Former Farm Street dairy in Mayfair is now £25m cash cow

The boom in house prices over the past few years has been behind the transformation of many of the city’s buildings. Offices, factories and warehouses are being turned into “lateral apartments” or “contemporary family homes” left, right and centre, but it’s not often you come across a luxury mansion in a prime part of London that used to be a dairy parlour. 

 

 

Indeed, you probably didn’t know there was much need for dairy parlours in Mayfair, but in the Tudor era it was the most convenient way of getting fresh milk to the affluent area, with grazing cows from nearby rural pastures like Peckham and Holland Park being walked into the city. 

 

By the late 1860s, these became increasingly irrelevant as milk was brought in from the country by railway. As London expanded, these humble but expansive spaces in prime locations were put to use as homes. 

 

 

One such parlour on Farm Street in Mayfair packs in over 8,000sqft of space; it’s now a five-bedroom family house on sale with Wetherells for £25m. Other modern additions include a private lift to help you navigate the three-storey building, a swimming pool and gym, and a private rooftop garden.

 

 

“The interesting and unusual history of this property allowed for the construction of a house on a commercial depot site without the usual restrictions of historic listing controls,” says Peter Wetherell, chief executive at the sales agent. “The result is an open, flowing family house providing spacious rooms and generous ceiling heights rarely found in historic Mayfair.”