Developer seeks to cash out of investment in John Nash-designed property with views of Regent’s Park
Developers have stuck an asking price of £185m on a house overlooking Regent’s Park in central London in what would be the UK’s second most expensive home purchase.
The property firm Zenprop is targeting foreign billionaires as potential buyers of 1-18 York Terrace East as it seeks to cash out of a 2016 investment.
Continue reading...Contemporary meets historic in a towering design achievement on the Norfolk coast
I remember the first time we saw this place, it looked terrible,” says Julian Vogel, owner of a restored 18th-century lighthouse in Winterton-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, “but it had such incredible potential.” That was almost 15 years ago and now what stands proud at the end of a pebbly drive in a small seaside village, just metres from rolling sand dunes and the North Sea, is a glorious, light-filled space.
The lighthouse had been converted into a residence by a previous owner who’d bought it in the late 1970s, but there was much work needed to give it new life. Aside from poor wiring and very tired decor, the lighthouse no longer had its original lantern, sold in the 1920s and sent to the Bahamas. In in its place was a concrete slab, installed during the Second World War when the tower was used as a lookout post. When Vogel, CEO of PR agency ModusBPCM and co-founder of Maison Margaux, a tableware hire company, and his family found it, the place had been unoccupied for years.
Continue reading...Contemporary meets historic in a towering design achievement on the Norfolk coast
I remember the first time we saw this place, it looked terrible,” says Julian Vogel, owner of a restored 18th-century lighthouse in Winterton-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, “but it had such incredible potential.” That was almost 15 years ago and now what stands proud at the end of a pebbly drive in a small seaside village, just metres from rolling sand dunes and the North Sea, is a glorious, light-filled space.
The lighthouse had been converted into a residence by a previous owner who’d bought it in the late 1970s, but there was much work needed to give it new life. Aside from poor wiring and very tired decor, the lighthouse no longer had its original lantern, sold in the 1920s and sent to the Bahamas. In in its place was a concrete slab, installed during the Second World War when the tower was used as a lookout post. When Vogel, CEO of PR agency ModusBPCM and co-founder of Maison Margaux, a tableware hire company, and his family found it, the place had been unoccupied for years.
Continue reading...There are three secrets, one of them is all about being lazy…
We all have our gardening heroes, and for me it is without a doubt Dr DG Hessayon. He’s the author of the best-selling “Expert” series of gardening books which, despite being written almost 50 years ago, are still relevant today.
Humans seem to have discovered a weird masochistic love for the flavour of pungent plant defence compounds
Continue reading...There are three secrets, one of them is all about being lazy…
We all have our gardening heroes, and for me it is without a doubt Dr DG Hessayon. He’s the author of the best-selling “Expert” series of gardening books which, despite being written almost 50 years ago, are still relevant today.
Humans seem to have discovered a weird masochistic love for the flavour of pungent plant defence compounds
Continue reading...Soon landlords will be able to take action against renters again, which many fear could lead to a rise in homelessness
After being furloughed from her job as a cleaning manager during lockdown, Denise (54)* is fearful about what the future holds. Her rent and bills add up to £1,000 which leaves her with just £150 a month for groceries, so she has had to rely on her local food bank.
“My landlady keeps harassing me as she wants me out,” says the mother-of-one. “I asked her if we could come to an agreement on the rent while we saw what happened. She went ballistic and demanded I pay it all. I’ve managed to keep paying in full but she’s still on at me to get out. You’re always one step away from eviction.”
Continue reading...A return to the allotment after a few weeks’ absence gives a chance to take stock and revel in the sense of calm
The prodigal returns after five weeks away. The plot’s thickened. Saturday, 6am, I am relieved and contrite, but feeling guilty. No matter what my (good) reasons, I have neglected this place. And at peak summer growing time, too. I am concerned the plot will punish me, won’t understand. My theory is that what works with a vegetable garden is sustained attention. With meadow and some flowering spaces less so.
I turn a corner and there it is. In all its low-sun, high-summer splendour. The sunflowers are tall, the red orache towering, the chicories have bolted and branched into blue flower. I am mostly here to say hello, but also to lift the potatoes. I need the bed for chicories, late-summer salads and hardy leaf.
Continue reading...