Extraordinary warehouse home for sale: Brixton theatre where Charlie Chaplin performed is for sale
An extraordinary live-work studio and home originally built for the writer and theatre impresario Fred Karno, who was credited with discovering Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, has been listed for sale in Brixton for £3.25 million.
The 6,263sq ft warehouse-style property was bought piecemeal over the course of several years by its current owner, the renowned painter Richard Harrison.
In 1997 a friend introduced him to another artist, Nicola Hicks, who sold the first and third floors of the building to Harrison.
But there was a catch — the remaining floors were in separate ownership, so Harrison had to wait until 2000 to buy the second floor and until 2004 to get his hands on the ex-industrial ground floor unit.
"The previous owner got the planning permission changed to work-live. It's what I'd always wanted," says Harrison.
The property in Southwell Road was built as Karno's Fun Factory headquarters in 1906, along with the adjoining building, now called Clockwork Studios, which today houses more than 20 independent artist tenants.
Actors Charlie Chaplin and his understudy, Stan Laurel, would have spent many hours rehearsing at the property, with all the props and scenery for Karno's comedy sketches being made and painted on the ground floor of the immense building.
Once finished, backdrops were "hauled up" through a slit in the floor to the second floor where the performances were held.
The building later became a knicker factory, then a photography studio before Hicks bought it in the early Eighties, says Harrison.
With five-metre-high vaulted ceilings, steel windows and access to a large roof terrace, the property's ground and first floors are currently used as a self-contained live-work space with a studio, art gallery and a bedroom.
On the upper floors are two further bedrooms with painted brick walls and bamboo flooring. A French oak staircase leads to a dramatic open-plan living space on the top floor, with another vaulted ceiling and exposed beams. A lift provides access to each floor.
Now 66, Harrison says when he first moved there more than two decades ago he imagined he'd stay for life but, for health reasons, he and his wife, Orsolya, are now looking for a new home outside of London. But he says the possibilities for live-work use are numerous.
They've had interest from someone who wanted to restore classic cars on the ground floor and from a theatre designer.
"It is very rare for a converted warehouse of this calibre to come to the market and so far we have seen strong interest from artists and architects alike, who are looking for the perfect space to live, work and be inspired comfortably under one roof," says Robin Chatwin of Savills, which is selling the property.
"Every now and again we get tourists popping by to take photos," says Harrison, "It's quite funny, really."