Watch Chelsea Shop Code: Find out where the the well heeled shop...

Watch Chelsea Culture Code: It swung in the 60s, but where do the artists and socialites go these days?

THERE’S something about Chelsea. But what, exactly, makes SW3 so special? Why is it one of the most expensive postcodes in one of the most expensive cities in the world? It’s not as if the weather there is any better.

At least 15 of the 20 most expensive streets in Britain are to be found in the rarefied Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (or K&C, as locals call it — not to be confused with KFC). Topping the list, according to the property website www.mouseprice.com, is Chelsea Square, where the average price of a property is more than £5 million. Not that anything here is average. This is where Hugh and Jemima shared a love nest. Current neighbours include Bernie Ecclestone. Kylie lives close by, and then there’s the Geldofs and, well, you name them, they’re here. Pop into Starbucks and you might spot Kate Middleton, possible future wife of a monarch and queen of the new Sloane Rangers. It’s celebrity bingo.

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The well-dressed might head for Steinberg & Tolkien, Gloss and Vivienne Westwood’s World’s End. After some serious shopping there’s the Chelsea Bun for a late breakfast or Bibendum for a spot of lunch.

Diversity in Chelsea means different kinds of rich: new money, old money, Russian money, Arab money. Chelsea tractors choke the roads. The bankers who live here own the banks they work in. Soon the cash machines up and down the Kings Road will stop dispensing tens and twenties.

On the surface it’s all a bit vulgar — as if the 1980s never ended. But there is another Chelsea. The boho bon vivant vibe of Oscar Wilde, who lived on Tite Street, still holds at the Chelsea Arts Club. Established in 1891 at the suggestion of Whistler, it’s a hub and haven for artists and writers who drink and debate in the bar before scoffing public school-style dinners in the sunny garden. Elsewhere, Virginia Woolf made Cheyne Walk home for at least one of her characters and the riverside street still boasts of its love affair with the PreRaphaelites. Prepunk, and long before Chelsea was swinging, SW3 was a place where moments became movements.

Now, the average price in K&C is £695,874, having risen 10 per cent in the past three months alone, according to the Halifax.

“It’s ludicrously expensive,” says the style guru Peter York, a one-time resident. “The original Sloane Rangers decamped to Nappy Valley to pop out progeny. They couldn’t afford to come back.” Can he? “I am not sure I can afford not to...”, he says wistfully.

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