Eaton Square
Eaton Square has topped the list of Britain’s most expensive places to live for many years. It is named after Eaton Hall, the seat of the Grosvenor family in Cheshire (Richard Grosvenor once owned and developed most of Belgravia). Many of the homes on the garden square were built by famed architect Thomas Cubitt, who was commissioned by Queen Victoria to extend Buckingham Palace. The homes are terraced, with large floor to ceiling windows and white stuccoed facades. Some are impossibly opulent – when one particular resident found himself with more money than he knew what to do with it he constructed a swimming pool with gold leaf tiles beneath a gold ceiling. The home is valued at a cool £70 million, but don’t be put off, it’s more common for properties sell for the more affordable price of £20 to £30 million. Here residents are a hop and a skip away from Green Park and St. James’s Park, the designer boutiques of Sloane Street and the transport hub of Victoria station, not that they will ever be using it.
Neighbours: In the past the square was home to the late Margaret Thatcher, Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson; today you’ll be rubbing shoulders with Bond actors Sean Connery and Roger Moore.
Amenities: The Bolivian and Belgian consulates are within walking distance, and you never know when you might need then. Plus there’s the cachet of living in one of the world’s most famous addresses.
Lancaster Gate
It’s not surprising that the stuccoed terraces on the north side of Hyde Park are pricey, even if a lot of Bayswater suffers from being in the middle of a busy tourist trap. However the vortex can easily be avoided if you stay where the magnificent mid-19th century houses are and don’t stray towards Queensway, which is filled with souvenir shops, fast food eateries and backpacker hostels, heaven forbid.
Amenities: Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.
\n\nCadogan Square
Straddling Belgravia and Chelsea, Cadogan Square is populated by red brick mansion flats, many of which are Grade II listed. The square is named after Earl Cadogan, who is fortunate enough to own the freehold on most of the properties round here.
Amenities: Residents benefit from being just a stone’s throw away from the shops of Sloane Street and Knightsbridge.
Neighbours: If you live here you’ll be hobnobbing with jeweller Theo Fennell, who recently collaborated with Made In Chelsea’s feather-earringed, top knotted Ollie Proudlock, and serial modeliser and questionable businessman Flavio Briatore.
Bishops Avenue
Also known as “Billionaires’ Row”, this sleepy street in Hampstead Garden Suburb is characterised by its gated mansions, as privacy is key for local home owners. It’s essentially London’s very own Beverly Hills, however rather than celebs, Billionaires’ Row attracts Russian oligarchs, property tycoons and members of the Saudi royal family. For this reason you might never see another person wandering down the street, unless they happen to be a member of someone’s security team.
Neighbours: The president of Kazakhstan and Lakshmi Mittal, steel magnate and one of the top ten richest men in the world.
Parkside
When posed with the “if money was no object” question, not many people would put buying a house in Merton on their wish list. But while it may not be near the centre of town and it lacks the glamorous image of Chelsea, as with most streets bordering attractive green spaces, Parkside is both expensive and exclusive. The large detached mansions are modern and distinctly suburban, so don’t expect to find Victorian or Georgian abodes here.
Amenities: Golf, tennis, croquet, squash and cricket grounds on Wimbledon Common and at Wimbledon Park.
Neighbours: the Roman Catholic Apostolic Nunciatore (in other words a sort of ambassador to the Vatican) has an office here, where the Pope stays when he’s in town.
\n\nSt. James’s Place
Tucked away from all the hustle and bustle of Piccadilly, St. James’s Place inhabitants love it here as it’s quintessentially old money. It also has something of a village feel about it despite its central location, thanks to its 18th century grade II listed buildings and the lack of chains in the vicinity.
Amenities: Head to Christie’s for all your auctioning needs. Jermyn Street has tailors and renowned cheese shop Paxton & Whitfield.
Neighbours: Prince Charles is just over the road at Clarence House.
Egerton Crescent
Unsurprisingly the majority of the country’s most expensive homes are in the borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Egerton Crescent, in the envy-inducing SW3 postcode (for a lot of people), has terraced regency houses, many of which are Grade II listed. It’s a quiet road despite being in zone 1, partly because a large portion of the residents are only here for part of the year, spending the remainder in their native Russia, Far East or one of the Gulf states. The road benefits from being close to South Kensington’s museums and the designer shops on Brompton Road and Knightsbridge.
Amenities: The V&A, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum. Walton Street, which runs parallel to Egerton Crescent, has local shopping like wine shop Jeroboams; for everything else there’s Harrods.
