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by Simon Barnes

London’s Garden Squares & Secret Spaces

London is full of garden squares – Chester Square, Grosvenor Square, Berkeley Square – the list is endless and the majority of garden squares are located in London’s prime central postcodes. 

Berkeley Square

The flats and apartments that are positioned around communal garden squares will always be attractive because of their green outlook and light aspect; looking out onto any well maintained green space in a city comes at a price.  Those who wish to live on a garden square in London have expectations about the kind of property that matches such a desirable location and of course, remove the square from the equation and the property’s value will shift. 

Personally, my favourite when it comes to garden spaces is less obvious; secret gardens tucked away in unlikely places like the gardens backing onto houses in Green Street and Wood Mews in Mayfair, for me these are special properties . 

Mount Street Gardens, Mayfair

Little do passers-by realise that behind the period frontages of Mayfair townhouses are generous long secluded private gardens to the rear.  The houses benefit from direct garden access making them perfect for parties, entertaining and ideal for children to be able to play safely away from roads or prying eyes.  Ladbroke Square offers similar, although less private garden space with houses on one side enjoying their own gardens directly accessible from the rear. 

Practicality, security and desirability of having your own private garden in London are three important factors that will make these properties in demand and increase their value compared with their counterparts, which lack that secret outdoor space.

Entering a London Garden Square
Entering a London Garden Square

This weekend Grosvenor Square hosts a May Fair: 11am-6pm, 5-6 May 2019 – and his year there’s a British seaside theme with helter skelters, fish and chips, live music and Morris dancing. Details here (from Country & Town House)

Filed Under: LIfestyle, London Tagged With: Berkeley Square, garden square, Grosvenor Square, London Garden Square, Mount Street Gardens

by Simon Barnes

Why the master bedroom is a priority for buyers of prime property

Priorities of life take their shape in this room – the master bedroom. This is where you wake to a new day. This is where you return and reflect on how each day went… and you spend hours in this room sleeping and preparing for the next day. It’s an important space and needs priority attention. The master bedroom is a reflection of you. It should speak to you and create a sanctuary, which is your own intimate private retreat.

Duke’s Mews, on the market with Arlington Residential


Increasingly, the hurried pressure of the outside world and the demands of hectic lifestyles have made homeowners want to retreat from this busy world and feel a sense of peace, well being and calm within their homes; this has elevated the importance of the master suite, drawing inspiration from the luxury hotel interiors domestic design.

Walk-in wardrobes

After the kitchen and main reception area, the walk-in wardrobe will add most value.  Prospective buyers will usually have made their decision after seeing the kitchen and reception room.  If you can get them to the second floor, then assuming the master bedroom has a spacious, well planned walk-in wardrobe, complete with separate his and hers space, then more often than not, you will seal the deal!

Master bedrooms and suites, just behind kitchen and family living areas, are the most important areas in our projects today.  Gone are the days when these luxury suites are just a larger than average bedroom with an en-suite. Today’s master suites encompass a large sleeping area, a sitting area, sometimes a connected study room, his and hers walk-in wardrobes with separate dressing rooms, freestanding bespoke designed cabinets and storage for belts, watches, shoes and handbags, and either one or two en-suites.

Filed Under: LIfestyle, Luxury Tagged With: luxury lifestyle, master bedroom, property intelligence, Simon Barnes

by Simon Barnes

Superyacht owners: insight, trends and chartering

Superyacht owners fall into two types – those who want to be on show and be seen in all the right places like the Cote d’Azur and those, who are an emerging new breed, who want to explore unusual places such as the Galapagos Islands or North Canada.

superyacht

St Tropez is a magnet for the owners who hire a yacht or a boat from the marina only to sail around the corner and moor up at Pampalone beach for a couple of weeks.  Some would argue that spending in the region of £1 million per week to charter a luxury boat only to stay in the same place is a little peculiar, but you pay your money and you make your choice and this is a tried and tested formula by those who can….

The new breed that charter agents are noticing, are owners looking for the spirit of adventure.  Over the last 15-20 years, the style and build of boats has changed dramatically and now that GPS and wifi and vastly improved communications can be installed into a luxury boat, it means that owners can set sail and still remain in touch or even work as they travel across the sea.

st tropez superyacht

The key to successful chartering is knowing the right agent.  Experienced local agents will know the best and most interesting places to seek out.  They will advise on the most suitable bo  at and which marinas, harbours and ports will accommodate various sized boats.  Rather like property agents, there are the great and the good in the boat charter world, there are the likes of Savills who have offices and representatives in the prime places such as London, Antibes and Monaco and there are ‘hustlers’, those with insider knowledge, who make calls and make things happen to procure the superyacht no one thought was available.  It is a competitive market and there are deals to be had if you know who to go to.

Superyacht costs and technology

Costs are astronomical with fuel being one of the biggest.  I was once alongside a superyacht off the Sicilian cost, that took four hours to refuel and at the end the owner handed over £250,000.  Taxes and the cost of moving a boat from one beautiful location to another does not come cheap and can cost in the region of £10,000 just to move from one bay to another.  Running costs can be around 10 per cent of the value of the boat; so some private owners will charter their boat to recoup the running costs each year.  Even when a boat is standing still the costs continue with generators and air conditioning to be maintained.

Luxury yacht

These days technology extends to tracking superyachts across the globe, so in the summer from May to September you can see plenty of boats moored up along the coast of Ibiza for the club and party scene. Certainly the Med sees the most boats flocking to enjoy the host of islands and social life from June to August.  Croatia and Montenegro are now becoming popular new hotspots and the Ionian Islands are a perennial favourite.  In the winter months the Caribbean plays host to fabulous boats and glamorous visitors celebrating New Year on one of the luxury hideaway islands like St Barts and Richard Branson’s Nevis.

Filed Under: LIfestyle, Luxury Tagged With: Simon Barnes, Super-yacht, superyacht

by Joshua Buckley

Jetsmarter – connecting travellers to flights

H. Barnes and Co associate Olivia Innocenti Buckley was recently appointed as a brand ambassador of private jet company JetSmarter.

“It was love at first sight when I first heard about the company and their concept and even more so after meeting the people that work there” says Olivia.  “A  team of young, dynamic and charming people is what makes the Jetsmarter family so special.”

JetSmarter event
Olivia Innocenti Buckley (centre), India Langton (left), Amanda Shepard (right) at JetSmarter event


About JetSmarter

JetSmarter was founded in 2012 by Russian Entrepreneur Sergey Petrossov and is one of the most prominent private jet startups. It started in the US, with its headquarters in Florida, and has now started to expand into Europe, focusing not only on the main European cities and financial centres, but also on the major holiday hotspots such as Ibiza and Nice – targeting the many weekend jet setters.

Everything is done from their slick app and people pay a yearly fee to join one of JetSmarter’s three different membership tiers which gets them access to the private jet booking system:

  • ‘SIMPLE’ costs $5000 per year and it grants you access to the app which then lets you book “empty leg” flights for free.
  • ‘SMART’ lets you book seats on jets chartered by JetSmarter that run regularly scheduled flights, and also lets you charter your own jet. This is the most popular type of membership and costs $15,000 a year.
  • ‘SOPHISTICATED’ costs $50,000 and lets you make four outstanding reservations, and you can book seats for other people, even if you’re not on the flight.

JetSmarter App

JetSmarter Operations

Jet Shuttles:  Scheduled flights throughout Europe, North America, and the Middle East. These are posted a month in advance on the app and members can book on all shuttles under 3 hours at no extra cost to them.

Jet Deals: These flights are all complimentary for members. They are repositioning legs for fully paid charter trips and they are flying empty. JetSmarter allows members to ride on these legs and bring guests at no extra cost as well. JS post thousands of these legs every month.

On Demand Charter: If you need to charter a private jet, the JetSmarter app is able to show you options within 30 seconds. It will show you pictures, pricing, safety ratings, and tons of other information so you can make an informed decision and make a request right through the app within minutes of your time.

Members also have access to 24/7 concierge services who can assist with any lifestyle need you can think of.

JetSmarter connects travellers to flights in 50 markets around the world, including New York, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Atlanta, London, Paris, Moscow, Dubai, Milan and other business and leisure travel hubs.

Founder Sergey Petrossov said he wants to expand to be available in 80 to 100 markets by the end of 2017.


From an original article on the Wild Free Innocent luxury lifestyle blog; written by Olivia Innocenti Buckley and used by permission.

To read the full article, please click HERE

Filed Under: LIfestyle, Olivia Innocenti Buckley Tagged With: Olivia Innocenti Buckley, private jet, private jet company, Sergey Petrossov, Wild Free Innocent

by Joshua Buckley

Sotheby’s opening soon in Dubai

Sotheby’s has just announced that it will be opening an office and a gallery in Dubai run by Katia Nounou.

Katia Nounou Sotheby's Dubai
Katia Nounou


Sotheby’s Dubai Office will be run by the amazing Katia Nounou, who recently moved to Dubai after being part of the Sotheby’s private client group in London since 2008. Katia’s focus has always been that of generating new Middle Eastern clients as well as nurturing a new generation of collectors globally. With her Iranian and Iraqi background, in-depth knowledge of the market and contacts in the region, Katia has been central in cultivating Arab and Iranian Contemporary art at Sotheby’s.

As the head of Sotheby’s new office in Dubai , Katia will now focus on developing a comprehensive new calendar of events to build on Sotheby’s numerous travelling exhibitions across the region. Her role will encompass liaising with the Sotheby’s network of clients, as well as organising exhibitions and lecture series to showcase myriad highlights from Sotheby’s worldwide sales.

To coincide with the official opening , Sotheby’s has arranged one of the largest and wide ranging exhibitions which will open to the public on the 14th March. This exhibition will be led by a preview of Modern and Contemporary Arab and Iranian artworks from the London 20th Century Art / Middle East auction.

Dubai

Bringing together worldwide highlights from Sotheby’s international auction calendar spanning the forthcoming season, the exhibition will star highly sought-after masterpieces by celebrated artists from the region alongside myriad pieces of historical importance and a selection of extraordinary jewellery and watches.

The view will take place at Level 1, Gate Village Building 3, Dubai International Financial Centre, UAE from Tuesday 14 – Sunday 19 March 2017. The exhibition is open to the public from 10am – 8pm (please note an early closing time of 5pm on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19) with events ranging from gallery tours to a book launch with Rose Issa and Juliet Cestar.

Dubai International Business centre - photo credit Jackardsiffant
Dubai International Business centre – photo credit Jackardsiffant


Located in the DIFC, Sotheby’s Dubai will present an expanded programme of year-round events, including selling and non-selling exhibitions, events and talks, reflecting the spectrum of Sotheby’s international sales and extensive client services. The office will complement the existing network of offices across the region.


This article first published on Wild Free Innocent by Olivia Innocent Buckley

Dubai International Business Centre image by Jackardsiffant (own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Filed Under: LIfestyle, Luxury, Olivia Innocenti Buckley Tagged With: Katia Nounou, Olivia Innocent Buckley, Sotheby's Dubai, Sotheby’s, Wild Free Innocent

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