A spectacular Piccadilly mansion where Lord Byron once lived and wrote some of his most famous works has come on the market priced at just under £30 million.
The grade II listed residence at 139 Piccadilly overlooking Green Park has been used as an office building in recent years but is being sold with planning permission for conversion back into a family home with up to eight bedrooms. Agents estimate the seven storey building could be worth £70 million after a refurbishment that could cost as much as £15 million.
The house was built between 1760 and 1764 and in 1815 became Byron’s London home where he wrote his tragic verse Parsinia and his narrative poem, The Seige of Corinth. Later occupants included Baron Emile Beaumont d’Erlanger, whose family owned the French merchant bank Emile Erlanger and Company, and his society hostess wife Baroness Catherine d’Erlanger, whose salon guests included Winston and Clementine Churchill
Peter Wetherell, founder and chairman of agents Wetherell, which is handling the sale, said: “The provenance of this Piccadilly mansion building overlooking Green Park is outstanding.
“It was once the London home of poet Lord Byron and during the 1920s and 1930s was the Mayfair private palace of French heiress Baroness Catherine d’Erlanger, one of the richest women in Europe at the time. Now a buyer has the opportunity to close the circle and bring this landmark building back to life.”
The Mayfair listing came as a new survey showed sales in the elite district priced at more than £10 million doubled this year with total proceeds up from £123 million to £313 million.
Figures compiled by agents Beauchamp Estates showed that the upsurge in the Mayfair super-prime residential market has been driven by American and Middle East buyers, in particular clients from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
During 2023 the average value and size of house sold in Mayfair has been £25.5 million and 10,976 sqft respectively, significantly up on 2022 when the figures were £14.5 million and 5,272 sqft respectively.
Gary Hersham, founding director of Beauchamp Estates says: “During 2023 the Mayfair super-prime housing market has boomed, Mayfair is currently the most sought after address in prime central London for wealthy home buyers from around the world.
“Beauchamp Estates has completed a dozen big deals for super-prime homes in the district over the last few months with most of our clients choosing to purchase large lateral apartments. The £10 million plus deals landscape in Mayfair has been dominated by American and Middle East buyers who have undertaken cash purchases and taken advantage of preferential exchange rates for dollar buyers.”
