Cliveden Place, Belgravia

Description

Faraway kingdom
Sloane Square … home to historians and artisans, politicians and children’s authors. It’s always been fashionable, yet always kept one foot in the past. Flit from century to century as you spill out of a designer boutique and wander into a dimly lit emporium selling nineteenth century lamps and dolls’ house furniture. And when you unlock the front door of this Georgian storybook mansion, you’ll find a children’s paradise that’s designed to keep the grown ups happy too. Antique rocking horses, squashy sofas, the latest in kitchen equipment and tubby Buddhas all make sense together here somehow. So come on in, make yourself comfortable and set your imagination free.
Fairytale family
He’s a businessman who’s travelled widely in Asia, while she took a degree in management science but now spends her time looking after their three boys. Like the children in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, they’re soon to relocate to the countryside.
Treasure trove

There are great rooms and hidey holes for grown-ups and children in this rambling five-storey home. On the lower ground floor, you’ll find a playroom bursting with boys’ own toys. Let your little rascals swagger over to the pirate ship, or zoom off in a shiny red sports car (Tally ho!). And the playroom even has its own kitchen and bathroom, so nanny can keep her charges fed and watered.
Upstairs, an ebony-slate kitchen gleams with the latest kitchen equipment, there’s an elegant dining area and countless little cubbies you can make your own. There are one, two, three, four bedrooms filled with teddies, four-posters, Chinese cabinets – and a sprawling light-filled drawing room dotted with countless European- and Asian-inspired artefacts. Who knows what stories these treasures can tell?

Land of enchantment

Outside, there are plenty of hidden gems. You’ll find Thomas Carlyle’s house, the Chelsea Physic Garden and the National Army museum within walking distance. There are dozens of chic restaurants – as well as old-fashioned pubs. And if you ever need to leave Sloane Square (though we can’t imagine why), you’re only ten minutes from the West End.

Features