A luxury home sitting inside the US embassy complex dubbed the “Little White House” has gone on sale for £2.5 million.
The property is said to be the most “protected home in Britain” and any visitor is asked to carry an identity card at all times, and go through patrolling US marines, 24 hours British police presence, checkpoints, anti-tanks blocks and CCTV.
But potential buyers looking for a fortress should not get their hopes up as all the security will disappear once the US embassy moves to a new site in Nine Elms in 2017.
The current embassy building has been sold to Qatari Diar — the property development arm of the Qatari royal family — for an estimated £600 million. It is being refurbished as a five star luxury hotel said to become “London’s next Claridges” with 137 bedrooms, a spa and a ballroom for 1,000 guests.
The “little” £2.5 million white house is located next door.
The home, located at 4 Blackburn’s Mews near Grosvenor Square, dates back to 1732 and owes its nickname to its white façade, grand entrance and sweeping staircase as well as the proximity to the US embassy. It provides nearly 3,000 sq ft of living space and benefits from access to communal gardens.
The close relationship between the Little White House and the American Embassy started in 1785 when the first ever American diplomatic mission was founded by John Adams, later US president, who rented a house on adjacent Grosvenor Square.
Local residents were allowed to use its library and were invited to regular embassy jazz concert before the property was incorporated into the US embassy perimeter and security was dramatically increased following 9/11.
Peter Wetherell, chief executive of Wetherell, said the property is a long term investment as residential values in the area are set to rise in the next five years.
“For Grosvenor Square the next five years will be the most significant in its 270 year history. With the security cordon gone in 2017, and the Embassy replaced by a new luxury hotel with large public realms, residential values in the locale could rise easily by an additional 10 per cent above the overall Mayfair value increases we have been seeing over the decades,” Wetherell said.
The US embassy has served as its diplomatic mission in Britain since 1960 and was at the centre of anti-Vietnam war demonstration in 1968.
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