Chelsea mansion with casts of the controversial Elgin Marbles in the drawing room goes on sale for £50million
- Stanley House is a Grade II* listed property set in acres of grounds in Chelsea, west London
- Construction first started in 1690 before being completed during the reign of George I
- House was built in sprawling fields alongside private royal thorough-fare from St James to Hampton Court
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A sprawling manor which boasts its own casts of the Elgin Marbles has been put on the market for £50million.
Stanley House is an eight-bedroom home set in acres of grounds in Chelsea, west London.
And the Grade II* listed property, which also boasts three reception rooms, nine bathrooms and a 60ft swimming pool, has a very rich history.
Stanley House (pictured), which is an eight-bedroom home set in acres of grounds in Chelsea, west London, has been put on the market for £50million
The house was originally set among sprawling fields alongside the private royal thorough-fare from St James to Hampton Court. Pictured: Open-plan kitchen
Construction first started in 1690 before being completed during the reign of George I. It was most recently restored in 2002.
A Survey of London recorded it as ‘an excellent example of a Georgian house of two storeys, with a blocked cornice and slate hipped roof’ and it was listed by English Heritage as a building of significant importance to the nation.
The house was originally set among sprawling fields alongside the private royal thorough-fare from St James to Hampton Court.
Occupants in the house have included a long line of aristocrats and officials including the four times great-grandmother of the Queen – Mary, Countess of Strathmore.
The heiress, who was also the inspiration for the countess in Thackeray’s The Luck of Barry Lyndon, inherited a fortune made in the coal industry by her husband.
The Grade II* listed property, which also boasts three reception rooms, nine bathrooms and a 60ft swimming pool (pictured), has a very rich history
Construction first started in 1690 before being completed during the reign of George I with a Survey of London recording it as ‘an excellent example of a Georgian house of two storeys, with a blocked cornice and slate hipped roof’. Pictured: Downstairs hallway
But after his death she was forced into marriage to Irish adventure Andrew Robinson Stoney who had posed as an army captain.
Stoney had staged a duel to protect her honour and had secured her hand in marriage while supposedly dying of his injuries.
But he made a quick recovery before going through with the wedding and seizing control of her wealth.
The Countess decided to buy the house in 1777, which was the year of her second marriage, and turned it into a retreat to cultivate plants that had been imported from the Cape of Good Hope.
Occupants in the house have included a long line of aristocrats and officials including the four times great-grandmother of the Queen – Mary, Countess of Strathmore (left) as well as William Hamilton, secretary to Lord Elgin, (right) who helped oversee the controversial removal of the Elgin Marble friezes from the Parthenon in Athens to Britain in the early 1800s
The next prominent owner was William Hamilton, secretary to Lord Elgin, who helped oversee the controversial removal of the Elgin Marble friezes from the Parthenon in Athens to Britain in the early 1800s.
It was then that Hamilton made casts of the marbles which he took back and displayed in a purpose-built ballroom at Stanley House.
The plaster casts remain in what is now the drawing room.