Introducing the most expensive and luxurious student digs in London, and indeed the world
Complete with glass floors, glass roof and triple-height 60 ft. high central atrium, 80 Park Lane is available through sole agent Wetherell. All other Park Lane homes are apartments and one mansion-palace owned by an overseas Royal family.
The newly completed, architect designed, triplex property is the result of an 18-month construction project by leading property asset and development management company Criterion Capital. The three-bedroom pad is part new build, part refurbishment, cleverly created behind the Park Lane street front and a section of Fountain House, a building originally built in 1935-8, designed by architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott with detailing by George Val Myer & F J Watson-Hart.
Providing stylish living space over lower ground, ground and first floors, the townhouse has brand new interiors and specification. The luxurious furnishing and dressing scheme was created by Milc, the award winning design house established in 2004 by design duo Polly Haley and Heidi Clark. Milc have worked on other ultra prime projects including One Hyde Park, The Knightsbridge and Hans Place; an indication of the quality and style at 80 Park Lane.
The entrance on Park Lane is via a 10 ft. high solid Oak door, framed by frosted glass and bronze feature windows, which open onto arguably the most dramatic hall in London. The entrance hall is surrounded by glass including a glass floor created from a double layer of vast wedge-shaped (5-inch thick) slabs of structural glass supported on contemporary white beams with dramatic views onto the grand reception room below.
To maximise natural light throughout the three floors the townhouse is designed around a 60 ft. high central atrium which soars through the property from lower ground to top floor. ‘Floating’ within this dramatic atrium is a cantilevered glass staircase with glass balustrades and Oak treads.
The lower ground floor has a large reception and entertaining space with views of the dramatic atrium space above. To one side of the reception room is the open plan fully fitted designer kitchen and 10 seat dining area. The stylish kitchen features a stone topped central island with breakfast bar, stone topped high gloss storage units and cabinets, complete with Miele integrated appliances.
The lower ground floor also features a luxurious glass-walled bedroom suite with spacious bedroom with cosy deep carpets, walk in dressing room with fitted wardrobes and a bathroom suite. The bathroom has a bath and walk-in shower room, finished in stone wall and floor tiles, with floor and wall feature lighting. This bedroom suite has been cleverly designed so that is could easily be converted into a private gymnasium/fitness suite. A guest cloakroom and storage rooms complete the accommodation on this floor.
The ground floor contains the entrance hall with a glass-floored landing towards a bedroom suite with deep carpets and an ensuite bathroom.
On the top floor of the triplex is a glass-floored landing with stunning views through the 60 ft. atrium down to the lower ground floor. The landing leads into the master bedroom suite which has a walk-in dressing room with bespoke shelving and a master bathroom.
The master suite opens onto a spacious private roof terrace overlooking Hyde Park. The roof-terrace has part stone paving and part glass slabs, with views into the entrance hall below. 80 Park Lane has start-of-the-art home entertainment and security systems complete with air conditioning, underfloor heating and 24-hour concierge.
Peter Wetherell, Chief Executive of Wetherell says: “Park Lane is London’s most famous and prestigious address, an iconic location made famous by its enduring blue-chip status on the board game Monopoly. This luxurious triplex has the distinction of being the only townhouse with its own private front door on Park Lane, all the other homes on Park Lane being apartments. This property will appeal to an ultra-high-net-worth person or family, probably from the Middle East or Asia, who wants to launch themselves into Mayfair society. It’s leisure living, a business base and the ultimate address.”
Park Lane is arguably London’s most famous address. The 0.7 mile (1.1km) road runs from Hyde Park Corner to Marble Arch and overlooks the 350 acres of Hyde Park. It was created by King Henry VIII when he enclosed the borders of Hyde Park in the early 16th Century.
The first houses were built along Park Lane in the 1720s, and it became the address of choice for the aristocracy providing London townhouses for the Dukes of Westminster, Dukes of Somerset, the Earls of Balcarres, the Earls of Holdernesse, Earls of Rosebery and Viscount Castlereagh. 80 Park Lane approximates to the site of the townhouse of the Dowager Countess of Bradford (widow of the 1st Earl).
During the Victorian era, Park Lane became popular with the new-money industrial and financial tycoons and between 1822-1832 a series of grand mansions and vast private palaces were built along the thoroughfare. Financier Ernest Cassell, the grandfather of Countess Edwina Mountbatten, is perhaps the most famous example of the ‘new-money’ generation who acquired palatial homes on Park Lane during this period. In 1912 Park Lane was so associated with old and new money that one of the promenade decks of the famous Titanic liner was nicknamed ‘Park Lane’ by the ship’s officers.
The Great War changed everything, and the triple impact of the global downturn after WWI; the Wall Street Crash and huge social change led to virtually all the Park Lane mansions being demolished and replaced by apartment buildings between 1927 and 1935. Only the palatial Dudley House remains, now the London home of His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Thani, a member of the Qatari Royal family.
The 1920s and 1930s apartment buildings and 5-star hotels along Park Lane have remained the London address of choice for the rich and famous. Fred Astaire, Somerset Maugham, Cecil Day-Lewis, Elizabeth Taylor, Mohammed Al Fayed, Anna Neagle, the Sultan of Brunei, the Emir of Qatar have all kept luxury flats or suites on Park Lane.
Worth a cool £12.5 million, 80 Park Lane is not for sale but is available to let fully furnished for £4,000 per week, plus fees. People interested in living at 80 Park Lane should contact sole agent Wetherell on 020 7529 5588 or visit www.wetherell.co.uk