Curtain up
London’s theatre season is at its peak.
Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? until 19 December, and David McVicar’s Magic Flute returns to the Royal Opera House on 13 December (West End Theatre).
Every winter, Americans fly in for a week of theatre and a hotel suite. Some of them should own the seat instead. My friends and clients are all over London every month. With my team at Sotheby’s International Realty UK, I’ll show you the way.
Your seat for the season: Betterton Street, Covent Garden
Betterton Street, Covent Garden WC2H · Offered at £5,950,000
This is a house, not a flat, in the middle of the West End. It runs to about 4,638 sq ft over several floors, with five bedrooms, five bathrooms and a passenger lift serving every level.
The centerpiece is a double-height living and dining room. Two more reception rooms sit on the first floor. The top floor is a third living space that opens onto two private roof terraces.
Walk out the door, and the Royal Opera House, the Piazza, and Seven Dials are minutes away. Come home after the theatre and the street is quiet.
I viewed the house in person a few weeks ago, and I’d be glad to show it to you myself, with the listing team at Sotheby’s UK, the next time you’re in town.
Listed by Sotheby’s International Realty UK.
Christmas in London
London does Christmas properly, and it starts next week. On Thursday 12 November, Covent Garden switches on more than 300,000 lights, with a British-grown tree in the West Piazza and the giant gold bells back in the Market Building (Covent Garden, Time Out). The same evening, Chelsea lights its 40ft Norwegian spruce in Duke of York Square (Londonist).
Then come the lights over Regent Street and Oxford Street, the tree in Trafalgar Square, mulled wine in the Piazza and supper somewhere warm after the show. My friends and clients will be all over town for it, and I’ll be there in December too.
Every corner of London
Christmas in London looks different on every street. My team at Sotheby’s International Realty UK sells in all of them, and I’m in and out of each one every month with clients and friends. Here are some great listings in every corner of London.
Covent Garden — Theatreland, the Piazza tree and the opera on your doorstep.
Mayfair — Bond Street windows, Claridge’s tree and the best hotel bars in town.
Marylebone — a village high street, ten minutes from Oxford Street’s lights.
Belgravia — white stucco squares, quiet and grand, built for hosting Christmas.
Chelsea — the King’s Road, Duke of York Square and quiet garden streets.
Knightsbridge — Harrods at Christmas, and Hyde Park across the road.
Kensington and Holland Park — family houses and garden squares.
St. John’s Wood and Regent’s Park — space, gardens and the American School nearby.
The Cotswolds — for the country Christmas, two hours from town.
Why winter is the buyer’s moment
Fewer buyers look in December, so the sellers who stay on the market are serious and open to a conversation. Buy now and you can line up schools, staff and a move for spring, before the market fills. I’ll be on the ground in December to walk you through it.
The West End has also held up well. Sotheby’s UK puts prime flat prices in Covent Garden up 3.1% year on year, against 1.4% across prime central London (UK Sotheby’s).
Your bridge to London
London is my second home now. I’m there every month, and my colleagues at Sotheby’s International Realty UK cover every neighborhood in this letter. Whatever neighborhood you’re picturing, I’ll walk you through it in person and introduce you to the right agent, solicitor and adviser.
I can arrange private viewings of Betterton Street, and anywhere else in London, this month. Reply to this email or call me directly.
Jim Bell Executive Vice President | Global Advisor TTR Sotheby’s International Realty · Washington, DC and London jbe@sothebysrealty.co.uk US/WhatsApp +1 202 607 4000 · americanagentlondon.com