tall story

‘We did the opposite of what people usually do,’ says Virginie Charlès-Dear, who moved with husband James and their young family from outside London to the centre of the city. Keen to live within walking distance of the kids’ school and to see if urban life would suit, they began by renting a flat for a year. It was an experiment that worked. ‘The flat has very high ceilings – about 4.5m