Buying, selling and letting - September, 2000

Choose a window treatment before buying any material

Certain patterns or types of fabric may not work with your curtain design. If you choose to have swags or a pelmet, you may need to buy extra material to match patterns or cut on the bias.

Consider what it will look like from the outside

If your windows face public areas, the public will see your curtains. Give some thought to the wrong side of your window treatments.

Look at material against the walls and in different lights

Fabrics that look wonderful in store may look very different with your interior and views. If you’re in doubt, buy a small amount of fabric and test it. Observe what it looks like at different times of day.

Think about lining

Many people avoid lining curtains to save time or money, but lining can improve the drape of a curtain, extend its life and help with insulation. Lining in a contrasting colour can also be a feature in many window treatments.

Compensate for awkward windows

Remember that your curtains do not always have to follow the exact shape of your window. You can extend a pelmet to the ceiling, let the curtains drop to the floor or widen them beyond the window frame to disguise an awkward window or make a statement in your room.

Be creative with tie-backs

New tie-backs or tassels can help to change the look of existing curtains or draw attention to contrasting curtains and nets.

Change your curtain pole or make a pelmet

A new pelmet, contrasting swags, a new curtain pole or method of hanging can also revitalise old curtains.

Consider blinds, shutters or screens

Venetian blinds fit in well with modern interiors, while roller blinds, shutters or even screens can offer interesting alternatives to more traditional curtains.

Do without

Unless you need the privacy or insulation that traditional window coverings provide, why not do without them? Or consider turning your window into a work of art – paint it with glass paints, install stained glass or put on leading, stencil on a frosted panel, make a curtain of beads or acrylic shapes or shells, fill it with sun-loving plants.

Be consistent

Any window treatment you choose will be enhanced and have more of an impact if other windows in the same room are treated similarly. If your home is small, keeping a uniform approach to windows can actually help the space appear larger.

Choose a window treatment before buying any material.

Certain patterns or types of fabric may not work with your curtain design. If you choose to have swags or a pelmet, you may need to buy extra material to match patterns or cut on the bias.

Consider what it will look like from the outside.

If your windows face public areas, the public will see your curtains. Give some thought to the wrong side of your window treatments.

Look at material against the walls and in different lights.

Fabrics that look wonderful in store may look very different with your interior and views. If you’re in doubt, buy a small amount of fabric and test it. Observe what it looks like at different times of day.
Think about lining.

Many people avoid lining curtains to save time or money, but lining can improve the drape of a curtain, extend its life and help with insulation. Lining in a contrasting colour can also be a feature in many window treatments.

Compensate for awkward windows.

Remember that your curtains do not always have to follow the exact shape of your window. You can extend a pelmet to the ceiling, let the curtains drop to the floor or widen them beyond the window frame to disguise an awkward window or make a statement in your room.

Be creative with tie-backs.

New tie-backs or tassels can help to change the look of existing curtains or draw attention to contrasting curtains and nets.

Change your curtain pole or make a pelmet.

A new pelmet, contrasting swags, a new curtain pole or method of hanging can also revitalise old curtains.

Consider blinds, shutters or screens.

Venetian blinds fit in well with modern interiors, while roller blinds, shutters or even screens can offer interesting alternatives to more traditional curtains.

Do without

Unless you need the privacy or insulation that traditional window coverings provide, why not do without them? Or consider turning your window into a work of art – paint it with glass paints, install stained glass or put on leading, stencil on a frosted panel, make a curtain of beads or acrylic shapes or shells, fill it with sun-loving plants.

Be consistent

Any window treatment you choose will be enhanced and have more of an impact if other windows in the same room are treated similarly. If your home is small, keeping a uniform approach to windows can actually help the space appear larger.

As more and more people are living in apartments, conversions or built-up areas, space for gardening has become a luxury. Houseplants are one way of putting a little green back into your life – as well as being beautiful and boosting oxygen, they bring warmth into sterile environments.
Tempting as it may be to pick up a plant on impulse, you’ll have a better chance of getting it to grow if you first spend a little time looking at where it’s going to live. Most houseplants are tropical varieties and enjoy sunny, warm and humid conditions. Your living room may suit you perfectly, but it’s not necessarily a plant’s ideal environment, so it becomes especially important to offer it at least a few of its preferences.

Make a few notes about the temperature, humidity and light levels in the areas of your home where plants will be. Armed with information, you can choose plants that like your conditions or make plans to alter your home environment.

Plants can be an important element of interior design. The following list will give you an idea of different types of plants, how they can be used and which varieties to consider:

Large specimens – If you have a large space to fill, or want to break up an open-plan room, a large plant can be dramatic and effective. Members of the ficus or fig family can often reach tree height, and palms or dracenas can also grow to be large. To show them off to best advantage, it’s important to make sure these plants have growing room and are not too crowded.

Small plants – Most houseplants will fall into this category. They are effective for groupings, softening hard edges in a room or brightening an empty fireplace. They are ideal for window sills and can compensate for a poor view. Ferns, cacti or succulents, pileas or pepperomias all make interesting accents in a room.

Climbers and trailers – Ivies, climbers or trailing houseplants can make effective room dividers, draw attention to high ceilings, screens or partition walls. All trailers benefit from regular pruning to maintain their shape – if left unchecked they can become straggly.

Plants with decorative leaves – Many houseplants have interestingly shaped or coloured leaves which can add variety to groups of plants or provide interesting texture in a room. Deeply-grooved begonia leaves or the variegated Calatheas, Dracaenas and Marantas all look dramatic.

Flowering plants – Flowering houseplants can offer a splash of colour to a room in a very subtle way. Late-flowerers such as primulas, poinsettias or cyclamens can give a real boost to the winter grey outside. Violets and geraniums, or orchids if you’re up to the challenge, make ideal houseplants. Many ‘ordinary’ houseplants will flower if given good growing conditions, as will cacti.

Many properties arrive on the market with the description ‘unique’. Some are even referred to as ‘historical’. But nothing could possibly compete with 48 Upper Grosvenor Street for its irresistible combination of grand opulence and sensational history. Now on the market through DTZ Residential, this property is sure to go quickly to a buyer with a sky’s-the-limit budget and an appreciation of one of the more wicked episodes in London’s history.

This elegant four-bedroom Georgian house in Mayfair was for 33 years the home of none other than the legendary Margaret, Duchess of Argyll. One frequent visitor, J Paul Getty I, called the house “No. 1 London”, a name that was used by press and public alike as details of the antics of this most scandal-prone duchess were revealed.

Originally built in 1725 for the second Earl of Stair, the property was bought in 1935 by Margaret’s father, the Scottish textile millionaire George Hay Whigham, and was decorated at outrageous cost by Somerset Maugham’s ex-wife Syrie. On being given the house in 1945, Margaret set about entertaining with a vengeance, running up bills and spicing after-dinner gossip with her own brand of conspicuous consumption. In her heyday Margaret entertained the Windsors, Lord Mountbatten, Anthony Eden, Aristotle Onassis and film stars such as Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

In 1951 the once-divorced Margaret married the 11th Duke of Argyll. Eight years later the Duke found a series of incriminating photographs, as well as love letters written to his wife by other men, including Winston Churchill’s son-in-law Duncan Sandys. Tales of outrageous parties surfaced during their sensational divorce trial in 1963, with the press and public alike clearly delighted by the revelations of the Headless Man, as well as Margaret’s penchant for wearing nothing but three strands of pearls.

Newly divorced and publicly humiliated, Margaret retreated to ‘No. 1 London’, withdrawn from society into solitary splendour. Except for one more foray into party-throwing, to celebrate Getty’s eightieth birthday in 1972, little else was heard from the former ‘Marg of Arg’. She sold the lease on the house in 1978, taking a penthouse suite in the Grosvenor House Hotel. A final flurry of publicity occurred during a dispute over £33,000 in unpaid bills at the Grosvenor House, who went to court to evict her. She was relocated to a nursing home in Pimlico, where she died in July 1993 aged 88.

Visitors to ‘No. 1 London’ are given a hint of the opulence yet-to-come with a marble-floored reception hall which includes a high ceiling, large sash windows and a view directly onto the adjacent American Embassy. Then on to an inner hall with its sweeping staircase giving access to all floors. The lower ground floor is a staggeringly vast space including a kitchen and servants’ accommodation.

The magnificent dining room features an ornate marble and carved wood fireplace, dumb waiter and large full-height French windows leading onto a spacious south-facing terraced garden. On the first floor is a large reception room with its elegant marble fireplace, ornate ceiling coving and wall panelling incorporating golf-leaf Corinthian columns. The spacious morning room boasts fitted bookcases and parquet flooring.

The entire second floor contains the master bedroom suite with fitted wardrobes and a magnificent mirrored bathroom. Designed by Syrie Maugham, the bathroom has a blue-coloured glass-panelled bath and wash basin and glass Corinthian columns. There are three further bedroom suites, two with en suite facilities, and a cloakroom.

According to Peter Stevenette, Associate Director at DTZ Residential, 48 Upper Grosvenor Street “would make an ideal private or corporate residence … Rarely do such fine homes with rooms of such volume and history come to the market in Mayfair.” It requires full refurbishment and modernisation but, according to Mr Stevenette, “the property’s former glory is still there waiting to shine through again.”

DTZ Residential are accepting offers in the region of £3 million. For further sales information please contact their Mayfair office on 020 7408 7575.