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Island living Textile queen Show focus Page 20 Wednesday, 12 September 2007 New homes 4 Corfu 8 My home 32 Design crazy Jigianluca De Girolamo at The Original Pack Shot Company School report Exposed: flat-owners hit by insurance scam. Mira Bar-Hillel reports Space to party ■ Property: three-bedroom flat ■ Price: £349,995 (includes a share of the freehold) ■ Agent: Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward (020 8469 0202) Faye Greenslade Evening Standard Homes & Property Wednesday, 12 September 2007 PROPERTY 2 BUY OF THE WEEK Visit our great new website: homesandproperty.co.uk LONDON goes design mad this month. The London Design Festival — Europe’s biggest — is a must for all home lovers. There is a staggering number of events in shops, exhibition halls, warehouses and studios all over the capital. Top craftspeople, young designers and established names will display their wares and share their skills. Check out the London Tent, in a former brewery in Brick Lane, ■ Decorating T AKE one Victorian conversion flat in leafy Brockley, SE4, open up the main space, and enjoy the results – a 22ft reception room, perfect for entertaining friends with its ample seating and dining areas, along with a high-spec, open-plan kitchen. Sharing is easy in this flat with its three bedrooms (two double) and a bathroom. Off-street parking and a communal garden are part of the deal, plus Hilly Fields Park and Brockley train station are an easy walk away. L ONDON flat-owners are being regularly ripped off by their managing agents, who charge them excessive amounts for buildings insur- ance. The agent or the free- holder then collects a nice sum for themselves in commission for giv- ing an insurance company the busi- ness. They do not pass this commission on to the flat-owners. And they do not have to disclose this fact to the residents. The practice is going on all over London, claims chartered surveyor Roger Southam, former president of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). He says the insti- tute should crack down on the tactic. Southam raised the issue more KENSINGTON could be the home of a new 60,000-seat football stadium. Billionaire Roman Abramovich has found a possible site for Chelsea FC that runs along Warwick Road, between Tesco in West Cromwell Road and Kensington High Street, writes Compton Miller. It could take advantage of reasonable public transport links via Olympia and High Street Kensington stations. “This huge development area is mainly owned by the Prudential and two other developers,” says local Tory councillor Victoria Borwick. “There’s already a scheme afoot to build luxury flats, affordable housing, a school and a park there. But who knows what the future holds?” The Russian tycoon dreams of emulating Arsenal’s new 60,432-seater Emirates Stadium. and try your hand at ceramics, mosaics or silversmithing. Our website, homesandproperty.co.uk, will keep you at the cutting edge of London’s design scene. The hard hats are out again in Manhattan as developers reach for the skies with new condos and apartments. Our website tells you where to splash your cash and revel in your wealth as a Brit with pounds in your pocket and a favourable exchange rate. Can’t stretch to the Eastern Seaboard? How about a break in Devon? We reveal the best places to go. Also, search for your ideal home, catch up on the latest property news and get fantastic ideas for making the best of your home, inside and out. ■ Manhattan transfer Blowing the whistle: Roger Southam than a year ago after press reports about it. He was given the task of investigating the practice by the then president, Graham Chase. But since then he has met with nothing but obstruction from the RICS, he told Homes & Property. “I have spoken with various people in the RICS executive office, only to be told they’ll get back to me,” he said. “They keep saying they aren’t ready to start the working party. So I decided to blow the whistle.” Mr Southam discovered the prob- lem when the freehold of Boardwalk Place, E14, a property his company Chainbow was managing, was sold in September 2005 to a company con- trolled by Vincent Tchenguiz. The new company demanded insurance amounting to more than £100,000 for 370 flats and houses in seven blocks. “I went to a broker and got a quo- tation for £60,000, including a 20 per cent commission for the agent or freeholder,” said Mr Southam. The Government is considering forcing the disclosure of more details of service-charge accounts, but says this would not include details of insurance commissions. Football pitch for Kensington? Abramovich, right, and Chelsea scorer Didier Drogba Taken for a ride ■ London Design Festival IF HOLIDAY travel has given you a taste for homes abroad then how about this? For the price of a London studio (about £115,000) you could buy a home in Canada’s coastal retreat, Nova Scotia. The city will be a distant memory once you are settled into this 1,800sq ft log-cabin, complete with 25 acres of meadows and woods that meander down to your own stretch of river. A honey-pine kitchen, various living rooms, plus three bedrooms and a bathroom span two floors, and large decks provide a platform for soaking up the scenery. After a five-and-a-half- hour flight to Halifax you can be at you new home in less than an hour from the airport. Call Kilmeny Fane-Saunders (020 7939 7923), or visit www.secondhomenovascotia.com. THE Yorkshire village of Langtoft might not be as exotic as Nova Scotia (above) but for a character cottage this is hard to beat. The outside, a façade of sash windows and whitewashed brick, provides a pretty canvas for window boxes, while inside is deceptively spacious with a 17ft sitting room with open fireplace, kitchen/dining room, two bedrooms and a bathroom. Time-poor gardeners can relax in the back yard, large enough for seating, with a timber shed and potted plants. Scarborough (16 miles away) has trains that reach King’s Cross in three hours. Beanland Illingworth (01751 475557) is asking £122,500. Pictou County, Nova Scotia, Canada Langtoft, North Yorkshire WHO’S MOVING homes gossip S HADOW environment secretary Greg Barker is selling Woodside House, his eight-bedroom Georgian property near Sir Paul McCartney’s home in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, for £2.65 million through Savills. This follows the recent break-up of his 14-year marriage to brewery heiress Celeste Harrison, after revelations that he was having a gay relationship with antiques dealer William Banks-Blaney. The Barkers’ immaculate Grade II-listed house, set in 15 acres, includes a walled garden, tennis court, swimming pool, coach house and garages. The Tory MP for Bexhill and Battle, who has three children and is one of David Cameron’s most trusted aides, already owns an £800,000 Belgravia pied-á-terre. Katie Hopkins Rex Features Christian Slater Fabrizio Bensch Sir Oliver Millar Photonews Services Greg Barker David Wimsett K ATIE Hopkins, the pushy Barnstaple-born Apprentice star who became the first contestant to snub Sir Alan Sugar’s job offer, has resisted offers to move to London. Instead she has spent £300,000 on a four-bedroom, three-storey, new-build terrace near Exeter, where she was at university. The self-confessed ruthless alpha female lives with her toddlers India and Poppy. Alas, after a spate of raunchy publicity earlier this year, she lost her £90,000-a-year Met Office job. D AVID Cameron’s media advisers, worried his patrician image might mirror 1960s predecessor Harold Macmillan, will be relieved to learn there’s no chance of him being tempted to invest in a grouse moor. “As far as I’m aware there are no moors for sale,” says Andrew Rettie, Strutt & Parker’s senior partner in Edinburgh. “There are only 400 such properties in Scotland and Northern England and these are the preserve of very rich individuals and rarely come on to the open market.” F OR most of his 40-year royal career Sir Oliver Millar, former surveyor of the Queen’s pictures and director of the Royal Collection, lived in grace-and-favour apartments at St James’s Palace. But, upon his retirement in 1988, he and his wife, Delia, moved to The Cottage, a seven- bedroom Victorian brick-and-flint house in Penn, Buckinghamshire, which is now up for sale at £1.25 million through Savills. The Queen, who has always preferred the gee-gees and corgis to any kind of art, completely relied on the erudite Van Dyck expert’s artistic judgement. Sir Oliver died four months ago aged 84. Christian thrown to the sharks by Compton Miller Evening Standard Homes & Property Wednesday, 12 September 2007 PROPERTY 3 SWAP SHOP Editor: Janice Morley Deputy editor: Philippa Stockley Advertisement manager: Louise McGaffigan Editorial: 020 7938 6714/7245; advertising: 020 7938 7247 www.homesandproperty.co.uk Homes & Property, Northcliffe House, 2 De rry Street, Kensington, London W8 5TT W HEN hellraisin’ Hollywood heart-throb Christian Slater stars in the Tinseltown satire Swimming With Sharks from next month he will stay in the five-star 51 Buckingham Gate Hotel. It’s only a short stroll across St James’s Park to the Vaudeville Theatre, where he appears opposite Helen Baxendale for a 15-week run. Three years ago, when this exuberant New Yorker made his London stage debut in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, he brought his TV producer wife Ryan Haddon, mother of their children Jaden and Eliana. “Christian loves England but Ryan never felt at home,” a friend commented. Shortly afterwards they parted. This award-winning red-brick hotel, as well as having London’s longest bar, boasts a spa that will provide Slater with “complete mental, spiritual and physical healing”. A new school of thought Across London, schools are working with house builders, transforming their space to create new homes and improve school facilities. David Spittles reports Evening Standard Homes & Property Wednesday, 12 September 2007 NEW HOMES 4 A S THE new school year begins, there is a new subject on the curriculum for pupils and teachers at Central Foundation Boys’ School, a well- regarded state secondary located on the fringe of the Square Mile — it is design and architecture. In a ground-breaking marriage of land sites, work will soon start on a spectacular redevelopment of the school that will include a new skyscraper already trumpeted as “the residential equivalent of the Gherkin”, the iconic office tower barely half-a-mile away. The existing school will continue to operate with the benefit of improved sporting and community-based facilities, says developer Tudorvale, which is creating 136 apartments in glamorous glass-and-steel high-rise buildings and converted classroom blocks. Standing immediately south of Old Street roundabout, opposite historic Bunhill Fields and cemetery, the develop- ment will be a Barbican-like trophy address for City workers, says Andrew Palmer, director of DTZ Residential. “It’s the gateway to the City. Apartments will have signature interior design, fantastic views and sell for up to £850 a square foot, unprecedented for the EC2 postcode.” Central Foundation also borders Shoreditch Triangle, a trendy quarter of lofts, bars, restaurants and creative businesses — and a diverting alternative to the pin-striped Square Mile. The entry price is likely to be £350,000, KINGSWAY Square in Battersea struck a chord with Peter Rutherford, 30, who bought a two-bedroom flat there. Hailing from Edinburgh, where he still has a home, Peter now works in London as a banker. “I hadn’t really considered a new development but here was the perfect compromise. It’s a fantastic building — elegant rather than trying too hard to be a fashion statement. I love the sense of grandeur and space — the ceiling heights are 4.5 metres.” ‘It’s a fantastic building rising to more than £1 million. Call DTZ Residential on 020 7710 8116. The start of the autumn term certainly marks a new era for school redevelopments in London. In Kensington, Places for People, one of the UK’s largest property management and development companies, is demolishing St Thomas’, a dilapidated Seventies primary school, and building 69 flats above a state-of-the-art new school at a cost of £14 million for the school alone. Fifty-five of the flats will be sold on the open market, funding the St Thomas’s project on Apple- ford Road, close to fashionable Notting Hill Gate. Apartments will have separate access and are designed so they do not overlook the school and playground. Construction is under way and flats will go on sale in early 2008. Places for People has roots in the housing association movement and focuses on affordable homes, so prices will start below the £250,000 stamp duty threshold. “We believe this is a model that could be used across the capital,” says Tim Weightman, develop- ment director. “It pays for vital school maintenance while meeting housing need, and frees schools from relying on government funding for improvements.” London Diocesan Board for Schools is a develop- ment partner. Call 0845 603 7786. Increasingly, schools led by entrepreneurial governing bodies are collaborating with developers. A number of schools have recently traded their playgrounds and open space to make way for housing to pay for educational improve- ments and better facilities. Nearing completion on Stamford Street, SE1, is a scheme called Portico — 58 flats built behind the listed entrance of London Nautical School. It is a cracking location, moments from the South Bank arts and media centre. Crown Estate spotted the investment potential and stepped in to purchase all the flats from developer Crest Nicholson. The homes will be kept as a rental portfolio and let to local executives and people who want a weekday pied-â-terre. A decade ago Victorian school conversions propelled the loft-living trend that had taken off in Clerkenwell. Dozens of these splendid old schools have since been split into fancy homes, many in the borough of Wandsworth, where local politicians seem less sentimental about keeping open state primaries and are using government money to build new academies. Just when it appeared the supply had dried up along comes arguably the best building yet — former Battersea Polytechnic, a listed red-brick gem dating from 1891. It is being transformed by developer St James Homes into a complex of 153 flats, from studios to triplexes, set around landscaped courtyards. Homes in the refurbished old buildings, which include the Great Hall, have double-height ‘This is a model that could be used across the capital. It pays for school maintenance while meeting housing needs’ Peter Rutherford was swayed to buy in Kingsway Square, because of its space and sense of grandeur Eighty-four flats are being created out of a building in Twickenham, west London, that was once part of Brunel University. Prices are not yet set. Call 020 7710 8116 Paul Grundy From £240,000: Kingsway Square, SW11. Homes are being created in former Battersea Polytechnic, where the old library will become a members only dining club. Call 0870 850 7674 About £350,000: an artist’s impression of how glamorous glass-and-steel high-rise blocks with 136 apartments will look surrounding Central Foundation Boys’ School in Cowper Street, EC2. The school will benefit by having improved sporting and community-based facilities. For more information, call DTZ Residential on 020 7710 8116 TP Bennett LLP Evening Standard Homes & Property Wednesday, 12 September 2007 NEW HOMES 5 TO FIND MORE NEW HOMES, VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk spaces. Entrance to the development is via the grand foyer, preserved in its entirety, with a sweeping staircase and mosaic floor. The design emphasis is on retention of fine period details. The old library, which is oak panelled and has stained-glass windows, is to become a members only dining club, a fashionable new venue for SW11 (Battersea Park Road). Called Kingsway Square, prices start at £240,000 for a studio. Contact St James Homes on 0870 850 7674. Underground parking spaces cost £15,000. What makes these schools such appealing homes is the solid, robust architecture. Often there is a boundary wall providing privacy and security — a gated community without being fortress-like. The College, Wood Lane, TW7 Grade II listed Lancaster House and George Little House were once part of Brunel University. Jaspar Group, a niche conversion and restoration specialist, is creating 84 flats. Prices yet to be released. Call DTZ on 020 7710 8116. L’Ecole, Benwell Road, N7 Big loft apartments and duplexes have been created at this Victorian school, close to Arsenal football club’s Emirates stadium. Prices from £505,000. Call DTZ on 020 7710 8116. Academy House, Chaplin Mews, N1 A new address for a fashionable Islington location, close to City Road canal basin. Prices are from £309,950. Call developer Crest Nicholson on 0870 750 8403. Mary Datchelor, Camberwell, SE5 This prestigious former girls’ school sits in a conservation area fronting Grove Lane. Part-conversion, part new-build, developer St George is creating 90 homes. To register, call 020 7587 3710. Earning top marks From £250,000: St Thomas’ in Kensington (right) is being rebuilt as a state-of-the-art school, with 69 flats above. Call 0845 603 7786 From £505,000: L’Ecole (above and left) close to Arsenal football club’s N7 stadium, is being converted into large loft apartments and duplexes. Call DTZ on 020 7710 8116 The imposing façade of the former Battersea Polytechnic has been incorporated into Kingsway Square, SW11, a scheme of 153 flats. Call 0870 850 7674 Playing the Evening Standard Homes & Property Wednesday, 12 September 2007 OUT OF TOWN 6 T HE Grange is a former rectory in a village near Newbury. It started life as a simple tile- hung Queen Anne vicarage suitable for a modest country parson but sometime at the end of the 18th century a vicar with grander ideas and a budget to match added a Regency extension with an imposing classical front; a grand living room with two long windows overlooking hills and woodland; and a magnificent staircase, which spirals up to the first floor and an equally spacious bedroom. When art historian Louise Chapelle and her husband, Ian, a retired pension fund manager, bought the house in 2002 it needed everything doing to it. “We wanted to move out of London and were looking for a period house with big windows and space.” For Louise, that meant Georgian, and, she says, “The Grange was perfect for us”. It was riddled with damp. Curing this problem involved lowering the Yorkstone terrace and installing ventilation and then replacing all the rotten joists and flooring. They employed English Heritage-appointed craftsmen and the roof was overhauled. The Grange was rewired and replumbed; windows, cornices and skirtings were repaired or replaced; and the outside walls were stripped and repointed. Louise was determined that every detail should Louise Chapelle and her restored home, The Grange. “It was exciting returning it to its former glory” The polished steel bath in the en suite bathroom The kitchen with freestanding Chalon units runs into the back extension, which is filled with light from large leaded windows be in keeping with the period. She had Georgian six-panel doors specially made in Norfolk to replace the existing pine ones. “Whenever I saw a Georgian door, I would measure it and keep a note of the dimensions. I even went up to strangers’ front doors with my tape measure, hoping that no one would come out and ask me what I was doing,” she says. Louise scoured the world for suitable fittings, with the brass beehive door knobs coming from the Black Country; the reclaimed maple floor from Essex; the Regency fireplace in the dining room from London; and curtain tie- backs from Egypt and France. Ian and Louise bought the house for £975,000 and the restoration has cost them another £800,000. The Grange is currently divided into two separate properties. The main house, where Ian and Louise live, has four bedrooms and three bathrooms. The adjoining house, the Lodge, has three bedrooms and is let for £1,300 a month. Ill health makes it difficult for Louise to live in her home any longer and the couple are moving to a more manageable space. “It was so fulfilling and exciting, tracking down the right pieces to return the home to its former glory. But, for me, it was exhausting, so we’re happy to leave it for new owners to enjoy.” The Grange, including Grange Lodge, is on the market for £2 million. For more information, contact Jackson-Stops & Staff on 01635 45501, or Knight Frank on 01488 682726. The restored 18th century staircase The Grange, Speen, Berkshire W HEN career women leave London some turn property into their career, seeing the search for a new home, and its renovation and refurbishment, as a challenge and a profitable exercise. We talk to two women who found their crumbling wrecks riddled with damp and dry rot and thought: “Oh Joy.” Castle House is in the centre of Guildford, a rich market town in Surrey, about 30 miles from central London. It is a fine Jacobean house with an elegant red-brick Georgian façade, and an impressive porch with two columns each side of the doorway topped with a classical pediment. The house is in a pretty street in the old part of Guildford, backing on to the castle… Castle House, Guildford, Surrey ANTIQUARIAN bookseller Charles Traylen lived in Castle House for 50 years, and used to sit at a desk that once belonged to Charles Dickens. How- ever, the house fell down around him, and when he died in 2002, aged 96, the new owner got no further than stripping back to the Jacobean timbers. It was too big a task for a part-timer. Looking for a new project? Anthea Masey meets career women who took on country wrecks and won David George David George LOUISE CHAPELLE’S STORY KATE VORLEY’S STORY Evening Standard Homes & Property Wednesday, 12 September 2007 OUT OF TOWN 7 Kate, a mother of three who had run a busy London legal office, had lived in Wandsworth for 10 years with her husband and family. They were planning to leave the city when her husband heard about Castle House. When Kate saw it she knew it was exactly what she wanted. It took Kate two-and-a-half years to gain all the planning approvals and buy the house. During this time she did a one-year interior-design course at top London design school KLC, Chelsea Harbour. More than simply choosing fabrics, this proved to be a comprehensive exer- cise in drawing, planning, wiring and plumbing as well as design. “The course was tough and gave me ideas and the confidence to get on with the job,” says. Kate. She then hired a specialist conservation architect, Richard Greening from Nye Saunders in Godalming, who knew his way round the planning system. With designs in place they searched for the right builder, but the quotes that came in were double Kate’s budget. “At this point I decided to hire the craftsmen individually and pay them a daily rate. I was lucky to find an excellent site foreman and carpenter, and I organised the project with monthly visits from the architect. I saved at least 50 per cent this way.” The house had to be replumbed and rewired; the windows were either overhauled or replaced and the back wall of the house had to be rebuilt. Exposed timbers in Castle House’s main bedroom Guide price £375,000: Combe Dale, Clayhanger Lane, Chard, Somerset. A listed thatched six- to seven-bedroom house on the market for the first time in 70 years. For auction on 20 September. Through Greenslade Taylor Hunt (01460 65651) £385,000: The Cottage, Middleton Moor, Suffolk. A three-bedroom cottage with large garden, close to the Suffolk Heritage Coast. Through Bedfords (01728 454505) Busy mum Kate Vorley, with her children, Imogen, nine, Ted, six, and Louis, five £450,000: Old Coastguards, The Lifeboat Slip, Appledore, Bideford, Devon. A two- or three-bedroom house on the market for the first time in 38 years with planning permission for an extension. Though Stags (01237 425030) Properties to restore renovation game The new wall was faced with custom-made “mathematical” tiles, which look like red bricks but are actually rectangular tiles nailed to the wall. The carpenter made a new back staircase and laid new oak floors, sometimes on top of existing floors, which the local conservation officer insisted should be preserved. The end result is a fine family home. There are two reception rooms, a utility room and a tucked away suite of rooms for the nanny on the ground floor. A grand Georgian staircase leads to the first floor, where there are two elegant reception rooms — one used as a draw- ing room, the other as a dining room — and a family room, much loved by Kate’s three children, Imogen, nine, Ted, six, and Louis, five. The kitchen has freestanding units from Chalon. The room runs into the back extension, which overlooks, through leaded light windows, a courtyard with an ancient magnolia grandi- flora. Upstairs, on the second floor, there is a charming rabbit warren of rooms, including an impressive master bedroom, partially open to the roof timbers, which leads to a dressing room and an en-suite bathroom with an unusual free- standing polished-steel bath. There are another five bedrooms and two bathrooms and, on the top floor, under the eaves, studious Imogen has a tiny attic room that she uses as a library. The former ballroom, which is joined to the back of the house and forms one side of the courtyard, has full-length Gothic-style windows, leading on to the garden, and was a 19th century addition. This is incomplete, but would make a grand entertainment space, billiard room, or could be rented out for photoshoots and parties. Kate bought the house for £800,000 and spent at least £1 million renovating it. “I have done up this house so that it will last another 400 years, and that doesn’t come cheap,” she says. When the bills topped £1 million I stopped counting.” With so much knowledge, and hungry for another project, the family are now moving on. “I began to realise you never really own a house like Castle House, and if I stayed I would just keep endlessly renovating. But that isn’t sensible. I need a new project and for it to be profitable. But we are definitely staying in the area. There are good schools and shops, and lots of open fields and surrounding villages.” ■ Castle House is on the market for £3 million through Knight Frank. Call 01483 565171. ‘When the bills topped £1 million, I stopped counting’ £500,000: Loup House, Lyme Road, Axminster, Devon. A four-bedroom listed Regency house in need of modernisation, with a large enclosed garden. Through Stags (01404 45885) £695,000: Amberley Cottage, Littleworth, Amberley, Gloucestershire. A 17th century house with four bedrooms and two attic rooms, and far-reaching views over the Nailsworth valley. Through Murrays (01453 755552) £600,000: Higher Elston, Coppleston, Crediton, Devon. A three-bedroom house in need of restoration. There is planning permission to convert the barns into live/work units. Call Stags (01392 255202) David George David George Factfile ■ Building your own property is popular here. In rural areas you must have at least an acre of land. ■ Lawyer and notary fees range from one to 1.5 per cent each. ■ Purchase Tax is nine per cent on the Government Objective Value of Property. This is set by officials but is generally substantially below the real cost. ■ All property is sold in euros. An Ionian sweetmeat The beautiful island of Corfu, with its mixture of classical and Venetian influences, is attracting large numbers of British buyers to Greece, says Cathy Hawker Evening Standard Homes & Property Wednesday, 12 September 2007 ABROAD 8 A MONG the green hills packed with olive trees, and the welcoming Ionian Sea, there’s something very British about the Greek island of Corfu, made famous by Gerald Durrell’s book My Family and Other Animals. Whether it’s the cricket pitch in the heart of Corfu Town or the lashings of ginger beer consumed across beachfront tavernas, it is easy to spot the remnants of British rule mixed in with Venetian architecture and strong Greek character. Nowadays, the British come to Corfu to holiday, around 495,000 of us last year, while another 10,000- plus live there year round, all of whom should be toasting the first season of direct scheduled flights from London, which began in May this year. “British Airways flights from Gatwick have been a positive step for the local property market,” says Piers Williams of North East Corfu Real Estate. “The flights are well booked up by Corfu regulars and we have high hopes the service will eventu- ally extend beyond October into the winter. Corfu is a beautiful island out of season.” Williams specialises in the north-east corner of the island, where steep green slopes make build- ing difficult, curbing the over development seen in parts of the south. There are few hotels and apartments, and those hills provide blissful views from glistening white villas across the sea to Albania and the Greek mainland. This is already a popular holiday area, nicknamed “Kensington- on-Sea” for attracting the “right” sort of tourists, and those tourists are now house-hunting. Most want a property built from the light Corfiot stone with exceptional sea views. Prices here range from £339,600 up to £2.03 million, according to Williams. “Our clients are generally looking for a four- bedroom family villa of about 2,690sq ft upwards, with a pool and plenty of outdoor space,” he says. “The north-east coast remains particularly popu- lar. One client described it to me as being like the South of France in the 1960s.” Thriving resort In Kassiopi, once a quiet fishing village and now a thriving tourist resort, Williams is selling an old stone villa above the harbour for £305,570 with four bedrooms, swimming pool and attractive £575,000: this villa (above and below), in San Stefanos, has four en-suite double bedrooms, and great views. Through Aylesford International (020 7351 2383) From £152,300: Verde Blu is a modern complex just three minutes’ walk from Barbati beach. Each property has a main apartment and a guest apartment underneath, which could be let to generate an income. There is also a large communal swimming pool. Through Savills International (020 7016 3740) The warm waters off Kassiopi, which used to be a quiet fishing village, has enhanced its appeal for tourists and helped turn it into a thriving holiday resort that is popular with British families From £61,000: one- and two-bedroom apartments, three minutes’ walk from the sea at Glyfada. Through Savills International (020 7016 3740) What’s on offer ‘BA flights from Gatwick have been a positive step’ The wine- dark sea Axiom Alamy gardens, while £577,200 will buy a new four- bedroom villa 10 minutes’ walk from chic San Ste- fanos. “This small village with its lovely tavernas is a popular place for British families to holiday,” says Williams. “David Cameron and his family came here last summer.” Emma Wood of Savills associates The Corfu Property Shop in Barbati has land for sale on a ridge above Agni Bay. Priced at £112,000, it has good views over the coast and planning permis- sion for a large villa and pool. In Gouvia, north of the Venetian capital Corfu Town, Woods is selling Castello Monte Mar, three new houses hand-built by local stonemasons with pools and landscaped gardens priced from £227,500 to £292,000. “Corfu has a fascinating landscape, warm, hospitable people, low crime levels and an excellent climate,” says Wood. “There is a rich, varied culture on the island and Italy is just a ferry trip away. No wonder British buyers are coming in large numbers.” ■ North East Corfu Real Estate: 00 30 69420 54500; www.northeastcorfu.com, or Aylesford International: 020 7351 2383; www.aylesford.com. ■ Savills International: 020 7016 3740; www.savills.com/abroad. ‘There is a rich, varied culture on the island’ The narrow streets of Corfu’s charming Old Town bustle with tourists exploring its craft shops and tavernas Can sellers still avoid the costs of a HIP by calling a spare bedroom “a study”, asks Jane Barry Evening Standard Homes & Property Wednesday, 12 September 2007 ISSUE 11 FOR MORE EXPERT ADVICE, VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk T HEE-BEDROOM houses joined the HIPs club on Monday, when it became an offence to sell them without a Home Informa- tion Pack. Homes of four bed- rooms or more have required the packs since 1 August, when the HIPs initiative was introduced. The packs will involve time and money to prepare — the average cost is likely to be about £500. But can sellers avoid both by describing at least one bedroom as a study, so that technically, they are selling a two-bedroom home? The Government admits there is no legal definition of a bedroom. According to property lawyer Ken Byass of Moss Solicitors, the staged implementation of HIPs was a last- minute decision “thought up on the hoof” by officials just before the HIPs programme was due to be unveiled. Realising there were insufficient trained energy assessors to pro- vide all homes for sale with a key element of the packs — Energy Perfor- mance Certificates — a decision was taken to stagger their introduction. “But,” says Byass, “I don’t think any- one did any definition of a bedroom for the purposes of these regulations.” So is a bedroom just a room with a bed in it? Does it stop being a bedroom if you remove the bed? “If there’s no bed, and it’s lined with books and there’s a desk and a computer, then it is obviously a study,” agrees Byass. “But if you took the bed out only last week it could amount to a misde- scription to call it a study and the estate agent and owner could be fined.” Estate agents are answerable to the Office of Fair Trading if they misde- scribe properties. And, though there has not been a rush of sales yet — many sell- ers put their properties on the market before the launch of HIPs —most agents appear to be playing it by the book. “Our aim is to be whiter than white,” says Nick Taylor of agents John D Wood. “An empty flat with several rooms is one thing, but when you go upstairs in a house it’s pretty obvious which are the bedrooms.” So is a bedroom any upstairs room big enough for a bed? Well, no. “From a lawyer’s point of view,” says Rachel Howle of KJD Solicitors, “if a three-bedroom house has a loft conver- sion — you can describe the loft accord- ing to how it has been used.” Kirit Patel of agents Hoopers has just sold a three-bedroom Dollis Hill house with a three-room semi-basement exten- sion, which has been on his books since June. It could not be described as more than three bedrooms because that is how the extension was built, he says. “The extra rooms are in the extension and could all be used as living rooms.” But at agents Camerons Stiff, in Willes- den Green, a three-bedroom flat with a studio, which until this week might not have required a HIP, had to be described as four bedrooms. Says its Elaine Dyer: “We have to say four bedrooms because we could not sell the studio section separately, as it was not self-contained.” Not so clever, anyway Many sellers may find that “downsiz- ing” their descriptions simply does not pay off. Though they might save £500 in the cost of a HIP, a “two-bedroom flat with study” will not sell as fast, or for the same price, as a property described as “three bedrooms”, agents warn. And they add that potential buyers look for a price drop of up to £120,000 for every bedroom reduction and may not be impressed by the potential of a small room described as a study. “I don’t know why they didn’t go for square footage on HIPs,” says Sam Mur- phy of estate agent Paramount com- plains. “It takes out all the problems.” HARRIETTE Kevill-Davies (right), a mature student, became one of London’s first sellers to be required to create a HIP. Ironically, one of the four bedrooms of her Clapham Edwardian home, on the market with John D Wood for £765,000, has always been used as a study. “But it’s so big that, when you walk into it, you are convinced it’s a bedroom,” she ‘Saying study, not bedroom could mean you sell more slowly and for less’ says. She decided to describe it as four bedrooms and paid £400 for a pack to be produced. When Homes & Property spoke to her, five days after she decided to sell, she was expecting the energy assessor to arrive within two days. “It’s all gone very quickly,” she says. “But the HIP has delayed me getting on to the market by about a week.” ‘The study is so big, you do think its a bedroom’ £756,000: Harriette Kevill-Davies’s “three- bedroom” terrace house in Clapham could have escaped a HIP before this week, but a fourth room — a large study — was clearly big enough to make a further bedroom. Through John D Wood (020 8871 3033) £464,950: this first-floor flat in Melrose Avenue, NW2, has three bedrooms, plus a studio (left). It has to be described as four- bedrooms, for HIP purposes, because the studio is not self-contained. Through Camerons Stiff (020 8459 1133) Bedroom antics Mark York Picture the look Evening Standard Homes & Property Wednesday, 12 September 2007 SHOPPING 12 FOR MORE DESIGN NEWS, VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk/design news Design news by Katie Law Going for luxury Argos Textured fabrics that look and feel luxurious, and black and mirrored glass, are heavily featured in the new Argos home collection, much of which is not available in the main catalogue, but can be found online. The Trudy black glass chandelier is a snip at £58.99, the Symphony collection of damask cushion cases are good value at £14.99 a pair and a chaise longue called Jessica (left) is very affordable at £199.99. But the best value of all is that Argos will deliver anything in the home catalogue for only £4.95, no matter how much you order. For more information, call 0870 600 2020, or visit www.argos.co.uk. Window dresser Brume Net-curtain haters who like to let in the light, while keeping their privacy, will love Brume’s easy-to-use adhesive window film. This now comes in a range of designs from the basic etched-glass effect to fancy spots, curls, flowers, vintage filigree, stripes and colours. The latest addition to the collection is solar film, which is great for protecting against glare and heat. It comes in silver or light grey and starts from £29 for a 1.2m by 1m roll. For more information, call 01364 73090, or visit www.brumebasics.co.uk. Drawing you in British Art Fair Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the British Art Fair is now on at the Royal College of Art. If you want to buy a piece of 20th century or modern art by a British artist you will find a wide selection on offer from the 56 leading UK dealers here, whether it is by Barbara Hepworth, Grayson Perry or an unknown. Or how about a David Hockney called Pretty Tulips (left), painted in 1969, courtesy of William Weston Gallery. Prices start from a few hundred pounds and go sky-high. Admission is normally £8 a person but if you bring this page, two people will be admitted for the price of one. The British Art Fair runs until Sunday. The Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, SW7 (020 8742 1611; www.britishartfair.co.uk). What’s in your fridge, mate? Bison IF YOU hate the sight of plastic milk or juice cartons in your fridge, invest in Bison’s beautiful heavy-duty stoneware milk jugs, made in Australia. They come in milk, parchment, celery, raspberry or gun metal colours and cost from £11.50 for the smallest jug up to £33 for the largest. There are matching mixing bowls, from £12 to £99, penguin jugs, and a vinaigrette and dipping dish set, too. Available from ICTC. For more information, call 01603 488019, or visit www.ictc.co.uk. Expert Verdict This mail-order and online company, which sells innovative gadgets for home and garden, has hundreds of clever ideas, including a telescopic ladder that extends to 3.8m and shrinks to just 76cm (£199), remote control adaptors for hard-to-reach sockets (£24.95 for three), a type of putty called Cyber Clean that cleans your computer keyboards (£7.95), and an electric duvet (from £79.95) to keep you extra warm as colder nights approach. To order, call 0844 482 1122. For more information, visit www.expertverdict.com. Lined with linen Lombok This month sees the launch of a new linen range from Lombok, the company renowned for its pieces of chunky, reclaimed hardwood furniture. In keeping with its Far Eastern ethos, the collection includes a Chinese Flower range, with floral motifs and traditional crewelwork on pillowcases (from £9), a cotton-and-linen mix range called Lilly, and rustic hemp table runners. The colours are predictably muted and neutral, designed to complement the furniture. For more information, call 0870 240 7380, or visit www.lombok.co.uk. Reader giveaway BT The new BT Verve 450 handset combines sleek good looks with modern technology, including texting facility, inverse LCD light, two positions (“flat and upright”), a memory that can store up to 200 names, a clock/alarm, call timer and 10 hours’ talktime. It costs £49.99 for a single unit or £79.99 for a twin, and you can register up to five handsets. BT are giving away a BT Verve 450 single unit to each of the first 10 readers who send their name and address in an email to vervestandard@octanepr.com. Birds of a feather Francesca Galloway This leading dealer in, and collector of, 18th, 19th and 20th century textiles is holding a selling exhibition at her West End Gallery. This is the second instalment of the two-part show, concentrating on late 18th and 19th century textiles. Included are chair covers designed for princes, kings and emperors, as well as designs for Morris & Co. Neo-Classicism to Pop: European Textile Design 1790-1970 is at Francesca Galloway, 31 Dover Street, W1 (020 7499 6844; www.francesca galloway.com). The exhibition runs until 28 September. That’s a good idea The offer runs until 19 September. Conditions apply. For more information about this offer visit www.shop.bt.com. ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ [...]... their homes, as I did at Crosshall.’ ■ Crosshall Manor is for sale for 1. 5 million with Fine and Country Call 0845 603 2825, or visit www.fineandcountry.com ■ Lord Vincent Constantine Collection sale, 12 October Lyon & Turnbull, 33 Broughton Place, , Edinburgh, EH1 Call 013 1 557 8844, or visit www.lyonandturnbull.com Tomorrow until 19 September London view at 11 -12 Pall Mall, , SW1 Call 020 7930 911 5... stripped out Estimate £8,000concrete and asbestos 12 ,000: a Regency “improvements”, period rosewood replumbed and credenza (lot 15 5) rewired, threw out wall-to-wall floral carpet and uncovered old oak boards, ripped out grim Fifties fireplaces and restored original features He then added deep sofas and richly coloured upholstery, forests of table lamps and standard lamps and books everywhere Friend of Thatcher... fixtures and fittings at an exceptional price Kitchens, Appliances, Worktops, Sink, Taps & all extras included £795 For a limited time only FREE DELIVERY Hurry while stocks last! Estimate £2,500-£3,500: Please call 011 3 238 17 65 The dining room has an oak block floor and fabric-lined walls two Charles II period gilt and painted bronze lamps with reeded columns (lot 618 ) and feeling to a beautiful property. .. for sale next month, includes 18 th and 19 th century furniture and objects of every description: sculptures in bronze, Paul Storr candlesticks in silver, Swedish commodes, little Russian boxes and Victorian console tables His treasures have rather modest estimates: bronzes start at £200; lighting at £500, for a handsome neoclassical gilt bronze table lamp; a set of four 19 th century specimen paintings... recalls the upheaval of Estimate £3,000-£5,000: 19 th century bronze bust of a Roman emperor (lot 15 6) Estimate £3,000-£5,000: Regency giltwood mirror with eagle cresting (lot 3 31) The drawing room features built-in display units and an open fire with a carved marble surround incessantly moving house He emerged, however, with a love of craftsmanship and uniqueness, and a knack for putting his fine finds together.. .14 AUCTION Evening Standard Homes & Property Wednesday, 12 September 2007 A passion for beauty Crosshall Manor, near St Neots, Cambridgeshire, is a favourite of Baroness Thatcher He began with a bric-a-brac shop, and spent 25 years restoring Crosshall Manor Now Lord Constantine is selling it all, says Katrina... has such sparkle and light,” he says “She’s a dear, dear woman.” He hosted a party at Crosshall for President Bush Senior and Thatcher, six years ago, and the pair evidently fell in love with the place “I couldn’t quite believe it,” he says, proud as a doting parent “When you think of all the grand places they must stay in.” Six months ago, aged 59, he decided to take a break, put house and contents on... than three decades’ trading has allowed him to complete the restoration of Crosshall Manor, a 17 th and 18 th century, Grade II* timber-framed farmhouse that had been almost ruined by a post-war refurbishment when he found it 25 years ago “It had been gutted and modernised in the worst possible way; its heart and soul had been virtually destroyed,” he says “I saw it as a great opportunity to restore the... break, put house and contents on the market, put his charitable work on hold, and treat himself to a gap year or two “I’m not giving up running,” he says “But I like the idea of taking some time out, taking some pressure off myself and being footloose and fancy free I’ll go to Europe — I have some tremendous friends to see — and I want to spend some time in America Of course, there are still wonderful... the trade simply as Vince, is one of the best and longest serving His clients are the royalty of the traditional trade: Apter Fredericks, Mallett, Peter Lipitch, Ronald Phillips But running, however established and loyal your customers, is a seat-of-the-pants endeavour: he can pitch up to the Fulham Road with cabinetry worth six figures and come away with a handsome profit Or he can leave, as the saying . DTZ Residential on 020 7 710 811 6 TP Bennett LLP Evening Standard Homes & Property Wednesday, 12 September 2007 NEW HOMES 5 TO FIND MORE NEW HOMES, VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk spaces. Entrance. Stiff (020 8459 11 33) Bedroom antics Mark York Picture the look Evening Standard Homes & Property Wednesday, 12 September 2007 SHOPPING 12 FOR MORE DESIGN NEWS, VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk/design. sale, 12 October, Lyon & Turnbull, 33 Broughton Place, Edinburgh, EH1. Call 013 1 557 8844, or visit www.lyonandturnbull.com. Tomorrow until 19 September, London view at 11 -12 Pall Mall, SW1.