A five-bedroom London townhouse featuring a grand salon modelled on the Palace of Versailles has been listed for sale at £8.25 million (AUD $17.5 million).
The 4,768 square foot property on Ovington Square in Knightsbridge comes with an unusual provenance – it spent four decades as a Royal sculpture studio, with Thomas Earle carving a marble statue of Queen Victoria on the ground floor between 1850 and 1878.
Prince Albert reportedly oversaw the progress of the Royal statue, which was completed in 1861 and now stands in Pearson Park, Kingston-upon-Hull.
Mr Earle also used his Ovington Square studio to create a bust of Queen Victoria, now held at Buckingham Palace.
The property’s second owner, French sculptress Charlotte Vital Dubray, maintained the studio and the Royal connections. In 1879, she hosted King Leopold I of Belgium for a tour of the ground floor workspace and the artwork displayed in the first-floor reception rooms.
The current interiors date from a lavish refurbishment between 1945 and 1955, when interior designer George Longmire and his son Paul transformed the ground floor into a Parisian-style grand salon.
The carved wood Boiserie wall panels originate from a French chateau and include hand-painted panels depicting social gatherings in Loire Valley gardens.
The salon features a hand-painted trompe-l’oeil ceiling and herringbone wood flooring in the Parquet de Versailles style.
“This magnificent Knightsbridge townhouse is perfect for entertaining with spacious reception rooms on both the ground and first floor,” said Paul Westwood, Associate at Knight Frank.
“The truly unique and impressive grand salon has hosted many prominent people over the years including King Leopold I of Belgium, Grand Duchess Olga Romanov, Bertrand Russell, Picasso, Richard Rodgers and David, Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII.”
From 1989 to 2008, the property was owned by Oscar-winning film producer Norma Heyman and was home to her son David Heyman, producer of the Harry Potter films and Fantastic Beasts series.
Jeremy Gee, Managing Director of Beauchamp Estates, said the townhouse “retains a rich sense of history and character with remarkable architectural detailing in principal rooms.”
“Ovington Square is one of the most sought-after garden squares in Knightsbridge, ideally positioned between Brompton Road and Walton Street.”
The property spans six floors with a family kitchen, staff quarters and storage vaults on the lower ground floor.
The first floor houses two reception rooms including a grand library with built-in shelving, while the upper floors contain the principal bedroom suite and three additional bedrooms.
Originally built in 1849-1850 by architect William Wilmer Pocock, the white stucco townhouse includes a private terrace garden extending from the ground floor reception room.
The property is listed through joint agents Beauchamp Estates and Knight Frank.