The Hampstead home where Charles de Gaulle lived during exile, up for sale for the first time in 50 years

(Image credit: Knight Frank)

published 12 October 2021

The handsome mid-18th-century property in the heart of Hampstead, where Charles de Gaulle lived between 1942 and 1944 — about the time he led the Free France government-in-exile — has come to the market for the first time in more than 50 years.

It launches onto the market via Knight Frank at a guide price of £15 million.

The French general could little have imagined that, after his tenure, the building would go on to become a finishing school and home to the Sisters of St Dorothy.

Much renovated, Frognal House — with its cast-iron balconies, sash windows, wood panelling and marble fireplaces — has been used to house international students most recently and its 13,147sq ft could easily be developed into units or transformed back into a family home.

It is offered as a freehold interest with vacant possession with a bid deadline of 12 noon, October 14.

Frognal House is currently on the market via Knight Frank at a guide price of £15 million — see more pictures, or enquire with the agent for further details.

Hampstead: What you need to know

Location: A quiet and leafy lane in-between Hampstead and the Finchley Road, in the London borough of Camden and the Hampstead Conservation Area 6 miles north of Central London and just 0.2 miles from Hampstead high street.

Atmosphere: Hampstead is one of London's leafy and most highly sought-after neighbourhoods with a sprawling high street full of independent cafes, bars and excellent restaurants, plus boutique shops and galleries.

Things to do: Explore the beautiful Hampstead Health which feels like truly getting away from the fast-paced city life and taking a deep breath in nature. Perfect for dog walks, running and sunny days laying by one of the swimming ponds.

Schools: There are (rather unsurprisingly) a selection of excellent schools in and around Hampstead including St Mary's School Hampstead, Hampstead Hill School, The Hall School and Fitzjohn's Primary School.

See more property for sale in the area.

Annunciata grew up in the wilds of Lancashire and now lives in Hampshire with a husband, two daughters and an awful pug called Parsley. She’s been floating round the Country Life office for more than a decade, her work winning the Property Magazine of the Year Award in 2022 (Property Press Awards). Before that, she had a two-year stint writing ‘all kinds of fiction’ for The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, worked in internal comms for Country Life’s publisher (which has had many names in recent years but was then called IPC Media), and spent another year researching for a historical biographer, whose then primary focus was Graham Greene and John Henry Newman and whose filing system was a collection of wardrobes and chests of drawers filled with torn scraps of paper. During this time, she regularly gave tours of 17th-century Milton Manor, Oxfordshire, which may or may not have been designed by Inigo Jones, and co-founded a literary, art and music festival, at which Johnny Flynn headlined. When not writing and editing for Country Life, Annunciata is also a director of TIN MAN ART, a contemporary art gallery founded in 2021 by her husband, James Elwes.

Country houses for sale

Hampstead: What you need to know