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London’s rental market is pretty terrifying at the best of times. Finding a flat in the capital is the equivalent to an Olympic sport – the prep, the training, the competitiveness. It’s downright exhausting. Well, if you want to skip past all that aggressive competition for a two-bed in Stokey and fast-track your way to the top of an estate agent’s prospective tenant list, it might be worth considering this absolutely ridiculous gothic ‘mini-castle’ in Hampstead that’s just hit the rental market for a whopping £20,583 a month (that’s about £247,000 a year).
Old Conduit House, a grade II-listed Victorian mega-mansion, has marble floors and gold walls and would suit a very large, stinking-rich family. According to Land Registry data, the property was last purchased in 2003 for £1,790,000. Maybe new PM Rishi Sunak might fancy this one instead of No 10? Or as well.
The mini-castle covers a humongous 5,054 square feet over four storeys, with five bedrooms, six bathrooms, four reception rooms and a humble four (yes, four) terraces overlooking the garden. There’s a 30-foot drawing room, with full-height bay windows, flamboyant green-and-gold decorated walls and ceilings, gilded arches and marble columns. If Halloween is your bag, you could go absolutely nuts here.
The house, on Lyndhurst Terrace in Hampstead, was built in 1864 by stained-glass manufacturers John Burlison and his son-in-law, Alfred Bell. It originally contained separate residences for both their families, connected by an internal door. The property’s swanky gothic interiors came later after Burlison died in 1868 and Bell’s family took over the whole house and revamped it. Now, the property is set up for one family to live in. Only drawback is you’ll get trick-or-treaters all year round.
Old Conduit House is listed with Aston Chase.
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