You’d be hard-pressed to find a place on this side of The Pond that comes anywhere close to resembling Beverly Hills, the Los Angeles neighbourhood synonymous with the rich and famous. The nearest equivalent? Probably St George’s Hill, a 964-acre private, gated estate in Weybridge, Surrey.
Those fortunate enough to be waved through the gates by the estate’s 24/7 security team will find a world of jaw-dropping mansions, manicured grounds and elegant sports clubs, notably St George's Hill Golf Club and St George's Hill Lawn Tennis Club.
Estate residents over the years have included half of The Beatles — John Lennon and Ringo Starr were both residents — as well as Tom Jones, Elton John, Jenson Button, Nick Faldo and, rather less excitingly, Theo Paphitis.
Kenwood, John Lennon's house in St. George's Hill, pictured on 13 July 1964.
Still, with a list of residents like this you can see why St George’s Hill has been likened to Beverly Hills, and in this exclusive enclave a fine house is now for sale. The curiously-named Knockdara is a whopper of a house (my words) with 'ambassadorial proportions' (the selling agents’ words), on the market with Curchods for £23,500,000.
The asking price is fascinating for a house on a 1.5 acre plot. A few minutes further down the A3 you could pay half as much for a house just as big, and it'd come with well over 100 acres of land. Head in the other direction and you'll find a beautiful house right on Holland Park that would leave you enough change to buy a nice little private jet. So why Knockdara rather than one of those other options?
The answer — according to the agents — is that his six-bedroom mansion is ‘simply one of the best houses on St George's Hill’. Step inside this palatial home and the gleaming surfaces and largely neutral colour palette give the overall impression of a high-end hotel in central London.
A ‘grand hall’ sits at the heart of the mansion, sandwiched between two giant curved staircases and overlooked by a galleried landing and chandelier designed to impress.
Off the grand hall are vast reception rooms. The drawing room, family room, and walnut-fitted kitchen with top appliances — including a Range cooker, teppanyaki hot plate, Sub-Zero & Wolf fridges — all boast two sets of double doors leading out onto a terrace.
There’s also a formal dining room, walnut-panelled study, what’s called a ‘prep’ kitchen, laundry room, and two staff ‘suites’ on this floor.
Up those spiral staircases to the first floor, where the principal bedroom ‘suite’ is undeniably the star of the show. It features a semi-circular balcony with views of the golf course (golf fanatics need look no further) as well as two dressing rooms and two bathrooms (each with their own balcony).
There’s a further five bedrooms. And yes, you probably guessed, each one has its own bathroom, dressing room and balcony too.
There’s a few more splashes of colour on this floor. One bedroom is even swathed in dark purple and ‘topped’ with a ceiling that resembles a starry night sky.
On the bottom floor of the mansion is a leisure and entertainment area that ‘would not look out of place in a 7* hotel’, says Curchods.
The indoor swimming pool is the focal point. And surrounding it are various areas to kick back and relax: a treatment room, sauna, gym, mirrored bar area with thermostatically-controlled wine room, cinema room with sensor seats, and games room.
From here, you step out onto another terrace that spans the entire width of the house, this one ‘sunken’.
Naturally, the grounds are immaculate: a garden conservatory, BBQ area and pizza oven, carefully-mowed lawn, all surrounded by mature trees.
‘Knockdara really does have it all, offering over 20,000 sq ft of sumptuous accommodation, with two lifts, two staff flats, amazing lower ground floor entertaining suite with fabulous bar, cinema room, gym and superb indoor pool, six large bedroom suites and underground parking for at least 8 cars,’ says Andrew Grant of Curchods.
‘It also enjoys one of the finest plots on the estate backing directly onto St George's Hill golf course with splendid views, in all about 1.5 acres, combining to make it one of the best homes on St George's Hill in its class.’
Knockdara is for sale via Curchods for £23,500,000 — see more details.
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