Belgravia Residents Journal June 14

BELGRAVIA Resident’s Journal J U N E 201 4

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The Belgravia Residents’ Journal is published independently by Runwild Media Group with regular editorial contributions from The Belgravia Residents’ Association. To become a member of the BRA, visit www.belgraviaresidents.org.uk.

We would highly value any feedback you wish to email us with: belgravia@residentsjournal.co.uk; or telephone us on 020 7987 4320.

w w w. R e s i d e n t s J o u r n a l . c o . u k (020) 7987 4320

Dear Resident

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It’s official: the summer has dawned. And what better way to toast the sunshine than to pay a visit to the annual string of celebrations taking place on our doorstep. The carnival atmosphere kicks off with the Belgravia Residents Association's yearly Summer Garden Party in Wilton Crescent Gardens, before hotstepping it to Elizabeth Street and Motcomb Street, with a pit stop at the Belgrave Square Garden Party in between. Make a note of these and all the other essential diary dates on page 8.

In the world of food, China and Azerbaijan have their champions in Henry Hopwood-Phillips and Hannah Kate Davies respectively.

Find out how the battle at the dinner table unfolded on page 22.

Meanwhile, anyone who has ever harboured a desire to take more than a passing interest in wine should flick to page 6.

Nik Darlington talks to fine wine merchants IG Wines about its nifty new mobile app that aims to make wine investing more accessible. Bottoms up!

Please do not hesitate to get in contact with your news and updates, email belgravia@residentsjournal.co.uk.

We would love to hear from you.

Managing Editor Francesca Lee

Editor-in-Chief Lesley Ellwood

Publishing Director Giles Ellwood

Assistant Editor Lauren Romano

Managing Director Eren Ellwood

Associate Publisher Sophie Roberts

Main Editorial Contributor Henry Hopwood-Phillips

Senior Designer Sophie Blain

Client Relationship Director Felicity Morgan-Harvey

Editorial Assistant Jennifer Mason

General Manager Fiona Fenwick

Communications Director Loren Penney

Editorial Intern Ozel Rowland

Production Hugo Wheatley, Alex Powell Oscar Viney

Head of Finance Elton Hopkins

Above / Would You? by Keith Fearon, 91x77cm oil. Courtesy of David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation's Wildlife Artist of the Year 2014. Read more on page 5.

Proudly published & printed in the UK by

Member of the Professional Publishers Association / ppa.co.uk

The Notebook

Who and what have been moving and shaking in Belgravia recently? We bring you up to date

There is another way Tiffany Heskia, founder of food company Bourgoyne has a problem with current modes of food production and, luckily for Belgravians, a possible solution

‘Capitalism depends upon capital, but our capital ultimately depends upon the health of nature’s capital. Whether we like it or not, the two are in fact inseparable….

We need to include in the bottom line the true costs of food production – the true financial costs and the true costs to the earth.’ - Prince Charles

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oday there are almost three chickens to every human being on this planet. Simple food, once natural, is now a luxury only the affluent or well-informed can afford.

The fare you buy says more about you than your postcode, watch, car or shoes. What you eat indicates not just your social class but also your worldliness, knowledge and sensitivity to animal welfare. Show me your fridge and I will tell you who you are.

But healthy food should not be a luxury, it should be a necessity. The celebrity chef culture, which initially started in pursuit of culinary excellence, has lapsed into a tendency to reduce food to little more than an arm of the entertainment industry when in reality it should be about health.

When paying higher prices for cuts of meat and fresh fish you are essentially paying the costs associated with the farming methods, feed and animal welfare. The more natural, the more expensive it is. Historically our ancestors ate beef from a cow that was wild, roamed free and ate grass; fish that was freshly caught in season and chickens that were free roaming. The end result was a lean animal protein free of hormones and drugs that was good

for human consumption. Nowadays, this type of food is expensive and considered elitist.

Bourgoyne was founded out of frustration, an irritation with the fact high quality fresh food should be so prohibitively expensive in central London. With good quality produce, one can easily eat a southern Mediterranean diet, and forgo the need for elaborate recipes and heavy sauces, which are time consuming and bad for your waistline.

Bourgoyne sources beef, poultry, veal, lamb and fish from specialist suppliers who are at the top of their respective fields to supply the most discerning of chefs in London. Our offering includes grass-fed Mathers Black Gold Scottish Beef that is dry aged for 28 days, French free range corn fed Loué chicken from the Loire region in France and responsibly caught wild fish, fresh off the boat from the night before. Our suppliers in fruit and vegetables select the very best produce from Rungis market outside Paris, as well as Italy, Spain and domestic local farms to bring only the tastiest and freshest goods available to the table.

Bourgoyne boxes of fresh produce are delivered twice weekly to local residents in Belgravia Visit bourgoyne.co.uk for more details

Mingling with the crowds

The Westminster Morris men are back! A jinglin’ and a janglin’ into their favourite part of Westminster, the boys in yellow and black will be performing their medieval rites along Kinnerton Street at 7.45pm and 8.30pm outside the Grenadier pub before hitting The Star Tavern at 9.15pm.

A race in heels

If a 10km walk gives you nightmares about stopwatches, Lycra and Lucozade, then don’t worry – this is a long distance challenge with a twist.

Starting at Fortnum & Mason, Claudia Winkleman will be leading the charge (after a Champagne and canapé breakfast, of course) past a series of shops that includes Sloane Square’s very own Annoushka and Belgravian’s Anya Hindmarch store, on the way to the finishing line at Selfridges. The aim of all the fun is to raise £200,000 for Hope and Homes for Children (the walk takes place on International Children’s Day), with each walker pledging to raise £500 funding.

25 June (westminstermorris.org) 1 June, £85 registration fee (tenstores.com)

Art saves lives

150 works from 1,000 entrants form the shortlisted core of what has become one of the most coveted prizes in art: the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s annual Wildlife Artist of the Year award.

The competition does not discriminate between amateur and professional artists and includes a broad spectrum of styles and mediums. ‘The extraordinary talent and creativity of all the artists involved never ceases to amaze me,’ says wildlife artist and conservationist, David Shepherd CBE, who set up the competition in 2007 to raise funds and awareness for endangered animals. ‘And what is so utterly brilliant is that all these talented artists share my passion – to give something back to the animals that inspire our work.’

Since it began, the Wildlife Artist of the Year has raised over £100,000 for conservation projects 3-7 June, The Mall, SW1A 2BJ (davidshepherd.org)

Perfect cut

One of our most stylish locals, Fernando Moncho Lobo, has decided to impart a little more of his panache to the rest of us with his latest collection of jackets. Neo-classic cuts and bold colours make men in FER stand out of from the crowd – in a good way.

Clockwise from top: Serval 2 by Atsushi Harada, Madikwei Rhino by Laney Randell, Would You by Keith Fearon

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(moncholobo.com/fer)

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A liquid

investment Nik Darlington heads to fine wine merchants IG Wines to talk collecting and investing with a little help from its new mobile app

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ttention from the Far East is waning, while Bordeaux is coming off the back of a run of average to awful crops: it’s a depressed market. There remain good returns to be made on fine wine but it takes expert knowledge, a reputable merchant or broker and a long-term game plan.

IG Wines, a fledgling London firm, seems to be bucking the trend with new technology and fresh insight. A fine wine merchant and investment advisory company, IG Wines was set up by Paul Hammond and Jonathan Hirsch to offer investors and collectors, in their words, ‘An experience we’d like to have ourselves.’

I meet Paul and Jonathan in one of Pimlico’s more refined class of boozers. Both come from corporate backgrounds, but both have longstanding involvements with wine. Jonathan has a lengthy family history in the stuff – his mother is a wine merchant and co-owner of the Dulwich-based Wine Net. The seed of this idea was perhaps sown a while ago for Paul too, who as a child would pretend to ‘cellar’ even the most basic bottles of wine. He went on to work in the industry for several years and helped set up wine charity 2 Water.

It doesn’t take long to see what is most refreshing about IG Wines: they actually want clients to drink the stuff. ‘We wouldn’t get far if we had a 100 per cent investment portfolio,’ says Jonathan. ‘We’re wine lovers, and our clients are wine lovers.’ What’s more, they have taken the smart decision to branch out from the mainstream investment vehicles of Bordeaux and to a lesser extent Burgundy. To deploy a terrible pun, bottles from these regions are the most liquid assets, but other regions are coming up the rails, such as Tuscany, Piedmont and the United States.

IG Wine’s online magazine delivers good in-house content, from wine news and travel to regional information and vintage charts. Many of IG Wines’ clients are time-poor professionals, wanting quality content quickly and efficiently. I’ve seen a lot of dull, recycled wine ‘education’ sections and this isn’t one of them. It’s very well-laid out, whether online or on the new smart mobile app.

Here things start getting really impressive.

IG Wines has spent the better part of a year developing the technology behind its new app, including an online platform, “Vinvault”, which lets you manage a portfolio, access live market data and trade wines. Coupled with the “Universe” – ‘fine wine’s first investment universe,’ I’m told – it is the most comprehensive single source of historic and current data I’ve seen. Data is pulled real-time

from Liv-Ex (the wine market’s FTSE 100) and Wine-Searcher (a global search engine and price tracker for even the most basic of wines).

Just as importantly, the app looks good. Clever technology isn’t all that clever if you can’t get around it. Unusually for me, I actually found browsing the charts and figures exciting. Wine geeks and laymen alike will just enjoy playing with it all, whether or not they’re ready to dip a toe in and trade some wine.

Its potential applications are fascinating.

IG Wines claims to be able to identify hidden value sweet spots that actually circumvent the upper echelons of investment grade wines to find fine wines that are still sensible to buy and drink. This is where IG Wines’ strategic focus on alternative regions like Tuscany comes into its own. The technology can even track a client’s portfolio and notify them when they’ve probably got more wine than any sane person could ever drink and suggest what, how and where to sell some.

What’s more, all of this is free to use.

Why? IG Wines wants to make buying all sorts of wine – not just the stellar first growths – easier for as many people as possible. Through word of mouth, events and careful cultivation of contacts over the past two years, IG Wines now delivers content and cutting-edge technology to approximately 65,000 subscribers. This is wine investment for wine lovers.

It doesn’t take long to see what is most refreshing about IG Wines: they actually want clients to drink the stuff

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Download the app from the app store or visit igwines.com

Jonathan Hirsch and Paul Hammond

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The Calendar Bringing you the lowdown on local events in June

Motcomb madness

The Motcomb Street Party is back. A highlight of the summer season, this year it opens with a mystery celebrity and moves on to a Robbie Williams tribute act on Wednesday 25 June. The main course is an auction and a disco and then more tribute acts from ‘Rod Stewart’ and ‘George Michael’ polish things off.

As an enormous sop to our collective conscience, and a salve for all the fun, visitors can rest easy in the knowledge that the money will be going towards a number of charities this year. Intermission Youth Theatre, which has a long history of working with young people at risk of offending and those who lack opportunities, will be one beneficiary. Proceeds will also be donated to the Chelsea Community Hospital School, which aims to ensure that those aged between four and 18 years old have their rights to education preserved whilst in hospital.

Finally, the Household Cavalry Foundation (which always shows itself to be in fine fettle on the day) will receive a

donation to help it continue to care for the wounded, their families, the retired and also their horses.

A whole host of local stalls and sponsors too long to name here will be setting up shop along the high street on the day. And, as for the VIPs of Belgravia, the outdoor terrace restaurant of the Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel has been cordoned off in preparation. But don’t try and pull a sneaky one; it’s invitation only!

25 June, Motcomb Street (motcombstreetparty.co.uk)

Neighbourhood bash

Even in a month of parties, the Belgravia Residents Association’s soirée on Wilton Crescent Gardens still stands out from the crowd.

The combination of complimentary drinks, canapés, a raffle and music from the Dixie Ticklers and Holland Park Opera singers makes it an unmissable date for your summer calendar.

4 June, 6.30pm-9pm. £15 per person; to buy tickets, please send cheques payable to the Belgravia Residents Association to Torben Dal, B.R.A. Treasurer, 14 Eaton Mews South, SW1W 9HP. Alternatively, book online at belgraviaresidents.org.uk

Close the street

If anybody saw Elizabeth Street during the day, one might assume it led a polite existence as a delightfully pretty entrepôt. However, on one day of the year the Apollonian aspects of its existence are put on pause and the Dionysian takes over. Special guest stars at this year’s Elizabeth Street Party include Sharky & George party entertainers, but it’s the music and stalls that are the flesh on this show’s bones. The carnival atmosphere draws in the crowds and the excitement should get partygoers digging in their pockets for this year’s charity: Fight for Sight.

11 June, 6pm-late, Fight for Sight is looking for volunteers; there is a range of roles available, please contact Katie@fightforsight.org.uk or call 020 7264 3905

Paper risqué

Most artists treat paper as something to grow out of; the preliminary medium to be practised on before the real skills are mastered. Natasha Law’s approach is different. Focusing on paper as a medium, she brings together ink drawings, screen printing and large-scale gloss paintings. In her latest exhibition, on display at Eleven Fine Art this summer, some of the works are a little naughty, but the way colour invades and stomps upon the page is ultimately enlightening.

13 June – 6 September, 11 Eccleston Street, SW1W 9LX 020 7823 5540 (elevenfineart.com)

An Elysian square

One of London’s most exclusive locations – Belgrave Square – comes alive this month. Although we are now used to being spoilt by sun, marquees, Gurkha guards, barbecues, auctions, flaming torches and fairy lights, with Belgravia’s best floating about and Davidoff providing the finest tobacco this side of the Atlantic, it is actually all the result of an off-the-cuff cocktail party hosted there in 2010 by Amanda Bond Elliott.

The party has snowballed ever since, now functioning as a platform for businesses and residents to network. If you miss this, you will have effectively missed summer.

19 June, 7pm-1am. £90 for members, £100 for non-members.

Tables seat up to 10, although tickets can be bought individually Please contact Amanda@bondelliott.co.uk for more information

Do you have an event that you’d like us to cover? Send us an email: belgravia@residentsjournal.co.uk Words / Ozel Rowland

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Diegotime Tom Hardman thought he partied hard, until he met the king of parties, Diego Lijtmaer

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art of being a member of the press means that you occasionally become accustomed to being a freeloader. A freeloader of the worst sort: an entitled one.

So when a rendezvous is set up with Bacanal (the highend lifestyle events company) founder Diego Lijtmaer, I write it off as a rapid exchange of niceties involving ladles of gratitude for letting me drink my weight in alcohol at one of his parties, surrounded by women who would not register me in almost any other situation. Then I’ll agree to write something tepidly nice about him.

The reality goes a little differently. At the bar sits Diego.

He’s wearing one of those cardigans that you only get away with wearing if you could beat Popeye at an arm wrestle.

‘People usually think of Argentinians as being good at two things: polo and cooking meat,’ Diego begins in protest.

Nobody can accuse this man of sitting back and taking the conventional route though. Instead, he seems to have ridden out more economic cycles than a Kondratiev wave.

First, he started up a business consultancy – but that ended when, in his words, ‘You know what happens to Argentina every 10 years?’ I pause, before venturing cheekily,

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‘Umm, you fail to pay your debts?’ as we fall about laughing.

It obviously wasn’t as funny at the time because half of the country’s youth rushed to exit Argentina, but Diego seems to have seized the situation as an opportunity. ‘Soon I had three split-offs from a big Spanish property company. I had a house on the beach and a beautiful girlfriend! Life was good,’ he tells me.

Then, the group that Diego’s companies were subsidiaries of collapsed when the ultimate owner was found to have cooked the books. Not one to be defeated, he went off to America to become a banker. ‘Gordon Gekko-style,’ he recalls excitedly. I have a funny feeling he’s going to tell me something went wrong when he adds, ‘but on my first day at UBS the banks crashed.’

Instead, the ever-entreprising Diego founded events company Bacanal. At its heart lies the idea that wealthy people are time poor and therefore need to be able to guarantee that their social life is time well spent. Bacanal hosts parties all over the world, but Diego insists that he loves his London venture.

I enquire whether a high-end, luxury events company has much mileage. ‘Yes, it’ll become a franchise; we are already in the process of setting up organised holidays and things like that,’ comes his confident reply. As I rise to leave, Diego is busy explaining many more projects and businesses in the pipeline. He’s a cauldron of the sort of ideas most people have only once in a lifetime. I’m glad I’ve got his card. (bacanal.com)

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Motcomb Street Party 2014

it’s coming wednesday 25th june 2014

streetparty@motcombs.co.uk www.motcombstreetparty.co.uk o f f i c i a l m e d i a pa r t n e r s

supporting the household cavalry foundation

If you’d like to become a Sponsor, please contact Sue Liberman – streetparty@motcombs.co.uk who will be delighted to discuss how you can proceed with this fantastic opportunity.

Outspoken

footwear They say shoes speak louder than words, and this mantra rings true for luxury shoe designer Aruna Seth. Ozel Rowland catches up with the lady herself to find out why her designs are one step ahead of the rest

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hen Aruna Seth arrives to meet me, the first thing I notice is her footwear; perhaps out of instinct, or perhaps due to the fact that she’s wearing a truly stunning pair of wedges – her own, of course – but I’m surprised she’s sporting them as a day shoe.

To look at a pair of Aruna Seth heels you’d think they were another pair of dazzlingly beautiful shoes destined to be worn only once before becoming just another tottering trophy stored away in the wardrobe. However, since launching the brand back in 2009, Aruna has made waves in the luxury shoe industry with her chic yet comfortable creations which are now the go-to shoe for brides and celebrities alike.

Famous mother-daughter duo Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson are fans, as is Pippa Middleton, who was spotted coupling them with her iconic Alice Temperley

dress at the royal wedding. Aruna also designs bags.

‘Pippa actually has a few,’ she says, before telling me her brand is about to launch in the US and the Middle East this summer. ‘We’re also about to start doing jewellery,’ she smiles, lifting her necklace to show me.

But Aruna is not the first in her family to delve into the business of footwear. Her name has been associated with the British shoe industry for more than 40 years after her father, Geoff Seth, founded the Ascot brand in the 1970s. Being a lover (and hoarder) of shoes herself, it wasn’t difficult for her to identify the excruciatingly painful gap in the women’s shoe market. ‘I’m still trying to change the way people think about shoes,’ she tells me. ‘I used to buy a lot of high-end designer footwear

Famous mother-daughter duo Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson are fans, as is Pippa Middleton

and then ended up asking myself why I spent so much on shoes that caused me a lot of pain.’

I ask her about the craftsmanship behind her shoes that rids them of this universal hitch. ‘Inside all the shoes there is a special padding made out of nappa leather.

We’ve strategically placed the padding along the lining of the shoe and tested it so we could identify where the foot would feel most comfortable,’ she reveals. This, Aruna boasts, is why she has such a big bridal following. ‘We do lots of custom-made shoes, and many of these are bridal appointments.’

She notes that a pair of custom-made shoes can take up to 12 weeks to craft in Venice. Aruna’s shoes are exquisitely feminine, with most encrusted with Swarovski detailing or her signature crystal butterfly: ‘a truly beautiful creature,’ she tells me. ‘It’s definitely important that my shoes have their own wow factor, even if it’s just a plain day shoe. It’s all about the

I used to buy a lot of high-end designer footwear and then ended up asking myself why I spent so much on shoes that caused me a lot of pain detailing, the stitching, the cut of the shoe and what looks good. Brides in particular understand that it takes time to make their shoes as there are a lot of different factors that go into having them made, just as for their dresses.’

I ask Aruna if her father, a mogul of the sports shoe sector, has anything to do with her monumental success.

‘I’ve definitely grown up around shoes,’ she tells me, ‘so for me it was very natural to produce my own line. When I was younger I used to design shoes, thinking they were really groundbreaking inventions,’ she remembers, adding that she hoped to impress her father. ‘I think that really fuelled me to show him I could do it; actually have my own brand and do my own thing. I’ve done everything from the selling, to handling accounts and working in the warehouse, and I really think that, especially in fashion, you have got to see every aspect of the business.’

Aruna’s showroom is located just on the cusp of Belgravia, a location that was chosen for its proximity to Chelsea and Victoria she tells me. Once inside you are surrounded by a reserve of glamorous, high-quality shoes in an array of styles and colours, just waiting to be tried on. ‘I pride myself on designing shoes that are the most beautiful and luxurious in the world,’ she concludes.

So ladies in want of the finest footwear can rest assured: a pair of Aruna Seth shoes are certainly not for the back of the wardrobe.

91-93 Buckingham Palace Road SW1W ORP, 020 8773 7859 (arunaseth.com)

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Postcolonial

angst

Henry Hopwood-Phillips does not think that Andrew Hussey addresses the existential roots of the problems that affect Islam in France

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ig hitting facts instantly draw the reader into Andrew Hussey’s The French Intifada. There are six million Muslims in France. The population of the Parisian banlieues is growing so fast that it will soon outnumber the two million inhabitants of central Paris. French prisons are jihadist recruiting grounds according to Hussey, which is perhaps unsurprising given that 70 per cent of prisoners are adherents of Islam.

The tension is sustained by a confession.

Andrew Hussey, Dean of the University of London Institute in Paris, and a regular

contributor to The Guardian and The New Statesman, flags himself up as an unbeliever, not of Islam as such but of the conventional, liberal, post-war narrative that explains Islamic violence through references to class, prejudice and material inequality.

Instead Hussey implores us to go diving with him headfirst into the reality of the banlieues. This is the strongest part of the book, and is full of first class reporting.

He scouts around parts of Paris that even the police fear to tread (literally in the case of ‘orange quartiers’), unveiling a dystopia of drugs, prostitution, rape, random violence, boredom, disaffection, hip-hop and general urban decay. Its festival atmosphere is lined with primal fear; ‘It makes you feel sick,’ admits one inhabitant.

If only the book continued in this vein and concluded with some soul-searching analysis. Hussey, however, prefers to devote 28 of 32 chapters to what is ultimately an updated textbook overview of French colonial history in the Maghreb. This is ‘a conflict between two very different experiences of the world – the colonisers and the colonised,’ Hussey assures us. But the effect of this is to reduce the current crisis in Western-Islamic relations to little more than an awkward post-imperial coda.

He spins French colonial ambitions as a vast exhibition of ignorance, hubris and greed, but this is an assumption that deserves to be challenged. Why did France invade the Maghreb? It was easy pickings. Why was it easy pickings in a way, say, Germany or England, were not? It was a pre-Modern society. Why was it? This is a good albeit controversial line of questioning and it is never seriously pursued.

And to not pursue it is to in many ways miss the point. The West and Islam have experienced and reacted to the complex reassemblage of the world we call modernity in different ways. The relationship between modernity and the West is examined by Larry Siedentop in his Inventing the Individual. Imagine if Hussey had beat a similar line of enquiry into Islam. Instead he prefers to fall back on Frantz Fanon, a man who advocated violent revolution against colonialists, and woolly Freudian notions of the unrequited love Arabs feel for ‘Mother’ France.

The problem seems to be that Hussey, with his fast pace and lurid details, is so good at reporting surface events that he avoids getting his hands dirty digging for their roots. This is a shame because when he does pick up his spade, he is very good. The prison chapter, in which he interviews the head of a Parisian prison, unpacks how one form of Western otherness (hip-hop, black argot etc.) is swapped for another in the shape of ascetic Islam, a world in which the male is pure and true, and the material world, with its feminine wiles, is condemned as corrupt.

But he refuses to see that it is not merely old fashioned colonial behaviour that has caused Islamic angst but elements of the modern liberal project too. Extremists

gain their siege mentality from a very real pressure being exerted on both Muslim and Western communities to renounce their ‘other’. This ‘other’, an idea with a heritage that stretches back to Hegel, suggests that every identity requires its opposite, its negative, a mirror image that is necessarily stigmatised. It is this otherness that must be purged for progress to continue, according to the conventional Western narrative.

The difference is that the West, with its history from the Thirty Years War to the Second World War, volunteers for this, acknowledging that the collapse of ‘self’ is the necessary price to prevent future holocausts. The majority of Muslims acquiesce in this wisdom whilst the West is predominant, but a minority violently reasserts itself, having appreciated its suicidal content. ‘Better to die fighting nihilism than to die from it,’ is its philosophical mantra.

The origin, then, of current Islamic violence seems to spring not so much from what is particular about Islam but from what is peculiar about the West’s postmodern project. Both French and Islamic peoples in France do not fear physical genocide of any sort but instead the annihilation of their identities. These questions are so much bigger than colonial history – they are existential.

But Hussey is not interested. In lieu of a conclusion, the author trills Camus-isms, the first on how terrorism is about a lack of hope. In the second, he makes the rather Dostoevskian point that it is better to suffer and have your dignity trammelled than to strike back, commit certain crimes and suffer the weight of your own transgression. His final and perhaps most unhelpful suggestion is that both French and Arab people need to undergo a mass exorcism that banishes the colonial ghosts that haunt both, a sort of reset that purges relations of the oppressive weight of history.

If you want a book that looks these issues straight in the eye and wades deep into the waters of irrationality, spirituality and will, then David P. Goldman’s How Civilizations Die is the book that delivers what Hussey’s The French Intifada only promises to.

Hussey implores us to go diving with him headfirst into the reality of the banlieues

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The French Intifada The Long War Between France and its Arabs, Andrew Hussey, £25 (Granta, 2014)

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Carrying

the torch

Belgravia Residents’ Journal sends its antiques enthusiast James Armstrong to meet a man who has mastered the dark arts

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’m standing in the Belgravia showroom of Arthur Brett, bespoke furniture maker to some of the world’s most distinguished customers, gazing at a bookcase that sits majestically in the rear of the shop. ‘If that were an actual Chippendale, you’d be talking around £2 to £3 million – and that’s if you could find one,’ says David Salmon, master furniture maker. ‘It is made from Cuban mahogany, a now extinct wood.

Only 30 or so logs remain in existence, and we hold them all.’ Only the very best David Salmon pedigree in the business can boast of such a thing, and Arthur Brett has just that.

The company was founded in 1860 and subsequently handed down through five successive generations of the Brett family. Edward Brett, the last of the family to run and own the business, approached the already well-established and highly regarded furniture maker David Salmon in 2002, who bought the business and complemented it with his own renowned catalogue of antique designs. ‘I’ve been in the business for more than 30 years,’ he tells me proudly. ‘I began my apprenticeship aged 15 and made the tea and sat on the bench with the rest of them,’ he continues in his smart blue suit and open-necked shirt. The overalls may have since been hung up, but the craftsman’s passion and knowledge remains in abundance.

We go down downstairs, and I immediately behold a most magnificent bed, four posts twisting up at each corner, exquisite marquetry adorning the headboard. I ask David how long it takes to turn one of the bed posts.

‘This is not turned, this is hand-carved. No machine can produce as fine a spiral as this. Note how thin the core is, it’s almost non-existent.’ I marvel at the spiral’s uniformity of width. ‘This is a good three days’ work for a craftsman.’ Arthur Brett prides itself on fashioning furniture, using solely traditional methods. So good are its craftsmen that they hold a unique licence to reproduce designs by the likes of Chippendale for museums, stately homes and royal households. Former clients include the Bank of England, the Emir of Kuwait and the late Margaret Thatcher, whose post-Downing Street residence was fully furnished by David.

Yet for all its splendour, is there really a market for what are essentially 300 year old designs? I ask about current tastes. ‘Our customers are established and mature. They no longer drive a Ferrari, they drive a Bentley; they’ve ditched the Paul Smith suit for a Savile Row number. In short, they’ve grown up.’ I chuckle and agree. These pieces bespeak sophistication and gentility as a chubby steel leg or squat modernist

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armchair cannot. ‘It’s not a question of furnishing an entire house in Chippendale,’ David adds. ‘The trend now is to mix and match. The modern complements the old.’ I consider Pimlico Road with its art galleries, antiques shops and interior designers – a symbiosis of the modern and traditional. ‘Pimlico Road is a brand,’ David exclaims. ‘You could furnish your entire house using this road and have a good lunch at the end of it.’ My next question of, ‘why a showroom in Belgravia?’ suddenly seems quite unnecessary.

The interview is drawing to a close and I begin to consider what I’ve encountered: superlative advice and experience, peerless craftsmanship and an almost unlimited breadth of choice. Yet I think David sums it up best. ‘The chap in earlier was enquiring about the possibility of personalised detailing and design – could he have it this way, or like that? “It’s still a tree,” I said.

“You can have it any way you want!”’

103 Pimlico Road, SW1W 8PH, 020 7730 7304 (arthurbrett.com)

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HERVE LEGER LONDON BOUTIQUE 29 LOWNDES STREET LONDON SW1X 9HX T +44 20 7201 2594

The

Belgravian Local Masterpiece

Belgravia Residents’ Journal talks to John Bartlett, one of the best artists of his generation, as he sets up his latest exhibition in Belgravia

J

ohn Bartlett is a Belgravian. His roots go back at least two generations in Belgrave Square, not to mention Stonor House in Oxfordshire, one of the oldest manors in the country. He is friends with establishment figures such as Andrew Wilton, former keeper of the British Collection at Tate Britain, and has most of the great and underemployed of the art world on speed dial.

Only, as he proudly presents sepia photos of his relatives to me, the figures flashing smiles turn out to be servants, and the properties are the seats of the Baron Camoys. But John is pleased to be back on old stomping grounds. ‘My mother was always pestering me to come here to reconnect with the family’s past when I was studying at the Royal Academy,’ he admits.

At last he is returning, and doing so in style. As we pace round the Osborne Studio Gallery on Motcomb Street, we gaze at a room being prepared for the opening night, surrounded by works for John’s latest exhibition: Interference, sponsored by Henry & James.

There’s a massive sparrow sitting on what looks like a blueprint of a SIM card, and I use my immense command of the English language to tell John as much. Amused, he tells me, ‘My Grandad worked on the docks; this is a sort of map.

The sparrow used to be very common in the area. It’s not any more.’ His work is about migration on many levels, I learn.

‘That is my meaning but there should always be space, enough flexibility, in my paintings to interpret them how you want.

I’m quite tentative about imposing myself on it,’ John explains.

Deciding to test his theory, I point at Jesus slumped on an easel to our left. I decipher the painting as an attempt to express the Hippocratean aphorism that art is long and life is brief.

Silence. ‘It’s also about having to sacrifice yourself to give art life,’ I continue, my tone rising as I get slightly defensive. ‘Yes, my take on it is like that too,’ he answers, though I can barely hear him over my audible sigh of relief. ‘To me, painting is a little bit like a religion. If you believe in it, it carries on.

‘In my early years, painting felt so redundant. If you did a nude, people would be like “well, what’s the point?”’ I probe him on whether this is changing. ‘Yes, it feels much more viable now. These things don’t need to be cyclical. We don’t have to beat a retreat to the Old Masters; we can evolve and reform the tradition with them.’

John became a name in art in quite an unexpected fashion.

Spending an entire year on one painting in his final year at the Royal Academy was very unusual. ‘People thought I was daft,’ he titters, ‘especially when it didn’t sell in the final show.’ Thankfully, a lady who wrote the foreword to a motor show exhibition catalogue that John had work included in, also happened to be the

curator of the Museum of London. The show’s organiser prodded her in the direction of John’s older work, including his now famous History Painting (his name for what the media soon labelled the ‘poll-tax demonstrations one’) and the rest is history.

‘The History Painting was not about who was right,’ John insists. ‘A lot of people wanted to put a message on to that work and push it into propaganda. But they bring their luggage to the painting, not me.’ John prefers to cleave the apparent integrity of paintings.

‘I didn’t compel that painting to say anything. Much of art is about avoiding too much consciousness, in fact. Look at these sticks!’ He points to sticks that look like planks. ‘Nobody is holding them.’ He’s right; they bristle, exuding an air of conflict.

Trying to return our attention to the paintings around us, I turn to one of the largest on display. A woman stands in what appears to be suburbia; nearby a little boy holds a mask of what could be Pan, and she, one of Salome (the woman who asked for John the Baptist’s head). Buried, one of John’s other paintings, hangs surreally in the background. ‘People call paintings like these mindscapes. They play with ideas and concepts without being too abstract,’ John clarifies.

But the painting is not my favourite.

Leaving the best until last, there is a dog looking up a tree. If you have a dog you will know the expression they pull when they first see something, however fleeting.

It’s an acknowledgement that shudders down the telegraph poles of their consciousness in split-seconds, carrying within it an electrifying mix of potential elation and horror. John has captured it superbly.

In my excitement at this technical point, I fail to notice a simple but important ripple. ‘Look what is down there,’ John says, pointing at a bush. Something is going on but I’m not sure what it is. ‘Well, that’s sort of the intention. It’s not what it is but the feeling that nature, beauty, normality is being disturbed,’ he informs me. It’s an almost Kafkaesque point, highlighting how easily the absurdity on which the ordinary rests, even depends upon, can rupture the world at any second.

Discussing John’s future direction, he describes how he wants to do things on a bigger scale. ‘Not just that, I will strike an even greater balance between the abruptness and elegance of the disruptive signals I’m playing with here,’ he tells me.

I think the aforementioned Andrew Wilton should have the penultimate word on John: ‘There is nothing superficial in his work, and often a great deal that is provocative.’ I’m sure his grandparents would be proud.

To me, painting is a little bit like a religion. If you believe in it, it carries on

(artbyjohnbartlett.com)

Words / Henry Hopwood-Phillips Illustration / Russ Tudor

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Great British Escape:

Hunting for greatness There are several good reasons not to go to Great Fosters.

Henry Hopwood-Phillips could not find any of them

I

f you like your wallpaper white, your furniture abstract, your lines clean and your space spartan then you probably won’t like Great Fosters. If, however, you agree with Kenneth Clark that this particular style, ‘has the fatal defect of purity… revealing the poverty of human invention when forced to spin a web from its own guts,’ you’ll probably prefer the brilliant clash of pomp and domesticity on display at Great Fosters.

This Elizabethan pile, which looks like Hampton Court Palace’s baby brother, is a catapult’s throw from the latter. With a fair wind behind you and a non-faulty signal system in front, it is only 40 minutes from London on the train and has the potential, with its swimming pool and proximity to Virginia Water, to become (to a sun-kissed mind) what the Strandbad Wannsee is to Berlin.

But you have to get through the door first, which is not easy because in an Alice in Wonderland twist, it’s a Russian doll of doors, with only the last hobbit-sized one actually functioning. Once inside, there is enough

oak panelling to build another Mary Rose and a fireplace that could double as a room. Everything, from the historical artefacts that stand as dumb sentinels, to the latticed windows, seem to have been curated to cause maximum heart damage to any executives who may perchance be escaping from the gruelling schedule that a Swedish contemporary furniture company might impose.

Upstairs, past chandeliers that look as though they could have enjoyed previous lives as maces, I’m introduced to my room, a story of unbridled damask.

Wondering why I don’t have a bed, I’m led through another door to a four-poster, then there’s a corridor with three doors. I’ll stop there – all you need to know is I’m not used to staying at a hotel where my suite has more rooms than my own apartment at home.

The bathroom deserves a review of its own.

Sporting a swish 21st century William Morris uniform, its large enamel sink, oak floorboards and small shop of Molton Brown products lure me into thinking I’ve

got a bohemian château at my disposal. Then there is the bath tub. The hotel has a long history as a hunting lodge that includes Tudor, Georgian and Windsor royalty (as well as modern greats such as Charlie Chaplin and Emma Thompson) on its visitor list. It has also been a mad house. The bath tub (a Victorian roll top) seems to elide these two histories. It looks like a luxury torturing device, but the only thing the industrial structure precipitates is a waterfall from all directions.

If the innards of Great Foster combine luxury and character, the manicured topiary and surrounding land manage to balance the twee and the wilder instincts of British horticulture. Be warned, however, although this is a 50-acre estate, the distance is only just enough to buffer the drone of Dante’s outermost ring – aka the M25.

When dinner time approaches we plonk ourselves down in the claret-coloured, silk-covered Tudor Room.

Great Fosters has been making noises about becoming a serious destination for food for a while now, so I long to see if it is just bluster. The hotel has poached Nik Chappell from a similar red-brick affair over at the Michelinstarred L’Ortolan. Keen on blending French and Asian influences into traditional British dishes, Chappell is well complemented by Alper Sahin in the wine department.

Wine can make or break a meal for me. So a lot rested on Alper’s shoulders when he opened a bottle of Ca dei Frati Ronchedone (2011). It’s an unpretentious wine and it only costs about £20 when bought from the suppliers. The dark berries and herbs don’t punch or startle, but lure you into some sort of metaphorical bush, not to throw pepper or any other unsubtle flavours at

I think the food is just a microcosm of what the hotel does so well. In an age mired by an overabundance of selfconsciousness and a corollary thirst for authenticity, Great Fosters stamps itself on the mind.

Stroude Road, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9UR 01784 433822 (greatfosters.co.uk)

This Elizabethan pile, which looks like Hampton Court Palace’s baby brother, is a catapult’s throw from the latter you, but to cushion the tongue in the rounded embrace of tannins. Only the best wines can entice me into scribbling such terrible imagery.

We opt for the eight-course tasting menu to go with the grape juice and sit in anticipation. These tasters get a bad press, often seen as silly juvenile toys, the product of chefs’ egos rather than customer demand. Squid ink stands miles above its companion canapés, capturing all the best marine flavours; it is like eating delicate, fleshy seaweed. The scotch egg cooked rare is a treat, and the pea-based swamp it sits in arrests the earthiness of the whole garden, not just the conventional mint. Watermelon with tuna, soy and wasabi is an inspired choice; as is the homemade pan-fried crumpets that canvass a rich tableau of truffled tunworth cheese, honey and fig.

Talking of local produce can get a bit silly in SW1; unless people are taking to the streets to shoot pigeons for lunch or growing potatoes in flowerpots on the window sill, the language rings rather hollow. But here the talk is real – no gimmicks. In fact, the vast majority of the menu is grown in the grounds the house has owned for so long.

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Jewels from

the East

Last month, The Battle of the Latins raged; this month, Hannah Kate Davies kowtows to China, the titan rising in the East, but Henry Hopwood-Phillips thinks she underestimates its Turkic neighbour Azerbaijan to her peril...

Steppes above the rest

I

’m intercepted by a very tall lady on the way in to BAKU. She’s standing behind a piece of furniture that doubles as a roadblock; the sort a desk might look up to but a rostrum would certainly frown upon.

She certainly holds some sort of office within the company, because she puts me in a lift.

The lift performs a variation of the wardrobe trick made famous by C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, spitting its contents out into a different world. This one is clearly east of Suez: the octagonal light fixtures, the stained-glass tessellations in the windows, the knee-high furniture – Robert Byron would have had a field day.

One of the men not having a field day is the poor barman. ‘What can I get you?’ he booms from behind his mighty fortress-bar. ‘Water please, sparkling,’ comes my reply – hardly James Bond, admittedly. I knew his crestfallen glance meant I had to confess. ‘It was quite a heavy one last night,’ I whimper. BAKU has a reputation for cocktails that not only taste like they have been hobnobbing with ambrosia on Mount Olympus but also have entire flowers sitting in them. ‘Mmm, this water is cold,’ I hum, ‘so refreshing.’

Downstairs, light bounces off antique mirrors and furnishings that can’t decide which side of the kitsch fence to dangle their legs off. Alex, the charming man who runs the show, pulls up alongside our table. He is in control.

He knows everybody lumps the “-stans” together. He is sick of explaining that the golden, revolving Neutrality Monument is in Turkmenistan, not Azerbaijan.

‘Azerbaijani cuisine is a mix of Caucasian influences,’ he explains, which to modern ears makes it sound a bit racist, but I revel in the knowledge that the country lies where Roman and Persian geopolitical plates once clashed. ‘We’re talking kebabs, flatbreads and baklava,’ Alex continues. But I’m hearing, ‘galloping horsemen, animal-skin hats, duels, Lake Göygöl and the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.’

Flatbreads and their obligatory hummus pass the Tel Aviv test (rigorously compiled in the city during my weeks of flatbread-based poverty). Next comes a classic, tika lamb.

The kebabs (shishlik in the vernacular) are a staple food in the patria. It’s easy to see why. The marinade of sumac, narsharab, mint and purple basil all impart dimensions of flavour that we are unused to in the West unless the flesh has been sitting in a salty purgatory beforehand.

Moist like a good cake, it does not cost much more than one either.

Puffy clouds of sorbet don’t float by – they sit on ceramics you want to steal. Apple and pomegranate show off their multi-coloured buttocks; a pleasant change from the Neapolitan tricolour usually peddled.

I turn in on myself. The hazy happiness of a good meal envelops me. According to all the laws of biology, I should not be glowing; I should be in bed with water, maybe a drip. Admittedly, not many restaurants are haloed in glory by their non-emetic qualities but BAKU has passed the hardest test of all.

Puffy clouds of sorbet don’t float by – they sit on ceramics you want to steal

164-165 Sloane Street SW1X 9QB, 020 7235 5399 (bakulondon.com)

Sinicisation

L

e Chinois Restaurant and Bar is inspired by the Millennium group’s award-winning Hua Ting Restaurant at the Orchard Hotel, Singapore.

The name perhaps takes its cue from Chinoiserie – the French for ‘chinese-esque’ – a recurring artistic movement in Europe since the 17th century. The style contained the fanciful imagery of an imaginary China, so I enter wondering whether it will blend East and West as well as its artistic predecessor.

Ascending the staircase from the hotel lobby, Chinese geometrics loom into view. But the atmosphere contains none of the formality or stuffiness you might associate with a hotel restaurant; behind us a Chinese party guffaws with laughter. I recognise locals as my gaze rises above the menu. It’s not often a Chinese restaurant in a hotel can exert that sort of appeal.

It also fills up quicker than a thimble; always a good sign.

Unlike Henry and his rather tame order of water, I head for the cocktail menu and order the speciality, an E720; sounding more like a flight number or an additive, the only thing that could perhaps beat this sweet, feminine elixir is an actual flight to China.

Notions of greasy prawn balls that taste of last week’s fat are quickly dispelled when handed salt and pepper squid in a batter. Calamari often have a habit of robbing cephalopods of their flavour too but the tempura has clearly trapped it in this case.

Too many people have been scarred by buffet-beef at Chinese restaurants in the past. The upshot is that Chinese beef now invokes visions of well-dressed tyre that delivers jaw-ache with remarkable consistency instead of what I have here. It is doughy, it gives willingly and is juicy when it does so; it’s as if the chef has just hacked a bit off

a bovine beast in the kitchen minutes ago.

Sea bass in barbecue sauce sounds like a cowboy with a net. It should not work. It is a speciality here though, so I surrender and I’m glad I do. Tangy, it’s playing a different sort of percussion on the tongue to which I’m used to. The fleshy fish lacks the metallic ring of meat but brings a softer minerality to the table. Garlic pak choi is standard fare and special rice (usually an ironic term, full of gristle and the least exciting aspects of the edible kingdom) actually lives up to its name for once.

Jelly and ice cream has never been an adult dessert, so a smile breaks out when I see a socially acceptable equivalent: lychee with green tea jelly. Western tastes are extremely sweet when it comes to desserts, so the jelly might strike some as slightly dissonant; however, I love its earthiness.

I don’t let on about my mother’s Singaporean roots whilst I’m there (and my extremely high expectations owing to an early childhood in the country), but the food and perfectly attuned service certainly rivals the finest cuisine I’ve been spoiled with over the years. Too often Chinese fare has been written off as buffet or takeaway food. Le Chinois is part of the counter-revolution.

Sea bass in barbecue sauce sounds like a cowboy with a net. It should not work. It is a speciality here though, so I surrender

17 Sloane Street, SW1X 9NU, 020 7201 6330 (millenniumhotels.co.uk)

DID YOU KNOW CRISPY AROMATIC DUCK WAS INVENTED IN BRITAIN

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Beauty &Grooming Beauty from the outside in and TLC on our doorstep

Scents from

the East

His grandfather and namesake, maker of fine cognac and the founder of the LVMH Group, is a legend within the luxury marketplace, but Kilian Hennessy is a visionary creator in his own right. Briana Handte Lesesne talks to the creative force behind the fragrance house By Kilian about his latest scents Did your travels to India and China inspire your two new fragrance launches Imperial Tea and Sacred Wood?

The inspiration behind Imperial Tea was my search to capture the scent of a fresh cup of jasmine tea. I’ve travelled to India and was amazed by the myriad spices and vibrant colours of the country and the fragrant, pure tea leaves left an olfactory impression that stayed with me.

Most perfumers use the same five to seven key ingredients that everyone uses to create a tea-based fragrance, but mine is unique in that it captures that perfect, intense aroma of jasmine buds.

Sacred Wood is inspired by an Indian tale of two lovers and the power of their love to transcend death and is built around notes of sandalwood. The heady scent recreates the sensuality of the essential sandalwood oil through steaming milk accents, polished woods and hot spices.

I’ve read that your fragrances have been influenced by the works of poets and philosophers, can you tell me more?

‘Perfume as an art’ is my philosophy. A perfume must smell of its own time. How I look at it is to consider how you compose a contemporary scent, but one that has a sense of history. Family by family, emotion by emotion, accord by accord, each is different and expresses the emotion evoked by the name.

You have put exquisite detail and expense into your fragrance packaging and have branched into chic clutches.

I can not be like my competitors. I like to create and I like to be kept busy. The attention to packaging and luxury is important to me and can be seen in the tassels around the

key to the fragrance to open the satin-lined box. The idea for the clutches came to me while travelling with my girlfriend. We had an evening event to attend and she had forgotten to bring a clutch, so she came down to the hotel lobby with the black, lacquered perfume box as a clutch. As I wanted to create clutches that would be outstanding and unique, I asked artisans in Florence to make evening bags in black lacquer. We now have a small collection featuring exotic skins and vibrant colours too.

The market is flooded with celebrity and designer fragrances. What are your thoughts on this trend from someone whose philosophy is based on tradition?

Well, let’s consider Coco Chanel. She had no experience in the fragrance industry but was an expert at creating one of the world’s most timeless and exquisite perfumes.

With today’s celebrities you are buying a brand as well as someone’s intimate world.

What is your first olfactory memory and how has this influenced you in your career?

I remember the aromatics that were the epitome of the 1970s and they remind me of my father. They are difficult to recreate, but I ask myself how can I find elements from an olfactory moment and create a scent from that.

By Kilian fragrances are available at Les Senteurs 71 Elizabeth Street, SW1W 9PJ, 020 7730 2322 (lessenteurs.com)

Natural glow

In the words of Tom Ford: ‘Sun-kissed skin with a hit of daring colour has a powerful simplicity that is effortlessly stunning.’ Anyone looking for proof of this statement need only turn to his limited edition Summer 2014 collection, which includes colours for the eyes, cheeks, skin and lips.

The all-in-one compact contains three eye shadows and two cheek colours. Ranging from neutral shadows to a light rose blush and a flash of cobalt, the palette creates a vibrant summer look.

Finally, for a sun-kissed complexion, the Skin Illuminator in Fire Lust leaves skin perfectly glowing and, to complete the look, Lip Shimmer in Solar Gold adds a radiant shimmer.

Tom Ford Eye and Cheek Compact, £68; Tom Ford Skin Illuminator in Fire Lust £46; Tom Ford Lip Shimmer £36. Available at Harrods Harvey Nichols and Tom Ford Beauty Boutique, 201-202 Sloane Street, SW1X 9QX 020 3141 7800 (tomford.com)

A cut above

Once you find a stylist that you can entrust with your locks to, you return time and time again.

Case in point: Motcomb Green. This sleek establishment boasts top colourists, who often fly in from Italy and France to cater for its loyal clientele who wouldn’t dare go anywhere else.

Belgravia’s black book of socialites, gentry and professionals are pampered in a relaxed salon by its friendly staff and co-owners Brian and Francis.

The salon uses Paul Mitchell’s range of products, including the much raved about Awapuhi Wild Ginger line of treatments for dry, damaged hair.

Styling isn’t the only thing on the menu, however; the salon’s facials and manicures and pedicures are also exceptional and well worth trying out.

61 Ebury Street, SW1W 0NZ, 020 7235 2228 (motcombgreen.co.uk)

A summer update

The great British beauty brand Liz Earle has introduced a limited edition of its award-winning Cleanse & Polish. The heavenly-scented orange flower and chamomile formula cleanses the skin while nurturing it in one clean sweep.

Suitable for all skin types, when polished off with the accompanying soft muslin cloth, this gentle cleanser removes grime and make-up to leave skin smooth and radiant looking. £19.75 for 150ml, including two pure muslin cloths. Available at Liz Earle, 38-39 Duke of York Square, King’s Road, SW3 4LY 020 7881 7750 (uk.lizearle.com)

Eau d’homme

This June, pamper the man in your life with Floris Limes Eau de Toilette, a classic scent introduced by Juan Floris in the late 18th century to cool the stifling heat of summer. Vibrant citrus bursts are combined with a heart of lime blossom, neroli and lily of the valley, sustained by a musky, masculine base. The Limes collection includes bath essence and luxury soap and makes the perfect gift for Father’s Day.

It’s all in the eyes

Limes Eau de Toilette 100ml, £75. 147 Ebury Street, SW1W 9QN, 020 7730 0304 (florislondon.com)

The cornerstone of any great eye look is a finishing touch of mascara. As part of its Summer 2014 collection, Guerlain’s star mascara Cils d’Enfer takes lashes to new lengths. The combination of waterproof, volumising and styling waxes work together to add drama, while the innovative brush gives lashes curl and volume to withstand summer’s heat, humidity and even a dip in the sea.

Cils d’Enfer Waterproof Mascara, £18.50. Available at selfridges.com

Words / Briana Handte Lesesne B E L G R AV I A R E S I D E N T S ’ J O U R N A L

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Residents’ Culture Exploring the minutiae of residents’ concerns and encounters

Diary of a

Belgravian

Belgravia Residents’ Journal’s William Hall lets us peek at his diary

M

y week begins somewhat bizarrely, as I am bidden to the Wedding Dresses exhibition at the V&A – my beloved ex-flatmate has just announced her engagement and decides she needs inspiration for the impending nuptials.

Elizabeth Emanuel gives an interview on stage with slides and video montage; though I think the whole thing a tad unsatisfactory within the framework of ‘weddings’ as it is much more a portrait of the designer’s life and times.

Saturday is spent in the company of another lot of friends at Mews of Mayfair, a decent, if expensive watering hole tucked in behind St George’s Square with that remarkable church where so many of one’s ancestors spliced the mainbrace.

Perhaps unfortunately, we end up watching Eurovision in Stratford. It is all good clean fun, despite the weird and not very wonderful concoction that Eurovision has become – they always appear to vote for the silliest, campest and most outrageous performance, but that has become the whole point I imagine. A friend at the party comes back from a smoke literally bouncing with excitement having met Tom Daley in the

lift. There are worse people to meet.

The London Symphony Orchestra gives a wonderful (free!) performance of what might be called ‘Prokoviev’s best bits’ on Sunday to a packed Trafalgar Square crowd. I am impressed that despite the weather so many turn out for the bunfight.

The weather causes only a momentary problem compared to the extremely loud and sudden demonstration against the LSO conductor Gergiev by Ukrainian protestors (he appears somewhat incongruously in white tie and sunglasses, not a great look, Victor).

I am delighted to help baptise a friend’s flat by attending a dinner party on Monday in deepest darkest Fulham, trudging my way through the howling tempest and the seemingly endless path downriver, for tartiflette and a lot of booze. Oh how I love the travails of self-employment.

Tuesday sees me trundling off to the Adam Smith Institute to drink more wine, if not break bread, with Peter Tatchell, who I find a forthright and powerful speaker. Then I have to rush to make it to the last London Reels of the season on Pont Street, where I encounter many friends old and new and let’s be honest, some faces I wish I hadn’t.

The views expressed on this page are not held by the Residents’ Journal. The page offers a platform for the voices of our local residents to discuss topics they feel relevant and important.

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Jose Ignacio Soto / Shutterstock.com

Belgravian

Moments

Briana Handte Lesesne has a soft spot for the singers of La Marseillaise

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alming scents fill the air from a Cire Trudon Solis Rex candle. It takes me back to a period when the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles formed the nerve centre of the Ancien Régime. A little closer to home, several businesses of French origin and their owners have settled here in Belgravia during the past few years. While turmoil might have rocked France in the past and might continue to form undercurrents in the future, Belgravia is grateful that it sends us this influx.

As an American, I am deeply appreciative of the French as our country would not exist had they not provided financial, spiritual and military support at a decidedly vulnerable time. In the American Revolution, the French aristocrat and military officer La Fayette served as a majorgeneral in the Continental Army under George Washington. He blocked troops led by Cornwallis at Yorktown, while the armies of Washington and those sent by King Louis XVI under the command of General de Rochambeau, helped to secure victory for the American colonies.

Back to now and the more tangible Gallic pleasures of fashion, beauty and fragrance, wine and cuisine. From Motcomb Street, which boasts such chic French names as Christian Louboutin, Annick Goutal and Eres, to Pierre Hermé Paris and Hervé Léger on neighbouring Lowndes Street, French haute fashion is right on our doorstep.

On Pont Street Jeroboams pays tribute to French brands. French rosé is particularly wellrepresented. Varieties from Provence, such as Whispering Angel, are, according to the store manager Xavier Hornblow, ‘the toast of summer from LA to Hong Kong.’

The epitome of luxury Champagnes, Veuve Clicquot, was first created in 1772 and played an important role in establishing Champagne as the favoured drink of the haute bourgeoisie and nobility throughout Europe. The brand will have added promotions throughout the month of June so that we Belgravians can celebrate toasts galore at dinner parties.

On Elizabeth Street you will find French floral designer Catherine Muller and Les Senteurs boutique, which carries some of the most niche French fragrances this side of the Channel. French cuisine is at its finest at La Poule au Pot on Ebury Street and over on Sloane Square, Colbert, Cartier and Céline epitomise French luxury.

Et voilà. Belgravia is not Paris but we are delighted to have a petite taste of it. À la prochaine fois!

The views expressed on this page are not held by the Residents’ Journal. The page offers a platform for the voices of our local residents to discuss topics they feel relevant and important.

The Residents’ Association’s

June round-up

by the head of social and communications – Sue Liberman

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une is an extremely busy month for events in the area. I look forward to seeing everyone at the B.R.A. Garden Party on Wednesday 4 June in Wilton Crescent Gardens. The ticket price of £15 per person includes wine and canapés. Tickets are available for purchase via our website, belgraviaresidents. org.uk or alternatively I can be contacted on 07957 420911. Music will be provided by The Dixie Ticklers and Opera Holland Park. A huge thank you to our event sponsors, Duncan Lawrie, Grace Belgravia, Berkeley Homes and Shepherd Neame of The Duke of Wellington.

The two Street Parties – Elizabeth Street on Wednesday 11 June and Motcomb Street on Wednesday 25 June – are both looking to be better than ever this year, so please do give them your support as they are raising money for some very worthy charities.

Belgravia updates...

Grosvenor is launching five community projects in 2014: 1. Creating a Buzz: The programme will help create a more sustainable urban ecosystem for bees, a greener London estate and encourage pride within the community.

2. Fitness in the Gardens: The local community will be united through weekly fitness classes in the local gardens.

A permanent gym facility will also be built in Belgrave Square with a programme of associated community fitness events. The classes will take place on Tuesdays in Belgravia at 6pm and Wednesdays in Mayfair also at 6pm.

To find out more: Email: fitness@grosvenor.com 3. Grosvenor Film Festival: A best-in-class inclusive festival of silent open-air cinema screenings placed within some of London’s best garden squares, the festival will develop a greater sense of community through Grosvenor’s ‘Living Cities’ project.

Venues and film choice: Belgrave Square 21 June: Jungle Book 22 June: Casablanca Grosvenor Square (Summer in the Square) 10 July: Goldfinger 11 July: Four Weddings and a Funeral 17 July: Top Gun 18 July: When Harry Met Sally Exclusive access to tickets is available at grosvenorlondon.com 4. Community Art: A dynamic and interesting programme of inclusive public art will act as a cohesive force for the London estate community.

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5. Foodbank: A foodbank will be established within the London estate community to promote short term support to those facing financial hardship.

If you would like to be involved with any of the above projects, more information can be found on Grosvenor’s website: grosvenorlondon.com.

What’s been happening in Belgravia…..

Over the May Bank Holiday weekend you may have noticed some filming in the area. ITV are currently in production for the new series of Mr Selfridge, the story of ‘Mile a Minute Harry,’ a man with a mission to make shopping as thrilling as possible. One of their selected locations was St Paul’s Church; the scenes filmed there revolve around a church wedding set in the early 1900s.

In order to create a period look, the crew dressed the immediate area, removed street furniture and covered some road markings. It will be an interesting episode for us all to watch when it is aired later this year.

Neighbourhood Forum update….

The proposed Belgravia Neighbourhood Forum is moving forward with a formal application to set up the forum having been sent in for approval to WCC on 15 May 2014. Considerable team effort was involved. As yet the steering group hasn’t formally elected a Chairman.

There are currently three sub-committees for planning, governance and communications.

Anyone who lives or works in Belgravia can join the forum (belgraviaforum@gmail.com) and volunteers for the planning and communications sub-groups are welcomed.

Once the forum has been established, the next step will be to create a Neighbourhood Plan for Belgravia, which will hopefully include the predominant hopes and aspirations of the community. To do this, the forum will be engaging with local people to find out what they think can be done to make Belgravia a better place to live, work and enjoy.

If you have views on any of these topics then please do get in touch with us via our website link shown below.

If you would like to help protect and/or shape the future of Belgravia, please join us by becoming a member. Simply go online and click on the appropriate membership box.

In addition, if there is anything you would like to let us know about, I can be contacted on sue@belgraviaresidents.org.uk

Until next month... belgraviaresidents.org.uk

029

Planning &Development Keeping you in the know about important street plans affecting Belgravia

PLANNING APPLICATIONS DATE RECEIVED

ADDRESS

PROPOSAL

17 April

Belgrave Square

Blocking up two window openings at basement level

29 April

Chester Street

Amalgamation of mews building with another

29 April

Eaton Square

Amalgamation of flats

30 April

Victoria Square

Under-floor heating system in listed building

8 May

Chester Street

Temporary display of board at street level

planned road works

STREET

PLANNED WORK

DATES

WORKS OWNER

Knightsbridge & Belgravia

Repair to damaged Thames Water valves

1-2 June

Thames Water (0845 9200 800)

Eaton Square

Kerb lifting, repaving for bus stop

1-4 June

City of Westminster (0207 641 2000)

Belgrave Mews North

Supply pipe replacement

5-9 June

Thames Water

Hobart Place

Junction modernisation requires lane closure

1-30 June

TFL (0845 305 1234)

Dutourdumonde Photography / Shutte rstock.com

An illustrious past

Lady Thatcher’s five bedroom property at 73 Chester Square is up for sale. Margaret’s husband, Dennis, had taken out a 10 year lease on the house for £700,000 in 1991, which was then renewed.

In 2006 the house was bought for £2.4 million by Bakeland Property, however, the former prime minister lived there for the rest of her life. The property is valued at £12 million.

030

B E L G R AV I A R E S I D E N T S ’ J O U R N A L

Unwrap the secrets of personal banking

Bespoke private banking is still available on your doorstep Duncan Lawrie is a small private bank based in Hobart Place, Belgravia. We have been here for over 30 years and offer all the services you’d expect, including counter service, a cheque book, a Visa card, online banking, flexible loans, and first-class service from a personal Bank Manager.

In a recent survey, 65% of our banking clients gave their Bank Manager 10/10, and our Relationship Managers scored 81% for client satisfaction – 20% higher than our peer group*.

To find out more: • Call 0207 201 3010 Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm.

Outside these hours you can contact John Hilson on 07590 452440.

• Email jhilson@duncanlawrie.com • Visit www.duncanlawrie.com/Belgravia

*Survey by Ledbury Research of 252 Duncan Lawrie clients.

Duncan Lawrie Private Banking is a trading name of Duncan Lawrie Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries, represented in the UK by Duncan Lawrie Limited, authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority and Duncan Lawrie Asset Management Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Their registered office is 1 Hobart Place, London SW1W 0HU. Registered in England under numbers 998511 and 1160766 respectively.

DL0614BRJ

DL0614BRJ_aw.indd 1

26/02/2014 12:40

The Belgravia

Directory

A compendium of the area’s key establishments

Estate Agents Andrew Reeves 77-79 Ebury Street 020 7881 1366

Douglas Lyons & Lyons 33 Kinnerton Street 020 7235 7933

Knight Frank 82-83 Chester Square 020 7881 7722

W A Ellis 174 Brompton Road 020 7306 1600

Ayrton Wylie 16 Lower Belgrave Street 020 7730 4628

Harrods Estates 82 Brompton Road 020 7225 6506

Marler & Marler 6 Sloane Street 020 7235 9641

Wellbelove Quested 160 Ebury Street

Best Gapp & Cassells 81 Elizabeth Street 020 7730 9253

Henry & James 1 Motcomb Street 020 7235 8861

Savills 139 Sloane Street 020 7730 0822

Cluttons 84 Bourne Street 020 7730 0303

John D Wood 48 Elizabeth Street 020 7824 7900

Strutt & Parker 66 Sloane Street 020 7235 9959

020 7881 0880

Food & Drink BARS Amaya Halkin Arcade, Motcomb Street 020 7823 1166 The Garden Room (cigar) The Lanesborough Hyde Park Corner 020 7259 5599 The Library Bar (wine) The Lanesborough Hyde Park Corner 020 7259 5599 Tiles Restaurant and Wine Bar 36 Buckingham Palace Road 020 7834 7761

CAFÉS Bella Maria 4 Lower Grosvenor Place 020 7976 6280 Caffe Reale 23 Grosvenor Gardens 020 7592 9322

The Green Café 16 Eccleston Street 020 7730 5304 ll Corriere 6 Elizabeth Street 020 7730 2087 The Old English Coffee House 1 Montrose Place 020 7235 3643 Patisserie Valerie 17 Motcomb Street 020 7245 6161 Tomtom Coffee House 114 Ebury Street 020 7730 1771 Valerie Victoria 38 Buckingham Palace Road 020 7630 9781

PUBLIC HOUSES/ DINING ROOMS The Antelope 22-24 Eaton Terrace 020 7824 8512

The Orange 37 Pimlico Road 020 7881 9844 theorange.co.uk

The Pantechnicon 10 Motcomb Street 020 7730 6074 thepantechnicon.com

The Thomas Cubitt 44 Elizabeth Street 020 7730 6060 thethomascubitt.co.uk

RESTAURANTS Como Lario 18-22 Holbein Place 020 7730 9046 Il Convivio 143 Ebury Street 020 7730 4099

Olivo (Italian & Sardinian) 21 Eccleston Street 020 7730 2505 Zafferano (Italian) 15 Lowndes Street 020 7235 5800

Motcombs 26 Motcomb Street 020 7235 6382 motcombs.co.uk

Mango Tree 46 Grosvenor Place 020 7823 1888 Pétrus 1 Kinnerton Street 020 7592 1609

Uni 18a Ebury Street 020 7730 9267 restaurantuni.com

Health & Beauty BARBER

DOCTORS

Giuseppe D’Amico 20 Eccleston Street 020 7730 2968

The Belgrave Medical Centre 13 Pimlico Road 020 7730 5171

DENTISTS

The Belgravia Surgery 26 Eccleston Street 020 7590 8000

The Beresford Clinic 2 Lower Grosvenor Place 020 7821 9411 Motcomb Street Dentist 3 Motcomb Street 020 7235 6531 The Wilton Place Practice 31 Wilton Place 020 7235 3824

Michael Garry Personal Training 54b Ebury Street 020 7730 6255

Motcomb Green 61 Ebury Street 020 7235 2228

Yogoji (Yoga) 54a Ebury Street 020 7730 7473

Stephen Casali 161 Ebury Street 020 7730 2196

HAIR SALONS

MEDISPA

Colin & Karen Hair Design 39 Lower Belgrave Street 020 7730 7440

Bijoux Medi-Spa 149 Ebury Street 020 7730 0765

The Light Centre Belgravia 9 Eccleston Street 020 7881 0728

The Daniel Galvin Jr. Salon 4a West Halkin Street 020 3416 3116

earthspa 4 Eccleston Street 020 7823 6226

CLEANING

FURNITURE

Promemoria UK 99 Pimlico Road 020 7730 2514

Dr Kalina 109 Ebury Street 020 7730 4805

GYM/ FITNESS

SPA

Home ANTIQUES Bennison 16 Holbein Place 020 7730 8076 Turkmen Gallery 8 Eccleston Street 020 7730 8848 Patrick Jefferson 69 Pimlico Road 020 7730 6161

ARCHITECTS/ DESIGN Marston & Langinger 194 Ebury Street 020 7881 5700 Paul Davis + Partners 178 Ebury Street 020 7730 1178

Weldon Walshe 20 Grosvenor Place 020 7235 4100

ARTEFACTS Odyssey Fine Arts 24 Holbein Place 020 7730 9942

Kudu Services Discreet, confidential cleaning services for offices and homes of distinction 27 Mortimer Street 020 8704 5988 kuduservices.co.uk

FINISHING TOUCHES Paint Services Company 19 Eccleston Street 020 7730 6408 Rachel Vosper (candles) 69 Kinnerton Street 020 7235 9666 Ramsay (prints) 69 Pimlico Road 020 7730 6776 Sebastian D’Orsai (framer) 77 Elizabeth Street 020 7730 8366 Zuber 42 Pimlico Road 020 7824 8265

B E L G R AV I A R E S I D E N T S ’ J O U R N A L

Ciancimino 85 Pimlico Place 020 7730 9959 The Dining Chair Company 4 St Barnabas Street 020 7259 0422 Hemisphere 97 Lower Sloane Street 020 7730 9810 Humphrey-Carrasco 43 Pimlico Road 020 7730 9911 Jamb 107a Pimlico Road 020 7730 2122 Lamberty 46 Pimlico Road 020 7823 5115 Linley 60 Pimlico Road 020 7730 7300 Mark Wilkinson Kitchens 10 West Halkin Street 020 7235 1845 Ossowski 83 Pimlico Road 020 7730 3256

Soane 50-52 Pimlico Road 020 7730 6400 Talisman 190-192 Ebury Street 020 7730 7800 Westenholz 80-82 Pimlico Road 020 7824 8090

GALLERIES 88 Gallery 86-88 Pimlico Road 020 7730 2728 Ahuan Gallery 17 Eccleston Street 020 7730 9382 Gallery 25 26 Pimlico Road 020 7730 7516 Gauntlett Gallery 90-92 Pimlico Road 020 7730 7516 Gordon Watson 28 Pimlico Road 020 7259 0555

033

The Belgravia

Directory Fashion BOUTIQUES Le Spose Di Giò (wedding dresses) 81 Ebury Street 020 7901 9020 le-spose-di-gio.it

Philip Treacy 69 Elizabeth Street 020 7730 3992

Christian Louboutin 23 Motcomb Street 020 7245 6510

Herve Leger 29 Lowndes Street 020 7201 2590

Patricia Roberts 60 Kinnerton Street 020 7235 474

Lynton Hotel 113 Ebury Street 020 7730 4032

The Belgravia Mews Hotel 50 Ebury Street 020 7730 5434

The Sloane Club 52 Lower Sloane Street 020 7730 9131

Morgan Guest House 120 Ebury Street 020 7730 2384

The Diplomat Hotel 2 Chesham Street 020 7235 1544

Tophams Hotel 24-32 Ebury Street 020 7730 3313

Westminster House Hotel 96 Ebury Street 020 7730 4302

Lime Tree Hotel 135-137 Ebury Street 020 7730 8191

LUXURY

BOUTIQUE Astors Hotel 110-112 Ebury Street 020 7730 0158

The Rubens at the Palace 39 Buckingham Palace Road 020 7834 6600

BOOKMAKERS

SOLICITORS

Nevena Couture (clients by appointment only)

Lowndes Street 020 3539 8738 nevena.co.uk

Hotels B&Bs B+B Belgravia & Studios@82 64-66 Ebury Street 020 7259 8570 Belgravia Hotel 118 Ebury Street 020 7259 0050 Cartref House 129 Ebury Street 020 7730 6176 Lord Milner Hotel 111 Ebury Street 020 7881 9880

The Berkeley Wilton Place 020 7235 6000 The Goring 15 Beeston Place 020 7396 9000

Services BANKS Duncan Lawrie Private Banking 1 Hobart Place 020 7245 1234 duncanlawrie.com Royal Bank of Scotland 24 Grosvenor Place 020 7235 1882

Coral Racing 67 Pimlico Road 020 7730 6516 William Hill 12 Buckingham Palace Road 08705 181 715

Child & Child 14 Grosvenor Crescent 020 7235 8000 childandchild.co.uk

Eaton Square School 79 Eccleston Square 020 7931 9469 Francis Holland School 39 Graham Terrace 020 7730 2971

CHARITIES

EDUCATION

British Red Cross 85 Ebury Street 020 7730 2235

Cameron House School 4 The Vale 020 7352 4040

Garden House School Turks Row 020 7730 1652

Eaton House School 3-5 Eaton Gate 020 7924 6000

GEMS Hampshire School 15 Manresa Road 020 7352 7077

Glendower Preparatory School 86-87 Queen’s Gate 020 7370 1927

Sussex House School 68 Cadogan Square 020 7584 1741

Hill House International Junior School Hans Place 020 7584 1331

Thomas’s Kindergarten 14 Ranelagh Grove 020 7730 3596

Knightsbridge School 67 Pont Street 020 7590 9000 Miss Daisy’s Nursery Ebury Square 020 7730 5797 More House School 22-24 Pont Street 020 7235 2855 Queen’s Gate School 133 Queen’s Gate 020 7589 3587

EXCLUSIVE The Caledonian Club 9 Halkin Street 020 7235 5162 caledonianclub.com

FLORISTS Catherine Muller 53 Elizabeth Street 020 7259 0196 catherinemuller.com

Neill Strain Floral Couture 11 West Halkin Street 020 7235 6469 Judith Blacklock Flower School 4-5 Kinnerton Place South 020 7235 6235

IT SUPPORT Dashwood Solutions Contact Jonny Hyam for all your IT needs 07787 507 407

POST OFFICE

Psychotherapy Suzanne Thomas DHC MRes, Hypnotherapist / Psychotherapist 07770 378791 suzannethomas@ suzannethomas.co.uk suzannethomas.co.uk

TRAVEL Passepartout Homes Ltd 020 7513 2876 passepartout-homes.com info@passepartout-homes.com

Post Office 6 Eccleston Street 0845 722 3344

Speciality Shops BAKERIES Baker & Spice 54-56 Elizabeth Street 020 7730 3033

Rococo Chocolates 5 Motcomb Street 020 7245 0993

DELI

Elizabeth Gage 5 West Halkin Street 020 7823 0100 eg@elizabeth-gage.com elizabeth-gage.com

Ottolenghi 13 Motcomb Street 020 7823 2707

La Bottega 25 Eccleston Street 020 7730 2730

CIGAR SPECIALIST

GREENGROCERS

Polisher

Charles of Belgravia 27 Lower Belgrave Street 020 7730 5210

F Bennett and Son 9 Chester Square Mews 020 7730 6546

JEWELLERS

NEWSAGENT

Carolina Bucci 4 Motcomb Street 020 7838 9977

Mayhew Newsagents 15 Motcomb Street 020 7235 5770

Tomtom Cigars 63 Elizabeth Street 020 7730 1790

BOOKS Belgravia Books 59 Ebury Street 020 7259 9336 belgraviabooks.com

CONFECTIONERS Peggy Porschen 116 Ebury Street 020 7730 1316 Pierre Hermé Paris 13 Lowndes Street 020 7245 0317

B E L G R AV I A R E S I D E N T S ’ J O U R N A L

David Thomas Master Goldsmith 65 Pimlico Road 020 7730 7710 De Vroomen 59 Elizabeth Street 020 7730 1901

Floris 147 Ebury Street 020 7730 0304 florislondon.com

Pet accessories Mungo & Maud 79 Elizabeth Street 020 7022 1207

PERFUMERIES Annick Goutal 20 Motcomb Street 020 7245 0248 Les Senteurs 71 Elizabeth Street 020 7730 2322

VICKISARGE 38 Elizabeth Street 020 7259 0202

035

savills.co.uk

1 BEAUTIFUL DUPLEX APARTMENT IN PRIME BELGRAVIA ADDRESS eaton place, sw1 Reception room ø dining room ø kitchen ø master bedroom suite ø 2 further bedrooms ø 2 further bathrooms ø terrace and balcony ø direct lift access ø 215 sq m (2,316 sq ft) ø EPC=E Guide £6.95 million Leasehold, approximately 116 years remaining

Savills Sloane Street Tom Wilson twilson@savills.com

020 7730 0822

savills.co.uk

1 STUNNING LOW-BUILT HOUSE BEHIND EATON SQUARE south eaton place, sw1 Reception room ø library/media room ø kitchen/dining room ø master bedroom suite with dressing room and bathroom ø 3 further bedrooms (1 en suite) ø 1 further bathroom ø gym with steam shower ø study ø wine cellar ø guest cloakroom ø terrace (leasehold) ø mews parking (subject to licence) ø 373 sq m (4,025 sq ft) ø EPC=B Price on application Freehold

Savills Sloane Street Richard Gutteridge rgutteridge@savills.com

020 7730 0822

savills.co.uk

1

IMMACULATELY REFURBSISHED FLAT ON THE CORNER OF PIMLICO ROAD bloomfield terrace, sw1 Reception room ø open plan kitchen ø master bedroom with en suite shower room ø 2nd bedroom ø shower room ø store room ø 83 sq m (890 sq ft) ø EPC=C Guide £1.35 million Leasehold

Savills Sloane Street Christian Warman cgwarman@savills.com

020 7730 0822

2

A SUPERBLY REFURBISHED MAISONETTE WITH EXCELLENT RECEPTION SPACE eaton place, sw1 Drawing room ø dining room ø kitchen/ breakfast room ø master bedroom suite ø 2 further bedroom suites ø air conditioning ø under floor heating ø resident caretaker ø Grade II listed ø 287 sq m (3,089 sq ft) Guide £7.35 million Leasehold JSA: Knight Frank, Emma Collins, 020 7881 7721

Savills Sloane Street Tom Wilson twilson@savills.com

020 7730 0822

savills.co.uk

LETTINGS LAYOUT ONLY

1

A WELL PRESENTED APARTMENT SITUATED MOMENTS FROM SLOANE SQUARE cadogan gardens, sw3 Bedroom ø bathroom ø reception room ø kitchen ø porter ø 70 sq m (753 sq ft) ø Council Tax=G ø EPC=C

Savills Sloane Street Stevie Walmesley swalmesley@savills.com

020 7824 9005 Unfurnished £725 per week + £276 inc VAT one-off admin fee and other charges may apply* *£36 inc VAT for each additional tenant/occupant/guarantor reference where required. Inventory check out fee – charged at the end of or early termination of the tenancy and the amount is dependent on the property size and whether furnished/unfurnished. For more details, visit www.savills.co.uk/fees.

KnightFrank.co.uk KnightFrank.co.uk

Chester Square, Belgravia SW1

Newly refurbished house in sought after position Master bedroom with dressing room and bathroom en suite, 4 further bedroom suites, drawing room, dining room, reception/media room, kitchen, breakfast area, study, cinema, gym, steam room, sauna, shower room, wine cellar, laundry room, 2 staff rooms, 3 cloakrooms, lift, balcony, 2 terraces, garage. Approximately 585 sq m ﴾6,291 sq ft﴿

KnightFrank.co.uk/belgravia belgravia@knightfrank.com 020 3641 5910

Freehold Guide price: £25,500,000 ﴾BGV130060﴿

Belgravia Residents Journal June 74 Chester Square - 07 May 2014 - 50844

12/05/2014 14:23:14

KnightFrank.co.uk KnightFrank.co.uk KnightFrank.co.uk

Morpeth Mansions, Westminster SW1 Morpeth Mansions, Westminster SW1 Exceptional 4 bedroom apartment with with stunning viewsviews Exceptional 4 bedroom apartment stunning

A rare oportuinuty to rent this historic flat formerly the home Sir Winston Churchill.

The A rare oportuinuty to rent this historic flat formerly theofhome of Sir Winston Churchill.

The flat is a flat duplex on the fifth andfifth sixth floor.

4 floor. bedrooms ﴾3 en suite﴿ reception is a flat located duplex flat located on the and sixth 4 bedrooms ﴾3 en2 suite﴿ 2 reception rooms, rooms, kitchen/breakfast room, dining terrace,terrace, lift kitchen/breakfast room, room, diningstudy, room,guest study,cloakroom, roof guest cloakroom, roof lift access, porter. rating Approximately 2,758 sq2,758 ft ﴾257 m﴿. sq m﴿. access, EPC porter.

EPCE.rating E. Approximately sq sq ft ﴾257 Available unfurnished Available unfurnished Guide price: week Guide£2,250 price:per £2,250 per week ﴾BEQ88320﴿ ﴾BEQ88320﴿

KnightFrank.co.uk/lettings KnightFrank.co.uk/lettings belgravialettings@knightfrank.com belgravialettings@knightfrank.com 020 3641 0206006 3641 6006

WILTON ROW, BELGRAVIA, SW1X

£5,500,000 LEASEHOLD • LARGE MEWS HOUSE • THREE BEDROOMS

• TWO RECEPTION ROOMS • GARAGE • TERRACE • EPC G BELGRAVIA OFFICE 1 Motcomb Street, London SW1X 8JX +44 (0)20 7235 8861 belgraviaoffice@henryandjames.co.uk henryandjames.co.uk

SOUTH EATON PLACE, BELGRAVIA, SW1W

£2,000 PER WEEK • PENTHOUSE DUPLEX APARTMENT • THREE BEDROOMS • AIR CONDITIONING •

• DIRECT LIFT ACCESS • WOOD FLOORS • EPC D BELGRAVIA OFFICE 1 Motcomb Street, London SW1X 8JX +44 (0)20 7235 8861 belgraviaoffice@henryandjames.co.uk henryandjames.co.uk

Eaton Place, Belgravia, SW1X A beautifully presented one bedroom apartment on the first floor of this period building in the heart of Belgravia.

Newly refurbished throughout, the accommodation of approx 861 sq ft comprises reception room with doors to balcony, kitchen, double bedroom with ensuite bathroom, excellent storage and doors to rear terrace, and guest cloakroom. Available immediately for long term lets on a furnished basis. EPC Rating: D.

£1,200 per week Property fees: £180 Admin & £135 Checkout.

References: £42 per person* *http://www.harrodsestates.com/tenants 020 7225 6602 karen.boland@harrodsestates.com

KNIGHTSBRIDGE OFFICE: 82 BROMPTON ROAD LONDON SW3 1ER T: +44 020 7225 6506 MAYFAIR OFFICE: 61 PARK LANE LONDON W1K 1QF T: +44 020 7409 9001 CHELSEA OFFICE: 58 FULHAM ROAD LONDON SW3 6HH T: +44 (0) 20 7225 6700 HARRODSESTATES.COM

West Eaton Place, Belgravia, SW1X A truly stunning triplex apartment offering approximately 2605 sq ft / 242 sq m with a beautiful patio garden and heated integral garage.The property, which is immaculately presented throughout, has been refurbished to a very high standard and now offers spacious contemporary accommodation on a grand scale. In brief, the property benefits from a reception room, kitchen, dining room, master bedroom with ensuite bathroom and access to the terrace, second double bedroom and bathroom, staff bedroom with ensuite bathroom and study. Situated in the quiet Belgravia street just moments away from Sloane Square. Available immediately on furnished basis. EPC Rating: C. £4,500 per week Property Fees: £180 Admin & £255 Checkout.

References: £42 per person* *http://www.harrodsestates.com/tenants 020 7225 6602 karen.boland@harrodsestates.com

KNIGHTSBRIDGE OFFICE: 82 BROMPTON ROAD LONDON SW3 1ER T: +44 020 7225 6506 MAYFAIR OFFICE: 61 PARK LANE LONDON W1K 1QF T: +44 020 7409 9001 CHELSEA OFFICE: 58 FULHAM ROAD LONDON SW3 6HH T: +44 (0) 20 7225 6700 HARRODSESTATES.COM

estate agents, surveyors and property consultants 81 Elizabeth Street, Eaton Square, London SW1W 9PG tel: 020 7730 9253 Fax: 020 7730 8212 email: reception@bestgapp.co.uk

www.bestgapp.co.uk Over 100 years experience in Belgravia

eaton mews south, sw1e Rebuilt to exacting standards three years ago, this is an exceptional south facing mews house arranged over four floors, with spacious and well laid out accommodation, roof terrace garage and off street parking.

Freehold

ÂŁ5,950,000

* Reception Hall * Reception Room with Balcony * Kitchen/Breakfast Room * Master Bedroom Suite * Two Further Bedroom Suites * Integral Garage * Roof Terrace

77-79 Ebury Street, Belgravia, SW1W 0NZ www.andrewreeves.co.uk

Pimlico Place, Guildhouse Street SW1 £825 per week Furnished A spacious two bedroom, two bathroom third floor apartment in this purpose-built development. This recently refurbished property with new furniture throughout comprises two double bedrooms, two bathrooms, large reception room with balcony overlooking ornamental gardens, and a separate kitchen. The property is convenient for the transport connections at Victoria Station.

• Two bedrooms, two bathrooms • Large living room with balcony • Wood flooring throughout • Underground parking • 24-hour concierge • Gymnasium • Gross internal area 969 sq.ft / 90 sq.m

Morpeth Terrace, Westminster SW1 £1,100,000 Leasehold A large period property on the ground and lower ground floors of this popular mansion block. Comprising a bright reception room, two double bedrooms, both with ensuite, separate kitchen/dining room and guest cloakroom. It is ideally located for shopping in Victoria Street with Victoria Station only a short walk away. This property is in need of some refurbishment.

• Two bedrooms with ensuite • Bright reception room • Kitchen/dining room • High ceilings • Development opportunity • Gross internal area 1,238 sq.ft / 115 sq.m

Lettings Office: lettings@andrewreeves.co.uk +44 (0)20 7881 1366

Sales Office: sales@andrewreeves.co.uk +44 (0)20 7881 1333

ST. BARNABAS STREET, SW1

A most attractive maisonette with roof terrace, close to Sloane Square. Energy Rating: D. 3 bedrooms, en suite bathroom, shower room, reception room, kitchen/dining room, study, roof terrace.

Lease to 2135 Guide Price ÂŁ2,850,000

sPonsoRs of

ThE cAnInE cockTAIL PARTy BELGRAVE squARE 23rd June 2014 5.30-8.30pm In support of Dogs Trust and B.A.R.k BELGRAVIA

belgravia@johndwood.co.uk

Belgravia Residents Journal May14.indd 1

johndwood.co.uk

13/05/2014 10:56

A23620-AYR-SINGLE-08R.indd 1

19/05/2014 12:49

BASiL STREET SW3 E immaculately AT O Npresented PLA Cbedroom E SW An three flat in1 this beautifully maintained mansion building in the heart of Knightsbridge.

The buildinginterior is ideally locatedsecond for Harrods the shops restaurants theis area, andonmoments from Knightsbridge A stunning designed floor and conversion flat and in Belgravia.

Theofflat located the corner of Eaton Place and underground station.

Chesham Street and is well placed for both Sloane Square and Knightsbridge. Furnished. 1270 sq ft.

Bedrooms • Three Two Double Bedrooms Two Bathrooms • Two Bathrooms

■ ■

■ Entrance Hall/Dining Area • Spacious Reception Room • Lift ■ Loft Storage • Kitchen • InteriorArea Designed

Reception Room Kitchen/Breakfast Room £1,800 per week + fees

■

■

■

■

£3,300,000 Subject to Contract

Porter Lift

• 1270 sq ft ■ 1397 sq ft • EE Rating: E■ EE rating E

• Available Now

Share of Freehold

facebook.com/struttandparker twitter.com/struttandparker

struttandparker.com

Lowndes Square, Knightsbridge, SW1

A well-proportioned two bedroom apartment in excellent condition on the third floor of this immaculate portered building, facing west over the communal gardens.

1,330 sq ft (123.6 sq m) Entrance hall | Reception room | Kitchen | Master bedroom with en suite bathroom | Second bedroom with en suite shower room | Cloakroom | Lift | Porter | EPC rating D

Knightsbridge 020 7235 9959 casper.tham@struttandparker.com

ÂŁ4,900,000 Leasehold

Lowndes Square, Knightsbridge, SW1

A large ground floor maisonette with a grand and elegant west facing drawing room with planning permission to change the existing layout (adding 108 sq ft).

3,652 sq ft (339.3 sq m) Drawing room | Dining room | Kitchen | Master bedroom with en suite shower room | Three further bedroom suites | Bedroom 5/ Media room | Two gardens | EPC rating C

Knightsbridge 020 7235 9959 james.forbes@struttandparker.com

ÂŁ5,950,000 Leasehold

facebook.com/struttandparker twitter.com/struttandparker

struttandparker.com

Belgrave Place, Belgravia, SW1

A magnificent first floor lateral apartment converted across two period buildings in prime Belgravia.

2,605 sq ft (242 sq m) Entrance hall | Drawing room | Dining room | Kitchen | Master bedroom with en suite | Two further bedroom suites | Guest cloakroom | Balcony | Resident porter | Lift | Air cooling | EPC rating C

Knightsbridge 020 7235 9959 james.forbes@struttandparker.com

ÂŁ10,950,000 Leasehold

BELGRAVIA Resident’s Journal J U N E 201 4

I S S U E 02 5

The Belgravia Residents’ Journal is published independently by Runwild Media Group with regular editorial contributions from The Belgravia Residents’ Association. To become a member of the BRA, visit www.belgraviaresidents.org.uk.

We would highly value any feedback you wish to email us with: belgravia@residentsjournal.co.uk; or telephone us on 020 7987 4320.

w w w. R e s i d e n t s J o u r n a l . c o . u k (020) 7987 4320

BELGRAVIA Resident’s Journal w w w. R e s i d e n t s J o u r n a l . c o . u k 020 7987 4320

june 2014 • Issue 25