Upgrade your movie night with these apartments that have home cinemas
This Sunday (or more accurately for viewers in the UK, the early hours of Monday) is one of the biggest days in the calendar for cinephiles, as they get to find out the winners of the 92nd Academy Awards.
Plenty will be staying up, if only to mock the dodgy acceptance speeches and secretly hope for another high drama incident to follow the great envelope mishap of 2017.
We’re a nation of film lovers – and property developers are cottoning on, with many putting home cinemas in their apartment blocks. Here are six of the best on the market in London right now.
Chelsea Barracks
When Chelsea Barracks buyers part with between £5.35m and £38m for their luxury homes in the former Army base, they will get access to an on-site members’ club called The Garrison. Designed by Elicyon with all the plush furnishings you would expect, the complex includes a cinema inspired by the Ritz in the 1950s, including a fully-stocked bar.
What to watch: A Clockwork Orange. It might not be the most relaxing watch, but both the Chelsea Drugstore (now McDonald’s) on the nearby King’s Road and the Chelsea Embankment were used as locations in Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 dystopian thriller.
Television Centre
The largest penthouse at the former BBC Broadcasting House in White City has just completed. The sprawling double-level apartment tops the iconic, doughnut-shaped Helios building and will set you back £7.6m. White City House – an outpost of private members’ club Soho House, is next door, and has its own120-seater Electric cinema, complete with cosy green velvet armchairs.
What to watch: As it’s a public cinema, you can’t choose what gets played here. But White City has been immortalised on film: the grade II listed Dimco Buildings were used as the location for the Acme Factory in 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
The Denizen
A new development of 99 apartments within the Square Mile, The Denizen has just thrown open the doors to its first show apartment. Prices start from £740,000 and the first homes will complete in the autumn. Its cinema room will feature some exceptionally squishy-looking quilted blue sofas, and it’s also located close to the Barbican Centre, which has three cinema screens of its own.
What to watch: The Denizen is a short walk from Clerkenwell’s House of Detention, a network of catacombs under a former prison. It has been used as a set for films including 2009’s Sherlock Holmes and 2015 historical drama Suffragette.
Royal Arsenal Riverside
A tranche of 112 new homes has just gone up for sale at Building 10 in Berkeley’s Royal Arsenal Riverside, the former military site in Woolwich. Owners of the apartments will get access to the Waterside Club, which includes a concierge, pool, gym and cinema.
What to watch: Children of Men. Parts of the 2006 action thriller starring Clive James, which was nominated for three Oscars, were filmed in Woolwich.
Lillie Square
Frozen and Toy Story have top billing at the cinema in Capco’s Lillie Square in Fulham, which is often hired out by residents for kids’ birthday parties. It sits within The Clubhouse, which also includes a cocktail lounge, kids games room, spa and gym. Apartments are still available, starting at £820,000 for a one-bed.
What to watch: It may not be one for the kids, but 1998 romantic drama Sliding Doors starring Gwyneth Paltrow used nearby Fulham Broadway underground station for the tube scenes.
The Dumont
The final phase of homes at The Dumont at Albert Embankment has just been released, comprising a selection of four-bed residences with river views taking in the Houses of Parliament, City, Battersea Power Station and London Eye. Once residents are done admiring the view, they can watch a film at the development’s private cinema. Culture fans will also appreciate The Dumont’s location opposite Tate Britain and close to Damien Hurst’s Newport Street Gallery. Prices for the final phase start from £7.05m.
What to watch: The Dumont is close to the MI6 building, which features in James Bond films Goldeneye, The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Skyfall and Spectre. The scenes were intitally filmed without permission, until then-foreign minister Robin Cook gave the go-ahead in 1999, reportedly saying afterwards that “After all Bond has done for Britain, it was the least we could do for Bond”.