£55million bill to revamp Our Man In America’s residence

When Sir Christopher Meyer served as ambassador to Washington from 1997 to 2003, his wife Lady Meyer caused controversy after embarking on a makeover of the residence costing around £1 million.

however, this is a mere bagatelle compared to the cash the Foreign Office is about to lavish on what is described as Washington’s Downton Abbey.

I can disclose it is to spend a staggering £55 million refurbishing the embassy compound and the ambassador’s incomparable residence, designed by Sir edwin Lutyens. There will be a further bill for finding what is described as ‘ appropriate alternative accommodation’ for the current ambassador, Sir Kim Darroch.

The information is revealed in a letter written last week to Tory MP Tom Tugendhat — who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee — by Sir Simon McDonald, Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, who notes that those temporary relocation costs are ‘commercially sensitive’.

In a previous letter, earlier last month, Sir Simon explained to Tugendhat that ‘essential health and safety works’ were needed on several of the embassy buildings, whose pipes had rusted and urgently required replacing.

Arguably worst afflicted is the ambassador’s residence, often considered one of Lutyens’s finest creations for its flawless blend of country-house style with American colonial architecture.

‘There have been several floods in the residence,’ writes Sir Simon, adding that the ambassador will have to ‘vacate the residence for a period of at least 12 months, given the disruptive nature of the infrastructure work, which includes asbestos removal’. There is some consolation for Sir Kim: McDonald insists that ‘ the project budget’ allows for ‘ hiring of external facilities to enable business and hospitality to continue’.

The Foreign Office raised £420 million in January by selling its embassy in Bangkok to fund modernisation projects across its global estate. For nearly 90 years, the Washington residence has been at the heart of the special relationship, playing host to prime ministers, presidents, royalty and even The Beatles.

During Peter Jay’s legendary ambassadorship, he marked a notch on the embassy bedpost by fathering a son by his children’s nanny.