The 4Homes Blog

20th Century Design Classics At The V&A

Rich Payne — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:38:29 +0000

I popped into the V&A (Victoria & Albert Museum) over the Christmas break to see their ‘Cold War Modern: Design 1945-70‘ exhibition and would highly recommend it. Although not exclusively showcasing furniture, the exhibition included tons of design classics I’d never had the fortune to see for real…

There were various chairs and tables from the Charles & Ray Eames and Le Corbusier, as well as the latter’s architectural imaginings. Even the regular furniture section at the V&A includes work by Eileen Gray, Alvar Aalto and Phillipe Starck. Well worth a look if you’re in London or just fancy a day out in the capital. The exhibition runs until January 11th, so you’ll have to be quick…

Merry Christmas From 4Homes

Rich Payne — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:57:34 +0000

Just a quick note from the 4Homes team to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.

It’s been a rocky year for the property market, but we’ll be back strong in 2009 to bring you all the latest on house prices, the state of the market, the hottest interior trends, and some fantastic Channel 4 property programming.

Best wishes to all,

The 4Homes team.

Brookside Close Is Sold

Rich Payne — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:19:59 +0000

Brookside Close, the set of Channel 4’s famous and long-running soap opera, has gone under the hammer…

The street, which includes 13 houses, is now the proud possession of a mystery Liverpool buyer who paid £735,000 to acquire what was once the UK’s most famous cul-de-sac.

The trailblazing and often controversial programme, which ran on Channel 4 for more than twenty years, filled our screens with murder, drug abuse, adultery, incest and became the first British TV show to broadcast a lesbian kiss pre-watershed.

All 13 houses were refurbished by developers in 2005 and have been empty ever since. The future of the homes remains unclear, but if you end up buying one then check under the patio…

Country House Rescue Starts Tonight!

Rich Payne — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:55:05 +0000

Despite my obvious bias, I genuinely really, really enjoyed the preview copy of tonight’s opening episode of Country House Rescue. Why?

Mainly, it must be said, because I find Ruth Watson brilliant to watch. Her blunt, money-driven brain makes her at times seem unsympathetic to the traditions and heritage of the properties she’s trying to transform. But it’s quite simply a case of being cruel to be kind, with her sole aim being to ensure these wonderful properties can pay for themselves, preserving them for future generations to enjoy and admire.

Tonight’s country house owners, Mary-Ann and Alistair, have the dubious privilege of owning savings-swallowing Cothay Manor, a sprawling 15th-century manor house with impeccable gardens in deepest Somerset. Shrill, eccentric and painfully posh (their eldest daughter doesn’t want to inherit Cothay because she has her husband’s 900 acre estate to care for) makes this pair essential viewing. The work they’ve done to restore the once-dilapidated gardens is simply magnificent, while fiery Ruth’s profiteering advice doesn’t always sit well with our protagonists, meaning good telly all round.

Watch out for refined country granddad Alistair’s description of their 500-year-old wall paintings as ‘old-world bling’. Priceless.

Country House Rescue begins tonight at 9pm on Channel 4.

Get A Last Minute Gift At A Bargain Price!

Lucy Searle — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:58:40 +0000

We love a bargain, and our Christmas pages are packed with affordable and fabulous gift ideas. But if you’re stuck for something last minute, we’ve just heard about www.grabitnow.com, a site that sells different stock every day at massively discounted prices. Today, for example, it’s family PC games for a tenner. Loving that credit crunch!

Will Today’s Expected Rate Cut Make A Difference?

Lucy Searle — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:01:30 +0000

The Bank of England is today expected to cut rates again today, with experts predicting that the cut could be up to another one per cent - more than that and it would take rates to their lowest since the Bank was founded over three hundred years ago.
But will it make that much difference in the short term to the homeowner? Last month’s shock base rate cut of 1.5 per cent was not passed on in full by a staggering 75 per cent of mortgage lenders, although 92 per cent of them passed the cut on in full to their savers.

Michelle Slade, analyst at Moneyfacts.co.uk, says, ‘Both borrowers and savers have been penalised following the last base rate cut and it is hard to believe that it will be any different if base rate is cut again. Many of the large high street banks passed the cuts on equally to SVRs (standard variable rates) and savers. However, Barclays Bank, through its Woolwich brand, failed to pass on any cut to its SVR, but cut its savings rates by up to 1.75 per cent.’
Forgive us if we don’t throw our hats in the air with joy just yet - we’ll wait and see how generous the banks are this time first.

Debt drags down famous Spanish resort

Nigel Lewis — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:41:47 +0000

La Manga offers everything upmarket British tourists could wish for. Pristine golf courses, a five-star hotel that pulls in celebrities as well as well-heeled tourists, and a raft of property developments overlooking a relatively undeveloped stretch of Spanish coastline, and treasured for its spas, clipped lawns and attentive bell hops. But La Manga is rapidly going the way of Woolworths and MFI over here - dragged down by historic debt run up during one of the longest booms in living memory.

Did the owners of La Manga, which is in the Spanish region of Murcia, ever wonder what would happen if the tourist market took a turn for the worse? It would appear that they didn’t, or perhaps that they over-relied on the cheap credit that we have all taken for granted over the past decade. A couple of years ago finding a bank to restructure a €97 million debt (which La Manga has) would have been a formality - today no one - it appears at the moment - will lend it a penny and the resort, although still functioning, is now in financial difficulties. How many more of these debt-laden Mediterranean super-resorts will soon follow suit? See aplaceinthesun.com for the full story.

A New Channel 4 Property Programme: Country House Rescue

Rich Payne — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:15:37 +0000

Coming soon to Channel 4 will be Country House Rescue, an all-new show fronted by former Channel 5 Hotel Inspector Ruth Watson.

Without giving too much away, the premise of the show will be that Ruth tries to help the owners of large country estates that are losing vast sums of money and are simply too expensive to maintain. Ruth’s job is to help these people develop new revenue streams so that the houses don’t fall into disrepair and their owners aren’t bankrupted trying to maintain the period magnificence of their properties.

Ruth Watson assures me that the homeowners are generally real characters and make for great viewing. Although I haven’t seen any episodes yet, I have seen countless photos of the featured properties and they are all amazing - beautiful, huge period country houses with fantastic gardens, acres of grounds etc. I think this show could be a very good one, and with Ruth on board the potential for laughs is always there.

You can read more about the show and get top tips from Ruth Watson and an exclusive interview about the series on the new Country House Rescue website.

Country House Rescue starts on 9th December at 9pm on Channel 4.

MFI - Another Failure, But A More Obvious One

Lucy Searle — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:40:47 +0000

So, MFI is joining the league of companies not to ride out the credit crunch. It’s more obvious to me - from a very bland point of view - why MFI has not managed to stay afloat. It used to be known as a very cheap kitchen company, but worked recently to smarten up its act and produce much more inspirational kitchens. However, I’m not sure the general masses ever caught on to that.

What’s more, the competition at the cheaper end of the market for good looking (if not good quality) kitchens is really, really fierce. Far better, some would think, to brave the aisles and kitchen planning department of Ikea, and to bag a kitchen for just a couple of grand, than go somewhere like MFI, where the perception of the quality of the kitchens on offer was much the same as Ikea’s, and to pay over twice the price of those at the Swedish giant.

And, sadly, I think the atmosphere of the store itself didn’t help. Unlike Woolies or Ikea, which have always been packed (to the point of hysteria) when I’ve gone in there, MFI has only ever been deserted. I’d far rather choose a kitchen in a quiet, calm atmosphere like MFI’s, but who wants to buy where no one else is? It’s like passing an empty restaurant on a Saturday night in order to stand in a queue at another one up the road. The food might be just as good in the first one, but if no one else thinks it is, why should you?

Who Wants To Buy Woolworths?

Lucy Searle — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:31:16 +0000

Woolworths’ administrators are working on a bid to rescue the store - if their efforts fail, it will disappear from our high streets, no doubt forever. This morning, it’s been called ‘a lame duck’ by many commentators. But why is this? I have a local Woolies in my high street and (mostly because I have young kids and Christmas is coming), I’m in there almost daily buying toys, hair grips, school uniforms, socks, dvds and cds, even paint brushes. And every time I have to go in, there’s a giant queue of people all similarly laden. I don’t know the ins and outs of the business and why it’s going under - other than it’s had to face intense competition from supermarkets, DIY stores and website businesses. Maybe it’s a symptom of our dying high streets… What I do know is that if it does disappear from my high street, it will leave an enormous hole - both literally and as a destination for people who like to shop locally. I’d like to know what you think about the demise of Woolworths - why do you think it has failed? Let me know.