An ambassadorial residence on Hampstead’s historic Templewood Avenue is on the market WITH planning permission to turn it back into a single family home

Ham & High: The potential new mansion could measure c.17,000 sq ft behind the original Edwardian façadeThe potential new mansion could measure c.17,000 sq ft behind the original Edwardian façade (Image: Archant)

In need of a project? Fancy a fixer upper? Consider yourself an architect extraordinaire? If the answer to these questions is yes, then this property on 14 Templewood Avenue might be for you. The only question remaining is do you have £24 million to spare (plus £2,763,750 to pay in stamp duty)?

On the market with Arlington Residential, Hampstead’s 14 Templewood Avenue is a perfect project for someone looking to create their dream home. The Grade II listed Edwardian mansion is on the market with planning permission and listed building consent granted for its new owners to construct a new mansion of c.17,000 sq ft behind the original Edwardian façade.

“It’s a genuinely unique opportunity,” said Marc Schneiderman, director at Arlington Residential in Hampstead. “The attraction for somebody here is that there is the full consent to put it back into one house. That consent is very, very difficult to come by because Camden will not allow you generally to convert six units back into one house. It’s extremely difficult, almost impossible to achieve that opportunity,” he added.

That’s especially true on a street with a history as illustrious as Templewood Avenue. The result of the partnership between architect Charles H.B. Quennell and builder-developer George Washington Hart, who contributed to much of the architectural heritage of NW3, the street was the last portion of their 15 year development of the West Hampstead Estate beginning in 1896. Saving the best till last, Templewood Avenue played host to the grandest of the 100 homes the duo constructed.

Ham & High: Templewood Avenue is on the market with full planning permission to gut and renovate the buildingTemplewood Avenue is on the market with full planning permission to gut and renovate the building (Image: Archant)

Prior to its establishment, the area was home to Manor Farm belonging to Westminster Abbey. It changed hands numerous times between aristocrats after the 16th Century Dissolution of the Monasteries and was eventually divided between the sons of Sir Thomas Spencer Wilson in 1821.

In 1827 the construction of Finchley Road cut through the estate, making it prime picking for developers. A long row in the Houses of Parliament and a couple of deaths later, the area was finally portioned out in 1873 with the freedom to build.

The detached home that now stands at number 14 was built between 1910 and 1911 in Quennell’s trademark Arts and Crafts-come-Queen Anne style. The Neo-Georgian building now standing is one of 23 buildings statutorily listed under the architect’s name.

The reasons given for awarding the house listed status were a reflection of the unusually decorative detailing of the symmetrical and bold Free Baroque design. The red brick façade features tiled hipped roofs with dormers and tall brick chimneys.

Ham & High: 14 Templewood Avenue is on the market for £24 million with Arlington Residential14 Templewood Avenue is on the market for £24 million with Arlington Residential (Image: Archant)

Projecting from the elevation is a central entrance bay and two outer bays, complimented by sash windows with exposed boxing. The first floor windows are round-arched in the Venetian style whilst Doric columns support the distyle-in-antis pedimented portico.

Split into six flats in 1956, the building is comprised of three storeys covering 11,807 sq ft. Since the interior was not inspected when the home was listed by English Heritage, the new owners will be able to take full advantage of the permission granted for renovation in April 2016.

“You could modernise the apartments and have it as a rental investment,” said Mr Schneiderman, although the main draw of the property will be the chance to turn it into a much larger single dwelling. “It’s got planning consent to hugely increase what’s there now,” he added.

Buyers will be able to excavate the ground floor to provide a single basement floor level, as well as side and read extensions. The coach house can be extended as well as the car port removed. Should the owners wish to make use of the 0.7 of an acre grounds, landscaping opens up the potential for tennis and garden parties, and a cycle store is a possibility. Returning to the form Quennell intended, the home has permission to be returned to its original standing as a single dwelling house.

Hot off the press, Mr Schneiderman expects a wave of interest from buyers already local to the Hampstead area. Having sold property recently in Redington Road and other streets neighbouring Templewood Avenue, Mr Schneiderman believes that local buyers will be attracted to the opportunity.

“We’ve found that most of those transactions seem to sell to people within a square mile, even within half a square mile who are living in that area already and really like that part of Hampstead and understand the value and the convenience of living there so they’re used to the area already. Their kids might be in schools locally, and it’s a question of trading up to a much bigger property,” he said.

Of course, London is no stranger to overseas investors, and the project will no doubt attract the continued interest in the NW3 market of those from the Far East and Eastern Europe. Mr Schneiderman added: “There’s also clearly the overseas international market and there are far eastern buyers in the market who are looking for substantial homes. It could be a buyer really from anywhere in the world.”

Rarely do homes in the Redington and Frognal Conservation Areas come onto the market. Even more rarely do they appear with permission to gut the property and completely rebuild the interiors. That in mind, property project hunters should dust off their workman’s boots and make for the tool shed; there’s a lot of DIY to be done.

14 Templewood Avenue, NW3 is on the market for £23,750,000 with Arlington Residential, 020 7722 3322