Chelsea homes with Sixties spirit: high-end flats and luxury penthouse suites where boutique shops are thriving

The splendid Mary Quant exhibition now showing at the V&A is as much about King’s Road as it is about the fashion icon herself, and comes at a time when the famous Chelsea neighbourhood is trying to recapture the Swinging Sixties spirit.

Following the success of Duke of York Square shopping precinct and its Saatchi Gallery, Cadogan Estates, the area’s major landowner, is spearheading a wider strategy.

“We’re looking at everything: the retail mix, public spaces, experiences, events and identity, balancing heritage with openness to creativity and innovation,” says chief executive Hugh Seaborn.

Historic shopfronts are being restored and listed Chelsea Old Town Hall, where celebrities continue to tie the knot, has undergone a year-long renovation, while refurbishment of the Art Deco Gaumont Palace Theatre is bringing an art house cinema, rooftop restaurant and boutiques.

Rossetti Studios, built in 1894, has been upgraded and provides subsidised space for working artists.

The Fashion School, a new venue, offers classes and workshops alongside a lovely haberdashery shop.

In its Sixties heyday, King’s Road was a relatively cheap place to live.

The arrival of bankers and hedge fund managers 20 years ago ushered in a new era of high-priced luxury lateral homes.

The latest project is 100 Sydney Street, directly opposite The Chelsea Gardener, the high-end garden centre that’s a local institution.

This boutique scheme of eight tastefully designed large flats includes a penthouse with a 1,300sq ft wraparound terrace.

Prices start at an eye-watering £5.75 million for a 999-year lease. Call 020 7349 0091.

The launch coincides with Turning Heads, a new exhibition of prints by fashion photographer Jonathan Glynn-Smith, in the building’s street-level gallery.