Chelsea 'castle home' for sale: three-bed house designer Nicky Haslam called London's 'most romantic building' on the market

The striking property, close to the King's Road, once belonged to Haslam's former mentor, Simon Fleet and once hosted Hubert de Givenchy and Cecil Beaton.
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Amira Hashish14 April 2020

A cottage designed to look like a Gothic castle, with pointed-arch windows and a castellated roofline, is for sale in Chelsea.

Located in Bury Walk, between Fulham and King’s Roads, the folly-style cottage was described by top interior designer Nicky Haslam as his dream home, the most romantic building in London.

On the façade of the pretty, whitewashed, three-bedroom property is a plaque commemorating the life of renowned ballet and opera designer Sophie Fedorovitch (1893-1953), who once owned the residence.

It was later inherited by Simon Fleet, Haslam’s mentor, who had a big presence in the world of theatre, art and dance as well as a colourful past as an actor, painter and sketch writer.

During Fleet’s ownership, the characterful house was the scene of parties thrown for the creative world’s great and good, including photographer Cecil Beaton, novelist Colin Wilson and French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy.

In his memoir Redeeming Features, Haslam recounts: “It was certainly the most romantic place I had seen… Simon had amassed the diverse elements in the Box with such insouciant skill, he brought people together with the same flair.

"There was hardly an evening at his house that people did not casually drop by, or when Simon did not give a party."

On Russell Simpson’s books for £2.95 million, the house was recently modernised.

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