From its bustling metropolises to quaint villages, the UK offers diverse locations for luxury living. Spectacular residential properties range from historic country castles to cutting-edge city apartments. In this new series, The National showcases the best and most luxurious the UK has to offer.
Featured property
Gilston Road, Chelsea, London, SW10 - £13.45m/$18.1m
Ford almighty
Tom Ford is the personification of fashionista - and his dedication to fashion is felt in every nook and cranny of Gilston Road.
Architectural parlance is dominated by the concept of reflection: properties being either reflections of their surroundings or their owners.
The man in charge of selling the property, Knight Frank's Charles Olver, is in no doubt to which category Gilston Road belongs.
'It feels like it has been designed by one of the world’s most stylish people," he says.
"It's a proper entertaining home. A statement piece."
The swing to haute couture marks a departure from the last instalment of The National's UK luxury property series where readers were given the chance to look inside Seton Castle, a frequent haunt of Mary Queen of Scots.
With the Elizabethan era not renowned for its sense of fashion, it would be a stretch to call the bodice-wearing, full-skirted Mary a fashionista. It's less of a stretch to apply the epithet to ex Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent creative director Mr Ford.
Gilston Road is located in The Boltons Conservation Area in Chelsea, London, and it is reputed to be the third most expensive street in the UK.
Given the post code's prestige, it is unsurprising that it is home (or second/third/fourth home etc.) to a panoply of Middle Eastern and other royal families. Indeed the Thai royal family has a home nearby, Mr Olver revealed.
The earlier allusion to the property's suitability for single men wasn't merely a contrivance allowing mention of one of Mr Ford's filmic oeuvre - the house is ideal for a man about town.
"It's designed for bachelors or people who come to London frequently on business," said Mr Olver.
At this stage the temptation is to suggest it would be a good fit for 'nocturnal animals' - but this would undoubtedly be a contrivance.
Gilston Place - on the runway
One of the property's most compelling charms is its duality.
"It's like a country mansion in the centre of town," said Mr Olver.
"A walled garden goes around the entire house - and that just does not exist in London, let alone other locations.
"It's so light and green you really could be in the country."
The sense of self containment is extended to the house itself. It's detached on three sides and affords that most valuable of commodities in London: privacy.
This said, when privacy isn't required the house is born to entertain - and its stainless steel walls, oak panels, white alabaster stairway and black marble flooring mean cleaning up after a decadent soiree wouldn't be too much of a drag.
These interiors remain mostly unchanged from the time of Tom Ford's refurbishment.
Gilston Place highlights
- Three bedrooms
- Three bathrooms
- Three reception rooms
- Walled garden
- Cellar
- Gym
And here's the floor plan:
Gilston Place is on the market with Knight Frank
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Tom Ford gallery
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