The decorators at Flat 9, 35 Pont Street, Knightsbridge, have adorned the
walls with Terry O'Neill photographs of Sean Connery; and you could imagine
James Bond feeling quite at home here - although he might struggle to afford
this luxury Central London flat on a civil servant's salary.
Behind the stately but unassuming 19th-century façade lies a 2,150sqft
apartment equipped with the very latest in 21st-century gadgetry: an iPod
port in the kitchen, plasma screen TVs that emerge noiselessly from their
hiding places within chic cabinets, and glass panels that turn from
transparent to opaque at the flick of a switch. The kitchen and bathroom
floors have underfloor heating and surround-sound systems. The kitchen is
compact but beautifully finished, with laquered units, a Gaggenau oven and
an enormous wine fridge with two temperatures, one for white and one for
red.
A few minutes' walk from the “local shop” (Harrods), the restaurants of
Beauchamp Place and designer shops on Sloane Street, the flat could hardly
be better located. It does, however, have its drawbacks. This is not a
property for a family: a cream silk carpet is possibly the least
child-friendly floor covering imaginable, and there is no separate dining
room, just a small breakfast nook. “It is a property for someone who eats
out a lot,” says Daniel Wiggin, a partner at WAEllis, the estate agency
handling the sale. “We think it would suit a City boy or girl, or perhaps a
young couple.” There is also no outside space except for the narrow balcony
that runs along the front of the building.
The other downside is the cost: it is on the market for £8.5 million - quite a
price tag for a three-bedroom flat, particularly in a difficult market. The
lease is 68 years, ground rent is £900 and service charges for the second
half of last year were £3,555.
The Pont Street flat is an example of a popular trend pioneered by the
developer Northacre: the creation of ultra-modern homes behind period
façades. “They are less obvious, more discreet - until you fling open the
doors and see the transformation,” Wiggin says. Moreover, there is
significant demand for this sort of property, particularly for overseas
buyers. Northacre's latest development is the former Lancaster Gate Thistle
Hotel, a Grade II listed terrace overlooking Hyde Park on Bayswater Road.
The 77 apartments being built behind the 90ft façade are expected to be
completed by 2010 and could sell for about £2,200 per sq ft - if they come
on to the open market at all. At present, they are being marketed discreetly
to Northacre's client database: about a quarter of the properties have been
sold. However, there are cheaper examples on the market. Douglas &
Gordon is selling a two-bedroom flat on the third floor of a red-brick block
on Lower Sloane Street, SW1, for £700,000. Outside London, Cluttons
Canterbury is selling a two-bedroom apartment with a state-of-the-art visual
and audio system in a listed mansion house in Waldershare Park, Dover. The
flat, which has access to communal gardens and nine acres of grounds, is on
the market for £400,000.
cluttons.com ; waellis.co.uk
douglasandgordon.com
thelancastershydepark.com
