First homes go on sale at Denham Film Studios: £120m conversion of iconic site brings hundreds of new homes within a 20-minute commute of central London
Perfect for movie buffs, the first homes are now for sale at Denham Film Studios, once known as “the Hollywood of the home counties”, where Luke Skywalker discovered the awful truth about his father, and Superman saved Lois Lane time and time again.
In the Buckinghamshire countryside, the studios are 20 minutes from London via nearby Denham station and next door to picture-postcard Denham Village.
Between 1936 and 2014 they were the nerve centre of the British film industry, employing up to 1,200 people in their heyday. Classic films made there include Goodbye Mr Chips (1939) and Brief Encounter (1945).
Now in the throes of a £120 million conversion, by summer 2019 the Art Deco main building will contain 49 flats, with another 176 new houses and flats on the 12-acre site. The project includes 90 affordable flats for sale or rent.
Denham Studios has been converted into flats - see inside
Most homes on sale from March 1 are within the Grade II-listed main building designed by Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius for the studio founder Alexander Korda, while 15 of the new-build flats are also for sale. Prices start at £350,000 for a one-bedroom flat, while prices for two- and three-bedroom flats will come later.
The next tranche of flats and modern family townhouses launches in October. The affordable homes, through housing association L&Q, are set to follow early next year.
The main building’s listed status means the scale of the flats far exceeds modern minimum standards, as the original layout must be preserved. One-bedroom flats are about 600sq ft, with two-bedroom flats from 750sq ft up to 1,300sq ft. Ceilings are up to 11ft 6in.
Korda’s studios merged with Rank’s Pinewood Studios in 1939, and in the Second World War the US Army used them for viewing footage of Nazi-occupied areas. Modern-era films made there include The Great Escape (1963), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), three Superman movies (1978-83), War Horse (2011), and Bond films Quantum of Solace (2008) and Skyfall (2012).
The glamour lives on
New residents will live in streets including Stanley Kubrick Road and Noël Coward Avenue, while the restored private theatre, where films were once screened for directors, will become a cinema and club. The actors’ bar is being rebuilt with a central cocktail bar, marble and chandeliers.
Korda House, the original studio building, will have white marble floors, grey marble ceilings, panelled walls and Art Deco-style chandeliers.
The concierge will wait at a huge, high-gloss black desk, while a new central atrium allows lights into the heart of the building.
Home interiors will be gold and olive with black accents, cool ivory, silver and taupe.
While interiors inspiration harks back to the Thirties and Forties, the spec is entirely 21st century, with luxuries including underfloor heating, de-misting bathroom mirrors, Oakwood kitchens with boiling water taps, and more.
Visit weston-homes.com.