In one of the fastest celebrity real-estate deals since Emma Stone’s Spanish-style Los Angeles bungalow nabbed a buyer in less than two weeks, the former London home of Princess Diana’s stepmother, Countess Raine Spencer, has sold in just three days.
The residence at 24 Farm Street in Mayfair, which Diana frequently visited after her divorce from King Charles, originally went up for sale in late June for £10.95 million (or $14.2 million). It’s believed to be the quickest residential transactions in the neighborhood to go down this year, according to Wetherell, one of the firms that brokered the deal.
The library was John Spencer’s favorite room in the house.
WETHERELL
“This is the first time that the Farm Street house has been on the market in 22 years, and it effectively sold in its first week on the market,” says Wetherell agent Robert Dawson in a statement. The Georgian-style mansion was built sometime in the early ‘80s and later purchased in 1990 by Diana’s father, John Spencer, as a gift for his second wife. After he died of a heart attack in 1992, the countess inherited the trophy property, plus a vacation home in the seaside town of Bognor Regis on the south coast of England.
The four-story estate sports a cream-colored stucco facade and features nearly 5,000 square feet of living space. Altogether, you’ll find five bedrooms, an elevator that accesses every floor, and a roof terrace at the tippy top. Most notably, the palatial pad bears similarities to Althorp, Princess Diana’s childhood home. For example, the dining room is decorated with the same red walls and glittering chandeliers as the royal residence.
The dining room where Countess Raine Spences used to entertain is modeled after Althorp House.
WETHERELL
The first floor of the home is decked out with a grand reception hall, a drawing room, and a stately library which is believed to have been her husband’s favorite room. There’s also a sleek-looking eat-in kitchen that opens onto a private outdoor patio. Upstairs, you’ll find two ensuite bedrooms, each with walk-in wardrobes. On the third floor, a self-contained guest suite offers up a bedroom, a dressing room, a bathroom, and access to the previously mentioned south-facing rooftop terrace.
The countess ended up selling the place in the early 2000s to art collectors Alan and Mary Hobart and moving back into the Grosvenor Square apartment where she lived with Earl Spencer. In addition to being a British socialite and local politician, Raine was well-known as the daughter of late romance novelist Dame Barbara Cartland. Interestingly, Cartland’s former Mayfair home was listed last year for $44 million. But that historic property has yet to find a buyer.
Click here to see more photos of Countess Raine Spencer’s London home.
WETHERELL
Source: Luxury - robbreport.com
