The decorators at Flat 9, 35 Pont Street, Knightsbridge, have adorned the walls with Terry O'Neill photographs of Sean Connery; and you could imagine James Bond feeling quite at home here - although he might struggle to afford this luxury Central London flat on a civil servant's salary.

Behind the stately but unassuming 19th-century façade lies a 2,150sqft apartment equipped with the very latest in 21st-century gadgetry: an iPod port in the kitchen, plasma screen TVs that emerge noiselessly from their hiding places within chic cabinets, and glass panels that turn from transparent to opaque at the flick of a switch. The kitchen and bathroom floors have underfloor heating and surround-sound systems. The kitchen is compact but beautifully finished, with laquered units, a Gaggenau oven and an enormous wine fridge with two temperatures, one for white and one for red.

A few minutes' walk from the “local shop” (Harrods), the restaurants of Beauchamp Place and designer shops on Sloane Street, the flat could hardly be better located. It does, however, have its drawbacks. This is not a property for a family: a cream silk carpet is possibly the least child-friendly floor covering imaginable, and there is no separate dining room, just a small breakfast nook. “It is a property for someone who eats out a lot,” says Daniel Wiggin, a partner at WAEllis, the estate agency handling the sale. “We think it would suit a City boy or girl, or perhaps a young couple.” There is also no outside space except for the narrow balcony that runs along the front of the building.

The other downside is the cost: it is on the market for £8.5 million - quite a price tag for a three-bedroom flat, particularly in a difficult market. The lease is 68 years, ground rent is £900 and service charges for the second half of last year were £3,555.

The Pont Street flat is an example of a popular trend pioneered by the developer Northacre: the creation of ultra-modern homes behind period façades. “They are less obvious, more discreet - until you fling open the doors and see the transformation,” Wiggin says. Moreover, there is significant demand for this sort of property, particularly for overseas buyers. Northacre's latest development is the former Lancaster Gate Thistle Hotel, a Grade II listed terrace overlooking Hyde Park on Bayswater Road. The 77 apartments being built behind the 90ft façade are expected to be completed by 2010 and could sell for about £2,200 per sq ft - if they come on to the open market at all. At present, they are being marketed discreetly to Northacre's client database: about a quarter of the properties have been sold. However, there are cheaper examples on the market. Douglas & Gordon is selling a two-bedroom flat on the third floor of a red-brick block on Lower Sloane Street, SW1, for £700,000. Outside London, Cluttons Canterbury is selling a two-bedroom apartment with a state-of-the-art visual and audio system in a listed mansion house in Waldershare Park, Dover. The flat, which has access to communal gardens and nine acres of grounds, is on the market for £400,000.

cluttons.com ; waellis.co.uk douglasandgordon.com

thelancastershydepark.com

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