A Marylebone townhouse, which appeared in The King’s Speech and has staged notorious sex parties is being sold by its playboy owner “Fast Eddie” for £30m.
The house, on Portland Place, has seen everybody from Winston Churchill to Kate Moss – who filmed an advert for lingerie brand Agent Provocateur there – pass through its doors since it was built in c.1776.
Christian Lock-Necrews, partner and office head of Marylebone sales at Knight Frank who is managing the property, said: “This is the first time 33 Portland Place’s freehold has been available for sale, and, as it is designed by one of the UK’s most famous architects – the Adam Brothers – it is literally a chance to buy a part of London’s history.”
The six-storey house offers 19,803 sq ft of living space and has 21 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms and 9 reception rooms, as well as an adjoining mews house.
There is a wealth of original architectural details to the interior by the Adam brothers, who also designed Kenwood House.
Susie Fairfax Davies who runs guided walks of the area through Marylebone Walks said: “The Adam brothers’ practice was one of the most innovative of its time. Their impact on the architecture of the West End and in particular Portland Place is still visible today.”
The house also boasts London’s only hydraulic wall, a Victorian addition, which rises and falls to provide an optional room divide between the dining room and the music room.
However, the house, which was used as the location for the speech therapist’s consulting rooms in The King’s Speech and was also the backdrop for Amy Winehouse’s Rehab video, is in need of extensive renovations likely to cost at least £10m.
The property was used by its current owner, Edward Davenport, to project an image of personal wealth – he would also refer to himself as “Lord Davenport” – in support of the multi-million pound advance fee fraud for which he was convicted in 2011.
He was released six months early from his seven years eight months’ prison sentence in May this year due to a kidney condition, which had seen him receive dialysis in hospital while handcuffed.
He bought the building in a controversial sale from the Sierra Leone High Commission in 1999 and is hoping to raise between £25m and £30m through informal tender. The deadline for bids is 16th September.
Read more:
Property of the week: A quiet retreat in Hampstead Village
Hampstead and Highgate are the ‘high points’ for Modernist homes
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here