Kensington Palace Gardens

Kensington Palace Gardens is a street in west central London which contains some of the grandest and most expensive houses in the world. It was the location of the London Cage, the British government MI9 torture center used during the Second World War and the Cold War.

A tree-lined avenue half a mile long in the heart of embassy land, Kensington Palace Gardens is the "most exclusive address" in London, according to Knight Frank. It is one of the most expensive residential streets in the world, and has long been known as "Billionaires Row", due to the wealth of its private residents, although the majority of its current occupants are embassies and ambassadorial residences.

It is immediately to the west of Kensington Gardens and connects Notting Hill Gate with Kensington High Street. The southern section of Kensington Palace Gardens is called Palace Green.

Background

It was built from the 1840s onwards, on part of the grounds of Kensington Palace and the freehold still belongs to the Crown Estate. The palace, which is the residence of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, fronts the southern part of the street on the eastern side. The houses at the northern end are mostly Italianate, while those at the southern end are mostly in the Queen Anne style. For much of the 20th century a large proportion of the houses was occupied by embassies and ambassadors' residences. Some still are, but others have been renovated by the Crown Estate and sold to private buyers on long leases. One of these was bought in 2004 by the Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who in 2008 was listed by "Forbes Magazine" as the fourth richest man in the world. The sale was widely misreported at £70 million, [cite news | title=$128M Spend for London House | publisher=MSNBC|date=April 12, 2004|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4722789/] before accurate figures were available from HM Land Registry, where records state that on 30 June 2004, 18-19 Kensington Palace Gardens, along with three mews houses at the rear of the property, sold for £57,145,967 [cite news | title=Super rich | publisher=The Guardian | date=April 17, 2006 | url=http://money.guardian.co.uk/tax/story/0,,1755287,00.html]

Formerly, this house was owned by Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One racing boss. On October 8, 2001, he purchased the house from Iranian scholar and philanthropist David Khalili for £50 million. This was substantially less than the asking price of £85 million when it was placed on the market by Savills in spring 2001. However, it was reported that Ecclestone's wife, Slavica, never liked the 55,000-square-foot, 18-bedroom mansion so they never moved in.

Khalili spent three years and more than £20 million turning the two houses into one, building a swimming pool and indulging in his taste for marble floors and pillars (with marble from the same quarry as that used for the Taj Mahal).

Paul Reuter, the founder of the Reuters news agency, was also a former resident.

No 8 was used as an interrogation centre for German POWs during World War II and was known as the London Cage. The house was replaced in 1964 by a glass-and-steel block designed by Richard Seifert, now divided into four apartments. Flat 3 was on the market in 2006 as a three-bedroom apartment designed by international architect David Chipperfield, valued at a minimum of £13.25 million through Knight Frank. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/main.jhtml?xml=/property/2006/06/28/pkensington28.xml Where £10m is 'a snip'] , "Daily Telegraph", 28 June 2006] [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_200607/ai_n16598066 The modernist ideal] , "The Spectator", 22 July 2006]

Due mainly to the presence of high-profile terrorist targets such as the Israeli and Russian Embassies, both ends of the street have gates and checkpoints and a heavy armed police presence, mostly Diplomatic Protection Group officers. Some of the buildings also have crash barriers. This has the side effect of extremely low traffic for a central London road.

The street is lit by very dim Victorian gaslight-style streetlights.

Current occupants

Current occupiers and residents include:

East side of Kensington Palace Gardens:

*1-3 — demolished (now a coach park on Bayswater Road)
*4-5 — Russian embassy (consular department)
*6-7 — Russian Embassy (chancery) coord|51|30|25.49|N|0|11|26.71|W|
*8 — Sub-divided private residence
*9 — residence of the Indian High Commissioner
*10 — Jonathan Hunt, founder of Foxtons [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-481013/Foxtons-owner-plans-multi-million-pound-underground-extension-London-home.html Foxtons owner plans multi-million pound underground extension to London home] , "Daily Mail", 10 September 2007] [ [http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/Planning/scripts/acolaiddetails.asp?CaseType=LB&CaseYear=08&CaseNo=01323 Planning Application file for 10 Kensington Place Gardens] , Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, 2008. With extensive drawings and history of the house, and including proposals for the 5-storey high underground tennis court and car museum to be created at the rear of the property.]
*11 — Official Residence of the ambassador of France
*12 — Saudi royal family [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2006/apr/17/tax.g2 Super Rich] , "The Guardian", 17 April 2006]
*12a — The Embassy of Nepal
*13 — The official residence of the ambassador of Russia
*14 — The official residence of the ambassador of Finland
*15 — Leonard Blavatnik
*15b — Leonard Blavatnik

West side of Kensington Palace Gardens:

*15a — Leonard Blavatnik
*18-19 — Lakshmi Mittal, coord|51|30|25.41|N|0|11|29.80|W|, [http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=skj1xygzhn2d&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=12471921&sp=Point.skj1xtgzhn27_Lakshmi%20Mittal___&encType=1 Bird's eye view]
*20 — Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei. The number eight can be seen on the roof, symbolizing the phrase "Ba Shi Fa Cai" ("the number eight brings prosperity"). coord|51|30|27.38|N|0|11|30.68|W|name=#20 - Sultan of Brunei
*21 — Lebanese embassy
*22 — Official residence of the ambassador of Kuwait
*23 — Official residence of the ambassador of Japan
*24 — Official residence of the ambassador of Saudi Arabia
*25 — Slovak embassy
*26-30 — Czech embassy

Palace Green
*2 — Israeli embassy coord|51|30|11.24|N|0|11|22.43|W|
*4 — Romanian embassy coord|51|30|14.36|N|0|11|23.85|W|
*6 — Noam Gottesman, hedge-fund trader. Said to have now been sold to Lakshmi Mittal for £117 million, for the use of his son Aditya. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2014300/Lakshmi-Mittal-to-buy-Britainandrsquos-most-expensive-house-for-andpound117-million.html Lakshmi Mittal to buy Britain’s most expensive house for £117 million] , "Daily Telegraph", 23 May 2008]
*9a — Former Filipino embassy. Sold to Lakshmi Mittal for £70 million in 2008, for his daughter Vanisha. [ [http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23497865-details/Steel+tycoon+buys+third+property+on+Billionaire%27s+Row/article.do Steel tycoon buys third property on Billionaire's Row] , "Evening Standard", 23 June 2008] coord|51|30|18.81|N|0|11|26.71|W|
*10 — Official residence of the ambassador of Norway. [ [http://www.norway.org.uk/embassy/residence/residence.htm An Exclusive Piece of Norway] , Official Norwegian UK website]

ee also

* List of most expensive streets by city
* The Bishops Avenue

References

External links

*Kensington Palace Gardens at the "Survey of London" online:
** [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=49872 Historical development]
** [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=49873 Individual buildings]
*Planning decisions for [http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/Planning/planningdecisions/decisionsresults.asp?Month=%25&year=%25&tcaseyear=&caseno=&STREETNM=Palace+Green&postcode=%25&ward=%25&consarea=N%2FA&proposal=&check=true&batch=50&search=continue Palace Green] and [http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/Planning/planningdecisions/decisionsresults.asp?Month=%25&year=%25&tcaseyear=&caseno=&STREETNM=Kensington+Palace+Gardens&postcode=%25&ward=%25&consarea=N%2FA&proposal=&check=true&batch=50&search=continue Kensington Palace Gardens] , 2000-2008
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3868094.ece Even £200m can’t buy a house here] , "The Sunday Times", 14 May 2008