IT was once seen as the ultimate pad for a multi-million pound footballer, a secluded hideaway in Hampstead which property journalists hailed as a “magnificent state-of-the-art bachelor pad” and a “futuristic masterpiece”.

But the chateau that former Arsenal star Patrick Vieira called home during his time captaining the north London club is to be demolished.

Planning chiefs have approved an application filed at Camden Council by his wife, Cheryl Plaza, to bulldoze the mansion and start from scratch with a new four-storey home, complete with basement cinema room and five bed­rooms.

The application was passed to councillors after months of wrangling over the potential disruption the project would cause in the leafy street where the house stands, a short walk from Hampstead High Street. Neighbours were also worried that a roof terrace would overlook their properties and gardens.

But when the case finally came before council’s planning committee, the terrace had been removed from the proposals and residents living nearby were no longer raising concerns.

Ms Plaza’s architects had said in the application that the existing mansion was suffering from “extensive damp problems”.

The house was only built in the 1990s and described by the council’s planning team as not offering an extra value to Hampstead’s historic conservation area, not least because it is so well shielded from public view.

It did win the admiration of journalists who saw inside, however. A decade ago, the Evening Standard’s property pages marvelled at the “indoor pool in the atrium ingeniously supplied by a trickling stream from the secluded roof garden”. The Daily Mirror, meanwhile, said: “Nestled in a secluded street, Patrick’s new pad is a futuristic masterpiece.”

Mr Vieira was one of the so-called “Arsenal Invincibles” who won the Premier League title in 2004 without losing a match. He later moved to the Italian league with Juventus and Inter Milan. Supporters hoped he would return in 2010, but he signed for Manchester City instead. But he and his wife have retained their stake in Hampstead, where many of the French Arsenal players chose to live when they first arrived at the club at the start of manager Arsene Wenger’s long reign as manager.

Robert Pirès also lived in Hampstead, while Thierry Henry only recently won permission to demolish and rebuild his own mansion that sits close to the Heath in one  of London’s most desirable roads.

Ms Plaza’s application said the new house would follow Hampstead’s “strong history of modern design”.

The council said the applicants would pay around £48,000 towards community infrastructure as part of the agreement.

A planning official said: “The applicant has supplied a satisfactory construction management plan to show that the proposal would not harm the local transport network, and the basement impact has been independently assessed and considered to comply with the relevant policies."