In London's posh Belgravia, a megamansion once owned by British nobility and with interiors courtesy of a celebrity-favorite designer, has just hit the market for 45 million US $53.2 million. It is one of the most expensive homes listed publicly for sale in the city, which has a lot of big-ticket properties, listing records show.
The almost 14,000 square-foot Edwardian mansion was built at the turn of the 20th century and its well-to- do owners included shipping tycoon Sir Fenwick Shadforth-Watts and the 4th Earl of Lichfield, according to listing agency Beauchamp Estates, which bought the home to the market last week.
The home was snapped up in 2011 by its current owners, who commissioned the late Irish architect David Collins for a two-year renovation and refurbishment of the six-story main house and three-story mews house to the rear.
Collins has also included Madonna's London and Manhattan homes, Gordon Ramsay's and Marco Pierre White's restaurants and retail interiors for Jimmy Choo, Alexander McQueen and Harrods.
Accessed via a stone porch leading into a marble-floored entrance hall, the seven-bedroom home has custom parquet flooring, Regency-style fireplaces, bay windows, high ceilings, elegant coving and moldings and bespoke wall paneling, according to Beauchamp Estates.
According to Marcus O Brien, head of Beauchamp Estates' private office, it is one of the finest residences currently for sale in Belgravia.
There are several reception rooms, a dining room and a family kitchen with a black marble-topped island. The garden terrace has glass skylights in the paving that flood the subterranean health and leisure area — complete with a pool, gym, sauna and steam room — with light.
The listing said that there are two offices, a media room, a billiards room, a full-floor primary suite with dual dressing rooms and Art Deco-style marble bathrooms, and an underground parking garage large enough to accommodate limousines and Range Rovers.
In the mews house, a detached structure historically used to stable horses, there are two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living area and a roof terrace.
Mansion Global couldn't determine the identity of the owners, or how much they paid for the property.