It has been home to royal mistresses, politicians, fashion designers, and one of the most memorable heroines in literary history. If the walls of Walpole House could talk they would have quite a story to tell.
And the Georgian house, overlooking the River Thames on Chiswick Mall and with more than half an acre of gardens, is about to enter a new chapter.
The seven-bedroom property is on sale, priced at £16.5 million with Savills.
“It is quite simply the best house in Chiswick, the trophy house of Chiswick with the biggest garden in Chiswick,” said Christopher Bramwell, a director of Savills.
“It is a gorgeous home, and there is the history that is attached to it. You don’t get many Grade I-listed houses in London. The period features of the house, from the moment you walk up to the wrought iron railings at the front, are spectacular — even the pond in the garden, with plenty of carp swimming around in it, is listed.
“Every single room has features in it and the proportions of the rooms, with amazing ceiling heights, are magnificent.”
Although the house is of Tudor origin it was remodelled with a Georgian façade in the early 18th century when it was the home of Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland. The society beauty was a long term mistress of King Charles II and bore five of his children.
The house was later owned by Thomas Walpole, a banker and MP, and the nephew of Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole.
After that it was repurposed as a boys’ boarding school, attended by the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray. It was his inspiration for the early sections of Vanity Fair, when ambitious heroine Becky Sharp attends Miss Pinkerton’s academy for young ladies.
In 2006 the fashion designer Jasper Conran paid £7.25 million for the property, which he renovated and sold two years later for £12.5 million.
“He Conranned it,” said Bramwell. “When he bought it, it was very slightly dilapidated and more olde worlde than it is now. What Jasper did, which is so clever, is that he massaged out the beautiful original features of the house.”
The current owners continued the work on the 8,762 sq ft house, adding a new kitchen, installing dressing rooms, perfecting the garden, and redecorating.
“It has a beautiful, very sympathetic, but modern colour scheme,” said Bramwell.
The current owners have decided to sell because they spend more time in Europe than in London. “They love the house, but they are using it more sporadically,” said Bramwell. “It is an amazing family house and they are not spending enough time there to justify keeping it.”
