Queen of Crime: author PD James' former west London home for sale following total modernisation

PD James wrote eight Inspector Dalgliesh novels while living in the house, which is now on the market for £4.95 million. 
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The west London house which was once home to one of Britain’s top crime writers is for sale, following a meticulous refit.

World renowned author P.D. James, who won numerous awards and accolades during more than 50 years writing crime fiction, lived in the semi-detached Victorian house between Notting Hill and Holland Park from 1984 until 2012.

She wrote 10 of her 22 published books while living in the house, having published her first novel in 1962 at the age of 42, while working as an administrator in the NHS.

That first book, Cover Her Face, introduced the world to the policeman-poet Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, the popular sleuth at the heart of most of the author’s books.

James went on to sell millions of copies around the world and became Agatha Christie’s successor to the ‘Queen of Crime’ title.

She was made a life peer, Baroness James of Holland Park, in 1991.

Set back from the road behind a private front garden, James’ former home in Holland Park has since had a thorough overhaul having been bought by a developer after the author died.

The house now boasts high ceilings and a remote-controlled fireplace in the open plan kitchen/dining/family room with French windows opening onto the landscaped back garden.

P.D. James
Daniel Hambury/Stella Pics

“The condition now is lovely. It was bought by a developer with very good taste so it’s been done up very elegantly and a buyer could move straight in,” says Johnny Fuller, head of Savills Kensington and Notting Hill.

The modernisation includes a master bedroom suite with large dressing room, four further bedrooms and big windows in every room giving a feeling of space and light.

“There are wonderful views at the front because there’s a gap in some buildings across the street, so you can look right up Holland Park Avenue at the park. Sitting looking out at the view was one of the main things P.D. James loved about the house, apparently.”

On her death in 2014, probate records showed that James was an astute property investor as well as an incisive writer.

She left £22 million-worth of assets including her main Holland Park Avenue home, a flat next to Tower Bridge, another apartment in Oxford and a cottage and beach hut in Southwold, Suffolk, according to a report in the Telegraph.

The house is for sale for £4.95 million through Savills.

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