Letting the Windows Talk on Lower Richmond Road
Why extravagant displays can be seen at local estate agent
Blossom Street at Glenthorne Properties
May 22, 2024
If there was a prize for the best dressed window in Putney it would go to an unlikely winner, Glenthorne Properties. This local letting agent in the Lower Richmond Road has, in its seven years at that address, put out on window displays of bigger and bigger extravagance. The latest springtime combination of Easter bunnies, bamboo, fairy lights, butterflies and Japanese blossoms is no exception.
Lesley Hancock loves her job as a negotiator, dealing with both property owners and tenants. She claims to be popular with both sides. But she has another string to her bow.
13 years ago, as a mature student, she qualified as a Graphic Designer from Kingston University. But although she picked up work here and there, like many artists, she found it difficult to make ends meet.
An employment agency sent her to Glenthorne, she hit it off with the owner Stephen Giddings and is now a senior negotiator. But it was only when the business moved from Fulham to the present office seven years ago that the windows came to life.
“We wanted to show we were individual, very local not part of a chain and that we stood out. That we were not just another boring estate agent. It just took off. I now do four a year, Halloween, and Christmas, we did the Queens Jubilee, the Boat Race I get ideas from all over.. I’m not sure if it helps the business but people do come in off the street and say how amazing the windows are. The displays just get bigger and bigger. I suppose it’s become part of the company tradition, we are all involved, being creative makes us all feel better about what we are doing and who we are.”
Lesley Hancock
It was after all the great Victorian guru of style, William Morris, once of Hammersmith, who said, “There is no excuse for anything that is not strikingly beautiful”.
And that includes estate agents’ windows.
Easter display with bunnies
A spooky display for Halloween
A Nutcracker theme for the festive display
Hugh Thompson
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