A set of cottages in Chelsea that isn’t quite as modest as it initially seems comes to the market for £20 million
Behind the façade of what initially appears a modest pink coloured cottage in Old Chelsea’s Cheyne Row is a house that is quite something else. That property is named Great Cheyne Studios and Cheyne Cottage and it is for sale for £20 million ($28.5 million or €25.9 million).
A merger of three cottages standing on the site of what was originally a slaughterhouse and later a series of artists’ studios, Great Cheyne Studios became a single residence in 1948 and was then redeveloped by an American businessman and philanthropist named Robert A. Hefner III circa 2003.
University of Oklahoma educated Hefner – the grandson of a renowned oilman and Mayor of Oklahoma City nicknamed ‘The Judge’ and himself the founder and CEO of The GHK Company, a privately-owned natural gas and oil exploration and production company – opted for a traditional look for the surprisingly vast house and around a courtyard garden created an amazing residence that now features 8,725 square foot of internal accommodation and 2,750 square foot of gardens and roof terraces.
As well as a double height ‘Great Room’ that features a minstrel’s gallery and oak beams reportedly taken from Steventon Hall – the home of the novelist Jane Austen – there is an “equally dramatic” double height dining room with a music gallery, a library and a cinema room. The house also includes 6/7 bedrooms, 3 kitchens and a gym. It is offered for sale through agents Strutt & Parker.
Subscribe to our free once daily email newsletter here: