About Us

The Cheval story began in the vibrant streets of Knightsbridge, to the west of central London and only a 20 minute walk from Cheval Gloucester Park. As an organisation we acquired our first property in 1981 in Cheval Place, a quiet street in the heart of Knightsbridge set back from the bustling Brompton Road, and home to some of London’s most iconic shopping destinations. This was to form the heart of our Cheval Knightsbridge Residence.

Knightsbridge itself is named after an ancient bridge spanning the Westbourne Stream, and as the first half of the word implies, was the gathering point of knights and their retainers. These knights would have required somewhere to stable their horses, suggesting that Cheval Place, from the French for horse, was aptly named.

Cheval Hyde Park Gate joined the portfolio in 1995 and is the smallest of our Residences, but by far the grandest. The stucco-fronted period structure dates from the mid-1840s, and was built by the renowned civil engineering firm of Grissell and Peto. The firm was also responsible for some of the building work at the Houses of Parliament, as well as some significant parts of the fast-expanding railway system of that era.

Much of the furniture and fittings found in the apartments are from the furniture firm Charles Barr, who set up a business in the 1860s. The company’s fortunes waned over time, but in the late 1940s a new workshop was established and production of the Regency and Edwardian styles began again, still bearing the original founder’s name. The exception to this style is two apartments on the lower ground floor of the building which are decorated and furnished in a fresh, contemporary style.