Inside Freddie Mercury's 'country house in central London' - now on sale for £30 million

Virgin Radio

27 Feb 2024, 15:25

Freddie Mercury’s former London home is going up for sale for offers in excess of £30 million.

The West London property known as Garden Lodge was once referred to by Mercury as “his country house in central London,” and has been put up for sale recently by its current owner, Freddie Mercury’s good friend Mary Austin.

The luxurious Kensington property boasts, among many features, a bar/library and music centre, a Japanese style sitting room which opens out to a beautiful garden, and a double-height drawing room which once housed Mercury’s grand piano (on which he wrote many a hit).

Another highlight of the home is its principal suite, which can only be entered through a spectacular floor-to-ceiling mirrored dressing room in which the famous artist once kept all his clothes and stage costumes.

The house belonged to the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ singer from 1980 until his death from complications related to AIDS in 1991. While living in the mansion, Mercury renovated the property to fit his distinctive and eclectic style. 

As estate agent Knight Frank’s release about the property states, one example of this can be seen in the property’s dining room, which is painted in “his favourite colour” - a citrus-toned yellow, and decorated with other jewel tones “reminiscent of his childhood in Zanzibar and India.”

On his death in 1991, the Queen frontman left the home to his close friend Mary Austin, who after carefully preserving the property for 30 years is now putting the Neo-Georgian style property on the market.

Fans hoping to look around the property will be disappointed, however, as the listing is not available online for public viewing. Interested potential buyers will also be vetted ahead of viewing to ensure they are genuinely capable of making an offer on the property.

Speaking about the home, Austin shared in a statement: “This house has been the most glorious memory box, because it has such love and warmth in every room.

“It has been a joy to live in and I have many wonderful memories here. Now that it is empty, I'm transported back to the first time we viewed it,” she continued. “Ever since Freddie and I stepped through the fabled green door, it has been a place of peace, a true artist's house, and now is the time to entrust that sense of peace to the next person.”

Freddie's former home is now empty as Austin sold over 1,000 items from the home - all of which were once Mercury’s - in a six-day auction at Sotheby’s last year which Virgin Radio’s own Chris Evans attended.

Austin donated part of the money raised from this sale to the Elton John Aids Foundation and the Mercury Phoenix Trust - a charity founded by Queen’s surviving members in memory of Mercury which helps fund HIV/AIDS initiatives around the world.

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