Leading estate agency Wetherell have launched to the market a unique lettings opportunity to rent a stylish lateral apartment in the heart of Mayfair which was the first bachelor pad of Sir Winston Churchill. Located at 105 Mount Street, above a cigar shop which also pays homage to the iconic leader, the two bedroom apartment is available to let fully furnished for £1,550 per week (£74,400 per year) through Wetherell.
The stylish apartment at 105 Mount Street was once home to future British Prime Minister Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (1874-1965); the young Churchill – then in his mid 20s – rented the Mayfair pad from his wealthy cousin Charles ‘Sunny’ Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke of Marlborough.
Located within a grand terracotta mansion block designed by architects Sir Ernest George & Harold Peto in 1888, the apartment provided a base for Winston Churchill as he launched his political career. Churchill was living at this Mayfair address when he was first elected to the Houses of Parliament as a Conservative candidate for Oldham in 1900, eventually going on to become British Prime Minister in 1940 during the Second World War.
Sir Winston Churchill lived at 105 Mount Street from 1900 until 1905, he was aged 26 when he first moved in and he left at the age of 31, moving to a larger home on Bolton Street. During this period, he entertained political friends and family members at the apartment, with the home furnished by his maternal aunt Leonie Blanche Jerome. Whilst he was at the Mount Street apartment that he published his first book Ian Hamilton’s March, and it was also in this apartment in 1904 that he wrote his resignation letter when he dramatically defected to the Liberal party.
When he was in his mid-20s Churchill was quite the young blade about town. Everywhere he went in Mayfair he wore a glossy top hat, starched wing collar and frock coat. Other accessories included a walking stick and watch chain and his underclothes were made of silk.
The nearby luxury hotel The Connaught, then known as The Coburg, would deliver meals to the nearby residences and one of the people regularly ordering luxury “take-aways” from The Coburg was the young Churchill, with meals and refreshments from the adjacent hotel brought up to his pad at 105 Mount Street. It is believed that the luxuries of The Coburg helped to give Churchill his lifelong love of champagne. fine cigars and good food.
Whilst he lived at 105 Mount Street the young Churchill was a carefree batchelor, not meeting and marrying Clementine Hozier until 1908: they were married for 57 years. Whilst he lived at 105 Mount Street Churchill’s girlfriends included Pamela Plowden, then in 1903 American actress Ethel Barrymore, and finally when he was 30 heiress Muriel Wilson. The Mayfair batchelor pad and Coburg hotel provided Churchill with the perfect ‘smart address’ and venue for entertaining attractive young ladies.
Churchill’s batchelor pad in Mayfair is much changed since his days and has now recently been refurbished to a high specification throughout and finished in a chic contemporary design. As in Churchill’s day, the second floor apartment is a typical “entry flat” for young people wanting to live and start out in Mayfair, just at it served this role for the young Winston.
Originally part of a row of shops supplying the latest Ladies fashion, all of the Mount Street doorways were carefully designed to be extra wide in order to allow for ladies’ Crinoline petticoat skirts to pass through. The ground floor of the property is now home to a cigar shop which features product displays and memorabilia in homage to Sir Winston Churchill, with the apartments above offering elegant homes with modern amenities.
The lateral apartment provides a Principal suite overlooking Mount Street, with a further guest double bedroom. The reception room is stylishly dressed in monochromatic fabrics, with plush seating and a marble fireplace. The room has plenty of natural light from six windows which front onto Mount Street, with a smart dining table tucked into the corner.
The apartment’s kitchen is bespoke fitted with integrated Miele appliances and mirrored splashbacks, all finished in a cream hue for a bright and fresh feel. Throughout the 1,055 sqft apartment, the design focuses on clean design with sumptuous furnishings for a glamorous ambience.
The grand Principal suite has been furnished in cream with bespoke mirrored wardrobes offering storage and bouncing light into the room, and the suite is completed with an en suite bathroom with shower and bath tub.
Peter Wetherell, Chief Executive of Wetherell, says: “Mount Street is one of the most desirable addresses in Mayfair with grand terracotta mansion blocks and many contemporary apartments retain the high ceilings and coving details of the original homes. 105 Mount Street has long been linked to Winston Churchill and provided his first ‘bachelor pad’ residence in the heart of Mayfair. Given the quality of lifestyle on offer, with sleek contemporary furnishings in a prestigious location, this is an exceptional lettings opportunity.”
105 Mount Street overlooks The Connaught hotel which offers fine dining at the two Michelin starred restaurant Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, with the newly-opened Marchesi 1824 pasticceria, a Prada-owned Milanese café, just a few moment’s walk away. For shopping, residents can visit nearby Oxford Street and South Molton Street, with an array of luxury shops and eateries along Mount Street itself.
