PROPERTY NEWS September 8, 2011 CHARLIE CHAPLIN’S CHILDHOOD HOME FOR SALE Charlie Chaplin’s home in 1889 at Methley Street in Kennington has just come onto the market for the first time in over a decade. Boasting its official blue plaque, this pretty brick-fronted mews house was Chaplin’s home during his early childhood and is a part of the “Charlie Chaplin [...]
SELLING September 8, 2011 DIRECTOR OF ESTATE AGENT DOUGLAS & GORDON Q.I have been told by three different agents that I will be able to sell my current property quickly, but I’ll struggle to buy an upgrade. Should I wait? A.Sometimes the best time to upgrade your property is when prices start to fall. This is because the gap between [...]
Christie’s beginner’s guide to buying investment antiques for your home September 8, 2011 WILLIAM Morris once said: “If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” It’s a fabulously indulgent way to look at interior design, and certainly gives you an excuse to start buying antique [...]
Welcome back to suit patterns September 8, 2011 THE pin stripe is the classic pattern of the City – the iconic way of adding charisma and boldness to a dark suit, and one that’s forever going to be associated with bankers. That’s also one reason why it hasn’t been seen around very much in the last couple of years. The City’s humbling during [...]
TIPS FOR REFRESHING THE MALE WARDROBE September 8, 2011 FOUNDERS OF ROUS ILAND MEMBERS’ BOUTIQUE, WWW.ROUSILAND.COM Q. I can’t stand clothes shopping, but I’ve a feeling it’s about time I replaced some of my old togs. I don’t really know where to start – any tips? A.With the new season upon us, it is a good time to for a wardrobe update.It is best [...]
ENGLISH WATCH BRAND ON THE UP September 8, 2011 BOLD NEW DESIGNS AND WEBSITE FROM CHRISTOPHER WARD Englishman Christopher Ward set up his watch brand a few years ago with the aim of creating affordable high-quality watches. His latest collection of Swiss-made timepieces sees him reaching a new level of design sophistication. There’s the suavely dressy, hand-assembled “jumping hour” watch, the C9 (below), in [...]
Romantic comedy takes on greatest gothic romance September 8, 2011 Film FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS Cert: 15 IT’S entirely possible that it’s the moribund state of the rom com genre that makes this film seem so sparkily entertaining. After the tawdry likes of Just Go with It, Life As We Know It and No Strings Attached – a film with which this shares some plot similarities [...]
ALSO OUT THIS WEEKEND ENTERTAINMENT September 8, 2011 FILM TROLLHUNTER Rollicking monster movie made, unbelievably, by Norwegian film students. Fun stuff. COLOMBIANA Zoe Saldana, of Avatar fame, stars as a female assasin in this so-so action flick. A LONELY PLACE TO DIE Cracking chase adventure set in the Scottish Highlands. DVD PRIEST Paul Bettany stars in this absurd – but quite fun – [...]
New social app from Grindr makers September 8, 2011 YOUR gay friends are probably all glued to it. Well as of today, Grindr – the hookup app that changed the whole way the gay community finds love, sex and quite often friendship – has a social, non-sexual counterpart, called Blendr. Joel Simkhai, the diminutive, Israeli-born founder of Grindr, insisted to me over coffee at [...]
Redrow profit tops forecasts September 8, 2011 Housebuilder Redrow has posted full-year pre-tax profit ahead of expectations, thanks to a ten per cent rise in selling prices, but warned the outlook for the property market is challenging. Redrow, one of the smaller listed volume housebuilders, made £25.3m pre-tax profit in the year to the end of June, compared with £0.7m in 2010 [...]