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Most expensive new-build home in Mayfair, London is a £50m glass mansion

This £50m frosted glass mansion is the most expensive new-build home in Mayfair, London. Photo: Alex Lawrie/LC
This £50m frosted glass mansion is the most expensive new-build home in Mayfair, London. Photo: Alex Lawrie/LC

A newly-unveiled £50m ($64m) glass mansion is officially the most expensive new-build home ever to exist in Mayfair, London.

The home, which was inspired by the La Maison de Verre in Paris, is located on the 0.6 acre site of Italian count Dino Grandi’s “lost” mansion — only the stables of which survive — behind a private gated courtyard on Down Street Mews.

The mansion was created by a Mayfair developer and Richard McCarthy of architectural practice Scott Brownrigg.

Taking cues from the French historical landmark, which was built in 1932 during the 7th Arrondissement of Paris, the home is actually two glass houses. However, they can easily be merged into one single mansion, according to joint agents Beauchamp Estates and Central Estates.

The first home's family room. Photo: Alex Lawrie/LC
The first home's family room. Photo: Alex Lawrie/LC

The house also recalls Philippe Starck’s St Martin’s Lane Hotel in London, with its four-storey clear and frosted glass facades.

Overall, the property boasts a massive 13,583 square feet of living space, a 1,251 square foot roofgarden, and a 226 square foot garden patio and four car garage.

The first home has 6,619 square feet of living space, with a 543 square foot roof garden and 226 square foot patio.

It has four bedrooms; three reception rooms; a family kitchen and breakfast room, a study, a passenger lift, a private cinema, a gym and spa with a lounge deck, swimming pool, sauna, steam room, changing facilities and two parking bays in an underground garage, according to its listing.

The first property comes with a private gym. Photo: Alex Lawrie/LC
The first property comes with a private gym. Photo: Alex Lawrie/LC

Meanwhile, the second house provides 6,964 square feet of living space, and a 708 square foot roof garden.

It has four bedrooms; two reception rooms, including an open-plan family kitchen and breakfast area; a passenger lift; a private cinema; a spa floor with a Hamman, sauna, steam room, and changing facilities, and two underground parking bays.

The reception and family rooms, and studies in both houses feature glazed Juliette balconies, while the kitchen and breakfast rooms have a central island and “state-of-the-art integrated appliances.”

The main bedroom suites have walk-in dressing rooms with mirror-lined built in wardrobes and a marble clad main bathroom, while the guest bedrooms have marble-clad ensuite bathrooms.

One of the main bedroom suites. Photo: Alex Lawrie/LC
One of the main bedroom suites. Photo: Alex Lawrie/LC

Other features include polished concrete stairwells and landings, winter garden and skylights, and comfort cooling and underfloor heating.

The property was designed for the “new era” brought in by the COVID-19 pandemic, Gary Mesnick, director at Central Estates, explained.

He said: “The houses have been designed so that they can be easily configured into a single 13,583 square foot mansion interconnected on all floors, providing eight bedrooms, four reception rooms and two levels of leisure facilities.

“In the £20m-plus ultra-prime marketplace we have found that COVID-19 has been a ‘gamechanger’, with buyers now choosing houses, where they can completely control access and their living environment — in preference to apartment buildings, where there are the issues of shared access, visitors they don’t know and staff meeting lots of people.”

The property boasts a private cinema, along with a gym and spa. Photo: Alex Lawrie/LC
The property boasts a private cinema, along with a gym and spa. Photo: Alex Lawrie/LC

The entrance to the property is gated, hidden behind a main set of gates fronting Down Street, “providing it with exceptional security and privacy”, and the house comes with a home automation system and CCTV security — which can be viewed from the private cinema.

Down Street Mews was originally occupied by a black brick Edwardian mansion and stables, built in 1920, which were home to Grandi — Mussolini’s ambassador to the UK — from 1895 until 1988. The mansion was destroyed by a Luftwaffe bomb in 1940, with only the stables by the entrance courtyard surviving.

In 1943, Grandi would trigger the coup which overthrew Mussolini and started peace negotiations with the Allies.

The houses are for sale with a guide price of £50,000,000 to purchase as a single unit, or £25,000,000 each.