Pitt Street, Kensington

Description

Jaunty angle

We can only tip our hats to Pitt Street. Back when gents set their toppers squarely above their brows, this home was one of the finest milliners in Kensington. And whether you turn to the original shop window, the ivied patio, the clean-lined kitchen or the drawing room’s piano and chaise longue, this home still suits all styles. If the bonnet-makers have departed Kensington High Street, its boutiques are just as elegant as ever, while nearby Hyde Park still clatters with the sound of hooves as it did some decades ago.

Feather in it

Your hosts favour walks through Kensington Gardens, picnics in Hyde Park and bike rides to Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square in their downtime. And from Pitt Street, they’re perfectly placed for all three.

At the milliner’s

Thanks to its swathes of pine and blonde wood, this traditional home is particularly cosy. Make for the white sofa and let your glance linger over the artwork, or lay languidly on the chaise longue in the gleam of the sash window.

The cushy sitting room waits expectantly downstairs, or perhaps you’ll stretch out in the radiant, contemporary kitchen. Sit down to dinner at the polished table for six – but not without imagining the window shoppers of yore passing the other side of the splendid period window.