In 1844, William Reynolds bought a plot in Notting Hill — which was in Middlesex at the time — on which he built a pleasingly symmetrical detached villa that he called Clarendon Lodge.
The builder presumably believed that he was investing in an upwardly mobile location and this has turned out to be the case, albeit with some dips along the way. The area had a poor reputation in the late 19th century, and in the 1960s it was a slum area crammed with seedy bedsits, something that it is difficult to imagine when you walk the streets today and gaze at the immaculately renovated houses that have mostly been extended up, down or sideways.
In the case of Clarendon Lodge, there has been an extensive rebuild. During this makeover the garden-level floor (a storey between the basement and the ground floor) was enlarged by about 50 per cent, turning it into the largest floor of this 5,706 sq ft, six-bedroom house which is for sale for £22 million with Knight Frank. Would this surprise Reynolds almost as much as the upmarket tone of the neighbourhood in 2016? Probably. However, as a clever businessman he would have appreciated the way in which the house has been refurbished to appeal to a local or overseas family wanting a trophy London home with heritage kerb appeal and every convenience.
On the garden-level floor the look is high-tech and light-filled. This open-plan space contains the kitchen, living and dining areas, plus one of the six bedrooms. The developers dug down to create a new lower level for a media room, plant room and wine cellar.
On the ground floor the feel and the decor changes. You climb sweeping wooden stairs and enter the drawing room through bespoke burr-oak doors. Here you would believe yourself to be in a baronial mansion in the Highlands rather than in a townhouse in west London and, indeed, in the drawing room and the adjoining dining room there are more obvious Scottish references, such as antler chandeliers. The master bedroom, with its two bathrooms, occupies the entire first floor. There are a further three bedrooms on the second floor.
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This is a “fully connected” home with an integrated architectural lighting system. In most of the 20 rooms there is a tablet that you use to control lighting and music; each room is connected to the internet.
Caroline Foord, a partner at Knight Frank’s Notting Hill office, says: “The new interior can only be described as a blend of the best from the past and the precision of the present with a hint of the future. It is arguably one of the best addresses in Notting Hill. It is close to the shops and restaurants on Holland Park Avenue and Notting Hill Gate, the Tube stations and there are some really good schools in the area.”
Reynolds would surely be proud.