Feast your eyes if you will on London’s most expensive apartment for sale at the moment at £30m to be found at 54 Academy Gardens, Duchess of Bedfords Walk in Kensington. Cheryl Markosky goes in for an exclusive peek.
The main living room of 54 Academy Gardens in Kensington, London: on the market for £30 milllion
As I stepped inside a ton of wrought iron drew back discreetly to let me in, after I had been vetted, naturally.
Then, a liveried concierge greeted us while another three flunkeys sat behind the porter’s desk in a majestic communal hallway with plush purple and beige sofas.
And you can smell the money – literally – wafting over from the floral display featuring contorted orchids crammed trendily – and brutally – into tall vases.
Most expensive flat in London?
At £30 million, number 54 has to be the priciest flat in London. I didn’t even know you could pay this much for a humble flat – for it is a flat after all – although Chesterton Humberts’ Rex Chalmers explains why it is anything but humble.
Wallow in it: the million pound bathroom at 54, Academy Gardens
“This is a very rare five-bedroom duplex apartment measuring nearly 6,000-square feet that’s been custom-designed for the owner,” he says.
The owner, who prefers not to be identified, bought four units as shells six years ago when this gated development with communal pool, gym and gardens first opened.
Now that the three children have flown this well-feathered nest – one son is a Hollywood director, while another is a New York financier – the parents want to downsize to Primrose Hill to be near their daughter.
Custom designed
An Israeli architect friend of the vendor designed the apartment with leather walls, antique mirrors, bespoke fireplaces and stained oak flooring. Fun touches include a Picasso-like bull mosaic and Samurai design in the sons’ bathrooms, a bank of cherry-wood wardrobes in the master dressing room and heated walls in the master shower and bathroom.
The impressive facade of the apartment overlooks the Duchess of Bedford's Walk
“It’s like buying a piece of beautiful art rather than just a property,” says Rex. He’s carried out several viewings for well-heeled Russian and Chinese buyers, but no one’s made an offer yet.
“It’s quite specific,” he says. Presumably, you either love or hate it. And for £30 million, I imagine you want to really love it.
A real home
Despite luxuries like the well kitted-out gym, ‘proper’ massage room and massive double-height drawing room, somehow this feels like a real home.
The kitchen isn’t all that flash if you discount the massive stainless steel Sub Zero fridge. It has a fairly normal round wooden table where you can eat your breakfast and a wooden dresser that your granny might hanker after.
In tune with the market? The main reception room includes a baby grand piano
What lifts this out of the ordinary is the detail: polished plaster walls, niches with well-lit sculptures – the owner is a sculptress – and handcrafted furniture for allocated spaces. Oh, and the studio flat next door for the housekeeper and four underground parking spaces.
Is it worth it?
The £30 million question. It’s hard to buy Rex’s calculations of around £5,000 a square foot (£2,000 plus is more typical of the area). And the service charge is a staggering £75,000 a year.
What sticks in the mind mainly is the tastefully chosen artwork and furniture, most of which will leave in the removals van. You could buy some of it if you want, as the owner already has tons of stuff in a second home in the south of France.
Immerse yourself in a new search experience: browse property in a way that has never been done before. Use the app to browse property available to buy or rent by area or postcode and see the results displayed in a beautifully crafted spiral of images.
