Freddie Mercury’s former London home is up for sale. The home, known as Garden Lodge, is on the market for the first time since the Queen frontman bought it in 1980.
Mary Austin: “Place of Peace”
Mercury’s former fiancée Mary Austin is leading the sale of the property in the western district of Kensington. She had lived in the villa as his heiress since the singer’s death in 1991. “This home holds the most wonderful memories because there is so much love and warmth in every room,” Austin said in a statement. “It was a pleasure to live here and create wonderful memories. Now that it’s empty, I feel transported back to the time when I first saw it.” Freddie Mercury’s former girlfriend and long-time confidante continued: “Since Freddie and I first walked through that famous green door , the house was a place of peace, a true artists’ home. Now it’s time to pass that feeling of peace on to the next person.”
Bids expected around £30 million
The Queen singer once bought the house, designed in 1907 by the architect Ernest Marshall in the neo-Georgian style, for 300,000 pounds (350,000 euros today). Now the real estate company Knight Frank wants 30 million pounds (35 million euros) for it. This makes the villa around a hundred times more expensive than the average house in the UK. “The sale of Garden Lodge is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own an important property that combines a piece of cultural history with the beloved home of an icon,” the brokers announced. “We expect that the exceptional provenance of the property, which has been preserved with great love and respect over the last three decades, will be extremely attractive to buyers from all over the world.”
Facilities mostly unknown
One of the special features of Freddie Mercury’s former home is the living room with a raised ceiling, where the singer once had the grand piano on which he wrote the Queen hit “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975). There is also a Japanese-style living room that leads into a Japanese garden. One of the house’s eight rooms also features a dressing room completely covered in mirrors. For security reasons, neither Mary Austin nor Knight Frank released a floor plan or further details.
Queen live with “Bohemian Rhapsody”:
Austin had already auctioned off furnishings and belongings from his residence last year. A total of 1,500 items from Freddie Mercury’s estate found new owners. Initially, however, the artwork and music memorabilia were exhibited in four locations around the world. In total, more than 39.5 million pounds (around 46 million euros) were raised, some of which were donated.