Witanhurst is the name of an historical
Georgian-styleGeorgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the...
mansionA mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. realtors define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
located on a 5 acre (20,000 m²) site
estateAn estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is an "estate" because the profits from its produce and rents are sufficient to support the household in the house...
in the village of
HighgateHighgate is a village in North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath. Highgate rises to an altitude of at Highgate Wood and at North Hill.-Overview:...
, North London. It is the second-largest house in London in private ownership, the largest being
Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
.
Designed by architect
George HubbardGeorge Cairns 'Scatter' Hubbard was an English rugby union player who represented the England national rugby union team. He also played first-class cricket with Kent....
for soap magnate Sir Arthur Crosfield on an site, dating from 1774 which included a house called
Parkfield built in the 19th century, the mansion is currently
Grade-II* listed, meaning it has been judged to be of national historical or architectural interest.
Witanhurst is the name of an historical
Georgian-styleGeorgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the...
mansionA mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. realtors define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
located on a 5 acre (20,000 m²) site
estateAn estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is an "estate" because the profits from its produce and rents are sufficient to support the household in the house...
in the village of
HighgateHighgate is a village in North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath. Highgate rises to an altitude of at Highgate Wood and at North Hill.-Overview:...
, North London. It is the second-largest house in London in private ownership, the largest being
Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
.
Designed by architect
George HubbardGeorge Cairns 'Scatter' Hubbard was an English rugby union player who represented the England national rugby union team. He also played first-class cricket with Kent....
for soap magnate Sir Arthur Crosfield on an site, dating from 1774 which included a house called
Parkfield built in the 19th century, the mansion is currently
Grade-II* listed, meaning it has been judged to be of national historical or architectural interest. It was built between 1913 and 1920. It has been recognised by
English HeritageEnglish Heritage . is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government with a broad remit of managing the historic built environment of England. It is currently sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as 'a building at risk'.
It has 65 rooms spread across three floors, including 25 bedrooms. One of the largest is the Ballroom|Grand Ballroom]], measuring long with a height of . It has
oakAn oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 400 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
flooring and the timber wall panels are in
walnutWalnuts are plants in the family Juglandaceae. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts but not the hickories in the same family.The 21 species...
, with carved cornices embellished with gold leaf.
Other rooms are the Drawing Room, Study, Entrance Hall and staircase, and most of the bedrooms, are all in an opulent Classically detailed style. Other richly decorated rooms include the Dining Room, Chinese Room,
BilliardEnglish billiards, called billiards in many former British colonies and in Great Britain where it originated, is a hybrid form of carom and pocket billiards played on a billiard table. Billiards is less well known as the "English game", the "all-in game" and the "common game".The game is for two...
Room, and the Gallery hallway. Access to the house is via a three-fingered gatehouse.
A significant large part of the mansion still have the original architectural details that withstood time, but most of them are now in a state of deterioration. Despite its condition, the mansion has been used several times as filming location by the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
for shooting documentaries and dramas, such as
The Lost PrinceThe Lost Prince is an acclaimed British television drama, produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC and originally broadcast in two episodes on BBC One in January 2003...
and
Tipping the VelvetTipping the Velvet is a 2002 BBC television drama serial based on the bestselling debut novel by Sarah Waters of the same name. It originally screened in three episodes on BBC Two and was produced for the BBC by the independent production company Sally Head Productions...
. Most recently the estate was one of the primary production venues for the
Fame AcademyFame Academy was a televised competition to search for and educate new musical talents. The winner received a chance to become a successful music artist. The prize consisted of a £1m recording contract with a major record company, plus the use of a luxury apartment in London and a sports car for...
series.
The mansion has not been regularly occupied for some years and no attempts have been made to preserve the estate. The local
councilThe London Borough of Camden is a borough of London, England, which forms part of Inner London. The southern reaches of Camden form part of Central London.-History:...
have announced that they will be requiring the owners to take steps to stop the deterioration, although it is not know if they will actually enforce the listed building requirements. On 19 July 2007 local newspapers reported the mansion had been sold to private developers - the St John's Wood-based Marcus Cooper Group - for an estimated £32m ($65.6m). The developers announced that they intended to convert it into a £150m ($307m) home; however, the property remained in a state of advancing decay.
On 16 July, 2008 it was reported that
Yelena BaturinaYelena Nikolayevna Baturina is a Russian businesswoman, Russia's richest woman and its only female dollar billionaire. She is the joint 279th richest person in the world...
, the wife of the Mayor of Moscow (Russia) and a billionaire in her own right, purchased the property for an estimated £50m (approximately $100MM USD.) Plans for its potential renovation have not been announced.The renovations are now under way with an estimated cost of 40 million.