Once in a generation a home this vast, storied and well maintained comes to market in London. This time it’s Ormeley Lodge, the 15,800sqft Grade II*-listed manor of Annabel Goldsmith, the charismatic matriarch who entertained a who’s who of royalty, Hollywood, government and society. Equipped with a tennis court and secluded swimming pool visited by Princess Diana and her sons, the Queen Anne estate, on 2.3 landscaped acres, is currently on sale for £25 million. Knight Frank and Sotheby’s International Realty share the listing.
Photography: courtesy of Sotheby’s International Realty
Photography: courtesy of Sotheby’s International Realty
Photography: courtesy of Sotheby’s International Realty
Former owners of the 10-bedroom property include Horatio Walpole (brother of the UK’s first prime minister) and William Pitt the Elder. But Goldsmith put it on the map. Formerly married to Mark Birley, who founded her namesake club Annabel’s, she purchased the house after leaving him for financier James Goldsmith and ran the household for 50 years. James passed away decades ago, and Annabel died last autumn.
According to Paddy Dring, global head of prime sales at Knight Frank, Ormeley Lodge is ‘part of British cultural heritage’.
