The former London home of Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England between 2013 to 2020, is for sale, the outstanding eight bedroom semi-detached Victorian house on Compayne Gardens in South Hampstead provides 5,950 sqft (552.8 sqm) of immaculately presented interiors. It is complete with a front garden and to the rear facade a large patio opening onto the 81.3 ft rear garden.
Mark Carney lived at the house on Compayne Gardens between 2015 and 2020. Although the details of his stay at the property are bound by strict Non Disclosure Agreements, Carney’s move to Hampstead has been widely reported in the media and indeed Mark Carney has talked to the press about his life in London in various interviews.
Canadian born Mark Carney (b 16th March 1965) is a world-renowned economist and banker who served as the Governor of the Bank of Canada between 2008 to 2013 before being appointed by George Osborne to be the Governor of the Bank of England. Carney relocated from Rockcliffe Park in Ottowa to London with his elegant wife Diana and their four daughters. Carney served as Governor of the Bank of England between 1st July 2013 and 15 March 2020, appointed as UN Special Envoy for Finance as he prepared to step down as Governor.
An avid Ice Hockey and Everton Football Club fan, Carney’s choice of moving to understated Hampstead, rather than Chelsea or Knightsbridge, was widely praised in the media at the time. In press interviews Carney has spoken of loving quiet time at home in Hampstead, travelling to Threadneedle Street on the underground rather than a chauffeur driven car, and he and his wife’s love of English football (Carney says she is an Arsenal fan).
The house is located on Compayne Gardens, a beautiful tree lined residential street in the charming Conservation Area of South Hampstead. The sought after address provides easy access to the shops along the Finchley Road and offers underground connections to the West End, City of London and Canary Wharf.
Immaculately presented, elegant and understated (just like its former resident) the beautiful semi-detached Victorian house on Compayne Gardens was originally built in circa 1886 by Hampstead builders James Tomblin and E. Michael, designed by renowned architect Richard Norman Shaw (1831-1912) in his classic Arts & Crafts and Queen Anne revival style.
The first owner of the house was Strand Theatre director and Royal Opera House sponsor Julius Felsenstein and he was followed by Max Borgzinner, his wife ida and their four children, the Borgzinner family owning the property up until the early 1960s.
Providing accommodation over ground and three upper floors, complete with basement wine and storage cellar, the four storey red-brick house has an elegant front façade with large multi-storey bay windows, first floor balcony, pediment, Dutch gable and tall feature chimney. The rear façade offers a bay and large sun room opening onto the private garden.
The house has been fully refurbished and modernised in recent years and currently offers open, beautifully proportioned rooms throughout, with high ceilings on the ground floor, generous living areas and spacious bedrooms.
The bright and airy contemporary interiors have been skilfully blended with the property’s many original period features. The reception hall opens into a large double reception room which spans the entire depth of the house. Complete with timber flooring, high ceilings, contemporary stone fireplace and built in wall niches, the volumous room is arrange as a sitting room with bay window overlooking the front garden, and a drawing room with bay and French windows opening onto the rear patio and garden.
There is a large open plan family kitchen, family room, dining area and sun room with glass cupola overlooking the garden. With beautiful parquet flooring, this dramatic space has tall windows and skylights enabling light to casade into the kitchen. The fully fitted designer kitchen has a central island with veined marble worktop and sink, an Aga style oven, built in appliances and silver-grey units, providing the perfect informal living space for entertaining family and friends.
The principal bedroom suite is arranged over two floors (first and second) incorporating a sitting/study area with dramatic atrium space above, a walk-in dressing room, with an open plan staircase in the atrium space leading to the galleried upper level which provides the principal bedroom and sumptuous main bathroom.
There are three further bedrooms and a family bathroom on the first floor, with one of the bedrooms opening onto a private balcony. The second floor has two bedrooms and a shower room with the top third floor providing a large bedroom/games room, another bedroom, bathroom, laundry room and eaves storage room. The property is complete with a separate staff/guest studio with kitchenette.
