What is frankincense? And where does it come from? September 27, 2019 The sun is blazing and the air is hot, dry and dusty. Gazing out over the horizon, there’s nothing but parched, rocky land as far as the eye can see in any direction, except for the strange-looking trees that shoot up from the ground like gnarly, overgrown bushes. You wouldn’t think much could thrive here, [...]
Regent’s Crescent: How John Nash’s iconic Georgian terrace is being reborn September 27, 2019 Walk around London’s west end, your eyes skywards, and you’d be hard pressed not to spot the work of John Nash. The architect to the Prince Regent (later George IV) built countless buildings in central London – from Marble Arch, to Clarence House, to All Souls Church on Langham Place. And then there’s Park Crescent. [...]
Inside Mayfair’s ‘most luxurious’ rental home – yours for £30,000 a month September 27, 2019 A new-build apartment which has been dubbed Mayfair’s ‘most luxurious’ has just hit the market, and is available to rent for anyone who happens to have a spare £30,000 a month. The 1,593 sq ft Apartment 3.05 sits within Clarges Mayfair, a grand Portland Stone block overlooking Green Park which is collectively valued at £160m. [...]
GoodWaste: The graduate designers creating unique homewares from scavenged marble September 27, 2019 Sometimes success comes knocking at a young person’s door, and they are so prepared that they already have their coat and shoes on. This is the story of how three dynamic Royal College of Art MA product design students had a bloody good idea for their degree show – and a few weeks after graduating [...]
Focus on Wapping: First-time home buyers are taking advantage of City connections and ‘sensible’ prices September 27, 2019 Located on the north bank of the Thames just to the east of Tower Bridge, Wapping is one of the few remaining postcodes where you can snap up a flat within walking distance of the City without a completely eye-watering price tag. Formerly the domain of dock workers, large swathes of the area have been [...]
Property of the week: A colourful Cuban home for the well-heeled September 27, 2019 As the nights draw in, what better way to liven up those long, dark evenings than coming home to a place that is bursting with colour and warmth? That is exactly what you will get if you move into this maisonette at 212 Kensington Park Road in Notting Hill, which has just come on the [...]
New builds: Homes on the market in London this week, from a former quarry to flats overlooking the Houses of Parliament September 27, 2019 Ridgeway Views, Mill Hill From £93,125 for a 25 per cent share of a one-bed Buyers looking for a leafy, suburban location on a budget will want to check out L&Q’s Ridgeway Views, launching this Saturday. The shared ownership homes are located in Mill Hill, close to the 35-acre Mill Hill Park, Arrandene Open Space [...]
The magic of Macao September 26, 2019 | Sponsored The saying goes that good things come in small packages, and nowhere lives up to this more than Macao, the diminutive Chinese region located on the country’s south-east coast. Measuring at just 13 square miles, it still manages to pack a vibrant cultural punch, with its Portuguese-Chinese heritage creating an eclectic backdrop on which everyday [...]
The modular model: Can factory-built homes solve the housing crisis? September 26, 2019 picture a vast warehouse somewhere in the north of England. Workers in hard hats are poring over intricate plans against a background of humming machinery. Robot arms slice through sheets of metal and wood as they pass by on a conveyor belt, precisely cutting out shapes that look like huge versions of Airfix models. Across [...]
Putting the new Audi R8 through its paces on some hair-raising roads from Calais to Paris to Provence September 25, 2019 The Audi R8 is a mid-engined supercar with multiple personalities. Ideal, therefore, for a blast through France to visit three characterful but very different hotels. The 2019 Audi R8 might have only received a mild facelift but it can still stop people in their tracks. From the front, I worry that the recent nip-tuck makes [...]