London is no stranger to luxurious real estate, but the latest property on the market is setting new records. According to reports from Quartz and the Financial Times, The Holme in Regent’s Park has been put up for sale with an asking price of £250 million (AU$445 million), making it the most expensive home currently listed for sale in the world. If it sells at this price, it will also break the record for the most expensive real estate deal in London’s history, which currently stands at £210 million ($252 million).
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Image: ProAuction SWNS
The Holme is a 205-year-old mansion set on four acres of Regent’s Park, one of the city’s eight royal parks. The property was designed by prominent 19th-century architect Decimus Burton in 1818 and was previously owned by members of the Saudi royal family, who purchased it for a mere £15 million. However, the mansion was repossessed by receivers after a loan worth approximately USD$180 million expired. The sale of the property is seen as the quickest and easiest way to repay the loan, which was also backed by other assets, including a private plane and a New York City home.
The mansion, which is being handled by agents at Knight Frank and Beauchamp Estates, features 40 bedrooms, eight garages, a tennis court, a sauna, a library, and a “grand dining room” among its 29,000 square feet of living space. Its two-story design is defined by an Ionic-style portico, offering a picturesque example of Regency-style architecture. An unnamed source speaking to the Evening Standard called the London mansion “the White House in Regent’s Park,” comparing the building’s facade and massive scale to that of the historic home in Washington.
Image: ProAuction SWNS
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The Holme has dethroned a three-story penthouse in New York City’s Central Park Tower, which was listed for USD$250 million in September 2022, as the most expensive home currently on the market. The previous UK record holder was 2-8 Rutland Gate, which overlooks London’s Hyde Park and was sold for £210 million (USD$232 million) in 2020. The mansion was put back on the market in October 2022 for £200 million ($221 million).
The Holme’s reported asking price is expected to attract interest from London’s most affluent residents as well as wealthy foreigners who have been flocking to the city in recent years. According to Bloomberg, 48% of the homes sold in London’s most expensive districts in the first six months of 2022 were purchased by international buyers. Whether it will break the record for the most expensive real estate deal in London’s history remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt that this luxurious mansion will continue to make headlines.
A print of The Holme from around 1876, which appeared in a book called “Old and New London: A Narrative of Its History, Its People and Its Places” | Images: Getty Images
