Clash and match – fake and real, flowers and stripes, the Kindle and the paperback – is all the rage. A place where the bish and the bosh come together is the rather unprepossessing Chepstow Place, tucked off Chepstow Corner, and nestled between Notting Hill and Westbourne Grove.

The yin is there with fashionable Farrow and Ball, stylish vet's surgery Pets Naturally (where free poo bags hang enticingly outside on a hook), and hat emporium Misaharada Millinery. And yet, when you're feeling a bit yang, you can pop along and place a bet at William Hill, run your clothes through a cool cycle at Central Wash (one of the remaining launderettes in west London) or buy a paintbrush and roller at Lords decorators merchants.

Spring is traditionally the time when the London market stretches itself and wakes up properly. 2012 is no exception, as can be seen in our latest market intelligence report.

Notting Hill and Holland Park prices are now, on average, 13.5% higher than the previous 2007 peak (Lonres).

But it's interesting to see how this breaks down within the area. The star performers are houses within W14 where prices have risen on average by 19.9% in the last 12 months, compared with houses in W8 increasing in value by an average of 11.4% over the same period, and houses within the W11 postcode rising in value by 10.4%.

By contrast, houses within the W10 postcode have risen on average by 3.2% in the last 12 months.

The Crayson team was cock-a-hoop to hear that Giles Barker had completed his Marathon in 3 hours 49 mins, obliterating his target time of 4 hours 30 minutes. HUGE congratulations to the man who describes himself as having an unwavering aversion to sweating!

His target fundraising of £1,750 now stands at £1,895....and counting! You can read his story, or add to the growing fund, here.

A very impressed, Nick Crayson

26.4.12

These were the words uttered by Crayson team member Giles Barker after an indulgent Christmas lunch, and the ones he may live to regret on Sunday morning when his newly fine-tuned and well-honed body is put to the test.

Who wants two bedrooms when you can have one? The owner of an urbane apartment in Talbot Road, W2, went for best-factor rather than guest-factor when he converted the existing two bedroom flat into an extremely stylish and spacious one bedroom pied a terre. And then set about decorating it in the most sophisticated style.

Property above £2m has effectively just gone up in price by 2%.  Already expensive property has just got a bit more.  However property in our market has consistently outperformed over the medium and long term and – although the costs are now higher – no doubt homeowners will recoup these costs over time.

Although it might sound thrilling, sometimes being smack in the middle of everything can be a tad tiresome. Which is why living on the fringes of Notting Hill on Clarendon Road, but only moments from Portobello Road, makes good sense.

Running parallel to Ladbroke Grove, two streets to the west, Clarendon Road is one of the most prestigious addresses in Holland Park. The wide and tree-lined street stretches through the heart of this thriving area, joining Holland Park Avenue at its southern extreme. Residents have the advantage of a relatively quiet street location, combined with being on the doorstep of the considerable charms and attractions that the immediate area has to offer - fashionable 'Portland Cross' and Holland Park Avenue in the south; Portobello and Kensington Park Road to the east, to name just a few.

Cheryl Markosky is a freelance national property journalist, who writes for publications including Country Life, Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Sunday Express. She recently moved from Notting Hill to Holland Park, but creeps back over the border to visit old haunts, such as Mr Christians, Oxfam Books and the Electric.

At the time of our autumn report, there was much debate in the office about which season we were technically embraced by. No such doubt now. With the thermometer reading -5C, and snow due to fall in the next couple of days, we are clearly in the grip of winter.