Fancy living in Boy George’s house? The singer’s Grade II-listed Gothic Hampstead mansion is available to rent for £65,000 per month.
The Culture Club frontman bought the house, located on Well Road, in the mid-1980s after the success of the band’s hit, Do You Really Want to Hurt Me. But in November 2022, Boy George decided to sell his home of almost 40 years, putting it on the market for £17 million.
According to Julia Garber at listing agents Robert Irving Burns, Boy George received “some very good offers” on the property, which he turned down. “Whether we sell it or whether we rent it, he’s happy with both. He’s very relaxed. He’s not under any pressure whatsoever.”
Today, Boy George continues to perform live, while the success of his contemporary art means that he is often travelling and looking to rent out the house in his absence, says Garber. “He’s ridiculously busy travelling at the moment…He’s hardly ever there.”
And if a buyer were still interested? “He will consider it. It’s got to be at the right number.”
The house, which overlooks Hampstead Heath, was built in 1868 for engineer and developer Edward Gotto, who added new wings on either side of the property. Over the subsequent decades, the house was subdivided into several different properties, with one section home to comedian Marty Feldman in the 1960s.
In 2015, Sam Smith bought the house next door, reportedly later selling it to Boy George, who then undertook an ambitious three-year renovation project. Enlisting F3 Architecture and Interiors with award-winning designer Kelly Hoppen, the different properties on the site were brought together to form one large house, and the footprint expanded with a glassy kitchen breakfast room, leading out into the garden.
The building project saw the singer embroiled in a battle with Camden Council over planning permission.
Today the sprawling house sits on a 0.25-acre plot, covering 5,453 square feet with five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a cinema, meditation room and roof terrace.
Most striking, though, is the house’s dramatic Gothic architecture, with a tower —home to the meditation room— sweeping, full-length bay windows, ornate detailing and vaulted ceilings. The entrance hall, for example, is triple height, with a black staircase, stained glass window and a galleried landing.
Eagle-eyed viewers may note the absence of some of the bolder interior choices featured in the original sales listing. Gone, for example, is the sculpted male torso in a spare room, or the chair with erect penises for armrests.
But luckily, the house, which is available either furnished or unfurnished, does still contain some of Boy George’s own art. This includes the colourful, red-headed Claire painting, and the black and white Deeply Flawed, from his Aliens and Icons exhibition.
For Boy George, his “Gothic pile”, as he refers to the house in his memoir, Straight, has been a marker of his success. “I’ve kept my house in Hampstead and I live very comfortably,” he wrote. “I had to laugh when Tracy Emin walked into my home and said: ‘I’m glad to see it didn’t all go up your nose.’”
The property was listed for rent last week and has already received some “serious interest”, says Garber. At £65,000 per month, she feels that the house is likely to appeal to a wealthy French or American family, thanks to the nearby private schools. “That type of demographic will buy into the historic value of the house, who originally owned it and its legacy.”
“It’s private in terms of security, with proximity to the heath and to Hampstead Village,” she adds. “It’s turnkey and it’s going to be an amazing home for any tenant.”
