The cost of a priceless view: around $132 million.
A historic London mansion that looks out on the only view in England that is protected by an act of Parliament hit the market on Monday for 100 million pounds ($132 million)—more than six times what part of the property listed for five years ago.
Still, for that price you get more than an iconic Thames vista, an acre of gardens, and a couple of upgraded bedrooms.
“This is a castle in central London,” says Kam Babaee, chief executive of K10 Group Ltd., the estate’s developers. “This is a palace.”
Doughty House is in Richmond, a serene, supremely wealthy part of West London where the Who’s Pete Townshend, naturalist David Attenborough, and actress/model Jerry Hall live, or have lived.
Once owned by Britain’s’s third-richest man, 19th century clothing merchant Francis Cook, the mansion has a two-story, skylit, 125-foot-long neoclassical gallery, which Cook adorned with Roman-era mosaic floors and swirling pillars brought from Pompeii. The estate totals 38,000 square feet, with 10 bedrooms, 48 chandeliers, a dining room that fits 200 guests, a spa, a car museum, and a bowling alley—that is, when it’s complete.
A $130 million ‘palace’ in London comes with an extra-special view https://t.co/uYKHWjG9cW pic.twitter.com/ZkmiVAo5Hx
— Bloomberg Pursuits (@luxury) October 31, 2017
Doughty House needs a complete overhaul, which is scheduled to start at the beginning of 2018. The listed price includes all necessary work, which K10 estimates as a $39.6 million investment in itself.
The main, four-story brick mansion was built in 1769 for Sir William Richardson and later bought by heiress Elizabeth Doughty. Cook purchased it in 1849, adding that gallery wing to show off his astounding collection of art, which included works by Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, and Velázquez.
In the early 20th century, Doughty House played a small part in Britain’s abdication crisis. The story goes that the Cook family discussed offering it to King Edward VIII as a place to live after he relinquished the crown. But Cook’s heirs fell on hard times, and in 1949 the estate was sold to a developer who hoped to turn it into a hotel and apartments. That scheme failed, and it changed hands again.