Written on 14 June 2016 by Alistair Boscawen in London
A Mayfair mansion that has been called the “best protected home in London” is up for sale with a £2.5m price tag.
The property at 4 Blackburne’s Mews dates back to 1732 is located inside a private gated mews complex adjacent to the US Embassy and within its protective perimeter.
Anyone wishing to access the building currently has to swipe an identity card, and pass through patrolling US marines, 24 hour British police presence, checkpoints, anti-tank blocks and CCTV security.
But the protective cordon around the mini White House will be removed next year when the US Embassy relocates to Nine Elms and the Grade II-listed building is transformed into a 5-star hotel and luxury resort.
The new complex will offer 137 bedrooms and suites, ballroom, health spa, five restaurants and bars and six retail boutiques, with new public entrances fronting onto Grosvenor Square and Blackburne’s Mews.
The little White House got its nickname due to its white façade, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue-style entrance hall and sweeping staircase, and its proximity to and long-standing links with the US embassy.
Blackburne’s Mews – which runs across the back of the US embassy, whose front façade overlooks Grosvenor Square – was incorporated into the embassy’s protective perimeter after 9/11 when every resident was asked to carry an identity card.
A three-bed terraced house in Blackburne’s Mews sold for £1.9m in July 2015.
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