Lauderdale Mansions South
Encyclopedia
Lauderdale Mansions South, is a block of 142 apartments in Lauderdale Road, Maida Vale
, London
W9. Built in 1897, Lauderdale Mansions South was the first of a swathe of mansion flat buildings for the middle classes that spread across central Maida Vale in the 1897-1907 period.
The building's freehold company (in which all flat owners have a share) is unusual in that it is believed to be the only one in the UK whose constitution specifies a ‘first-past-the-post’ secret ballot for electing directors, with any shareholder being entitled to stand for election.
Lauderdale Mansions South is divided into 15 blocks, each with its own entrance hall leading to 9-11 flats. Behind the building lies a 1.5 acres (6,070.3 m²) communal garden in which there is also a meeting room for residents housed in a former Boiler House. The basement areas include storage units and bicycle storage areas.
Most apartments in the building are 950 to 1500 square feet (139.4 m²). The upper floor flats have balconies overlooking Lauderdale Road, while lower ground floor flats back on to the communal garden.
For most of the 20th century the freehold of Lauderdale Mansions South was owned by the Church Commissioners
, the property investment arm of the Church of England
. But in 1989 the freehold was sold to the flat owners.
The freehold company is Manyplans Ltd, a subsidiary of Lauderdale Mansions (South) Ltd. The articles of association are also unusual for companies of this type in that they specify that board meetings should be open to shareholder observers, and that board minutes should be made available to shareholders.
Sir Alec Guinness
, whose best known screen roles included playing eight different characters in Kind Hearts and Coronets
, Fagin
in Oliver Twist
and Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai
, was born in a ground floor flat in the building on 2 April 1914.
More recent former residents of Lauderdale Mansions South have included Kathryn Flett
, Observer TV critic and star of the BBC’s ‘Grumpy Old Women’ series, and Mary McCartney
, celebrity photographer and daughter of Paul
and Linda McCartney
.
In 2009 Lauderdale Mansions South was featured in Channel 4 television's The Home Show.
Maida Vale
Maida Vale is a residential district in West London between St John's Wood and Kilburn. It is part of the City of Westminster. The area is mostly residential, and mainly affluent, consisting of many large late Victorian and Edwardian blocks of mansion flats...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
W9. Built in 1897, Lauderdale Mansions South was the first of a swathe of mansion flat buildings for the middle classes that spread across central Maida Vale in the 1897-1907 period.
The building's freehold company (in which all flat owners have a share) is unusual in that it is believed to be the only one in the UK whose constitution specifies a ‘first-past-the-post’ secret ballot for electing directors, with any shareholder being entitled to stand for election.
Lauderdale Mansions South is divided into 15 blocks, each with its own entrance hall leading to 9-11 flats. Behind the building lies a 1.5 acres (6,070.3 m²) communal garden in which there is also a meeting room for residents housed in a former Boiler House. The basement areas include storage units and bicycle storage areas.
Most apartments in the building are 950 to 1500 square feet (139.4 m²). The upper floor flats have balconies overlooking Lauderdale Road, while lower ground floor flats back on to the communal garden.
For most of the 20th century the freehold of Lauderdale Mansions South was owned by the Church Commissioners
Church Commissioners
The Church Commissioners is a body managing the historic property assets of the Church of England. It was set up in 1948 combining the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners formed in 1836...
, the property investment arm of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. But in 1989 the freehold was sold to the flat owners.
The freehold company is Manyplans Ltd, a subsidiary of Lauderdale Mansions (South) Ltd. The articles of association are also unusual for companies of this type in that they specify that board meetings should be open to shareholder observers, and that board minutes should be made available to shareholders.
Sir Alec Guinness
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE was an English actor. He was featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. He later won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai...
, whose best known screen roles included playing eight different characters in Kind Hearts and Coronets
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Kind Hearts and Coronets is a 1949 British black comedy feature film. The plot is loosely based on the 1907 novel Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horniman, with the screenplay written by Robert Hamer and John Dighton and the film directed by Hamer...
, Fagin
Fagin
Fagin is a fictional character who appears as an antagonist of the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, referred to in the preface of the novel as a "receiver of stolen goods", but referred to more frequently within the actual story as the "merry old gentleman" or simply the "Jew".-Character:Born...
in Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, published by Richard Bentley in 1838. The story is about an orphan Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to...
and Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 British World War II film by David Lean based on The Bridge over the River Kwai by French writer Pierre Boulle. The film is a work of fiction but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–43 for its historical setting. It stars William...
, was born in a ground floor flat in the building on 2 April 1914.
More recent former residents of Lauderdale Mansions South have included Kathryn Flett
Kathryn Flett
Kathryn Flett is a British TV critic, author, and star of the BBC's Grumpy Old Women series, was educated at Notting Hill & Ealing High School, and Hammersmith and West London College....
, Observer TV critic and star of the BBC’s ‘Grumpy Old Women’ series, and Mary McCartney
Mary McCartney
Mary Anna McCartney is a photographer. The first biological child of rock photographer Linda Eastman McCartney and Paul McCartney of The Beatles, Mary was named after her paternal grandmother, Mary McCartney....
, celebrity photographer and daughter of Paul
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and Linda McCartney
Linda McCartney
Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....
.
In 2009 Lauderdale Mansions South was featured in Channel 4 television's The Home Show.