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Art Design Luxury Restaurants Town Houses

Isabel Restaurant Mayfair London + Bathrooms

The White and Gold Stuff

Recollections may vary but we’re pretty sure we didn’t make it to Bar Isabel in Buenos Aires (the Gatsbyesque Four Seasons not to mention Algodon Mansion, Atlantico, i Latina and Milión have a lot to answer for) so her sister in Mayfair is a non negotiable destination. Chilean nightlife afficionado Juan Santa Cruz took Palermo by storm six years ago and while Mayfair has plenty of competition, the heat turned up with Isabel’s arrival. We want to thrive not just survive; to do not just be.

It’s all about fusion. Lunch is a Latin Mediterranean mélange, from scallops and halibut to burrata salad and Delica pumpkin. The interior is Art Deco Chinoiserie eclecticism. We all know the best place to be at a straightforward shooting party in a country house is in the bathroom. Ditto, darling, Isabel. All six bathrooms are embellished head to toe or at least ceiling to skirting board in de Gournay hand painted gilt to the heels wallpaper. They have to be seen to be believed.

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Architects Architecture Country Houses

The Court House East Meon + West Meon Hampshire

Valley of Dashes

East Meon Village Valley © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

One valley, two villages. Meon. Like The Great Gatsby, there’s an East and a West. Let’s go waste the most poignant moments of the night and life and capture on celluloid one of the villages in the valley. As Nick Carraway narrates in The Great Gatsby, “Anything can happen now that we’ve slid over this bridge.”

East Meon Hampshire © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

East Meon Georgian House © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

East Meon Village © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

East Meon Village Thatched Cottage © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

East Meon Tombstone © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

East Meon Church Grounds © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

East Meon Court House Garden © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

East Meon Swimming Pool © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

East Meon Hampshire Court House © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

East Meon Court House Lawn © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

East Meon Court House © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

East Meon Court House Wing Hampshire © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

East Meon Court House Extemsion © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

East Meon Court House Wing © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

“The Court House led a quiet life down the centuries,” remarks George Bartlett, who lives with his wife Claire in the medieval building plonked in the middle of East Meon. “In the first half of the 20th century the house was restored by the architect Percy Morley Horder who bought the house for himself. He designed many country houses.” George reassures, “He added a very discreet wing to the Court House. It’s wonderfully unassertive. A lovely piece of add on architecture.”

East Meon Court House Windows © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley