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In yet more news about London's astronomically expensive property market, apartments in Churchill’s Old War Office (OWO) in Whitehall are up for sale, with a starting price of £5.8 million.
And before you panic, no, not the Cabinet War Rooms. You can still go and pretend to be bombed, or win World War Two, or whatever people actually do in there. These are the offices down the road, from which Churchill directed the armed forces and delivered many of his most famous speeches.
But the OWO isn’t all about Churchill, a guy who is a hero for many but an increasingly controversial figure in recent years. The grade II listed building, designed by William Young in 1898, was built in 1906 and used by the government for military administration until 1964. Since then, the site has been used to shoot scenes for James Bond films and The Crown, and in 2014 it was bought by the Anglo-Indian trading conglomerate Hinduja Group for £350 million.
The seven floors of the OWO will eventually contain 85 flats and a hotel run by Singaporean luxury chain Raffles – the brand’s first hotel in Europe. It’s all due to be completed by summer 2022, with the cheapest apartment, a 3,000 sq ft, two-bedroom pad, coming with wide-eyed £5.8 million price tag. Oof.
Perhaps of most interest to yer everyday onlooker is the prospect of the OWO being open for public viewing for the first time. According to the Eastern Eye, Raffles intend to allow tours of the building's most historic suites for a set number of days every year.
So while most of us can barely dream of affording one of the apartments inside, here’s to hoping we’ll still get a chance to see some of the OWO's original neo-baroque glory in the flesh.
If you’re desperate for a deeper snoop, you can check out the OWO’s official website here.
Another historically important abode: Captain William Bligh’s nautical-themed house is up for sale