SOLD FOR £800.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 934, 2 December 1933, Page 21 (Supplement)

SOLD FOR £BOO.

London Mansion Disposed of at Auction. BOUGHT 35 YEARS AGO FOR £30,000. LONDON, October 29. QNE of London’s finest mansions, 16, " Carlton House Terrace, with garages fronting the Mall, near the Government offices and Buckingham Palace, has been sold at auction for £BOO. The house adjoins the homes of Lord Lonsdale and Lady Mountstephen. It was bought in 1898 by the first Viscount Cowdray for £30,000. The auctioneer drew attention to the reputation of the terrace as the home of ambassadors and other notabilities, but the first bid was only £SOO. Ground rent of the house amounts to £284 a year, and that of the garages to £l6O. The rateable value of the entire property is £1455. Carlton House Terrace, one of London’s most famous residential quarters and a dignified example of Regency architecture, is fast disappearing. The Terrace and Carlton Gardens ■ were built in 182§ on the site of the Regent’s old Carlton Palace, from the designs of John Nash. Last year a storm of controversy was roused by the news that the terrace, < which has housed, among other famous men, Louis Napoleon, Lord Derby,

Lord Palmerston and Mr Gladstone, was doomed. No. 4, formerly the home of Lord Balfour, was the first of the stately old homes marked down for demolition. It is being replaced by a sevenstorey building, to house the offices of a firm of paint manufacturers. Sir Reginald Blomfield, R.A., the architect, was instructed to prepare a plan for the rebuilding of the terrace, with a view to the site becoming a centre for offices, flats, hotels, and so on. The dignified character of the terrace would be preserved as far as possible. He explained that the old buildings were “ exactly suited to the social conditions of the tir-.e, to the days of great receptions, a lordly aristocracy and obedient servants,” but “ wholly unsuitable under modern conditions, and for structural reasons it was impossible to convert them.” Eighty-seven Members of Parliament sent a memorial of protest to the Prime Minister (Mr Ramsay MacDonald). In reply it was stated that the houses were cut of repair and difficult to let, and the state of the nation’s finances demanded that the best financial use be made of the site MYSTERIOUS BUYER. LONDON, November 1. Auctioneers say that although many ■ country mansions have been selling for a song, there has been no such slump as that revealed by the sale of 16, Carlton House Terrace, for £BOO. The property is held on Crown land lease. That of the house expires in 1961, and that of the garage in 1946. The name of the purchaser has not been revealed. It is suggested that it may be a wealthy neighbour, determined to prevent the use of the site for purposes out of keeping with the dignity and traditions of the Terrace.