Lord Anderson’s old house up for sale in Westminster

Stamped on the wall outside number four Lord North Street is a marking urging residents to proceed to their bomb shelters when the air raid sirens rang out. It’s an eternal allusion to the illustrious past behind one of Westminster’s largest homes currently on sale in one of the borough’s most famous roads. 

In her book “Lord North Street 1725 – 1996: A Westminster Portrait”, Bunny Smedley writes “It is not necessary to know much about Lord North Street to be delighted by it.” Dominated by St John’s the Evangelist, a domed 18th townhouses certainly retain a quiet dignity away from the hoards of chattering tourists gathered around Parliament nearby. 

But it was the street’s proximity to this landmark that brought no less than two prime ministers to live in the area, including Anthony Eden who lived next door at number two and Harold Wilson who lived on the other side at number five. For number four is, in fact, a “double townhouse” – two knocked into one in the early 20th. The building has also earned its Grade II listing. It also boasts an impressive historical owner of its own in Lord Anderson, the former home secretary who invented the Anderson shelter, inspired no doubt by the four coal vaults that still reside within its grounds. Estate agent Hathaways says the 9x39ft garden is one of the largest it has ever sold in Westminster. 

The six-bedroom, five-storey house has spent the past 18 years as a family home for former JP Morgan employee Adam Wethered, his wife Diana and their five children. Wethered set up his private investment company – Lord North Street Ltd – from the dining room table and even delivered child number four on the pavement outside while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. 

Now child number five has fled the nest, the Wethereds are looking to downsize, making room for another piece of history in the extraordinary life of this Georgian gem.