Oscar Wilde’s former Mayfair home: £14.95m Half Moon Street house gets a modern twist with cinema and gym
The Grade II listed house at 14 Half Moon Street was the inspiration for Algernon Moncrieff’s bachelor pad in The Importance of Being Ernest.
The 5,017 sq ft white stucco fronted town house was built in the early 18th Century as a single family house for the Gannon family who later subdivided the house into apartments, so-called ‘bachelors chambers’, where Wilde and his bohemian friends lived.
The flamboyant writer was a fixture in the neighbourhood. He frequented the Flemings Tavern on Half Moon Street and Café Royal on Regent Street.
He also had membership of the smart gentleman’s club, the Albermarle Club, then at 13 Albemarle Street. Nearby Burlington Arcade was another favourite haunt, where he would buy carnations for his buttonhole.
After an intricate refurbishment, the four-bedroom house (pictures above and below) has been restored to its original glamour and is listed with Wetherell for £14.95 million. Luxuries include a cinema, gym, steam room, lift, two private terraces and a balcony.
