Marriage of the old and the new in St John’s Wood
Meet the modern townhouse with six floors, a home cinema, a gym, and a spare studio apartment
LONDON TOWNHOUSES are the last traditonal homes in this thoroughly modern city. But increasing demand has inspired a developer to see if it could build one that would take the contemporary market by storm.
Park View, in St John’s Wood, north west London, inhabits a well-established and affluent part of the capital. The area’s home to Lord’s Cricket Ground and Abbey Road Studios – in fact, Sir Paul McCartney bought a house there in the 60s and he’s never left. He’s frequently spotted strolling down St John’s Wood High Street. This leafy location is also a five minute walk away from Primrose Hill and Regent’s Park.
The house itself isn’t a renovation – like most London townhouses on the market – it’s a new build from Private Property Group spread across six floors, accessed via a high-speed lift, epitomising this marriage of old and new.
“London townhouse living has never been so desirable and, appropriately, the property market in London has risen to meet this demand with rising year-on-year values of 12 per cent annually – the fastest ever experienced,” says James Taylor, CEO of Private Property Group.
“With such market growth, a property of this nature represents great investment potential as well as a practical home well-suited to professionals, families, or even the supreme bachelor pad.”
While the exterior of the house maintains a traditional façade, inside Park View bears all the hallmarks of contemporary luxury. The basement is home to a Bowers & Wilkins home cinema, a fully-equipped gym, and a utility room.
The library can be found on the ground floor along with a garage. The first floor is an open plan entertaining space with the kitchen tucked away towards the back of the house. The second floor hosts the first two bedrooms, and the master bedroom can be found on the third floor (both have balconies with a park view, naturally). But the fourth floor is what makes this house a property with possibilities – it’s home to a self-contained studio apartment that can be let out, given to an older relative or young adult, or kept as a guest house. It could even house a live-in nanny.
“What’s more,” adds Taylor, “as a townhouse, this home offers the perfect balance between social spaces and privacy. In the cinema and gym on the basement floor, someone could play music and films as loud as they like without disturbing others trying to sleep.”
Park View’s “media network” ensures all principal rooms are connected to the web. Built-in iPads integrate satellite, telephones, broadband, and music between rooms and allow for lighting, air-conditioning, and blinds to be activated remotely.
A common complaint about townhouses is security. Such complaints don’t apply to Park View, which has been kitted out with CCTV cameras and movement sensors have been fitted to all external doors.
Park View in St John’s Wood is priced at £5.995m. For more information, call Private Property Group on 020 7586 5159 or email sales@parkviewlondon.co.uk.