Forbes mansion in Battersea known for hosting star-studded parties on sale at £12m

For sale: Old Battersea House was built on Tudor foundations in the late 17th Centur
Saville's

One of south London’s grandest mansions — famed for lavish parties attended by President Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Elizabeth Taylor — has been put up for sale for a “cut price” £12 million.

The Grade II* listed Old Battersea House, with sweeping 110ft-wide lawns that stretch almost to the river, is believed to have been designed by Sir Christopher Wren.

It was most recently owned by Sergei Pugachev — a Russian oligarch once known as “Putin’s banker” — who now lives in France after his assets were frozen by the High Court in 2014.

However, the 10-bedroom, seven-bathroom property, built in 1699, is best known as the London base of the billionaire Forbes family from 1971 to 2011.

The property is best known as the London base of the billionaire Forbes family from 1971 to 2011 
Saville's

Publisher Malcolm Forbes bought the house when it was near-derelict, restored it at huge cost and filled it with one of London’s finest collections of Victorian art.

The family hosted royalty and Hollywood stars at the house over the years — Elizabeth Taylor spent her honeymoon with her seventh and final husband Larry Fortensky there in 1991. The price is the same as when the house last went on the market in 2011. The Land Registry lists the owner as the New Zealand-based Kea Trust Company.

Robin Chatwin, head of Savills’ south-west London office, said: “Old Battersea House is an incredibly rare and historic London home which comes to the market with a competitive guide price.”

The property is behind electric gates and features include a baroque hallway, panelled drawing rooms, oak doors and floorboards, a jacuzzi bath and a sauna.

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