The cost of keeping warm in an old house
Just over a week ago my wife and I were pacing the bare wooden floor of our sitting room wearing hats and scarves. It was -2C outside and, clearly, not much warmer inside. We had a fire lit and the central heating going full blast, but did it make any difference? No. As we shivered, our thoughts turned to the scene in Withnail and I in which Withnail, overwhelmed by the intense cold of Monty?s farmhouse, remarks that they ?might as well sit round a cigarette?.

Leg-up to the sun
A house among the birds? nests was the Smith family?s answer to the problem of finding an affordable home in an expensive part of Perthshire. Raised on stilts, Treetops, at Dull, near Aberfeldy, is a striking and unusual four-bedroom house that was built for just £140,000.

Solar panels: what a bright idea
Patrick and Frances Colquhoun are happy pensioners. Since they installed solar panels on the roof of their five-bedroom detached home on the outskirts of Cambridge last July, they have seen substantial reductions in their energy bills. Things look set to get even better for the couple, and others embracing the micro-generating revolution, after the government announced details last week of the rewards it will pay homeowners who generate their own electricity.

Interiors: the colour of money
Candy & Candy, developer-designers to the super-wealthy, have defined a certain style of luxury property since brothers Nick, 37, and Christian, 35, founded the firm in the late 1990s. Their projects invariably occupy super-prime postcodes (from Knightsbridge to their own homes in Monaco); the buildings are often designed by big-name architects (Richard Rogers and Norman Foster, for example); and the interiors typically embrace the latest technology (iris-recognition entry, 3-D cinemas), clothed in exquisite layers of bespoke finishes, furnishings and artworks.

Time and place: Robert Vaughn
In the spring and summer of 1969, I lived on a houseboat on the Thames. I had just finished a picture in Rome with David Niven, then I came to London to do Julius Caesar with Charlton Heston, Diana Rigg, Jason Robards and John Gielgud, who played the lead. When Heston was at university in Illinois, he played Marc Antony in a black-and-white 16mm film of Julius Caesar, and, after he went to Hollywood, he was always trying to get the backing for a colour version. Ultimately, he found it ? from Playboy magazine.

?Empty flats are a total waste?
When she lost her job, Katharine Hibbert, 28, decided to lose everything else too. In one drastic move, a year ago, she gave up her rented flat in east London, her phone, debit card, travel pass and cosy nights in with her boyfriend, and went squatting for a year.

Beyond the Brochure: The Tower, London SW13
I received a letter a couple of days ago from the daughter of a man whose house I recently reviewed in this column. I said that the house was nice, which it was, but I also intimated that its owner was, perhaps... I think I may have said he was ?a plonker?. She wrote that the article had reduced her to tears.

How to make a killing with a filling
One morning last summer, Ian Dollamore popped into his local deli in west London to pick up some ciabatta and ham. On the way in, he noticed two tatty garages next door. A few inquiries later, he?d found the owner and made an offer that was hard to refuse.

Garden Cuttings
Under a Tuscan sun

Greenhouse effects: recycling
The UK is finally getting serious about recycling. Many local authorities are sending upwards of half our household waste to recycling facilities. All the stuff we put in the bin originated from a natural resource, from a forest or productive soil, ore-bearing rocks or an oil field. The waste we generate is also created using energy and water.

Strike Back - Switch to cheaper MPPI
YOU probably trusted your Bank? Surely the Bank?s would always act prudently and in our best interests? Well, we all know now, that that may not be the case. Banks have changed, and their recent practices have ...

Mortgages for Company Directors
As a Company Director, you have probably found that doors seem to open a little easier, than they did when you were on the way up? However you may have found things slightly different, when it ...

Ask questions before using estate agents mortgage advisers
A recent newspaper article highlighted that some estate agents are trying to pressurise buyers into using their own in-house mortgage brokers. This could mean that buyers lose thousands of pounds paying for more expensive mortgages. An ...

Commercial Mortgage Broker ? Your Priorities Come First
Why should you use a commercial mortgage broker rather than a bank, when looking for your commercial mortgage? To answer this question, here?s another: What are your main priorities when looking for a commercial mortgage? For ...

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