A mansion in the centre of London set in acres of land and a private pool is a dream that most people can only ever dream of.
Someone is now living that dream – in a four-acre estate complete with 40 bedrooms and and its internal decor adorned with millions of pounds worth of gold leaf.
Set in London’s Regent’s Park, this property made headlines when it hit the market in March 2023 for its eyewatering price, meaning it was to become the UK’s most expensive home if it sold for the asking price.
Constructed in 1818, this three-storey, 29,000-square feet property sits in land next to the park’s boating lake. It is positively presidential with its white facade complete with a stately porch and gables and a rotunda decorated by four columns.
“If you want a definition of Western civilisation in a single view, then here it is,” architectural critic Ian Nairn famously said of the house.
The Holme comes – along with its 40 bedrooms – eight garages, a ballroom, an underground swimming pool and tennis court. Its name derives from “river island” in Saxon.
The Grade II listed building was the second villa to be built in Regent’s Park and the first to be built by the illustrious Burton family. It was designed by Decismus Burton and was built by his father, James Burton, who subsequently lived there.
Pictures in an edition of Country Life magazine – dated from April 1940 – show the grand furnishings inside the property, including chandeliers and fireplaces in almost every room as well as richly carpeted floors and floor-to-ceiling windows.
Prior to 1984, the Holme was owned by the Crown Estate and the freehold of the land remains with the Crown.
It was also later owned by the children of former Saudi defence minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan al-Saud through the Guernsey-based company, Quendon Ltd, and was bought for £34 million in 1991.
However, it was later seized by creditors reportedly after defaulting on a private jet loan.
When it went on the market again in 2023, its then owner put it up for sale for a reported £250 million, making it the most expensive private residence in the UK.
It was later sold for £139 million by Abdullah bin Khalid Al Saud in December 2024.
The new owner’s identity is unknown, although reports suggest it was a US-based “tech billionaire” who bought it to be a London base.
In 2017, the BBC released an archive clip from when the property went up for sale in 1988 for £30 million.
“As with all estate agents’ details, there are things they don’t tell you,” it jokingly said. “The neighbours’ [swans] are sometimes a bit noisy. You are overlooked by the heron family, and a squatter [duck] has moved in with a view to breeding.”
