8 Alexandra
Mansions LONDON NW6
by Jilliana
Ranicar-Breese
It was time to
buy a flat but I left it so long that the prices
jumped up. I originally wanted Hampstead or Swiss
Cottage but in the end settled for a cozy one
bedroom third floor flat in a good looking red
brick Edwardian mansion block in West Hampstead.
I was already attracted to bric a brac and had
purchased a large sepia framed romantic print of
ladies for £1 from the porter at Bonhams who had
bought it for 25p!
I already had my stuffed barn owl that I had
bought from a taxidermist in Rome and a deer head
that I had picked up somewhere called Frederika.
Little did I know that I would ultimately become
an international dealer of collectibles. The
collecting bug had started.
The kitchen diner had a large old table which was
the focal point of the rustic room with brown
walls so typical of the 70’s. It was,
however, warm having a cozy ambiance.
The living room had tongue and groove clad walls
also stained in tan except one wall had been
painted by Philippe Amos my Anglo-French
boyfriend with Grecian iconic influenced
religious imagery.
There was a large mirror I had bought from a
closing down old shop in Holborn. It was an
advertising mirror with the image of Cardinal
Wolsey at the top of the glass. It had been the
logo of Wolsey hosiery made in Leicester. The
Cardinal ‘saw’ everything and there was
plenty to see!!
The bedroom had been designed by Maria a
Colombian designer who had been one of my English
language students. The walls were turquoise and
purple material cascaded from a central light up
above. The wardrobe had been painted by Philippe
in his iconic style and blended well with the
purple duvet. It was a seductive bedroom.
No doubt it attracted the Egyptian dancer Shinasi
and his Swedish wife when they rented my flat
while I was in Paris. I had an arrangement that I
could stay before the new tenants moved in. A
Swiss dancer with a timid Moroccan wife.
They were, like Shinasi, erotic dancers from
Raymond’s Revue Bar. He stayed 6 months and
the other couple did as well.
No doubt Cardinal Wolsey was watching them as
they rehearsed in the living room. I shall never
know.
Written
in Nightingale
23/11/24
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