Charlie Croker would not have been the ideal neighbour in Notting Hill during the Swinging Sixties.
The fictional thief played by Michael Caine resided on a house on Denbigh Close, off Portobello Road, in the 1969 film The Italian Job.
In a memorable scene from the comedy crime caper, Croker’s long-suffering girlfriend Lorna ejects three scantily clad women from a house on Denbigh Close.
They flee down the cobbled mews barefoot (ouch) towards a gabled brick house, which is now available to rent for £17,000 a month with Knight Frank.
At a weekly cost of £3,923.07 a week, you’d might want to a couple of gold bullion bars pinched in a Mini-based heist to defray the cost.
The four-bedroom house is looking much fresher than it did in the Sixties, with a smart stable door and white-painted windows below the carved sign for ‘Denbigh Mews’, the original name for the cul-de-sac.
These mews houses would have originally been stables and living quarters for the carriage horses and coachmen serving the grander homes on Denbigh Terrace and Chepstow Villas.
Set over four floors, the rental property has an open-plan kitchen with wi-fi enabled kitchen appliances, a wine wall and a cinema room.
The principal bedroom has its own snazzy bioethanol fireplace, while a potential fifth bedroom is currently set up as a home gym.
There’s also a roof terrace, should one wish to dramatically re-enact Lorna throwing incriminating clothes and shoes off into the street below (brown leather matching miniskirt and jacket not included).
The house is available unfurnished, but parking is available in front of the house.
“Denbigh Close is without doubt, a hidden gem in Notting Hill with its unique blend of seclusion and Portobello Road vibrancy,” said Elizabeth Holder, head of Notting Hill Lettings at Knight Frank
“This house caters to those seeking a sophisticated London living experience, bespoke design, top-end finishes, and the additional luxury of a roof terrace to watch the world go by”.
Eagle-eyes cinema fans may have also spotted Denbigh Close in the more recent Paddington films.
Alice’s Antiques shop, which has been on the corner since 1887, can also be seen in shots from The Italian Job. In Paddington the shop is dressed as Gruber’s Antiques shop, and frequented by the marmalade-loving bear.
A mews house on the same close went on the market in 2018 for £2.25 million.
