Property of the month: a blue-plaque Belgravia mansion fit for a Prime Minister
On the market for the first time in 40 years, 93 Eaton Square has been home to Stanley Baldwin, Margaret Thatcher and Mrs Henry Ford II
When it comes to illustrious London addresses they don’t come much grander than Eaton Square. The site of London’s largest garden square, and now the site of many of the capital’s most impressive Grade II-listed properties, over the years everyone from Laurence Olivier and Roger Moore to Neville Chamberlain and Nigella Lawson have called it home. In fact, so famed is the address’ reputation that Ian Fleming even chose Eaton Square as the London residence of James Bond.
Accordingly homes in the neighbourhood – which have access to private tennis courts and are in close proximity to the excellent Eaton Square School as well as some of London’s finest Michelin-starred restaurants – don’t tend to come to market too often. Our property of the month at 93 Eaton Square, for example, hasn’t changed hands for four decades, having been bought as the summer home of Kathleen DuRoss Ford (wife of Henry Ford II) in the 1980s.
Comprising a four-bedroom main house at 93 Eaton Square and an interconnecting two-bedroom mews home at 35 Eaton Mews North, the gorgeous Regency facade of the property introduces a home which is every bit as majestic on the inside. Originally built in 1827 by Thomas Cubitt, having been commissioned by the Duke of Westminster, the property has retained many of its original period features, despite extensive refurbishments by subsequent owners.
Bought in 1913 by Stanley Baldwin, who would go on to take the post of Prime Minister three times, the impressive main reception room and adjoining dining room have hosted the likes of Winston Churchill, Rudyard Kipling and King Edward VIII. Today, these rooms retain much of their grandeur, with 14ft ceilings, an original fireplace and three full-height sash windows providing a focal point and allowing in an abundance of natural light. A large family kitchen with central island and a separate utility room complete the ground floor of the main residence.
In the early 1980s the house passed into the hands of the Fords who commissioned renowned interior design firm Colefax & Fowler to refurbish and redecorate the property in an English country house style that would complement their existing country home, Turville Grange, near Henley-on-Thames. Using the house during the summer months, when Kathleen DuRoss Ford would entertain the likes of Lee Radziwill, Lily Tomlin and Karl Lagerfeld, much of this refurbishment is still in evidence, meaning the next owners may want to undertake extensive modernisation.
However, if you’re not adverse to a little Laura Ashley, there’s much to love about 93 Eaton Square. Take, for example, its master bedroom suite, which boasts an adjoining office, bathroom and dressing room. Or the elegant central courtyard, which offers an unprecedented amount of private outdoor space in this part of the city, and is ideally set up for al fresco dining and entertaining.
The additional mews house also makes this property an exceptionally attractive proposition, boasting its own kitchen, garage and wine cellar, as well as two flexible reception rooms that could be used as bedrooms, gyms or offices. With scope to seek planning permission to add a lower ground floor of around 600 square feet to the mews house, this is a rare opportunity to turn one of the capital’s most historic and highly sought-after homes into something truly world class.
93 Eaton Square is listed for sale with Beauchamp Estates for £23 million, visit beauchamp.com for more information.