|
|
 |
| |
| ‘Turn £32m house
into hotel’ plea |
Fame Academy base up for sale
WITANHURST, the Highgate mansion where the TV talent show Fame
Academy was filmed, should be turned into a luxury hotel, according
to the Highgate Society.
The Highgate West Hill Grade II-listed house – which has just
gone on the market for £32 million – is London’s
largest privately-owned home after Buckingham Palace. It boasts
25 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, three kitchens, a 70-foot ballroom, billiard
room, library, gym and sauna.
The garden covers five-and-a-half acres and has four tennis courts.
Michael Hammerson, of the Highgate Society, told the New Journal
the house would make a superb hotel – and said the Society
would join forces with the Heath and Hampstead Society to submit
a planning brief for the site to the Town Hall.
Mr Hammerson said: “I think we need something like that to
bring more people over here.
“It’s a good location for a hotel – within easy reach
of London and with tremendous views across the city. And it would
not create too much traffic or density in the area. It just strikes
me that it would be a superb use for it.”
He added: “We had a working group in place to oversee the development
of Athlone House and this is on a much bigger scale.”
The spectacular house – which has 365 windows, one for every
day of the year – is owned by the mysterious Mounir Development
SA company, thought to be a front for a wealthy private owner connected
to Syria’s rulers.
It is being offered for sale from next month as a “unique single-family
home” at a price of £32 million, according to estate
agent Grant Alexson, of Knight Frank’s Hampstead office, which
is handling the sale.
The owners were granted planning permission to turn the house into
a conference centre in 1998 but leased it instead to the BBC, sparking
outrage from neighbours concerned about noise and parking congestion.
Last year Camden Council’s environment chiefs threatened to
fine its owners after officials found the house and garden had been
damaged during filming.
An application to turn the property into an upmarket health club
was rejected by planning chiefs in 2002.
Mr Alexson said: “The aim is to have it restored as a family
home. It is the easiest route from a planning point of view.
“You might have to spend a lot of money restoring the house
and its gardens but you would end up with probably the finest house
in London.”
He added: “The trouble with a hotel is that it has to be economic.
“You would not have enough rooms to make it viable so you would
need to negotiate with the planners to make it commercial enough.” |
|
|
