They have bought the imported cars, the top-of-the-range mobile phones, the extravagant jewellery and beach holidays on the Red Sea. Now Russian consumers are buying a lifestyle as well.

Out-of-town living is the new fashion for Moscow’s rich and those that aspire to be rich. Drive outside Moscow’s high-rise cityscape and before long you can find new housing developments that, with a little imagination, could be mistaken for a North American suburb.