A six-bedroom Mayfair mansion has been sold for a “bargain” £39 million in the biggest deal of its kind this year in London’s most elite neighbourhood.
The Grade II listed residence on Stanhope Gate, near Park Lane, was originally marketed at £50 million just before the Brexit referendum more than two years ago.
Details lodged with the Land Registry show it was bought by a British Virgin Islands-registered company at the start of November for £38.8 million, although fees and stamp duty will have taken the total cost close to £45 million.
The interiors were created by celebrity designer Nicola Fontanella, whose clients have included Madonna and Naomi Campbell, and are said to be modelled on the Ralph Lauren flagship store in nearby Bond Street.
A brochure drawn up when the Georgian property first went on the market shows its 18-month overhaul — estimated to have cost around £4.5 million — includes a basement leisure complex with swimming pool, steam room and cinema with whisky bar. Other features are a passenger lift serving all six floors, and a suite of reception rooms below six bedrooms and bathrooms on the second, third and fourth floors.
There is a rooftop terrace with its own outdoor bar looking across Hyde Park, plus a 200-bottle wine cellar, staff quarters and a separate chef’s kitchen. Surviving original features of the 11,100sq ft home include a Portland stone staircase and extensive wood panelling. Arrangements have been made with nearby hotels to offer concierge services like housekeeping and supplying fresh flowers, according to the PrimeResi.com property news website.
The house was built in 1757, making it one of the oldest surviving mansions in Mayfair. After the Second World War, it was converted into a banking hall and offices for the Wakefield Building Society, which merged with the Halifax in 1976.
News of the sale, brokered by Beauchamp Estates, shows there is still healthy interest in the top end of the London market. It comes days after a former schoolhouse in Knightsbridge sold for £50 million.
