The Titanic’s grade II-listed London ticket office has been turned into £5m luxury apartments November 21, 2016 Got £5m burning a hole in your pocket and an interest in gruesome maritime history? This might be for you: a developer has just unveiled a block of luxury flats in the building where the Titanic's ticket office was located. Grade II-listed Oceanic House, in Trafalgar Square, has been redeveloped into six luxury apartments, including [...]
From idea to IPO in three years: Purplebricks founder Michael Bruce November 21, 2016 "Every time you mention the word ‘estate agent,’ everyone gets a little bit of a smile on their face and an inner feeling of unhappiness,” says Michael Bruce, chief executive at Purplebricks, the online estate agency that has turned the industry on its head in a little over four years. Bruce has traversed the world [...]
One of the world’s most luxurious ski resorts has opened a curious new attraction November 18, 2016 High up a mountain, at 1,550m and with snow all around, my children are screaming with laughter as they’re swept off their surfboards by a giant wave. No, you read correctly; surfboards. We may be in what’s more commonly regarded as a skiing mecca – Courchevel, France – but if there’s one other feature this [...]
Opinion: Installing tech gadgets could increase the value of your home by £25,000 – if you do it tastefully November 18, 2016 Performing a valuation is never as simple as it appears. A property's true value can only be determined once you step inside and inspect in great detail. A home’s more obscure characteristics, from off-street parking to its historical significance, can often add a substantial premium. In our most recent agent survey, Savills looked at what [...]
The Long Weekend: take a trip to Jersey for beautiful beaches, quaint villages, amazing seafood November 18, 2016 Take a long weekend at the Grand Hotel, Jersey The weekend: The Bailiwick of Jersey (Bailiwick being the term for British Crown dependencies of the Channel Islands, administration fans) has been a summer holiday staple for decades, boasting beautiful beaches, quaint villages, amazing seafood and a genuinely relaxed, welcoming vibe. The small island boasts a [...]
Interiors: Two big trends are dominating Christmas homeware – contemporary and cosy – what will you choose? November 18, 2016 Contemporary The depths of winter always benefit from a little razzle-dazzle, which is one reason we like to put on the glitz for the party season. And this year it's true of our homes, too. Trailblazer Tom Dixon adopted metallics as a signature look many moons ago and his copper Melt pendant lights, as seen [...]
Danny MacAskill is still alive (just) after his breathtaking day out November 18, 2016 | City Talk Risking his neck on roof tiles. Cycling precariously over straw bales. Balancing on a knife-edge on railway tracks… Scots biking daredevil, Danny MacAskill is living (just), breathing proof that Scotland's stunning scenery and fantastic open spaces are the ultimate outdoor playground. Watch. And be amazed…
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them review: a full-on Christmas blockbuster that’s bursting with imagination November 17, 2016 No more, JK Rowling vowed as the Harry Potter series – her magnum opus that took 17 years to write – finally came to an end. And she’s largely kept her word, apart from the studio tour, the theme park and the play that’s currently in the West End. Oh, and a website she runs [...]
An Inspector Calls at the Playhouse theatre: good, cosy fun, but lacking spleen November 17, 2016 An Inspector Calls returns once again to the London stage. A whodunnit in which a police officer investigates the causes of a young woman’s suicide should be an excoriating critique of the indifference of the upper-middle classes, but here it is repackaged as cosy entertainment for the descendants of the very people it originally sought [...]
King Lear at the Barbican review: Antony Sher shows a very different Lear to Glenda Jackson November 17, 2016 The benefit of seeing two top-tier productions of King Lear in the space of a week – first the Old Vic’s version with Glenda Jackson, the second at the Barbican starring Antony Sher – is that all of its myriad quirks, masterstrokes and flaws come into sharp focus. Perhaps the flaws most of all. While [...]