Tesla at Belair House

[NewWave]

Went there for a drink must have been about 7 or so years ago, lovely building but the bar and the whole place lacked atmosphere, funnily enough just last week we were coming back from a walk in the woods and wanted to go for a drink before heading home, neither of us faniced the Dog and Duck (aka crown and greyhound) so I suggested Belair House but my other half said It'd probably be packed out due to it being Mothering Sunday.

Which brings me the fact that on one of the posts here it shows they are advertising for an event on Mothering Sunday for end of May-which is the date its celebrated in Europe and the US I believe...odd.

I'm saddened to learn its gone to **** It would be lovely if it was a nice cafe/bar not too fancy but with character.

[mlteenie]

Well, well, well! Pretty disappointing and tacky. I have some sympathy for Tesla owners but although he has shown his colours now, Elon was always a tosser. 

I have always been sad and frustrated by Belair House, and I wish someone could get a grip and market it successfully as a good redto and bar.

As the earlier comment said it is a beautiful building in a great location, albeit a bit shabby here and there. Over the years we have eaten and had drinks there but the last time was about 5 years ago and we haven't been back since after a cockroach crawled up my arm as I waited at the bar for my pint...

[MrCheeky]

On 05/04/2025 at 13:55, MrCheeky said:

come touch my tesIa  n see what happens 

FAFO

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

20 hours ago, Kathleen Olander said:

It's complicated, the Dulwich Estate own the freehold of the land and Southwark Council are responsible for Belair Park, presumably on a lease.  In the 80s the house was sold, presumably on a long lease, to quite a famous chef whose name I forget!

Dulwich Society says:

"In the 1980s Southwark Council incurred further considerable expenditure on 'Belair', particularly in repainting the exterior. Unfortunately, in the 1990s Southwark Council closed up the building, pleading lack of funds, and in its boarded-up and vandalised state it became an eyesore. Happily, in 1997 the Council leased out the building and after impressive and extensive restoration by the new owner, Gary Cady, it opened as a restaurant, with the second floor converted into a private flat."

18 hours ago, Penguin68 said:

it is in an area where there is no passing trade, 

And yet the Hot N Juicy seafood place across the South Circular is busy all the time, in the same location where the sad Indian restaurant that used to be there faltered. Not sure if "passing trade" is that important to specialty restaurants.

[Penguin68]

1 hour ago, Dogkennelhillbilly said:

Not sure if "passing trade" is that important to specialty restaurants.

In an area which (thank goodness) is stuffed with good and acceptable restaurants (East, West and Central Dulwich) Belair would have to be a real destination - hence I suggested the need for a very high quality offering which would encourage visitors to go in search of it. A restaurant next to a station is a very different beast than a country house down a side street. I know about it because I live, and have lived for nearly 40 years, pretty close. And I have gone there on a number of occasions in its different guises. Sometimes with great enjoyment, other times less so. But for a site like that to work it must deliver its promise, which because of the nature and cost of the site will have to be both high-end and not very crowded, which means high prices and probably aiming for at least twice the covers occupation most nights and some lunches. Frankly, it can't live on local trade alone (because there are too many good alternatives) - so it has to build a rep for people to travel there, and again and again.

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

55 minutes ago, Penguin68 said:

 A restaurant next to a station is a very different beast than a country house down a side street.

Yeah - the restaurant next to the station is successful, that's the big difference! Don't think there is much passing trade strolling down the South Circular at night that pops in for a seafood boil spontaneously. Evidently they have built a rep that makes people search them out, even if they haven't yet persuaded you to pop by and patronise them. 

[Penguin68]

People do of course use the station. And the South Circular is one of the last roads left open in SE22. 

[Spartacus]

Here's the link to the Instagram video of the Tesla getting smashed up, obviously not at BelAir 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DITqQb3oyOY/?igsh=Z2NjdDF2YWxvaGwz

Got to admit, it took a lot of beating 

 

[katewills]

Hi everyone,

I'm writing an article about Belair House for The Telegraph.

If anyone would like to share their thoughts about the sex parties / the Tesla launch etc. please do get in touch with me!

My email is [email protected]

Many thanks

Kate

[malumbu]

On 04/04/2025 at 21:15, tiddles said:

Tbh most Tesla owners are people who are concerned about the environment and have purchased accordingly- but mr nut job has soured their purchasing- so I actually sympathise with them being associated with such an awful man. But to actively promote the company given the knowledge we now know about him makes utterly unacceptable. 

I've worked on sustainable transport for a number of years and I doubt it.  A mix of performance, hi tec and possibly status.  Drivers of say a Nissan Leaf or a Zoe, certainly early adopters, yes the environment is a key factor.

I've test driven many EVs in my career and Tesla was my least favourite apart From an entry price Indian car, made for mass adoption in Asia where the quality was awful.

I started a thread on EV recommendations but got no interest apart from some silly comments.  Perhaps some of you have a Tesla and think differently.

My dislike pre dates Musk becoming a fanatic.

Edited May 9 by malumbu

[Insuflo]

Not really fussed about the sex parties but The Daily Telegraph is disgusting. 

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

I don't mind people reading the Telegraph so long as they do it in the privacy of their own home and not in public where children might see them

[rjsmall]

The article has now been published The sex parties coming to a stately home near you 

The forum even gets namechecked.

[Sue]

2 hours ago, rjsmall said:

The article has now been published The sex parties coming to a stately home near you 

The forum even gets namechecked.

Apparently this forum  is " brimming with disgust and outrage" 🤣

I thought that was The  Telegraph 🤣

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

2 minutes ago, Sue said:

Apparently this forum  is " brimming with disgust and outrage" 🤣

I'm disgusted and outraged...at the Telegraph. I'd much rather have sex parties happening around the corner than have some of the Telegraph's oligarch owners infesting the neighbourhood.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/may/14/foreign-states-limited-to-15-stake-in-uk-newspapers-amid-telegraph-uncertainty

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

On 05/04/2025 at 20:54, David Peckham said:

for God's sake, don't mention tromboning/tromboner to the staff or band if you pop in for their Sunday lunch 'Jazz & Roast' experience.

I've now read the Telegraph article. The journalist Kate Wills @katewills stole the closing "jazz [jizz] and [spit] roast" gag from David Peckham. If the Telegraph's geriatric readers got the joke they'd choke on their kippers.

As someone who walks right past Belair House at weird hours (because I am weird), the sex parties are a lot less bothersome than other events Belair House puts on: for example, the club nights when the promoters illegally block parking on Gallery Rd in front of Belair House, when bouncers are posted on the front gates blocking access to a public park, and when the pavement and verges are strewn with flyers and booze bottles.

Ms Waterhouse and Heaven Circle: you're welcome back any time. There's a bunch of antisocial fuckers plagueing Belair House - but it's not the sex parties...

Edited Wednesday at 17:48 by Dogkennelhillbilly

[Spartacus]

This reminds me of "the grasshopper" at Westerham when a tabloid paper did an exposé about their swinger parties (many many years ago) 

The result was that every man and his dog went there to see if they could get in to a party. Pub did amazing business but think the club may have closed as a result. 

Bet the Telegraph article will be great publicity for belair sex parties and every pervert under the sun will invade Dulwich village and the square (of shame) 

[malumbu]

3 hours ago, Dogkennelhillbilly said:

I've now read the Telegraph article. The journalist Kate Wills @katewills stole the closing "jazz [jizz] and [spit] roast" gag from David Peckham. If the Telegraph's geriatric readers got the joke they'd choke on their kippers.

As someone who walks right past Belair House at weird hours (because I am weird), the sex parties are a lot less bothersome than other events Belair House puts on: for example, the club nights when the promoters illegally block parking on Gallery Rd in front of Belair House, when bouncers are posted on the front gates blocking access to a public park, and when the pavement and verges are strewn with flyers and booze bottles.

Ms Waterhouse and Heaven Circle: you're welcome back any time. There's a bunch of antisocial fuckers plagueing Belair House - but it's not the sex parties...

Perhaps post on the events page.  That would jozz things up.  😃

[beansprout]

WOW…

Money and politics talk…

Belair House has been a lost cause for years - surprised it has survived as c long as it has….but, if rumours over the years are true, “foreign money” …

Most people these days in the village and surrounding area and let’s face it, either have inherited house, invested for own wealth or bought to be in catchment area for schooling both private or state, left to go abroad and rented, or bought by actors, sold to Russians etc.. 

Local knowledge years ago what was happening -

 

 

 

[Sue]

10 hours ago, beansprout said:

WOW…

Money and politics talk…

Belair House has been a lost cause for years - surprised it has survived as c long as it has….but, if rumours over the years are true, “foreign money” …

Most people these days in the village and surrounding area and let’s face it, either have inherited house, invested for own wealth or bought to be in catchment area for schooling both private or state, left to go abroad and rented, or bought by actors, sold to Russians etc.. 

Local knowledge years ago what was happening -

 

Sorry to be thick, but can you explain the connections between "foreign money", politics,  your paragraph starting "most people in the village" and Belair House?

I honestly don't understand what point you are making.

Edited yesterday at 09:31 by Sue