(This property is not being offered for sale.
These details are preserved for reference only.)


Classic Victorian Mansion Flat, completely restored and renovated. Two large reception rooms, four large bedrooms (highly adaptable to other uses), two bathrooms plus cloakroom, large eat-in kitchen with pantry and Aga cooker, laundry room, very large entry hall. Six working fireplaces. Balconies from reception rooms, overlooking Westminster Cathedral. Approximately 2,180 square feet gross internal area.


(Lease: 106 years remaining, with share of freehold of the block.)


Exterior Details


23 Ashley Gardens occupies half of the third floor of Block 2, one of five original mansion blocks in Ashley Gardens, each with 14 flats, built from 1890 using part of the land bought by Cardinal Manning for the new Roman Catholic Cathedral. The balconies from the reception rooms look out over Westminster Cathedral and its Piazza, and on the other side the windows of the bedrooms look out over the Gardens with tall trees screening ...  (More)


Postal address:
      23 Ashley Gardens
       Ambrosden Avenue
        Westminster
         London SW1P 1QD


Interior Details


Room-by-room descriptions with the sizes, principal features, and photographs of interior details of most rooms. The photographs show the original geometric tile floor of the Entry Hall and the distinctive plaster ceiling ribbing (different in each of the flats), the high oak paneling in the Dining Room, the circa 1800 marble chimneypiece in the Sitting Room, the floors of Victorian oak throughout, the large cast-iron bath, the Aga cooker in the Kitchen. Curtains, antique mirrors, and restored 1890s ceiling lights shown throughout in the rooms are not included, but are available for separate ...  (More)


Floorplan


The floorplan is the original 1890 layout, designed to present an attractive alternative to a city house by providing flats with equivalent space but all on one level. The design is tradtional, with large entry hall and spacious reception rooms, bedrooms separated around a longer hall, and a traditional large kitchen at the center. A private master suite is formed by the master bedroom, dressing room, en-suite shower-room and lavatory, with a back door to ...  (More)


Neighbourhood


Ashley Gardens flats provide 24-hour/7-day porterage for security, reception of parcels, etc. (with a cat who sleeps in the Porters' Lodge). The neighbourhood is full of restaurants, and contains all the shopping required for everyday necessities, including the much-talked-about new Sainsbury's "Market at Pimlico" development, just a five-minute walk away in Wilton Road. Excellent local services, with post delivered by 7:00 AM, and ...  (More)


Renovation


This flat has recently been the subject of a once-in-a-generation refurbishment, during which all its services were brought up to date and all the original features were restored, fully retaining the traditional character. Complete renovations take at least a calendar year of careful work, during which time flats cannot be lived in, so such a thorough renewal is uncommon. Full details of the renovation are listed, including the underfloor heating, modern plumbing for good showers, air conditioning, and wired and wireless computer networking, ...  (More)


Maps


Maps at multiple scales show the location of this property, at the heart of central London. A five minute walk to Buckingham Palace or No. 10 Downing Street. Victoria Station is 350 yards away, with underground lines, national rail service, and Gatwick Airport Express trains every 15 minutes. Many bus lines and constant taxis in Victoria Street, a few steps away  (More)


Aerial Photos


Photographs corresponding to each map show how close the property is to the Royal Parks. A five-minute walk brings you to St. James's Park, and across it into Pall Mall, Piccadilly, and into Mayfair. Connecting to Green Park and Hyde Park, you can stroll through the parks to most of the cultural attractions of central London  (More)


Historical Glimpses


When you live in Ashley Gardens you often see your neighbors' names on book jackets and hear their voices on BBC Radio 4. Ashley Gardens has been the home of interesting people since it was built for the "New" generation of the 1890s. In 1893 George Bernard Shaw wrote a play beginning with the first-act stage direction "A lady and gentleman are making love to one another in the drawing-room of a flat in Ashley Gardens". Thomas Hardy spent the summer in Ashley Gardens in 1895, W. Somerset Maugham described Ashley Gardens in The Moon and Sixpence in 1919. During World War II, General Eisenhower came to plan the D-Day invasion in the drawing rooms of Ashley Gardens, requisitioned for the duration ...  (More)