TIME AND PLACE Troy Von Scheibner
y parents divorced when I was three, and I moved in with my dad. I lived in his house in Brockley, southeast London, until I was 25. All my fondest memories are connected to my dad’s place. For me, it’s the origin of everything. Dad’s quite a character. He was an archaeologist, an actor, a writer — he’s been a few things. He’s a great cook, too, and my friends loved coming over to try his food and listen to his stories. He can talk about art or history for hours. He’s German, so sometimes he’d cook schnitzel or currywurst, but I’d describe him more as a world cook. He has maybe a couple of thousand cookbooks. He’d just look something up and say, “I want to cook this today,” depending on how he felt. He has a collection of about 10,000 books. The house is like a library. He built his own shelving along the upstairs and downstairs corridors, and you can hardly see any walls — it’s just books, books, books! He has a lot on Egyptology and Nazi Germany. Part of my family on my dad’s side died in the Holocaust, so he has a particular interest. When I did history at secondary school, those books came in pretty handy. He also has a lot of wooden Indonesian and African sculptures leaning up against the walls, and a big Buddha statue in his bedroom, which is quite... interesting. A lot of Egyptian ornaments, too. He hasn’t been to many of these places — his archaeology was in the UK, and he would keep an eye out for specialist shops. He’s a bit of a hoarder, and doesn’t like to get rid of things. My dad has an interesting relationship history. He’s been married seven times.
A few different women have come into the house over the years. As a son, I just had to accept it whenever he got married to another woman, but his wives never really contributed to my life in any way. They were just kind of there. My mum, who is Jamaican, lives with my stepdad in Blackheath, not far away, and we get on well. One day when I was 12, I was sitting watching TV and David Blaine came on, doing his early street magic. The reactions he got from people intrigued me to the point where I became fascinated with him. I told my dad and he started recording Blaine’s shows on a VHS tape (there wasn’t much magic on the internet back then), and I’d keep rewinding the tape, slowing it down. I was able to figure out a couple of his card tricks — I showed them to my friends and family, and they were all impressed. Suddenly I was getting a similar reaction to Blaine. It all took off from there. Dad signed me up to a club for young magicians run by the Magic Circle, and I’d practise every day. Before school, after school... sometimes I’d do eight or nine hours a day. My room was small, though it did have a snooker table in it that I got for my birthday. It didn’t fit in the room very well, so it eventually became a work table where I would practise my tricks. I never imagined I’d end up as a professional magician — I just wanted to prove myself. But I eventually started doing gigs, and I was discovered by a TV producer when I was 23. I moved out two years later. By that time, I’d done a couple of TV series and felt I shouldn’t be living at home any more. I still visit. My old room is a spare room now. The bed’s still there, and a picture of Barack Obama, and the walls are the same deep-red colour I painted them when I was trying to make the room seem more grown-up. But everything else has come out — including about 300 pairs of trainers, which I’ve had to put into storage because they won’t all fit in my flat. I can’t believe I used to get so much stuff into that tiny room.
Alexander Koerner/Craig Barritt/Jo Vannig/Simon Dawson/Getty Images; Paul Kingston/NNP; Marco Giarracca
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Trouble in paradise The magician Troy Von Scheibner, 28, recalls growing up in his father’s book-filled house in southeast London
You’d think that ringing in the new year in the Maldives would put any party reveller in a blissed-out state, but tempers flared in the Indian Ocean archipelago. David Beckham, the former England football captain, who was holidaying on the Reethi Rah island with his family and the chef Gordon Ramsay, his wife and their brood, got into a spat with Ron Dennis, the former McLaren F1 boss. The dispute was over front-row seats reserved for the Beckhams and the Ramsays to watch the celebrations, which Dennis and his entourage had taken. Cross words were exchanged, but by the following day, peace had been restored. If you fancy a (hopefully less dramatic) visit to the One&Only Reethi Rah resort, where the group stayed, you can rent a beach villa from €605 (£520) a night. When you’re not pootling in the warm sea, you can check out the spa and fitness centre, and the kids’ club is open all day.
DEVON Regency rules at this grade II listed villa in Bishopsteignton, primly positioned between Dartmoor National Park and the Devon coast. Built in 1813, the seven-bedroom home has rare specimen trees in its 1.66-acre gardens, as well as a converted coach house with vaulted ceilings and two further bedrooms. The main receptions all have french doors to the glazed veranda, which overlooks the formal parterre garden — and there’s a Waitrose down the road. 01392 229406, struttandparker.com
00 49 40 338989, vladi-private-islands.de
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I practised my tricks on a this month bedroom at my dad’s house — I never imagined I’d end up as a professional magician
CONTENTS
Maldivas? David Beckham and his wife, Victoria, got into a row over front-row seats in the Indian Ocean
MOVING ON
FIFE
LONDON N16
Bringing a touch of Malibu to the East Neuk, two-bedroom Salmon Cottage has picture windows that offer views of Kinghorn beach — its living spaces are airy and light-filled, no matter how overcast the day. You could let it for up to £800 a week in the summer months, or use it as a refreshingly contemporary family home within commuting distance of St Andrews, Dundee and Edinburgh. 0131 539 3333, paganosborne.com
Built as the West Hackney Parochial School in the Victorian era, and later used as a warehouse, Grange Hall, in zesty Stoke Newington — call it Stokey — is now a collection of nine two- to four-bedroom “smart” homes. The fabric of the building has been zhuzhed up with modern tech and vintage styling. Family street parties, the Good Egg cafe, retro furniture shops and indie fashion boutiques are all on the doorstep. 020 3451 1544, hamptons.co.uk
Sol takes a dive A new year and yet another new price tag for Sol Campbell’s 60-acre estate in Northumberland. The former footballer, who has 73 England caps, has slashed the price of Hallington Hall for a second time. It was listed for sale in September 2015 for £5.95m, then cut to £5.25m last April. The 42-year-old former Tottenham Hotspur defender has just lopped another £300,000 off the grade II listed mansion. Campbell and his wife, the interior designer Fiona Barratt-Campbell, spent £2m on refurbishing the 10,000 sq ft property, which they bought in 2008, and the nine-bedroom home now has a cinema and a tennis court. They have a house in Chelsea, but Campbell might soon be spending more time in north London, given speculation that he’s in the frame for the manager’s job at Barnet.
What do the former prime minister Edward Heath, the author Graham Greene, the actor Terence Stamp and the photographer Lord Snowdon have in common? They all once lived in Albany, a historic building off Piccadilly. The stately Georgian pile is one of the oldest apartment buildings in London. Built in 1774, it was split into small-scale residences in 1803. One of these, a two-bedder, is now available on a 20-year lease for £1.35m. The 1,141 sq ft property looks a little tired and unloved, but who cares? It has the delights of Mayfair and the excitements of Soho on its doorstep.
020 7235 9959, struttandparker.com