Mansion Of Steel Tycoon Sir Frederick Mills Transformed Into Ultra-modern Home

Mansion Of Steel Tycoon Sir Frederick Mills Transformed Into Ultra-modern Home 10
Mansion Of Steel Tycoon Sir Frederick Mills Transformed Into Ultra-modern Home

A contemporary Scandinavian family home has been created behind the retained façade of Sir Frederick Mills historic Mayfair mansion

41 Green Street
41 Green Street

Behind the retained Queen Anne revival façade of a historic Mayfair mansion at 41 Green Street, the current owners have remodelled and modernised the interiors creating a 5,638 sqft contemporary Scandinavian inspired seven bedroom family home with direct access to the Green Street Gardens. 41 Green Street is for sale through joint sole agents Knight and Wetherell.

Scandinavian inspired features include Appalachian bleached Oak floorboards, architraves and joinery; full height doors, glass atrium and open plan dressing and bathrooms to the bedroom suites. The result is a striking modern home designed in a style rarely found in the heart of traditional Mayfair.

The five storey townhouse mansion at 41 Green Street was originally built in 1915-1916, designed by architect Edmund Wimperis of Wimperis & Simpson, Chief Architect and Surveyor to the second Duke of Westminster. The grand brick and stone house was built by Foxley & Co, main contractor to the Grosvenor Estate.

Sir Frederick Mills
Sir Frederick Mills

The first owner was the millionaire steel tycoon Sir Frederick Mills (1865-1953), the “Lakshmi Mittal of his day”, Chairman of the vast Ebbw Vale Steel Company. During World War I Sir Frederick supplied steel to the British Navy and his workforce was largely responsible for the creation of the 10th Gwent Battalion of the South Wales Borderers, then and still known as ‘Mills Army’. For these services, he was given a Knighthood in 1921.

Because of WWI, Sir Frederick didn’t actually move into 41 Green Street until 1922. His wife, Lady Edith Mills, employed Wimperis & Simpson and interior architect/designer Geoffrey Lucas to give the house lavish interiors including heavy decorative plasterwork, carved step-ends and bold damask wallpaper.

Sir Frederick retired from the steel industry in 1929 and then served as the Conservative MP for Leyton in East London between 1931 and 1945. Sir Frederick and Lady Edith used 41 Green Street to entertain business and political associates who included David Lloyd George, William Aitken (Lord Beaverbrook) and Winston Churchill. The couple also owned a Welsh country estate known as Park House.

Sir Frederick died in 1953 and in 1955 when his son Frederick Victor died unexpectedly in South Africa the family sold 41 Green Street and the Park House estate. For the next 50 years, the house remained in private hands before being purchased by the current owners in 2006.

The current owners have travelled extensively in Scandinavia and are also yachting enthusiasts. As a result, they like the light and streamlined designs of Scandinavian and nautical architecture. In 2006 41 Green Street still retained some of the plasterwork and period ambience created by Lady Edith Mills and her designer Geoffrey Lewis. In order to create a Scandinavian and yacht-inspired family home, the owners have transformed the interiors of 41 Green Street. The triumphant result is bright and airy interiors, characterised by clean lines and understated elegance and simplicity.

Mansion Of Steel Tycoon Sir Frederick Mills Transformed Into Ultra-modern Home 11

Behind the façade, the house benefits from huge depth over lower ground, ground and four upper floors. The owners have created an abundance of lateral living space with large open rooms with white walls, simple lines and mood lighting, accentuated by full height doors. The ground and first floors have dramatic 11ft high ceilings and 10.5ft high doors.

The front door opens onto a superb entrance hall/library with Appalachian bleached Oak floors, architraves and internal doors complete with bespoke joinery, Scandinavian style feature fireplace and mood lighting.

There is then an inner hall/stairwell lined with bespoke shelving ideal for objet d’art or books, and adjacent to this a central lightwell has been ingeniously enclosed and transformed into a glass-roofed atrium/conservatory, with glass flooring enabling light to cascade into the lower ground floor. The inner hall also contains the original Edwardian lift – one of the first built in Mayfair – providing a glimpse into the history of the house.

To the rear of the ground floor is a large formal dining room with Appalachian bleached Oak floors, feature fireplace and butler’s pantry/kitchenette. French doors lead directly onto the Green Street Gardens, designed by Edmund Wimperis in 1910, which is for the sole use of neighbouring residents and has two large formal lawns and paved areas for seating.

The family kitchen and breakfast room
The family kitchen and breakfast room

The family kitchen and breakfast room on the lower ground floor has a contemporary Italian designed stainless steel kitchen with central Island with bleached Oak worktop and breakfast bar, complete with Gaggenau appliances and food lift serving the dining room above. French doors lead out onto a sunken courtyard with outside spiral staircase lead up to the Green Street Gardens.

The lower ground floor accommodation includes a bedroom suite with ensuite bathroom, utility room and cellars/storage. The bedroom could be used as a fitness studio or staff bedsitting room.

On the first floor is a spectacular drawing room with high ceilings, Scandinavian style feature fireplace and French doors leading onto a Juliette balcony overlooking the gardens. A second reception room currently serves as a lounge/music room.

Mansion Of Steel Tycoon Sir Frederick Mills Transformed Into Ultra-modern Home 12

There are six bedroom suites on the upper three floors. Each of the spacious landings on these floors has been turned into library style spaces created using backlit bleached Oak shelving and bespoke joinery.

The principal bedrooms have highly innovative open plan style walk-in dressing areas and bathrooms. Half height walls divide the bedroom and dressing areas, with glass walls providing natural light to the bathrooms/ensuites which are finished in Carrara marble. The top fourth floor has skylights will enable natural light to cascade into the stairwell and living spaces and a spiral staircase leads to the roof terrace.

Harvey Cyzer, Partner at Knight Frank (Head of Mayfair & St James’s) says: “This house has all the attributes of a best in class product. With very few house options available in Mayfair between £10m-£20m, this is the only one to have access to a south facing garden and additional roof terrace. With exceptional ceiling heights and neutral interior, the property has grand voluminous spaces suited to an entire spectrum of buyers”.

Roof terrace
Roof terrace

Peter Wetherell, Chief Executive of Wetherell says: “41 Green Street is a magnificent townhouse mansion with an illustrious history. What makes this beautiful family home so special is that behind the traditional façade there are modern Scandinavian and yacht-inspired bright and airy interiors, characterised by clean lines and understated elegance and simplicity. It’s the perfect home for a modern family. One of the many benefits is the direct access to the lawns and pathways of the Green Street Gardens, which is colloquially known as Mayfair’s Secret Garden.”

41 Green Street is available for sale for £14,950,000 (freehold). For further information contact joint sole agents Knight Frank Tel 020 7499 1012 www.knightfrank.co.uk or Wetherell Tel 020 7529 5566 www.wetherell.co.uk

See more of 41 Green Street in the gallery below

Editorial Team

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