Former London Home In Little Venice Of Dance Legend Michael Flatley For Sale

An elegant 8,178 square foot Nash style seven-bedroom Italianate Victorian villa at Park Place Villas in Little Venice, originally the London home of Royal mistress Lillie Langtry where she entertained Bertie, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), and more recently the home of Irish-American dancer Michael Flatley, is for sale through Aston Chase.

The detached Grade II Listed three-storey white-stucco villa at Park Place Villas was originally built in 1840 by Matthew Wyatt under the auspices of legendary architect John Nash’s 1811 masterplan for the Regent’s Canal which created Little Venice, a picturesque neighbourhood of magnificent Regent’s Park style Italianate villas bordering the canal.

Located on a large corner plot directly overlooking the Regent’s Canal the double fronted villa has a central turret with pilastered entrance porch with wings on either side featuring tall sash windows over ground and first floor. The villa has splendid Roman arches, step out balconies and balustrades and inside provides substantial accommodation over four floors comprising lower ground, ground and two upper floors complete with two gardens, a large carriage driveway and a separate driveway from Maida Avenue with off street parking and a double garage.

The villa features a large entrance hall with main staircase, ground floor drawing room, dining room, family kitchen/breakfast room and spacious garden room/conservatory overlooking the main garden. There are seven bedrooms, a study and leisure floor.

The house retains several historic features from Lillie Langtry’s time including a gazebo with love-seat in the garden where she entertained the Prince of Wales, a pair of Regal stone lions standing guard at the front door and a high boundary wall with twin gates and the carriage driveway, specially installed so that the Prince’s carriage could discreetly enter and exit the villa of his mistress unobserved.

The history of Park Place Villas is reviewed in the book Lord of the Dance, the 2006 autobiography of Michael Flatley co-authored with Douglas Thompson. On the 24th May 1877 at a dinner party in Mayfair the actress and society beauty Lillie Langtry sat next to HRH Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales. The Prince, known to family and friends as Bertie, became infatuated with Langtry and she soon became his mistress.

In June 1877 Park Place Villas was discreetly acquired for Langtry, presumably by Bertie, for use as their secret hideaway. When not entertaining the Prince of Wales at the villa Langtry hosted her friends from the arts who included playwright Oscar Wilde and artists John Everett Millais, James Whistler and Frank Miles. Millais’s picture of Lillie, ‘A Jersey Lillie’, was exhibited at the Royal Academy’s summer exhibition in 1878 which made her even more famous.

Moving forwards to 1997 and Park Place Villas was again on the market for sale. The canal side location and Royal history attracted three A-list bidders – Madonna, Barbara Streisand and Lord of the Dance star Michael Flatley. Flatley gazumped Madonna and Streisand and Park Place Villas became his first London home.

Flatley commissioned architect and interior designer Peter Inston to extend and refurbish the villa. Inston transformed the basement into a leisure floor with a sizeable swimming pool with adjoining leisure deck gym and a mahogany-panelled club room containing a cocktail bar, cinema screen and card/games area.

Michael Sulkin, Director (House Sales) of Aston Chase says: “On the market for the first time in 20 years, this impressive villa located by the Regent’s Canal in Little Venice has had two prominent owners, Royal mistress Lillie Langtry and dance royalty Lord of the Dance star Michael Flatley. Two decades ago three A-listers had a bidding war to acquire it, and we envisage there will be strong interest with this new listing as the Langtry villa is one of the most historically important houses in Little Venice.”

Park Place Villas is for sale for £26,000,000 (freehold) ($33.3 million US dollars). Viewing is strictly by appointment, contact sole selling agent Aston Chase (Michael Sulkin) at www.astonchase.com.

Photo Credit: Aston Chase/Tony Murray