Freddie Mercury's famed London home is on the market for the first time since the late Queen frontman purchased the property in 1980. The house, in Kensington, West London, is being sold by Mercury's confidante and former fiancée, Mary Austin, who has lived in the property since his death in 1991.
"This house has been the most glorious memory box, because it has such love and warmth in every room," says Austin in a statement. "It has been a joy to live in and I have many wonderful memories here. Now that it is empty, I'm transported back to the first time we viewed it."
"Ever since Freddie and I stepped through the fabled green door, it has been a place of peace, a true artist’s house, and now is the time to entrust that sense of peace to the next person."
Last year, Austin auctioned the contents of the house, exhibiting the collection of art, artefacts and music-related memorabilia at four locations around the globe before it went under the hammer. The sale netted more than $50 million.
Mercury originally bought the house after it went on the market for £300,000. Now property company Knight Frank are seeking offers in excess of £30,000,000, representing an increase in value of close to 10,000% over the intervening decades. It's also more than 100 times the price of the average UK house. Or you could subscribe to Spotify for the next 227,000 years and still have enough money left over for a decent holiday.
“The sale of Garden Lodge presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a significant property combined with a piece of cultural history, the beloved home of an icon,” says Paddy Dring, global head of prime sales and joint head of Knight Frank’s Private Office. “Having been carefully preserved with love and respect over the last three decades, we expect that the exceptional provenance of the property will be incredibly alluring to buyers across the world."
Property highlights include the double-height drawing room in which Mercury stored the grand piano he used in the composition of Bohemian Rhapsody, a Japanese sitting room leading to a Japanese garden, and eight bedrooms, one of which is entered through a dressing room that features floor to ceiling mirroring.
Any potential buyers will be vetted before being allowed to view the property.
