated revival of English late 17th century” architecture and at No. 1 Campden Hill he created just that.
Colonel Edmond Grove-Hills (1864 – 1922), born Edmond Hills, and his wife, Juliet Spencer-Bell, were the architect’s clients. A plaque on the building bares their names and the following dedication:
This House I built for Me & Mine
May it be of Peace A Shrine
And no Enmity or Sin
Ever find its way therein
AD 1915
Sadly for the Grove-Hills, the following year, their son, Second Lieutenant Charles Herbert-Hills (1895 – 1916) was killed on the Somme aged just 21. His father, meanwhile, was awarded a CBE in 1918 after having served as the Assistant Chief Engineer of Eastern Command during the war.
Aside from his military exploits, Edmond Grove-Hills is best known for his role as president of the Royal Astronomical Society. He took part in observations of eclipse of the sun in Japan in 1896, India in 1898 and Russia in 1914 and contributed papers analysing both this and the causes of the irregular movements of the earth’s axis of rotation.
In 1951, No. 1 Campden Hill was purchased by the government of Uruguay and it became the residence of their ambassador to the United Kingdom. For the next fifty years the building was barely altered but when the lease from the Phillimore Kensington Estate came to an end, there were legal problems as the 1951 transfer had never been stamped. Of this, Sharon Mulroney of Forsters, the legal representatives of Phillimore, commented:
“It is highly unusual to be faced with complications of this kind when dealing with a registered London title, but this made the transaction all the more fascinating. Even the decision to allow ambassadorial staff to return to the property for security purposes after completion was fraught with potential problems about security of tenure, employment and tax.”
Eventually, without issue, the Phillimore Estate sold on the house in 2001 for a price of approximately £17,000,000. In the years since, the property was effectively mothballed as all the purchasers have done is to have obtained planning permission to redevelop the building into a mammoth mansion of epic proportions.
The approved plans show designs for something quite remarkable. Warren’s “understated” residence will be replaced with 8 vast bedroom suites, grand entertaining spaces, a lift and even bedrooms for 5 staff. In addition to a full-scale renovation of the original freehold house, there is scope to provide a total of 30,000 square feet of accommodation by adding a huge subterranean complex that will include a 25-metre swimming pool, court, squash court, gym, sauna, steam room, function room, entertainment room, home cinema, wine tasting room and even a nightclub to rival any of Kensington’s trendiest haunts.
On that basis alone, No. 1 Campden Hill is surely the ideal residence for Prince Harry: “Who needs Boujis?” we hear him cry.
No. 1 Campden Hill, London, W8 7AD is for sale through Knight Frank. For more details contact Roddy Craggs on +44 (0) 20 7938 4311 or go to: http://search.knightfrank.com/ken100161 to download a brochure.
For more information about The Phillimore Estate, go to: http://www.phillimore-kensington-estate.co.uk
This Texan born designer and film director turned around the fortunes of Gucci and YSL and had a huge success with A Single Man. A fixture at New York’s Studio 54, his designs are hugely influenced by the club’s disco-era glamour and his love of all things black and square. Ford met his journalist partner, Richard Buckley, at a fashion show in 1986. They share a love for smooth fox terriers and announced the birth of their son, Alexander Buckley Ford, in September 2012. Of being “gay,” he comments: “I hate that word” but declares that he’ll marry when same-sex marriage is legalised in California. Of Ford, his partner, Buckley, adds: “There’s only one Tom for me.”
The flexible £12.75 million former home of Tom Ford
Number 26 Gilston Road in London’s SW10 is a property that has been on and off the market repeatedly in recent years. On each and every occasion it has been promoted as the “former home of the fashion icon Tom Ford” and though he hasn’t lived there in years, it is still just as he left it.
Situated at the end of a terrace on the corner of Priory Walk, one can see why the house appealed to the Texan born designer credited with turning around the fortunes of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Hidden behind a high wall and hedging, 26 Gilston Road is private yet minutes from the restaurants of Old Brompton and Fulham Roads.
This 4-storey townhouse was sold in June 1997 for £2,250,000 and again marketed in 2009 for £8,500,000 through Aylesford. In the time since, it has been available to let at prices ranging from £5,500 to £7,500 per week, but is now back for sale at the extraordinary figure of £12,750,00 through Russell Simpson.
What explains such a rise during a period of economic downturn? Well, it’s because developers Equilibrium have gained permission to “de-Ford” the house. As is now the trend in London, they have planned a total redesign. Their illustrations incorporate a new sub-basement and as a result the gross internal area will increase from just over 3,700 square feet to just under 5,300 square feet.
Whilst the layout Tom Ford, himself a graduate in architecture from Parsons The New School of Design, created at 26 Gilston Road was ideal for A Single Man; the new floor plan with 4 bedrooms is much better suited to a family. Ford and his partner, Richard Buckley, announced the birth of their son, Alexander, in September. Perhaps they should put in a bid.
For more information about 26 Gilston Road, London, SW10 9SS, contact Russell Simpson, 5 Anderson Street, London, SW3 3LU. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7225 0277. View a brochure for the property at: http://www.russellsimpson.co.uk/assets/12/06/15/5081/pdf_archive-1.pdf
View Equilibrium’s website at: http://www.equilibriumlondon.com
View Tom Ford’s website at: http://www.tomford.com