Phones 4u founder John Caudwell has turned two mega-mansions in Mayfair into one vast property that, with an estimated value of £250 million, is thought to be Britain’s most expensive private home.
Businessman and philanthropist Caudwell, who sold his Phones 4u chain for just under £1.5 billion in 2006, bought Mayfair House for £87 million in 2012 and a few years later embarked on a total renovation.
Photography: Channel 4
It was also the subject of a Channel 4 show, which aired earlier in the year, ‘Britain’s Most Expensive Home: Building for a Billionaire’ that has been described as a ‘supersize Grand Designs’ – that spiralled £58 million over budget.
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Britain’s most expensive mansion, in central London, isn’t even John Caudwell’s main home. Rather, it’s a party retreat for his wealthy investors.
The home features a 120-capacity ballroom – a place for charity balls and evening galas.
Boris Johnson attend a dinner hosted by John Caudwell on March 5, 2014 in London, England. Photography: David M. Bennett/ Getty Images
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The house is the most expensive in the UK firstly, because it is so enormous, 43,000 sq ft of living space in total and secondly, as a result of the quite staggering levels of eccentric opulence and design details that has gone into the renovation.
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The property features an indoor river, designed to be evocative of Thailand, that meanders out from a faux cherry tree, and rungs through the house.
Then there’s the quilted, soundproofed cinema room decorated with black-and-white photographs of Hollywood stars with the faces of John Caudwell’s family superimposed.
Photography: Channel 4
‘The value in my house is the house itself, but I don’t keep any valuables. You can’t steal a marble staircase,’ John explained.
The home can be seen it all its glory on Channel 4.
