Belgravia is a zone 1 enclave choc-full of contradictions. One of the most expensive residential pockets in the country, its highly desirable garden squares are lined with stately stucco townhouses that were once home to Margaret Thatcher (Chester Square) and Vivien Leigh (Eaton Square).
Walk down Lyall Street, where the palatial, Grade II-listed childhood home of the Delevingne sisters will set you back £21m, and it’s all embassies and blacked-out Bentleys.
But the area is served by the less elegant Victoria Station and the ghastly coach station where tourists seem unable to walk in a straight line with their wheely suitcases.
Down Elizabeth Street, upmarket boutiques are eclipsed by day-trippers queuing for Peggy Porschen cupcakes and posing with sprigs of eucalyptus outside boujee deli Bayley & Sage — all for the ’gram.
Daniel Lynch
Persevere to the bottom of Ebury Street and you are greeted with one of Europe’s most celebrated design districts: Pimlico Road.
Populated with the crème de la crème, there’s Fermoie, Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler and Howe for fabrics, Soane for handcrafted rattan furniture, Linley for heirloom pieces, Bonadea for tableware and Cox London, a furniture, lighting and art studio founded by Christopher and Nicola Cox.
Flanked by Pimlico “proper” to the south and prim-and-proper Chelsea to the west, “you would not think you were in the middle of London, it’s like being in a village in Wiltshire or the Cotswolds,” says Milly Allender, showroom manager at Plain English kitchens.
The road and charming backstreets have been a destination for offbeat yet quality antiques since the 1960s.
Bennison Fabrics showroom
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Renowned decorator Geoffrey Bennison, whose legacy lives on with a fabric shop at 16 Holbein Place, counted Catherine Deneuve and Jean Shrimpton as clients.
On Ebury Street, just a few doors up from where Mozart resided, cookery writer Elizabeth David’s kitchenware shop was once the only place in the capital to purchase Le Creuset.
Now occupied by esteemed furniture-maker Pinch, its co-founder Oona Bannon says of the area: “It’s central for people who are passing through, but you have to know it’s there to seek it out. It’s a rare gem in terms of independent businesses with creativity at the heart and with a commitment to making.”
A genuinely collaborative spirit pervades, with old-fashioned shop-keeping still at its core. Store managers are on first-name terms with each other, sharing window-cleaners and minding each others’ deliveries, with the team at Plain English often popping to Edward Bulmer over the road for paint samples.
Great transport: Avoid the coach station like the plague and stroll to Sloane Square for the District and Circle Lines to go west, and Victoria to zoom into the West End at speed.
Window dressing: Take a trip during the Chelsea Flower Show to marvel at the bloomingly brilliant floral displays, and the creative installations during London Craft Week.
Party time: The highlight of the year is the wholesome-sounding Pimlico Road Summer Party, when showrooms throw open their doors and the Champagne flows.
“I suppose it’s an effect like osmosis — with so many remarkable shops others will always be attracted to the area and it will continue to grow organically,” muses Philip Hooper, joint managing director of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler.
What was formerly marsh land (known as The Five Fields) is now synonymous with good taste and a little English eccentricity. On Saturdays the fresh produce of the farmer’s market takes over Orange Square.
The Orange, a former brewery built on the site of a coffee house, is a pub with rooms (decked out in Bulmer’s paints, natch) where everyone goes to let off steam and devour pizza.
Parking: ‘Fierce’ is how one local describes the traffic wardens.
Sundays: Most boutiques are closed, lending the area a ghost town-like quality.
Bannon favours The Fox and Hounds on Passmore Street. “It’s the sort of tiny pub where everyone has to shuffle every time someone moves inside,” she says.
La Poule au Pot is an authentic French institution which has been serving up leisurely lunches since the 1960s.
Daylesford is hard to beat for a casual salad, sweet treat or a fancy ready meal to take home for dinner. The coffee at Danish espresso bar Hagen has the staff at Edward Bulmer buzzing for the whole day (they also recommend the smoked salmon open sandwiches on rye bread).
Where to live near Pimlico Road
Chris Venter, area director at estate agency John D Wood and Co, notes how the residents are just as eclectic. “We see young professionals looking for flats with character, downsizers seeking peace but not isolation, and international buyers who value the area’s discreet charm and centrality.
Many residents are employed in politics, diplomacy and finance — think Westminster, the City or nearby hedge funds in Mayfair. We also see creatives and media professionals drawn to Pimlico’s slightly understated style — it’s close to the action, but not flashy like some of its neighbours.”
Edward Bulmer
Anna Batchelor
High on property hunter’s lists are well-proportioned Georgian and early Victorian terraced houses “that have been tastefully modernised while retaining period character”, according to Toby Simmons, head of sales at Hamptons in Sloane Square and Knightsbridge.
Everyone is far too busy to consider a project. “There’s growing interest in discreet, turnkey mews houses — particularly those that combine architectural flair with private parking,” he adds.
The garden squares are unsurprisingly popular, with Venter name-checking St George’s and Warwick squares as constantly sought-after.
“Eccleston Square is another prized address, with beautifully maintained period homes and private garden access,” he reveals. However, Fred Roberts, head of lettings at Hamptons in Sloane Square, says that “anything best in class rarely makes the open market”.
One of his favourite streets is Bloomfield Terrace, where Los Angeles rug brand Woven Place chose a cavernous historic building for its London showroom.
Flats typically start around £600,000 for a one-bedroom in a good spot, with two-beds fetching between £850,000 and £1.2 million, according to Venter.
Larger flats on garden squares can reach upwards of £2.5m and freehold houses can climb north of £6m for prime addresses.
Properties on Ebury Street
Daniel Lynch
Toby Simmons of Hamptons says Ebury Street, Bourne Street and Orange Square are “perennial favourites, mainly for their village-like charm.
Chester Row and South Eaton Place are also highly prized for their elegant period homes and quiet, residential feel just moments from the local thoroughfare and amenities.”
Helping to cater to demand are new developments such as Ebury SW1, which boasts luxury apartments and duplexes along Ebury Bridge Road, and the uber-luxe Chelsea Barracks, where a six-bedroom, Georgian-inspired, art-filled townhouse designed by Spinocchia Freund is presently commanding £45m.
Schools aren’t in short supply around here — there are state primaries and private preps — but this exclusive spot isn’t exactly nappy valley.
What’s new in the area?
Newson’s Yard
Daniel Lynch
Pimlico Road itself continues to evolve with a new wave of retailers; Rose Uniacke, who worked her magic on the Beckhams’ Holland Park home, has three eponymous boutiques dotted along the road (the woman herself lives in an extraordinary, one-time artist’s studio just a 15-minute walk away).
There’s also newish arcade Newson’s Yard, where the veteran of interior design, Nina Campbell, has her boutique and studio.
The site of London’s oldest timber yard, it also boasts Wildflowers, a Mediterranean restaurant, The Lacquer Company and And Objects, the shop co-founded by interior design hotshot Martin Brudnizki.
Eddie Redmayne has been spotted eyeing up artworks in there, while film-maker and actor Emerald Fennell walked in and snapped up the leather-wrapped Easton chair, which she took home in the back of a black cab.
Pinch London on the site of Elizabeth David’s cookware shop
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The interior designer Joanna Plant is a Pimlico Road regular, sourcing finishing touches like lampshades from Fermoie and antique textiles from Howe. She always makes a beeline for fireplace and lighting specialist Jamb.
“Even if you can’t afford anything in there, it’s a good place to go and hone your eye,” she says.
But another designer anonymously shares how she finds the general lack of footfall off-putting: “When you go into showrooms you’re often the only person in there which can feel slightly awkward and there isn’t much of a buzz.”
Instead, the excitement comes courtesy of a certain royal who passes through rather frequently. “There’s nothing more stimulating in your day than hearing the whistles of the King’s carriage approaching at speed — we all go out and wave,” enthuses Allender.
It’s a unique novelty which refuses to wear off. “It’s quintessential London,” says Bannon.