London Life
The latest London Life breaking news, comments and features from Country Life
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Jazz music has always made a case for revolution, and we're falling back in love again
There’s more than a whiff of swing in the air–and on the airwaves. Will Hosie explores the resurrection of one of music’s most exciting genres
By Will Hosie Published
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Tate-à-tête: The National Gallery’s promise to grow its modern-art collection risks reopening old wounds
The National Gallery's announcement of a new wing and more modern art promises to reignite a historic rivalry with Tate.
By Will Hosie Published
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The world's grandest student house is for sale, with cinema, steam room, roof garden, and a starring role as Oscar Wilde's Bohemian hotspot
This £14 million Mayfair townhouse was immortalised by Oscar Wilde in his most famous play.
By Lotte Brundle Published
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The ultimate guide to London in the rain, from the best cosy pubs and restaurants to spas, saunas and cinemas, and what to wear
Here's how to make the most of the British capital — even when its at its worst. Illustrations by Tom Jennings.
By Richard MacKichan Last updated
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London is teeming with things that define our artistic history — here's how you can visit them
Our capital is full of interesting sights and objects, finds Charlotte Mullins in the latest instalment of her list of fifty treasure that encapsulate the visual history of the British Isles.
By Charlotte Mullins Published
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The 'new Notting Hill': A world of beautiful architecture, one-bedroom flats with seven-figure price tags, and the sort of private gardens where Hugh Grant might kiss Julia Roberts
The complicated interplay of urban trends, property prices, tax policy and new boutiques have made Notting Hill more popular than it has been for years. Will Hosie takes a look at a couple of places currently for sale in one of its prime spots.
By Will Hosie Published
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The nearest thing you'll get to a beach house in London: this four-bedroom Georgian home for sale that's right by the water's edge
This riverside home sits in Strand-on-the-Green, once a medieval fishing village, now a charming spot in one of London's most sought-after postcodes.
By Toby Keel Published
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East London's salmon smokehouse is full of secrets
From the shores of western Scotland to a smokehouse in London Fields, Max Bergius is bringing fine fish to the capital's best restaurants. So what's the secret?
By Tom Howells Published
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When Chelsea was grazing and pasture, not gazing and posture, this house was a Georgian dairy. Now it's a townhouse on SW3's swishest street
Will Hosie takes a look at The Old Dairy, a beautiful old home in SW3 that's seen the entire area grow up around it.
By Will Hosie Published
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What on earth is the person who comes up with Annabels's otherworldly facade displays on? London's most magical Christmas shop displays
Photographs by Greg Funnell.
By Rosie Paterson Published
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Sweet civilisation: What do you get when you ask architects to compete in a gingerbread competition?
The Gingerbread City is back in London’s Kings Cross. Lotte Brundle pays it a visit.
By Lotte Brundle Published
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Why don't more of us live in brightly coloured homes?
It's not often that you see a home sporting the colour palette that you'd get if you hired a four-year old as your interior designer. But why not? The Blue House in Bethnal Green asks this and many more questions.
By Toby Keel Published
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In search of London’s earliest pint
Early houses — pubs open in the early hours to feed and water the market trade — have been a cornerstone of London for centuries. Yet, as Will Hosie finds, they aren’t stuck in the past.
By Will Hosie Published
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Who buys flowers in the middle of the night? Boris Johnson, panicked brides, drunk people and London’s wealthiest inhabitants
Lotte Brundle visits the 24-hour central London florist where the flowers don’t sleep.
By Lotte Brundle Published
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Magna Carta Island for sale on the Thames, complete with the stone tablet on which Magna Carta itself is said to have been sealed
This beautiful house on a private island on the River Thames isn't just a charming home — it's one with an extraordinary tale to tell.
By Toby Keel Published
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The London house where Rolls-Royce's co-founder Charles Rolls tinkered with his very first car is for sale at £17 million
Charles Rolls, the engineer and co-founder of Rolls-Royce, got his hands dirty when using the stables of this fine London home as a makeshift garage. Annabel Dixon reports.
By Annabel Dixon Published
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The nine best sandwiches in London, tried, tested and digested
The sandwich is back and it's bigger and better than ever. David Ellis reveals where to find the best ones in London.
By David Ellis Published
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A painting owned by Edward Guinness is on display next to a near identical version at Kenwood House — but which one is the real Vermeer?
A mini exhibition at Kenwood House allows viewers to ‘to practise their own connoisseurship’.
By Michael Prodger Published
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A true gent lets his hair down on a Wednesday: Inside our Savile Row party to celebrate the publication of Gentleman's Life
'The party marked the ten-year anniversary of Gentleman's Life and it was, fittingly, a party for the ages.'
By Will Hosie Published
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Eccentric, awe-inspiring and a home-from-home for literary giants: Why the London Library is an institution like no other
The London Library is celebrating 180 years in St James’s Square.
By Emma Hughes Published
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A bum deal on a bog-standard property? The former public conveniences being sold off for a song
London has several affordable properties with enviable postcodes and great lighting... so long as you're happy spending more than a penny on a Victorian loo.
By Toby Keel Published


