Removal vans at McGlynn’s in Whidbourne Street [Simon Lamrock]

A POWERHOUSE art couple from across the Atlantic are behind a plan to reopen a historic pub in King’s Cross.

Tramps International Ltd, based in Angel, has applied to make internal and shopfront renovations to “secure the continued use” of McGlynn’s Free House in Whidborne Street.

The three-storey pub shut in 2023 and was sold for £3.15million in April to what was then an unnamed owner.

The applicant is listed as Peter Doig – a former resident of the nearby Hillview estate whose paintings now sell for millions of dollars – and owns a site opposite that is being turned into a gallery.

Mr Doig’s partner Parinaz Mogadassi, who founded Tramps legendary gallery in New York, is the co-director of Tramps International.

Removal workers have been working at the pub this week.

Peter Doig [Brian McNeil]

Its application said: “By reinstating original elements where possible and carefully managing modern interventions, the works will preserve the building’s special architectural and historic interest while ensuring it can continue to function as a viable public house.”

McGlynn’s shut down not long after the sudden death of its former landlord of 40 years Gerry Dolan.

A staple of the community, the Irish pub had been packed on the weekend for horse racing and sport. The black cat Jacqueline, who died a three months before Gerry, could often be found propped up by a Guinness at the bar.

Tramps’ application requests what it describes as “light touch interventions” including a “redesigned bar” that would “ensure respect” for the original Grade II-listed building.

The changes include removing walls, rotating a staircase, and adapting basement cellars into toilets. The pub’s exterior would “remain essentially unaltered” while cellar spaces would be “adapted to contain female and male toilet”.

Peter Doig grew up in Trinidad and Canada before moving to London in 1979 to study art.

His paintings often depicting lush and evocative landscapes populated by figures and animals. His auction record stands at $39.9million, which was achieved for a 1990 painting, Swamped, at Christie’s New York in November 2021.

It is not clear yet whether the pub would keep its original name.

The new owners have been contacted for comment.

The documents lodged with Camden Council include a heritage statement from Architectural History Practice that shows how the name of the pub has changed over the years, since it first opened as the Duke of Wellington in 1850.

The Duke was later called “Cragiens”, before being taken over by the Charrington’s brewery in 1938.

The Doig application “The McGlynn family acquired the property in the early 1990s, renamed the building after their family and retained ownership until 2024. The pub closed in 2023.”

A licensing application has also been made for sale of alcohol Monday to Thursday 11.30pm, and midnight on Friday and Sunday.