Designs on art deco 'Mirabelle' Mayfair penthouse at £40m

Shell and core penthouse at 60 Curzon, in the heart of London, is ready to be shaped to the buyer’s personal taste

60 Curzon in Mayfair, London. Photo: Ben Dale

A four-minute walk from the Ritz hotel on Piccadilly and on the site where one of London’s most famous restaurants once stood, 60 Curzon is a completely rebuilt block of residences featuring several pieds-à-terre and two discreet, luxurious penthouses commanding views across London’s skyline.

From the outside, 60 Curzon has an architectural style that marries the elegance of the 6th and 7th arrondissements in Paris with the opulence of New York’s Upper East Side.

Of the 32 residences, 22, including one of the 4,600-square foot penthouses, are still available to buy. Indeed, the penthouse, on the market for around £40 million, is a shell and core offering which enables the buyer to define the space completely to their own specifications, a growing trend among London’s top-end real estate offerings.

There are also studios, and one and two-bedroom apartments where the space has been utilised to create the luxurious feel of much larger properties.

Situated in the heart of Mayfair, one of London’s most desirable areas, the building has been completely rebuilt and now houses the kind of five-star amenities the discerning buyer demands, including a 20-metre swimming pool, spa and gym.

“The target market for the building is pretty broad,” Charles Leigh, sales director at 60 Curzon, told The National. “It’s very international and aimed at people who travel a lot. It’s likely to be an individual, couple or family buying it for various family members to use while they’re in London.”

Naturally, a building at this level of luxury has personalised, round-the-clock concierge, security presence and a private underground car park that ensures discretion for 60 Curzon's residents.

Mirabelle restaurant

60 Curzon was the home of the famous Mirabelle restaurant, which served the glitterati of London from 1936 until 2008. Patrons included Winston Churchill, Orson Welles, Russell Crowe, Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio. Mirabelle was such an important part of London’s social and political scene that senior members of the British government would often entertain foreign dignitaries there.

The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star during the tenure of executive chef Charlie Rushton in 2000, which it maintained until it closed in 2008. A shell and core restaurant space is part of the new building, and 60 Curzon retains the rights to the Mirabelle name and owns the neon Mirabelle sign.

“We are in early discussions with two potential restaurateurs who both would create the heir to Mirabelle and will be carefully chosen for that purpose,” Mr Leigh told The National. “It’ll be a very cool, very well-respected restaurant with an incredible chef with every intention of getting a Michelin star.”

Designed by Thierry Despont

The interiors of 60 Curzon were created by acclaimed French artist and designer Thierry Despont, and give more than just a nod to the original building’s Art Deco heyday.

The interior of one two-bedroom apartment was one of Mr Despont’s last designs before he died last year. He was perhaps best known for his work on the restoration of the Statue of Liberty in New York City in the 1980s.

The 2,024-square foot flagship apartment is meticulously finished in Despont-designed luxury and is on the market for £15 million.

At more than 2,000 square feet, the apartment could have quite comfortably been a three-bedroom, or even a four-bedroom home. However, it was felt that would seriously compromise the luxurious feel of the extremely generous living and entertaining spaces, which include a 700-square foot terrace.

“It’s the principal bedroom suite, the reception room, the dining room and the terrace that you would normally get with a £30-40 million four, five or six-bedroom apartment,” Mr Leigh told The National. “It’s designed for people who might have four, five or six other huge houses around the world, but just want a small base in London.”

“So, the buyer is likely to be somebody who wants that quality of space, but they don’t have the need for four or five bedrooms. They just want a two-bedroom crash pad apartment for the time that they are in London.”

This design style, which prioritises space in certain areas such as the principal bedroom and entertaining areas, but with a low number of bedrooms, is rapidly becoming a major element of planning many of London’s luxury developments, Mr Leigh said.

“There were a lot of people who came and saw larger apartments [at another development] who said ‘we cannot justify buying a four or five-bedroom apartment, because we’ll never use more than one or two of them’,” he said.