THIS PALACE IN LONDON HAS A VIEW PROTECTED BY LAW
Doughty House, a rare, exceptionally kitted out heritage property, hits the market in Richmond Hill
The cost of a priceless view: Around US$132mn. A historic London mansion that looks out on the only view in England that is protected by an act of Parliament hit the market last week for US$132mn - 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 third-richest man, 19th century clothing merchant Francis Cook, the mansion has a two-storey, skylit, 125ft long neoclassical gallery, which Cook adorned with Roman-era mosaic floors and swirling pillars brought from Pompeii. The estate totals 38,000sq ft, with ten 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.
Doughty House needs a complete overhaul, which is sched- uled to start at the beginning of 2018. The listed price includes all necessary work, which K10 estimates as a US$39.6mn investment in itself.
The main, four-storey 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.
From 2013 to 2014, K10’s Babaee set out to acquire the full Doughty House property that is now on offer. It had been divided into three parcels: The main house, the gallery addition, and between them, a smaller building known as the Dower House.
“It was already rundown,” he says. “[The owner] was living in a small part of the house, but the upkeep was quite heavy. He had no heirs or anything.” (Babaee declines to name the owner.) Photos posted to an urban exploration discussion board in April show a house in near-ruin, with missing floorboards, badly damaged walls, crumbling ceilings, and overgrown gardens. The mosaic floors and the iconic, closed-column, stone facade of the gallery wing were blessedly intact.
K10 spent more than two years on planning and permits; Doughty House is a Grade II building, which means it’s considered of national importance and is specially protected.
The residence is located at the crest of Richmond Hill, with views over the River Thames that directly inspired painters Turner and Reynolds. The 2,500 acre Richmond Park, where deer roam wild, is near. Despite the bucolic feel, London’s Waterloo station is less than 20 minutes by train.
When it’s complete at the end of 2019, according to current floor plans and design notes, there will be six family suites in the main house, a formal dining room, music room, drawing room, and grand entrance hall, plus two guest suites in the Dower House. The Victorian era conservatory is being turned into an informal, split-level, family living space that includes kitchen and breakfast areas.
In addition to staff quarters, lower levels will house a bowling alley and a car complex inspired by a repair shop in which the Cook family’s Rolls-Royces were maintained. Technicians would work on the cars from a bricklined well underneath; in the first stages of restoration, K10 discovered the repair depot hidden under flooring. The new version will feature a car elevator and a turntable, affording space for seven cars.
The developer - whose other projects include the former Knightsbridge home of dancer Margot Fonteyn and a pedigreed carriage house in Mayfair intends to divide the lower level of the gallery wing into a spa, gym, and pool complex.