Holland Park Road II, Kensington

Description

Midnight in Paris

Ask anyone which decade they love the most, and they’ll sigh, the Roaring Twenties. You know, when flappers danced the Charleston, the jazz flowed like the gin and Hemingway and Fitzgerald matched wits in Montmartre. But forget the time machine. All you need is Holland Park Road II. At once elegant and opulent, its cushions are as colourful as any Picasso or Matisse, and its Art Deco doors just as delightful. And as for modern living, you couldn’t be better placed, with Kensington High Street and Holland Park just a hop away. As Greta Garbo might say, it’s the cat’s pyjamas.

A moveable feast

Your hostess is an interior designer and linguist. A self-confessed foodie, she loves to travel – especially to Miami, where she has a second home. She doesn’t need to travel far in London, though, since everything is handily close by.

This side of paradise

From your former mansion that's converted into apartments, walk up the winding stairs to uncover an oasis of 1920s style. With its parquet floor, rectilinear doors and angular lamps, the sitting room is all Art Deco elegance, with cushions both colourful and vibrant. Plump a couple of these before nestling into the squidgy sofa or armchair. Here you’ve a wealth of books to choose from, as well as a glass coffee table on which to plonk your Pernod. The kitchen is bright, white and compact, and, when dinner is served, four can dine at the sitting room’s smart oval table.

With its dusky furniture, king size bed and softly filtering daylight, the master bedroom is as surely sophisticated as it gets. In fact, it’s only beaten by its ensuite, which boasts a roll-top bath, panelled walls and surfaces ashine like strings of pearls. You’ve also an airy double, as well as a sweetly mirrored shower room.

Three musicians

You’re just a stroll from Holland Park’s peacocks and ornamental gardens, as well as Kensington Gardens. Westfield is a shopper’s paradise, rivalled only by the labels along Kensington High Street, or the local boutiques of Notting Hill. You’ll see plenty of 1920s design at the V&A, or you can hear its music at the Royal Albert Hall. Whatever you choose, you’ll be brought right up to date with a trip in to town. The tube to Oxford Circus takes under twenty minutes.