The Bingham Riverhouse neighbourhood Members’ Club, where locals come to work, rest and play, includes a tranquil Thameside workspace, incredible events and private members’ space for its ever-growing community of local, like-minded individuals. The friendly staff serve food, conjured up by Steven Edwards (winner of MasterChef: The Professionals) in the parlour, with its striking modern art and verdant views, and in the library with its wall lined by rows of nicely dogeared old Penguin paperbacks. The drawing room bar has the spacious feel of a country house kitchen. There are 15 bedrooms, with handmade Naturalmat beds and some with copper freestanding baths. But it’s the bucolic Richmond setting that adds that extra magic: the river is just at the end of the terrace with its pretty walled garden, and there’s a towpath by the water where rowing boats splash by all day. The Riverhouse began life as two Georgian townhouses and from 1899-1910 it was home to the poets Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper. ‘I have rubbed myself against nature’s great warm hand,’ wrote Katherine, after a bout of gardening, ‘in a spirit of pagan delight’.
Doubles from £125
+44 (0)20 8940 0902; binghamriverhouse.co.uk
