The former Mayfair residence of Countess Raine Spencer, a 4,894 sq.ft. (454.71 sq.m.) Georgian style five-bedroom house on Farm Street, where Raine entertained her stepdaughter Diana, Princess of Wales, listed for sale for £10.95 million (freehold) has been sold to an undisclosed buyer after less than a week on the market, it is believed to be the fastest house sale in Mayfair during 2024.
The sale of Princess Diana’s Mayfair family house was managed by joint sole agents Wetherell and Chestertons, and given its significant fame and illustrious heritage the house receiving a wave of enquiries from around the world when it was listed for sale in late June 2024 and within days of the listing offers were received from several serious bidders.
In order to seal the deal on the house the eventual buyer revised their initial offer and the sale was agreed via Wetherell. The house was effectively sold in less than a week of coming to the market, purchased in under 100 hours of being listed the rapid deal is understood to be the fastest house sale in Mayfair during 2024.
Built in the early 1980s, the cream-stucco four-story house has sash windows and provides substantial accommodation over lower ground, ground and three upper floors, with a passenger lift connecting all levels. The house is complete with lower ground and ground floor patios, a south-facing roof terrace and a long lease garage.
The remarkable history of the house on Farm Street is covered in a 2022 biography of Raine Spencer, entitled Three Times A Countess, by author Tina Gaudoin.
Raine was the daughter of romantic novelist Dame Barbara Cartland and the stepmother of Diana, Princess of Wales. Raine married three titled aristocrats, her first husband was the Hon. Gerald Legge, later the 9th Earl of Dartmouth. Her second husband (Diana’s father) was John ‘Johnnie’ Spencer, the 8th Earl Spencer, and finally Count Jean-Francois Pineton de Chambrun.
In 1990, Johnnie Spencer bought the Farm Street house as a gift for Raine for her support during his recovery from a stroke. The first floor library of the house was Johnnie’s favourite room whilst Raine liked to entertain guests in the ground floor dining room which was (and still is) decorated in the same vivid red as the dining room at Althorp House, the Spencer family’s stately home.
After Earl Spencer died in 1992, Raine assumed full ownership of the Mayfair house and also inherited a seaside home in Bognor Regis, jewellery, an annuity and a £6 million lump sum payment in his will.
Earl Spencer’s first marriage had broken down in 1967 but Diana and her siblings could never accept their father’s relationship with Raine. During Johnnie’s lifetime, Princess Diana famously (and wittily) referred to Raine as ‘Acid Raine’.
In 1995, as Princess Diana was coming to terms with the breakdown of her marriage to Prince Charles, she reconciled with her stepmother by inviting her to a lunch at Kensington Palace. By then Diana had recognised that her father was truly loved by Raine. They took to meeting regularly at the Connaught Hotel in Mayfair, with Raine providing support with Diana’s looming divorce. After Diana’s divorce in 1996, Raine and Diana grew exceptionally close and the Princess became a frequent visitor to the house on Farm Street, with Diana sitting in her late father’s first floor library alone, for many hours at a time.
By the turn of the twentieth century Raine realised that she would need to leave her beloved Farm Street, as the house was just too large for her. In the early 2000’s Raine moved into a red brick mansion flat in her equally beloved Grosvenor Square, where she had happily lived with Earl Spencer before he purchased the house on Farm Street.
Peter Wetherell, Founder & Executive Chairman of Wetherell says: “We are delighted to confirm the sale of the former Mayfair residence of Countess Raine Spencer on Farm Street. Given its illustrious heritage the house had a wave of enquiries from around the world when it was listed for sale and within days offers were received from several serious bidders. The house was effectively sold in less than 100 hours of coming to the market, an ultra-fast deal which is believed to be the fastest house sale in Mayfair during 2024.”
Danish Arif, Head of Mayfair Sales at Chestertons, says: “It was an honour to be handling this sale which has such an illustrious history. The house benefits from superb reception rooms, a passenger lift, well appointed bedroom suites and staff accommodation. It is a trophy home with a remarkable history.”
Robert Dawson of Wetherell who brokered the deal said, “This is the first time that the Farm Street house has been on the market in 22 years, and it effectively sold in its first week on the market. During 2024 Mayfair has had its strongest year in almost a decade.
“Over the first eight months of 2024 there have been 71 sales deals in Mayfair, of which 11 have been for trophy homes priced above £10 million. This can be compared to 80 deals during the 12 months of 2023, of which just 5 were for deals over £10 million, so the trophy home market has doubled in size this year. During the final quarter of 2024 deals in Mayfair look set to beat the record for the last eight years.”
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