Long Weekend: Check into Marbella Club, a golf hotel in Malaga with an aristocratic pedigree February 20, 2017 The weekend: Marbs, as certain raffish reality TV characters call it, occupies a prime location by the Med on southern Spain’s Sunshine Coast. Behind this famous tourist town rises the jagged Sierra Blanca mountain range. You can shop, swim, hike, or mountain-bike, but most visitors are here to play a round with their balls. Thanks [...]
Meet the man making 10,000 luxury watches a year in Britain February 20, 2017 It takes two years to make a Bremont watch. It takes seven years to train the person who makes it. “We tend to mop up the area when we hire,” says Giles English, one half of the fraternal founders of Bremont, the luxury watch company. “We can’t just rock up and ask for a watchmaker [...]
Reach stunning landscapes, luxury hotels and the national speed limit driving in the Scottish Highlands February 20, 2017 The soul-crushing experience of driving in London can be enough to grind down even the most dedicated fan of cars. No matter how many horses are hiding under the bonnet, they’re not much use if you’re crawling along at 4.8 miles per hour. That’s why Scotland’s North Coast 500 is such a tantalising prospect – [...]
Nick Jones interview: Soho House founder on The Ned, his new £200m project in the heart of the Square Mile February 18, 2017 As Nick Jones returns his teacup to its saucer, sits back and spreads his arms across the fluffy blue sofa, he looks uncommonly comfy. Of course he does. The founder of the world’s most famous chain of private members clubs, Soho House, is in his home from home, 76 Dean Street, one of 18 dotted [...]
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone may take the La La Land plaudits, but Londoner Marius de Vries is the man behind the musical’s genius February 18, 2017 It’s tough being a Hollywood actor in 2017. Gone are the days when being in films was enough to make you a star. Now, you’re expected to have political opinions, a kooky yet glamorous Instagram account and the ability to belt out song and dance numbers at the drop of a top hat. At least, [...]
Don’t dig yourself into a hole! Here are our top tips to keep in mind if you’re planning to dig out your basement February 18, 2017 Barely a week passes without news stories reporting various problems with botched basement digs throughout London. Just recently a Georgian townhouse in Barnes collapsed “like a pack of cards” due to basement work, and similarly a family in Chester Row are still waiting for repairs worth £250,000 to their house after a neighbour’s skip fell [...]
Opinion: What to look out for when you’re buying a new build property in London February 18, 2017 As property advisors, we are often asked what is the best kind of investment in London – a new build property or an older style or period property? New build developments certainly have a natural appeal in that everything is brand new, which means buyers can put their own stamp on the property and maintenance [...]
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone may take the La La Land plaudits, but Londoner Marius de Vries is the man behind the musical’s genius February 18, 2017 It’s tough being a Hollywood actor in 2017. Gone are the days when being in films was enough to make you a star. Now, you’re expected to have political opinions, a kooky yet glamorous Instagram account and the ability to belt out song and dance numbers at the drop of a top hat. At least, [...]
Property Legal Q&A: I own a flat that has 87 years left to run on the lease. Should I extend the lease? February 18, 2017 A: A longer lease has the advantage of being both more mortgageable and more attractive in the market. A leasehold flat whose term has significantly reduced (say to below 50 years) is a wasting asset, and extending its lease term is essential to preserve the value. The Government in the recent Housing White Paper states [...]
Kelly Hoppen interview: The interior design entrepreneur tells us why she’s gone all retro February 18, 2017 Kelly Hoppen tells me that she’s gone all retro: basketry chairs, bold fabrics, colour, leaf. Does this mean that the queen of taupe, corkscrew– curled Hoppen is turning hippie? “Homes are becoming much more loose,” she says, citing the OTT banana–leaf wallpaper, as seen in the Beverly Hills Hotel, that she says is coming back. [...]