‘No exquisite clutter’: Freddie Mercury’s home for sale
The London home where Freddie Mercury spent the last decade of his life is for sale. Photo: AP
Freddie Mercury ‘s sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century – minus his “exquisite clutter”.
Garden Lodge, as the neo-Georgian brick home in the posh Kensington neighbourhood is known, is for sale by Knight Frank for offers exceeding £30 million ($58 million). It is not publicly listed.
Mercury, the frontman for Queen, bought the house in 1980 – the year the band’s album The Game, with hits Another One Bites The Dust and Crazy Little Thing Called Love, topped the charts.
He reportedly paid cash for the property, which was listed for more than £500,000, according to Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury.
Garden Lodge in London, where rock star Freddie Mercury lived the final decade of his life. Photo: AAP
“I saw the house, fell in love with it, and within a half an hour it was mine,” Mercury boasted, according to the book.
After his purchase, Mercury commissioned interior architect Robin Moore Ede to redesign the home in his unique style. He also loaded it with precious artworks, including pieces by Picasso, Dalí and Matisse.
“I like to be surrounded by splendid things,” he said.
“I want to lead the Victorian life, surrounded by exquisite clutter.”
Mercury died in the house in 1991 of AIDS-related pneumonia at 45.
He left the eight-bedroom villa and all his possessions to his close friend and ex-girlfriend, Mary Austin, who lived there.
She has recently raked in millions after selling his collection of stage costumes, fine art and song lyrics over the past year. The home was put up for sale late last month.
“This house has been the most glorious memory box, because it has such love and warmth in every room,” Austin said.
“It has been a joy to live in and I have many wonderful memories here. Now that it is empty, I’m transported back to the first time we viewed it. Ever since Freddie and I stepped through the fabled green door, it has been a place of peace, a true artist’s house, and now is the time to entrust that sense of peace to the next person.”
Knight Frank says the property “offers grand proportions yet a comfortable homely feel”. It has a two-floor drawing room with grand windows where Mercury kept his piano, an intimate dining room still painted in his favourite colour and a garden hidden from the busy city streets.
Upstairs, the principal suite is accessible through a mirrored dressing room.
The famous gate to the garden, which was inscribed with graffiti and love notes from fans, was one of 59 of Mercury’s most prized possessions that sold for £12.2 million ($23.5 million) at Sotheby’s “Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own” sale last September.
The door brought in £412,750 ($794,292), including a buyer’s premium. The piano on which Mercury wrote Bohemian Rhapsody sold for £1.7 million ($3.3 million).
-with AAP