In terms of discounts, it has to be one of the biggest ever seen. But getting your hands on the keys to the 14-bedroom Heath Hall in The Bishops Avenue in Barnet is still well beyond the means of the many.

After spending two years on the market with a £100million pricetag, the asking price has fallen by an eye-watering £35million. But that hardly leaves this in the bargain basement.

A spokeswoman for Glentree Estate Agents, handling the sale, said: “It’s a realistic figure and we wanted to create a market.”

They may well find one now for this 14-bedroom mansion, built in 1910 for the sugar magnate who owned Tate&Lyle.

In the 1950s the palatial home fell into disrepair when the Bank of China took it over and in 2006 it was refurbished and renamed by property magnate Andreas Panayiotou.

The house sits on 2.5acres of land, which is one of the largest plots in north London, and it has 36 rooms, including six living areas.

The mansion, which has white gold-leaf detail in the main rooms, also has indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a fully-ftted gym, a steam room and sauna, a library and a wine cellar that can hold more than 600 bottles. A steel-walled dressing room in the master bedroom doubles as a safe-room.

The house took 120 craftsman to refurbish with the major work done in Italy, and the master bedroom bathtub was carved out of one solid piece of marble.