A London Townhouse That Once Served as the Italian Embassy Just Listed for $27.3 Million
In the posh Belgravia area of London, a six-bedroom residence that once served as the Italian Embassy has hit the market for the first time in more than a century.
Asking a cool £21.5 million (or about $27.3 million), the nearly 8,000-square-foot mansion is located on Lygon Place and was built sometime between 1900 and 1901. The Grade-II listed residence was acquired by the Italian government in 1923, and after 1945, the embassy building became the Italian Defense Attaché Office. Approximately 60 years later, planning permission was granted to return the building to a private residence, with the conversion taking place from 2009 to 2011.
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“During its time as an Embassy residence, this illustrious townhouse-mansion was visited by notable guests from the pages of history, including Diana Mitford, Lloyd George, and Wallis Simpson,” said Charles Lloyd, Head of Beauchamp Estates, in a press statement.
Set behind a gated driveway, the townhouse was originally designed in the Arts and Crafts style by architects Eustace Balfour and High Thackery Turner, with a red brick facade accented by Portland stone bay windows and a gabled roofline. Today, the palatial pad sports six ensuite bedrooms and tons of new details and finishes, including a cinema room, a fitness studio, a terraced garden, and an elevator that stops on every floor.
Elsewhere, the ground-floor reception room, drawing room, and dining area all feature parquet flooring and wall paneling, along with elegant Regency-style marble fireplaces and intricate moldings and ceiling details. The kitchen and breakfast areas are kitted out with high-gloss white and timber cabinets, marble countertops, and stone flooring. On the second level, the primary suite takes up the entire floor and includes a large bedroom, two walk-in dressing rooms, and an ensuite bath that has dual marble sinks, a marble bath, and a separate walk-in shower.
“Well-presented and immaculately maintained, it provides a discerning buyer with an outstanding opportunity to acquire a luxurious turn-key residence in sought-after Belgravia,” Lloyd added.
Located off Ebury Street, the eight townhouses lining Lygon Place have seen their fair share of notable residents throughout the years, including shipping tycoon Sir Fenwick Shadforth-Watts and aristocrat Thomas Anson, the 4th Earl of Lichfield. The former embassy is also believed to have inspired the fictional Belgravia home of Sir Hugo Drax, the villain from the third James Bond novel, Moonraker, which makes some sense considering its author, Ian Fleming, lived on Ebury Street from 1934 to 1945.
Click here to see all the photos of Lygon Place.
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