Property of the Fortnight: The £15m penthouse at the heart of the Swinging Sixties
If only the walls could speak in this £15m penthouse, they could spill the beans on some of the biggest stars of the Swinging Sixties. Sitting across the top two floors of the Curzon cinema in Mayfair, this impressive 3,469sqft property is the home of Dave Clark, the musician and manager of Beatles’ rivals The Dave Clark Five.
Following the success of the band’s single Glad All Over – which knocked the Fab Four’s I Want to Hold Your Hand off of No 1 – Clark bought and converted the sixth and seventh floor of this Grade-II listed building and decked it out in the most fashionable furnishings of the era from department store Liberty.
The penthouse sits atop the Curzon cinema, Mayfair
Right up until the 1990s, it hosted infamous Sunday brunches packed with the rich and famous, where it was said Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, and fellow celebrities Leo Sayer and Dionne Warwick were regular guests.
Part of the appeal lay in the fact it sat above the city’s most prominent art house cinema. The original building dates back to 1934 when it was the local movie theatre for Buckingham Palace, leading the venue to install two Royal boxes for when King George VI and the two princesses visited.
The penthouse's open plan entertaining area and dining table
“This building is the stuff of Mayfair legend,” says Peter Wetherell, chief executive of joint sales agent Wetherell. “Royalty, film producers, Hollywood stars and celebrities have all flocked to this famous venue.”
The Curzon still sits on the ground floor and basement and the rest is luxury flats. None, however, carry the prestige of the four-bedroom duplex penthouse, which boasts spectacular city views from its 1,300sqft wraparound terrace. It also comes with a study and gym and, of course, a 12-seater dining area on the top floor, so you can carry on a 50-year-old tradition of fabulous dinner parties.
Contact Wetherell on 020 7529 5566