The brothers behind Wilben
September, 2017
Property development is a complicated and multifaceted task; from finding a property and creating a layout that maximises its space to designing each and every detail that culminates in an interior that suits your lifestyle. Property development and design firm, Wilben, offers a holistic service to those who wish to renovate and update their prime London property. Whether the property is a family home, a buy-to-let or a buy-to-sell, Wilben has a track record of transforming properties that go on to outperform the market.
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The ‘I’ in interior design
Zodiac luxury
August, 2017
William Samuels, who founded Chelsea-based luxury design and development firm Wilben with his twin brother Benjamin, reflects on how the two of them set about creating their own homes earlier this year. For Benjamin and I, property development isn’t a hobby or simply a day job – it strikes to the core of who we are as brothers and is a passion that helps shape how we choose to organise our lives. We’ve developed homes across Prime London for all sorts of different people and tastes: from lateral apartments in Chelsea, where all the furniture was personally designed by us down to the last lampshade, to Belgravia townhouses with restored Georgian fireplaces and hand-crafted cornices.
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An Englishman’s home
Zodiac luxury
July, 2017
High-end interiors specialist William Samuels discusses the rebirth of traditional English interior design and how he creates exclusive properties in Prime London that embody its very unique philosophy. “Quintessentially English” is a term that is bandied around fairly loosely in the interior design world. A pleasant turn-of-phrase with little specific meaning, it has come to encapsulate types of residence in England ranging from the stately country piles described so vividly in the works of early twentieth century author P. G. Wodehouse to the compact, gaudy London apartments inhabited by James Bond and Mick Jagger aspirants during the “Cool Britannia” period of the late nineties.
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Hot property: Subterranean spaces
Financial Times
June, 2017
WHERE: Close to the boutiques and museums of South Kensington. It is 14 miles from Heathrow Airport. WHAT: A recently renovated three-bedroom house with electric sash windows and a retractable glass roof. WHY: Wine connoisseurs will enjoy the subterranean temperature-controlled wine tasting room – though negotiating the glass-encased staircase afterwards should prove less relaxing.
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The Top 3 Interior Design Trends In The Prime London Market Right Now
Deal Makerz
May, 2017
It’s an exciting time for the capital’s luxury property market. Despite Brexit, demand is only getting stronger; Knight Frank predicts transaction volumes across Prime Central London in the second quarter of the year will be up 28% on the same period in 2016. So, what are key trends driving wealthy buyers to keep investing in London’s plush pads? These are the three we’re noticing when we design our homes…
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Dynamic duos
The Times
May, 2017
THE TWINS: William and Benjamin Samuels. Will says: “I work more on the design and construction side of things and Ben is more focused on acquisitions and finance. We are not averse to taking advice from each other and there is more crossover than there was when we launched. Disputes can be noisy — we are brothers, after all — but we tend to resolve them quickly.
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Wilben debuts ‘reasonably-priced’ Boltons bolthole
Prime Resi
April, 2017
Boutique development outfit Wilben has launched its first project of 2017, billing as an opportunity to buy into a rock star address for less than you’d think. The firm has launched the fully-specced townhouse in the Little Boltons in Chelsea at £6.95m (just over £2,500 per square foot) – a price tag it says is a rarity amongst the neighbourhood’s ultra-prime stucco-fronted mansions, which can fetch up to £80m, or £10,000 psf.
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Homes to lust after
The Sunday Times
April, 2017
Homes in the Little Boltons, an exclusive patch of turf even by Chelsea standards, often come onto the market with price tags of £15m-plus. So this refurbished 2,713 sq ft townhouse could be seen as a bargain: it has five bedrooms and a basement kitchen/lounge that gives onto a patio with water features. The more formal reception on the raised ground floor leads to an outdoor space with views of the neighbourhood’s stucco-fronted behemoths.
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Top 5 most exciting young developers in London right now
April, 2017
Suave twin brothers Will and Ben Samuels have development in their blood after visiting projects with their father as young boys, “we got a lot of our work experience with dad’s mates as we tried to decide what side of the business we wanted to be in” Will said. In addition to family connections, the pair have also had experience in top tier property firms including Northacre, Brahm and Foxtons. Now they pound the pavements of the Capital’s most exclusive areas, managing a range of developments for Wilben in Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Chelsea.
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Theresa may Brexit, but overseas buyers Remain
City AM
March, 2017
Foreign investors – and, in particular, those from the Middle and Far East – have played a prominent role in transactions at the high end of London’s property market for decades. Having founded and managed a super-prime property development firm since 2009, we experienced first-hand the impressive amount of capital this buyer-type could deploy. From the Grosvenor House Hotel to the Shard, international purchasers snapped up some of the city’s finest real estate assets.
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Home of the Week: A family house in Belgravia
The Times
December, 2016
Since its beginnings, Chester Square has attracted the celebrated and the powerful, with past residents including Mick Jagger and Margaret Thatcher. If you want to join this roll call of the rich and famous, the price of admission is steep — £29.5 million, although for this you will acquire an 8,055 sq ft, grade II listed house over seven floors with eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms.
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Living The Dream: 38 Pont Street
Absolutely Notting Hill
October, 2016
Situated on the second floor, this stunning three bedroom apartment has been the subject of extensive renovation under the expert supervision and project management of renowned designers Wilben.
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Wilben debuts £12m Pont Street project
Prime Resi
September, 2016
Super-prime development outfit Wilben has unveiled its latest project – the reinvention of a Grade II listed second-floor apartment on Knightsbridge’s Pont Street.
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Beguiling Would-be Buyers With The Showroom
The New York Times
September, 2016
It may be hard to imagine, but there was a time when buyers of new properties had only bare walls, a brief list of specifications and imagination to help them make their choice. No more. Now there is the showroom. Expensively decorated and fully equipped, including the kitchen sink, the beds, wine glasses, books and even bathroom lotions, it proclaims: This is your taste, these are your aspirations, this is the home for you.
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First Look: Wilben’s new £32.5m townhouse on Chester Square
Prime Resi
June, 2016
We last saw Wilben Developments breaking price records on Eagle Mews in South Ken, but their next move was straight into super-prime territory. The Grade II listed townhouse they chose is a full storey higher than its neighbours and has been connected up to a chunky mews house at the rear, thereby creating one of the biggest specimens on ultra-prestigious Chester Square.
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The twins that epitomise luxurious London
Luxury Lifestyle Magazine
May, 2016
Luxury Lifestyle Magazine takes a look at two exciting young developers making their mark on central London’s luxury property market. Already being billed as the ‘Candys of Chelsea’, William and Benjamin Samuels are the brothers behind boutique property development company Wilben. Not just brothers but twins, they not only look alike but are driven by the same flair and imagination that has achieved them an impressive reputation for luxurious property development and design. Their combined skills have resulted in some of the most beautiful and desirable properties in prime central London and sales figures totalling over £60 million.
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THE BEST OF BELGRAVIA: The flagship £29.5m townhouse from brother act property developer Wilben
Lux Worldwide
April, 2016
Wilben’s biggest project to date the 19th century, seven-storey townhouse is the most impressive on the Grosvenor family-developed garden square, towering an extra level above its neighbours. From the outside the Grade II listed address townhouse is everything you could look for in a Belgravia property, its white façade the very image of 1800s architectural splendour. Wilben’s redesign of the massive 8,055 sq ft property is quintessentially British, albeit updated in beautifully contemporary style.
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The twins at the top of luxury interiors
Beyond Bespoke
March, 2016
Brothers William and Benjamin Samuels went into business together when they were 15-year-old schoolboys, and started the property development company Wilben seven years later in 2009. Now 29, they have exchanged property sales for investors totalling over £60 million, with Ben working on the finance and acquisition side of the business and Will focusing on design and luxury interiors. Here, they talk exclusively to Beyond Bespoke about their biggest project to date, a 8,055 sq ft, seven-storey £29.5 million townhouse in Chester Square, Belgravia.
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Meet the Chester Square Candys
The Telegraph
March, 2016
On Belgravia’s Chester Square, an address that routinely ranks among the most expensive in London, a certain townhouse has been garnering a lot of attention of late. No. 73, Margaret Thatcher’s house for 22 years until her death, is on the market for £30m through Savills. And although a glitzy redevelopment by Leconfield has given it a contemporary twist, including a media room and gym in the basement, traces of the Iron Lady remain – not least the bomb-proof front door. But just six doors further along the elegant white stucco terrace, 29-year-old twins Will and Ben Samuels, founders of the property development company Wilben, are giving Maggie’s 6,300 sq ft house a run for its money with a mansion that provides the ultimate in bespoke, one-off luxury for their super-prime target market.
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Interview: Wilben’s Benjamin & William Samuels on why property is in the blood
Prime Resi
December, 2015
In the vanguard of exciting young developers making their mark on central London’s resi scene, the twin brothers behind Wilben Developments talk to PrimeResi about how they broke into the ultra-prime league…
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Mews Property In Eagle Place, Chelsea Sells For Record Price
Property4Media
June, 2015
Wilben Developments Ltd, the property development company started by twin brothers William and Benjamin Samuels, has achieved a record price for the sale of a beautiful, three bedroom mews property in Eagle Place, Chelsea. The 1,931 sq. ft. property, which sits behind Chelsea’s Ferrari showroom, was sold fully furnished for an impressive £3.9m (equating to over £2000 per sq. ft.), breaking the record for mews sales in the immediate area.
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58 Redcliffe Square: The ultimate city bachelor pad
City AM
March, 2015
William Samuels, interior designer and co-founder of property development company Wilben is putting his two-bedroom Kensington bachelor pad on the market. Located on the western side of a picturesque garden square with a church in the middle, the apartment was being rented by students when Will spotted its potential, stripped the place bare and re-designed it from top-to-bottom. It only took around three months, which may have a lot to do with the fact he’s one half of a prime central London development company that has exchanged over £50m worth of sales to date. The other half is his twin brother, Benjamin, whose talent lies in the property acquisition and project management side of the business.
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Wilben Develops Stunning Mews Property In Chelsea
Property4Media
March, 2015
Wilben Developments Ltd, the property development company started by twin brothers William and Benjamin Samuels, has just redeveloped a beautiful mews property in Eagle Place, Chelsea. The property, which sits behind the Chelsea Ferrari showroom, has just gone onto the market for £4,250,000. The 1,931sq.ft interior has been finished to the highest level, boasting classic elegance and style and has a unique advantage over other mews properties, having windows on both sides.
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