Big night in: three-bedroom Clapham mews home fitted out like a private nightclub for sale
“Neon, bling, period details, lots of mirrors (our cleaner groans whenever we buy more), palms and exposed brick have featured in all our properties,” says current owner Clive Hamilton. “This place enabled us to buy more of the same and then some. It has been a true match made in heaven.”
Clive has lived in this unique property – an Edwardian former church hall attached to a Georgian house, now on the market for £1.75 million — for two years and is “really sad” to be leaving it behind when he moves to France.
“Living in an NYC style loft, private nightclub and a section of a stately home at once is amazing,” he says.
The “nightclub chic” of the huge open-plan kitchen and reception room pack a colourful punch as soon as you walk through the front door.
The bespoke rolled metal breakfast bar with green back-lit panelling was put in by a company that specialises in fitting out nightclubs. Exposed brick walls, black radiators and mirror ball hanging from the industrial-style ceiling add to the warehouse party feel.
The hall has a colourful past. It was the Royal Shakespeare Company’s rehearsal studio for a number of years, multiple pop videos have been made there and big fashion and interiors brands often ask to use it as backdrop for shooting product imagery.
The property has also featured in many adverts – one involved dogs eating a fancy Christmas dinner and another saw cats enjoying cocktails at the bar.
The older part of the building is packed with period features, from functioning fireplaces to a distressed walled staircase that photographers love.
“I fell down the stairs twice on our first night here because the entire Georgian part was painted black and there were no light fittings,” Clive recalls.
“It was grim, tomb-like and icy cold so I learnt how to light real fires. There was a certain kind of gothic atmosphere, sitting in those darkened rooms with only flames casting a flickering light around the walls, but luckily we didn’t have to live like urban Mary Shelleys or Lord Byrons for long as an electrician came to the rescue.”
The basement was formerly used as a photographer’s dark room but currently houses a gym and a wine cellar. Upstairs, interconnected reception and dining rooms lead off the main hall while a glamourous master suite complete with roll top open bath and its own seating area dominates the first floor.
There are two further bedrooms on the second floor, which has its own fitted kitchen and bathroom.
Buyers can enjoy an alfresco morning coffee in the green private courtyard behind the secure gated entrance, which has been designed so that it could also accommodate a car if required, although the Overground and two Northern line Tube stations are walking distance away.
The house has been on the market for two months, with celebrities among those showing interest because how of private it is.
Simon Stone, partner at the Unique Property Company who are marketing the property, describes it as a “proper party pad”.
He said: “The main living space is without doubt the main feature but the location is also great – it’s not the ‘yummy mummy’ side of Clapham, it’s got a slightly gritty, hipster feel and is stuffed with cool bars and restaurants.”
Call the Unique Property Company on 020 7917 9995 for more details.