Mega Mansions: London home tied to imperial adventure for sale at £26.25m

Property on Old Park Lane in Mayfair has been associated with the British royals, Rolls-Royce luxury cars and the Elgin Marbles

The opportunities to gaze from one's apartment over London's Green Park towards Buckingham Palace and beyond are few and far between.

But a palatial four-bedroomed property, once the address of British royals and the headquarters of the luxury car maker Rolls-Royce, is now on the market for £26.25 million ($33.26 million).

Stood at 149 Old Park Lane, the building's frontage is right on Piccadilly, the famous street that runs from Piccadilly Circus to the tip of Hyde Park.

Acquired by equity investors Fairway Capital and Dar Global and spread over the entire fourth floor, this 5,222 square foot apartment is being sold through the UK Family Office at Sotheby’s International Realty, a new branch that deals exclusively with super-prime residential property.

The apartment itself blends the historic with the contemporary. Glance upwards in the property and you'll see the original cornices from the turn of the last century, painstakingly restored by experts at the developers Leconfield Property Group.

Likewise, the original marble fireplaces, panelled walls and tall doors with architraves have all been refurbished and retained.

But while the history of the interior has been brought back to life, modern conveniences, such as Sonos home sound and a ventilation system replenishing the apartment with fresh air, are part of the apartment's selling points.

"Providing a balance between traditional and contemporary living, the apartment building was originally inspired by the lavish Savoy Hotel, so Leconfield Property Group have sought to retain and restore original features whilst incorporating the latest technology and bespoke design contemporary furniture," said George Brooksbank, chief executive of Fairway Capital.

The original Georgian mansion that stood on the site at 149 Old Park Lane was built for the aristocratic Bruce family and in the early 1800s was home to Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, who displayed the famous Elgin Marbles there before they were moved to the British Museum in 1816.

For nearly a century after that, the house served as a palace for the British royal family, first for Prince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh and his wife Princess Mary. the daughter of King George III, then later as the home of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, a cousin of Queen Victoria and commander-in-chief of the British Army.

Monarchs and statesmen, from George IV and Queen Victoria to Prime Minister William Gladstone all crossed the threshold of the building.

When the Duke of Cambridge died in 1904, the original house was demolished and replaced by a grand seven-storey Art Nouveau and classical-style apartment building, designed by Thomas Edward Colcutt, the architect who created London's Savoy Hotel, and his partner Stanley Hamp.

Taking their inspiration from both the Savoy and royal heritage, Mr Colcutt and Mr Hamp were able to create a landmark stone-fronted building.

From 1906 to 1971, the building was associated with arguably the most famous of British luxury brands: Rolls-Royce Motors.

The car marker's headquarters were housed in the building, with the ground floor serving as a showroom and the apartments above used as entertaining rooms and pieds-a-terre for the Rolls-Royce directors.

The majesty of the fourth-floor apartment is as distinctive as the front grille on a Silver Shadow as soon you step into the marble hallway, resplendent with its grand piano and crystal chandelier.

The apartment's spacious feel is apparent in its 4.3-metre high ceilings and a hallway that stretches the full length of the property.

From there you can enter the main drawing room, which is double volume, essentially designed as two living spaces, with its large bay window overlooking Green Park and the Wellington Memorial at Hyde Park Corner only a few hundred feet to the right.

Off the main drawing room is a spacious family kitchen with an informal breakfast area, which also has a bay window that commands what must be among the most enviable views in London.

A formal dining room connects to the drawing room, creating a space that can accommodate 100 guests, while an impressive, separate professional chef’s kitchen would allow the owners to entertain on a grand scale.

Down the main hallway, away from the reception areas, are the apartments four bedrooms, all en suite.

Aside from being generously proportioned, the principal suite has a walk-in dressing room and a marble bathroom, complete with free-standing bathtub and separate walk-in shower.

The property also has its own staff accommodation, which has separate, independent access.

The property is a rare find, as it is highly unusual to find this much space in a lateral apartment, in other words all spread across one floor.

At more than 5,000 square feet with high ceilings, the property has a palatial feel that would not be out of place in some of London's royal residences.

“This exceptional lateral apartment at 149 Old Park Lane is exactly the type of residence that wealthy buyers are wanting in Mayfair," said Marcus O’Brien, founder of The Family Office at UK Sotheby’s International Realty.

"It has the size and dimensions of a grand house but has the living accommodation all on one floor. In 2023, almost £530 million worth of homes were sold in Mayfair and over 70 per cent of the homes valued above £10 million that were sold were large lateral apartments.”

This property will more than likely be snapped up by an overseas buyer and the apartment is very much dressed to appeal to a family from the Middle East.

Last year, according to Sotheby's, the average size of a London apartment that was priced above £15 million was almost 4,900 square feet.

"At present the luxury apartment market in Mayfair is being driven by wealthy purchasers from just eight countries – the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, India, Saudi Arabia, India, the UK and Pakistan," Mr O’Brien said.

"So, we will use our domestic and global network to reach buyers in these locations.”