Trends: peacock coloursPage 6

park-side living P4 Boxing day homeware sales P8 spotlight on covent garden P10 chuck out the poinsettia P12

Homes&Property

Wednesday 18 December 2013

London’s best property search website: homesandproperty.co.uk

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New homes:smart moves in 2014

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Homes & Property, northcliffe House, 2 derry street, Kensington, London W8 5TT.

Find the Neostar Powerball PTC heater in our online shop

Buy one and get one free£800,000: Poplars Farm in Olveston, bristol, comes with bountiful possibilities and bags of earning potential. It already has five bedrooms including two in the converted loft, plus a self-contained annexe you could rent out and two detached stone barns, one converted

into a two-bedroom holiday let and the other with planning in place for three bedrooms. There are also stables, paddocks, one and a half acres to horse around in and 14 more available to buy — the perfect package for a dream holiday retreat. Through chappell & matthews.

TO ORDERToday is the last chance to order the neostar Powerball heater for pre-christmas delivery.remember: when you buy one, you get another one free. simply visit homesand property.co.uk/shop

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Out of town buy of the week with your own orchard

Life changer a dreamy B&B down on the farm

London buy of the week one sweet spread

A north-south divide down by the riverside

HOMES along the south bank of the Thames command a big price premium, according to analysis by property

consultant Savills.Researchers at the firm studied all

sales within 100 metres of the Thames between Teddington Lock and Royal Docks, and found the average price of a home with a direct view of the water was 18-20 per cent more than an inland property.

The waterfront premium for south bank homes is typically 35.4 per cent — because they get a view north, while north bank properties, despite being more expensive, carry only a 16.3 per cent premium, as their view is generally less desirable.

The most affordable river views are east and west of central London, where the average flat costs £475,000 to £495,000.

While the Thames hinterland on the south bank is a less attractive place to live, glamorous new riverside developments such as those at Nine

Elms and Bankside are becoming part of the capital’s “prime” market. This also goes some way to explaining the larger price premium.

Development on the north side, especially along the embankments, is curtailed by strict conservation rules. However, Riverwalk, above, a new scheme at Millbank, is an exception. A Sixties office block has been bulldozed to make way for two new

Smart moves

The word from the street David Spittles

£800,000: this five-bedroom village house in broad marston, close to stratford-upon-avon, has almost two acres of gardens and an orchard. The bespoke kitchen/dining room offers granite worktops, integrated appliances and stone floor tiles. beams and a log burner in the family room, plus an inglenook fireplace and stove in the sitting room, ramp up the cosiness. Through ra bennett.

Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/outoftownbroad■

£825,000: a rather jammy buy is this fabulous 1,100sq ft live/work apartment at The Jam Factory, the sought-after development of the former Hartley’s building in se1, five minutes from lively bermondsey street and only 10 minutes from borough market. Inside is anything but conventional with the vast, open-plan living area featuring sparkling columns, walls painted deep red or papered in eye-catching patterns, and heated floor tiles that flow into a high-spec kitchen/breakfast area. both bedrooms continue the quirky

theme with a mix of polished concrete and wood-panelled walls. Through chesterton Humberts.

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Visit homesand property.co.uk/lifechanger poplars

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DON’T miss today’s last chance to order the Neostar Powerball PTC ceramic oscillating ball heater for only £49.99 for pre-Christmas delivery. And remember — when you buy one, you get one free.

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Homes & PropertyNew homeshomesandproperty.co.uk with

Born-again Bayswater’s smart flats

10,000 new homes in a cyclists’ paradise

buildings, one 17 storeys high, linked by a central podium and providing 113 flats. A street-level restaurant and gallery are planned as part of the development, and Henry Moore’s sculpture, Locking Piece, is on site. Flats will be released next year.

More than 13,000 riverfront homes will be built over the next five years, accounting for 9.4 per cent of all new homes in inner London.

In the thIck of It in westminster

THE O2 arena has put Greenwich Peninsula on the map for many Londoners. In Zone 2 and with its own Jubilee line station, the former gas works site alongside the Thames is set to become a distinct neighbourhood with up to 10,000 new homes.

The site’s owner, Hong Kong entrepreneur Henry Cheng Kar-Shun, who has risen above the Duke of Westminster to become second on the UK property rich list behind another Chinese billionaire, Wang Jianlin, will create this new waterfront community around 48 acres of open space, bigger than Green Park.

Most of the planned housing is high-rise and high-density, with an accent

on public space rather than private gardens, to form a cluster of neighbourhoods where pedestrians and cyclists have priority over cars.

Bordering this land is Greenwich Millennium Village, which kick-started regeneration at the peninsula back in 2000. It comprises a mix of architecturally striking buildings, including barrell-roofed apartment blocks overlooking an ecology park, lake and yacht club.

Millennium Terrace is the latest phase and features duplexes with sheltered “sky” terraces screened by glass walls. Prices from £329,945. Call 020 8305 2712.

Show apartments are open for viewing during the holiday period.

MODERN housing developments in the heart of the “Westminster Village” are rare but when they do spring up they offer luxury living in handsome, portered blocks.

Exciting new schemes within a short walk of the Palace of Westminster include Abell & Cleland, the redevelopment of Abell House and Cleland House, left.

The Berkeley Homes scheme, where prices for a two-bedroom apartment start from £1.8 million (visit homesandproperty.co.uk/abell) is set in landscaped gardens between Millbank Tower and the Palace of Westminster, on the corner of John Islip Street and Page Street. It

is surrounded by restaurants and pubs that are the scene of daily political intrigue.

There is a residents’ gym, swimming pool, sauna and steam room, a residents’ business suite, 24-hour concierge services, and underground parking is available.

Elsewhere in Westminster, Ashley Gardens, Morpeth Mansions and Carlisle Place are similarly grand, red-brick mansion blocks close to Victoria station. They offer spacious apartments packed with period features, while attractive, ex-local authority mansion blocks with improved communal areas are making popular rental investments.

baysWater is renouncing its seedy past, its b&bs and tourist hotels, and selling itself as a family area of new homes. the latest project is the former comfort Inn budget hotel on Craven Hill gardens.

amazon Property has developed it as the Hempel collection of 12 lateral apartments and three townhouses. the new homes, built behind a retained white-stucco façade, have double-height luxurious interiors and views across a private

garden square. call 020 7861 5499. the Queens Cinema in nearby bishops bridge road is being redeveloped into 16 flats. the splendid art deco entrance is being kept and new architectural elements include a “bauhaus-style” exterior clad in glazed terracotta panels.

shops at street level improve an unloved corner, while a new traffic system is creating a public space at the junction with Westbourne Grove. call Knight Frank on 020 7861 5499.

Former hotel: Hempel Collection lateral flats and townhouses, Bayswater

From £329,945: for duplexes at Millennium Terrace, the latest phase of Greenwich Millennium Village, right,

ShowroomsIslington: 408-410 St John Street EC1, 020 7833 8181Chelsea: 279 Kings Road SW3, 020 7751 5936Swiss Cottage: 61 Fairfax Road NW6, 020 7372 9887Kingston upon Thames: 2-4 Eden Walk KT1, 020 8549 4800

NEXT DAY DELIVERY

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Homes & Property Affordable homes homesandproperty.co.uk with

Where buying a flat is just a walk in the park

Living close to a park eases stress and boosts happiness. Ruth Bloomfield finds ideal flats for first-timers near Burgess Park’s 113 green acres, only minutes from London Bridge

Living near an urban park can make people happier, less stressed-out and generally more satisfied with their lives, according to the latest

academic studies. A University of Exeter team tracked UK households between 1991 and 2008 and discovered that the greener the neighbourhood, the more joyful the locals.

Which means future residents of Parkside should be all smiles, since the development is moments away from one of London’s biggest public parks.

The other reason to be upbeat about this scheme is the pricing. There are 42 one- and two-bedroom flats which will be sold on a shared-ownership basis, and the starting price is £59,100 for a 30 per cent share in a one-bed-room home with a total market value of £197,000. Two-bedroom flats start

from £76,500 for 30 per cent, full market value £255,000. There are also three-bedroom flats on the site, priced at £103,500 for 30 per cent of a home with a full market price of £345,000.

Parkside sits just off the Old Kent Road in Southwark, and the area’s most obvious attraction is its proximity to the 113 acres of Burgess Park — to put that into context, Regent’s Park is just under 100 acres.

FaceliFtBurgess Park recently had a multimil-lion-pound facelift, and facilities include a new £1.1 million BMX track, a fitness centre, an ornamental lake and barbecue areas. Cricket and tennis clubs are also based in the park.

The Old Kent Road is not London’s most beautiful thoroughfare, but there’s plenty going on. Rap star Ms

Dynamite recently named nigerian restaurant 805 her favourite in Lon-don, both for food (“tiger prawns as big as your fist”) and atmosphere. Local pubs include the Thomas A Becket, a great gastropub overlooking Burgess Park, while the area’s cosmopolitan community is reflected in its range of independent shops. There is also a use-ful selection of chain stores.

culture on tapThe South London gallery, 15 minutes’ walk away, offers contemporary art exhibitions, live art events and film screenings. For nightlife head to the Bussey Building, a tram depot saved from demolition in 2007 by the com-munity (peckhamvision.org) and trans-formed into club-cum-exhibition space with an epic 5,000sq ft roof terrace and an open-air cinema club.

tube link-upLocal transport links are great. South Bermondsey station is just under a mile away, with trains to London Bridge in four minutes. An annual season ticket costs £1,216. Parkside is also just over a mile from Queens Road Peckham sta-tion (Zone 2), via the Surrey Linear Canal Park, with direct Overground trains to Canary Wharf in two stops.

The area is not blessed with a Tube station but this summer London Mayor Boris Johnson agreed to fund a feasibil-ity study into extending the Bakerloo line south through Southwark and Lewisham, which could bring a station to the Old Kent Road.

Ben Mole, senior marketing executive at Family Mosaic (familymosaic.co.uk), the housing association running the Parkside scheme, said completion is expected early in the new year. The flats

come with white goods, smart kitchens and bathrooms, and oak laminate floor-ing. Each has at least one balcony — some have two or three — although wisely, those homes which face out on to the Old Kent Road have been equipped with glazed-in winter gardens to protect them from the almost-con-stant roar of traffic. There is also a com-munal sixth-floor roof terrace.

“it is a really nice, green, family-friendly area with good schools, but you have got easy transport into central London, too,” says Mole.

People already living or working in Southwark get priority for the scheme which is earmarked for those on low and medium incomes. For the one-bed-room flats, household income must be no more than £31,881, rising to £37,670 for two-bedroom flats and £43,729 for three-bedroom properties.

From £59,100: for 30 per cent of a one-bedroom flat at Parkside, above and above left, off the Old Kent Road in Southwark

� Wednesday 18 december 2013 evening standard

Homes & Property Design homesandpropertyhomesandproperty

The peacock, the proudest of birds, has been strutting its stuff, with iridescent feathers on wallpaper at osborne & Little and

Sanderson, and on luxury furniture fabrics at Boeme. The jewel shades of turquoise, emerald, sapphire and purple are lending a lustrous sheen to velvets and silks, and a gorgeous glow to glassware and ceramics.

peacocks have been a symbol of wealth, beauty and rebirth since ancient times. The artists of the aesthetic Movement and art Nouveau, über-trendy at the turn of the last century, used a peacock as their motif, and you can see it on buildings and in archives all over europe. The birds strutted in the gardens of aristocrats and their feathers were a mark of opulence, even decadence.

Says Rebecca craig, head of design for the Sanderson studio: “The peacock feather is organic, a symbol of natural beauty, able to carry vibrant yet sophisticated shades. people are definitely getting bolder in their use of colour, and this trend will continue into the new year.”

1 cushions from left to right are: padua malachite shaded wool, £60; kashgar jade cotton sateen, £79; Fergana jade embroidered silk, £90; orsoglio cobalt striped satin, £65. all by Designers Guild, 267/277 king’s Road, SW3 (020 7893 7200; designersguild.com).

2 peacock wallpaper by Matthew Williamson at osborne & Little is £98 a roll (020 7352 1456; osborneandlittle.com).

3 Jewel-coloured glass is cut by hand then polished to a high sheen for these faceted vases. From £34 to £44 at West elm, 209 Tottenham court Road, W1 (020 7637 9150; westelm.com).

peacock proud

Design trendsDesign trends

4 peacock decoration with real feathers and a clip to attach it to branches — or wherever you think it will look pretty — £5.95 at Rigby & Mac (rigbyandmac.com).

5 cushion with peacock feather pattern, £39. Bed throw in henna, £46 a metre (0844 543 9500: sanderson-uk.com).

6 This chair is upholstered in the striking paon design from Boeme (boeme.co.uk).

7 an elegant scent bottle, £92, from renowned London-born glassmaker Bob crooks (bobcrooks.com).

8 The classic Baroque Bourgie table lamp designed by Ferruccio Laviani for kartell now comes with its intricately cut base in jewel colours. price £196 from lifestylebazaar.com.

ByBarbara Chandler

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perty.co.uk with Homes & PropertyInteriorsperty.co.uk with

Get your home party-ready

There’s nothing like decking your halls to put you in the festive mood. Add magic this year with tips from two experts, says Kate Burnett

AS YOU might expect, Annabel Lewis, founder of the long-established favourite for beautiful and unusual trimmings, VV Rouleaux, has decorating running through her veins. Any excuse to drape her home is good with her. “This year is definitely a sparkly, glittery Christmas,” she says. “I make leaves by spraying feathers and fern branches with glitter.

“A can of glitter spray is a quick and easy way to transform anything — but always do the spraying outside.

“I have made a Christmas tree from an

so they gleam. I keep several sets of decorations (five trunkfuls in a dedicated shed!) and choose a different mix each year.

“I am very organised and buy my tree at the end of November. No matter where you are you can make a trip to a small wood and collect lots of greenery — fir branches, ferns, foliage and holly. This is a free and easy way to decorate banis-ters and mantelpieces and make table centrepieces.

“Buy yourself loads of ribbon at a good old-fashioned draper, or a street market stall — red and green tartan always looks good. Tie the branches on to the banis-ters with the ribbon, leaving the ribbon ends to drape over the side.

“I love the scent of Christmas — my favourite candle is Ralph Lauren’s Holiday fragrance — and my guests really love it when my home smells festive. I hang oranges studded with cinnamon, as cinnamon has a real Christmas perfume.

“Children like to help make decora-tions so I always sit down with my son and cut out paper shapes. He loves decorating the tree. My mother loved Christmas and she has definitely passed that feeling on to me. I always look forward to it.”

Visit katharinepooley.com■

apple tree branch that I brought in from the garden and covered with vintage French jewellery tied on with ribbons. If you want to give a new lease of life to your decorations, tie your favourite old ornaments to the tree with new ribbon.”

She recommends 68mm ribbon, wire-edged so that it will hold its shape.

“If you want to change the colour of your baubles you can paint or spray them a new chosen colour.

“Collect your old light bulbs (through-out the year) and spray those too, then spray branches gold, place them in a vase and hang decorations from them. Round up a few friends to help you; open a festive bottle of wine and have fun.”

Visit vvrouleaux.com or call 020 7224 5179.

Katharine Pooleyinterior designer

THE ultra high-end interior designer Katharine Pooley, admits: “I am very, very traditional when it comes to Christ-mas. For me it should be warm, inviting

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and colourful. I start with a colour as a theme but always add in red, gold and silver. These three colours are so rich and festive, they are hard to resist.

“Change the accessories in your main room to red velvet cushions, and drape warm, crushed-berry coloured throws over the backs of the chairs. If you have small silver objects around, polish them

Richly festive: a red, gold and silver theme is always a winner for a Yuletide table

All a-gleam: polish the silver and gather cones and berries, says Katharine Pooley

Bright and beautiful: ribbons and trimmings from VV Rouleaux

Buttons and bows: tie trinkets to a branch with ribbon for a whimsical Christmas tree

annabel lewisvv rouleaux founder

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Some of the big-name sales start online on Christmas morning. Katie Law tracks down designer homeware for the bargain hunters

1 TwenTyTwenTyoneDecember 27 online and January 4in store, until stock runs out.Hans Wegner’s CH445 armchair is down from £3,079 to £769, CKR’s pendant lights in various colours (pictured) are reduced from £169 to £109 and Mathieu Mategot’s Nagasaki stools are down from £238 to £166 (twentytwentyone.com).

2 Chesney’sDecember 27 to January 31 Some fireplaces half price. The stately Devonshire surround (pictured) is down from £1,140 to £940 (chesneys.co.uk).

3 ArAm sTore January 4 to February 9Big reductions on selected items including the Series 7 side chair in red lacquer, down from £430 to £129, and the Medici chair in red lacquered wood (pictured), down from £859 to £601.30 (aram.co.uk).

4 roger oATesJanuary 9 to February 1Seconds, sample stock and remnants of runners and carpets include this Newbury crimson runner in 100 per cent wool down from £112 to £59 a linear metre (rogeroates.com).

5 ColefAx And fowlerJanuary 24This one-day sale features lovely fabrics and wallpapers, some with a 70 per cent discount, at the Royal Horticultural Halls, Lindley Hall, Elverton Street, SW1 (colefax.com).

6 sCPJanuary 2 to February 2Ex-display and discontinued designer items in this month-long sale include this Matthew Hilton Balzac armchair in Utah Russet from SCP East, half-price at £1,320.50 (scp.co.uk).

7 roChe-BoBoisDecember 27 until stocks run out.A winemaker’s storage display cabinet is reduced from £7,210 to £3,600. An ex-display Impact leather sofa is down from £10,140 to £6,100. Shown is a Flap bookcase (roche-bobois.com).

8 heAl’sBoxing Day to February 2, with furniture pre-sale already on.Heal’s Skanda sofa down from £1,295 to £648, Branksome large teapots (right) down from £90 to £63

and Soho at Heal’s Cell extending shelving unit down from £1,295 to £695 (heals.co.uk).

9 CliPPings.Com Christmas Day to January 31Designer homeware bargains include large Boutique waffle cushions down from £65 to

£49, the Tango sofa (pictured) by Couch down from £2,199 to £1,760, and Lean Man shelving by And Then Design, reduced from

£375 to £263 (clippings.com).

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To find a home in Covent Garden, visithomesandproperty.co.uk/coventgarden

£499,950a one-bedroom flat on the first floor of aldwych buildings, just off drury Lane in Parker mews, Wc2.Through chesterton Humberts.

homesandproperty.co.uk/park■

£2.7 millionTHis three-bedroom warehouse conversion penthouse in macklin street, Wc2, has access to three roof terraces with panoramic views. Through Knight Frank.

homesandproperty.co.uk/mack■

£899,950a HigH-sPec conversion flat with one bedroom, lift and concierge in bedford street in the heart of covent garden. Through ea shaw.

homesandproperty.co.uk/bed■

£1,675,000a sPLiT-LeveL two-bedroom flat in Tavistock street, Wc2, with a porter and shared courtyard garden. Through stirling ackroyd.

homesandproperty.co.uk/tav■

Enjoy the street art, culture and cocktails

Lively, lovely and a great place to live, Covent Garden is the ancient heart of London and remains a fashionable favourite today, discovers Anthea Masey

THE busy London quarter of Covent Garden was named after the medieval walled garden and orchard of Westminster Abbey and

convent. Then in the early 17th century, the landowner, the fourth Earl of Bedford, asked architect Inigo Jones to design grand houses for London’s wealthy. Inspired by towns he had seen in Italy, Jones designed a large, open square with a church as its centrepiece. The grand houses have long gone but St Paul’s — the actors’ church — and the Piazza remain to this day in a district that has become a major tourist attraction and is home to about 6,000 residents.

The Earl of Bedford was not the only developer. Fifty years later another landowner, Thomas Neale, built a series of streets radiating out from a small circus with an obelisk at its centre on land north of the central Piazza, close to the church of St Giles. This is Seven Dials, an area criss-crossed by the same close-grained network of streets laid out by Neale. This year, in the run-up to Christmas

both the Piazza and Seven Dials are celebrating the season with a blaze of coloured lights, festive food, street performers and special shopping deals.

Covent Garden sits between Strand to the south, Charing Cross Road to the west, Shaftesbury Avenue and High Holborn to the north and Kingsway to the east. For many years it was a run-down area dominated by London’s wholesale fruit and vegetable market. After the market moved to Nine Elms in 1974, local residents fought a fierce battle to save the neighbourhood from redevelopment plans that would have pushed through new roads, destroying many fine buildings.

Today, there is a further transformation under way. In 2006, property company Capital & Counties (known as CapCo) acquired most of the buildings around the Piazza. CapCo’s stated aim is to turn Covent Garden into “the best retail and residential district in the capital”. On the retail front, CapCo persuaded Apple to open its largest store in the Piazza, while Chanel and

Dior have opened specialist beauty stores in the market building. Two leading New York restaurant owners have also been reeled in. In February Keith McNally opened a branch of his famed New York eaterie Balthazar and an adjacent bakery on the corner of Russell Street and Wellington Street, and in July Danny Meyer opened the first UK branch of his Shake Shack burger chain in the market building.

what there is to buyMost Covent Garden homes are above commercial premises, although there are also warehouse conversions, tenement flats and a handful of houses. Estate agent EA Shaw (020 7240 2255) is selling a top-floor, three-bedroom flat in a former warehouse in Macklin Street for £2.75 million, while Foxtons (020 3617 8900) is selling a first-floor tenement flat with one bedroom in Parker Mews, close to Drury Lane, for £499,950.The area attracts: buyers come from the UK, Europe — especially Italy — and Southeast Asia. Estate agent James Burrows of Covent Garden specialist EA Shaw says most are after a second home, to use as a London base or because they have children at school or university in the capital. The average price per square foot is about £1,500 although for some of the newer period conversions around the Piazza it’s about £2,400.

SpotlightCovent Garden

Photographs:: Graham Hussey

Below right: street artists perform in the West Piazza and in the North Hall

Below: expect to see more of model Cara Delevingne — one of Burberry’s “faces” — in Covent Garden. The top British brand this week opened its first UK stand-alone beauty store in the Piazza

Snow scene: the world’s first Lego snow globe, made with 120,000 bricks and featuring a mini London Eye, in the West Piazza

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check the stats

A breakdown of the local schools The latest housing developments in Covent GardenThe best streets, and the most expensive ones — not always the same thingThe lowdown on the Covent Garden rental sceneHow this area compares with the rest of the UK on property pricesSmart maps to plot your property search

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Go online for more

For all this and more, visit homesand property.co.uk/ spotlightcoventgarden

TeST YoUr KnoWleDGe

Where are Charlie Chaplin, noël Coward, vivien Leigh, ivor novello and richard Beckinsale united? There is a clue in the picture, find the answer at homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightcoventgarden.

■WHAT HOMES COST:Buying in covent garden (Average prices)one-bedroom flat: £805,000two-bedroom flat: £1.92 millionthree-bedroom flat: £2.66 million

Source: zoopla.co.uk

renting in covent garden (Average rates)one-bedroom flat: £2,675 a monthtwo-bedroom flat: £4,321 a monththree-bedroom flat: £5,751 a month

Source: zoopla.co.uk

NEXT TIME: Islington. Do you live there? Tell us what you think @HomesProperty

Have YoUr SaY covent garden

@HudsonsProperty covent Garden area tip: sticks’n’sushi restaurant — unique cuisine combining sushi and yakitori: sticksnsushi.com

@CBre_UK_resi some great restaurants in cG — we especially love the 10 cases on endell st, great little bistrot with wine as its main focus!

@HudsonsProperty covent Garden tips: capco is planning a resi and retail hub between King st and Floral street — it will be another Wc2 gem!

@HudsonsProperty covent Garden tips: London Transport museum is a must for kids and intrigued adults, on the south-east side of the Piazza.

@HudsonsProperty covent Garden tips: The russell penthouses are achieving £2,500 per sq ft, a new high for covent Garden!

Staying power: Covent Garden is seen as a good long-term investment so people are tending to hang on to their homes in the hope of seeing significant capital growth.Up and coming: nowhere in Covent Garden is cheap. The entry price is about £500,000 for a one-bedroom flat in a tenement off Drury Lane.

ShopS and reStaurantSThis is one of London’s favourite shopping destinations, offering everything from big brands such as Apple, Burberry and Opening

Ceremony in King Street, to high street chains in Long Acre. There are also young fashion brands in Thomas Neal’s Centre off Seven Dials, individually made craft items at the Apple Market in the market building, and long-established shops such as Arthur Beale, the yacht chandlery on Shaftesbury Avenue.

Some of the original alternative Covent Garden spirit survives in Neal’s Yard, a quaint little courtyard off Monmouth Street where the Neal’s Yard beauty business and the Neal’s Yard Dairy — still there —started life. The Aram Store in Drury Lane is one of the capital’s leading retailers of designer furniture.

A wide range of restaurants serves shoppers and theatregoers. L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon has two Michelin stars, while celebrity haunt The Ivy is a long-standing favourite. Both are in West Street. Rules in Maiden Lane offers traditional British fare, while Joe Allen in Exeter Street is the actors’ choice. For fish and chips, there’s Rock and Sole Plaice in Endell Street, and French restaurant Mon Plaisir is in Monmouth Street.

Balthazar, in Russell Street, was the year’s most anticipated new opening. Other favourites include the Opera Tavern in Catherine Street for tapas, Moti Mahal for Indian cuisine in Great Queen Street, a branch of Russell Norman’s Polpo in Maiden Lane, and his Jewish deli, Mishkin’s, also in Catherine Street.

Open space: sitting on a restaurant terrace and people watching is Covent Garden’s favourite outdoor activity, although there is a pretty little community volunteer-run garden, the Phoenix Garden, behind the Phoenix Theatre close to St Giles-in-the-Fields church off St Giles Passage, and there is another small and peaceful garden behind St Paul’s Church.

LeiSure and the artSMost of London’s major theatres and cinemas are within close walking

distance. The area’s two most famous theatres are the Royal Opera House, home of the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet companies, and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The Oasis on Endell Street is the local council-owned swimming pool. It has an indoor pool and a heated outdoor pool that is open year-round.Travel: Covent Garden Tube station is on the Piccadilly line. Other nearby Underground stations include Leicester Square on the Piccadilly and Northern lines, Holborn on the Central and Piccadilly lines, Charing Cross on the Bakerloo and Northern lines, and Tottenham Court Road on the Central and Northern lines, and soon to be on Crossrail. All stations are in Zone 1 and an annual travelcard costs £1,216.Council: Covent Garden is partly in Tory-controlled Westminster, with Band D council tax of £680.74 for the current year, and partly in Labour-controlled Camden, where the rate is £1,324.48.

Party people: all dressed up and getting into the festive spirit in Covent Garden

Café society: Covent Garden Market

Variety show: Neal Street features a host of smart international brands

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An unmissable treat: London Transport Museum in the Piazza

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Homes & Property Outdoors homesandproperty.co.uk with

Pattie Barron

Chuck that tired poinsettia on the compost heap and welcome 2014 with a fanfare of stunning floral trumpets

Bring in the new year with a razzle-dazzle flower display that puts the faded poinsettia where it belongs: firmly on the compost heap.

Amaryllis, the tropical stunner from South America, will give you week after week of huge trumpet flowers that are the best antidote to a cold, grey winter.

You can buy several stalks, budded or in bloom, from the florist — but why buy them when you can grow them so easily and keep the bulb from one year to the next, so it grows fatter and even more productive? By buying a bulb, you will also have a wider choice, from the rich, velvety reds and cool whites of the traditional large trumpet blooms, to the daintier butterfly flowers, such as the beautifully veined burgundy and ice green Papilio.

give the bulb the best possible start and soak its roots, not its base, overnight by placing it on a small jar or glass of water. Choose a pot that will give a snug fit, leaving just one inch between bulb and sides of pot. Add some drainage material, then fill with potting compost into which you have mixed a handful of horticultural grit. When you plant it, the top third of the bulb should be visible above the compost.

Position your amaryllis in a light, warm place, free from draughts. Keep the compost just moist, and when a

shoot appears, increase the watering, and start feeding weekly. When the buds open, move the plant to a cooler place to prolong its life.

Sarah raven, who sells a good range of amaryllis bulbs (sarahraven.com) including luscious, hot-pink Hercules and crimson-black royal Velvet, suggests making them look special from the start by poking twiggy stems

around each bulb; these will also sup-port the stems. One bulb will give you two or three flowering stems, but three or even five bulbs will make a spec-tacular show. You’re just going to need a bigger pot — and one that gives the bulbs the same snug fit.

You could also grow a single amaryllis bulb by water forcing, which is less painful than it sounds. Simply plop the

bulb into the top of a large vase of water and leave in a warm, light place. After a few weeks, the flowers will appear. The bulb, however, will have shrunk, and you won’t be able to keep it for future years.

Thriftier indoor gardeners should keep the bulb in its pot, in a light, warm position. Cut the stems down but don’t touch the foliage, and continue to keep

the compost moist. You could keep it outside once the frosts are over. When the leaves start to die back in late summer, stop watering to encourage the plant to go into dormancy, and store, still in its pot, until winter. Then you can bring it back indoors, and, with a little coaxing from warmth and water, bring this sleeping beauty back to glorious life once more.

Tropical treat: buy a bulb of velvety Amaryllis Red Pearl, enjoy its festive, flawless blooms for weeks, then keep it for next year and reawaken this sleeping beauty

Razzle dazzle ’em

Bold as brass: the wine-red and white-striped trumpets of Amaryllis Santiago have pizzazz in spades Perfect festive centrepiece: blood-red Amaryllis Lucky Strike

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