As the old saying goes, if you can’t live in the former house of AA Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh, then at the very least you should live next door. Naturally this is easier said than done.
Or at least it was, until the recent launch onto the market of this house in Mallord Street in Chelsea, London. On the market for £6.45 million with Knight Frank, the property boasts five bedrooms and three reception rooms over four floors, and the house next door is adorned with a Blue Plaque celebrating Milne. Job done.
According to English Heritage, who know about these things, Milne resided in the house next door during the most creative years of his life, from 1919–40. He wrote Winnie the Pooh books while there, as well as two collections of poetry.
The Milnes referred to their home as the ‘the prettiest little house in London’, which means that the house for sale (which is, as mentioned, next door) must at least be in the top-10 prettiest little houses in London (I think people in 1940 would be quite surprised by what a ‘little house in London’ looks like now).
This’ little house’, next to AA Milne’s old house, is listed Grade II and extends to some 3,000sq ft of living space. The lower ground floor offers a media room and wine cellar, while on the ground floor you’ll find the kitchen/breakfast room, a dining room and the south-facing patio garden.
On the first floor, is the substantial drawing room, with the principal bedroom suite to the rear, and the remaining bedrooms can be found on the second floor.
Amenities-wise, Chelsea is often considered a ‘decent place to live’ by those Londoners in the know, which also means it is breathtakingly expensive. Still, if you don't mind paying £7 for a pint of beer then the nearby Cadogan Arms reopened in 2021 after a refurbishment returned it to its original Victorian splendour.
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