An exquisite Georgian property in London with family at its heart

“From the moment my mother arrived at Ormeley Lodge in 1976, the magic for her was in its location,” says Ben, 45. “Despite being so close to central London, it is set in an ocean of wild nature that is richer and more expansive than most rural countryside. The house is surrounded on three sides by Ham Common with Ham Common Woods Nature Reserve to the south and beyond that, 2,500 acres of Richmond Park. When my mother walked her dogs every day, she could go in any direction and find outstanding nature. If she saw us sitting around inside she would always urge us to go out and explore. Growing up in such a wonderful place with a mother who instilled a love of nature in us, and was immersed in it herself every day, explains why my brother Zac and I are so committed to conservation.”

Lady Annabel moved into Ormeley Lodge in 1976 with her second husband, financier Jimmy Goldsmith. Her first husband, Mark Birley, had already immortalised her name in the Mayfair nightclub Annabel’s, and a well-connected group of friends were immediately among frequent visitors to her new house. They included Princess Alexandra of Kent who lived next door, and actor Hugh Grant and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, the former partner and husband respectively of Lady Annabel’s daughter Jemima Goldsmith. In the 1990s, Princess Diana regularly drove through the splendid ornamental iron entrance gates, with an open invitation to Lady Annabel’s expansive Sunday lunch parties and often bringing Princes William and Harry, to enjoy Ormeley Lodge’s swimming pool and all-weather tennis court.

“My mother was a magnet. Her warmth and generosity exerted an almost planetary pull bringing people to Ormeley Lodge,” says Ben. “The house was like an artist’s colony, filled with interesting and assorted people. There would be an aged uncle reding in the library or someone recovering from heartbreak would move in and teenagers were always milling about. It always felt so wonderfully alive with a tremendous community that all focused around my mother.”

Ormeley Lodge is a grand, red brick house, a perfectly preserved tribute to early Georgian architecture and skilled craftsmanship with a blend of English Baroque and Classical influences. Celebrated architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner described it as “exquisite”. Added to the architectural value, its historical importance is shown by its rollcall of previous residents, among them Horace Walpole, son of Britain’s first Prime Minister, Charles Townsend, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Pitt the Elder, and the Earl of Westmoreland, Lord-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth II. Now for sale for £25 million, it is quite simply “a part of British cultural heritage” says Paddy Dring, Global Head of Knight Frank’s Private Office.

The main house has ten bedrooms with further cottages, guest houses and staff accommodation giving a total living space of over 16,000 square feet.

The elegant principal rooms feature average ceiling heights of 3.4 metres, original fireplaces and intricate cornicing. Outside, the expansive and expertly tended grounds feature a knot garden designed by Arabella Lennox-Boyd, a walled lawn circled by mature trees, an orchard, wildflower and kitchen gardens and an impressive number of specimen trees. Ormeley Lodge is an outstanding country house, ideal for entertaining on a grand scale and also an intimate family home.

“The string of ground floor rooms are spectacular,” says Ben. “Every Christmas and for special family events, we would gather together in the dining room which sits at the centre of the house. Beyond that is the study where I can still picture my father at work and leads on to the drawing room with its huge windows and floor to ceiling bookcases. These rooms were all very much part of family life but day to day, we would eat in the smaller family room off the kitchen. That’s where my mother would sit.”