MAYFAIR HAS always been a part of London in which I feel at home. It is convenient for Bond Street, the Dorchester and the City. Indeed, the only black mark against the area’s name is the ghastly concrete block that the United States Embassy now represents.
The area has not always been seen as the place to live, but it is recovering its status as offices are being converted back into substantial houses.
A similar trend is taking place in nearby Westminster and it is one I am proud to have been part of. In 1996 Mr Moneybags and I bought the former head office of the Church of England Temperance Society (now the National Council for Social Concern) — prompting tremendous worry (thankfully misplaced) from Mr Moneybags of a drinking embargo being included in the contract. We converted our new property into an elegant five-bedroomed house, with a self-contained flat.
We were soon joined by other friends keen to grasp the opportunity of a home in the heart of London. My good friend Claire bought a former office on Old Queen Street, and promptly converted it into a spectacular home three times the size of mine.
However, even Claire would be hard pushed to outdo a certain property that came to my attention recently — at £9 million, 8,000 sq ft, and with a unique view over the Westminster Abbey gardens, I was rather impressed with 16 Great College Street. This property is the outstanding example in a Westminster-wide wave of current offices reverting to houses. Indeed, since 1996 the area between Birdcage Walk and Tothill St reet alone has recovered 106 residences from the commercial sector.
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An array of wonderful newly residential properties calls out to would-be inhabitants of Westminster — for example, Hathaways is currently offering the only house on Queen Anne’s Gate with its own garden — the former National Trust office, with 4,200 sq ft, is available for £2.9 million.
The conversion of Westminster into “the next Mayfair” has not been lost on the businesses of Mayfair itself. I’ve noticed that the upmarket delicatessen Mange, of Elizabeth Street, Mayfair, is now also in Greycoat Place. No doubt they hope that the future occupants of 16 Great College Street and their like will have as rich a taste for fine foods as they do for their houses.
Mr Moneybags and I have long since left Westminster, though I frequent it more and more as my friends continue to migrate there. Mr Moneybags now continually pesters me to reinvest in Westminster, though I suspect his motives stem not from the promise of financial gain but rather from the reason that he could hop on the Jubilee Line direct to St John’s Wood for the cricket, probably armed with a bottle of champagne, a product that the Sainsbury’s store in Westminster tells me it is selling much more of these days.
16 Great College Street is for sale through Sothebys International Realty, 020-7495 9580; Hathaways specialises in Westminster properties, 020-7222 3133