An American buyer has purchased the only house in Mayfair designed by acclaimed minimalist architect John Pawson CBE, a £6.75 million 2,845 sq.ft. (264.3 sq.m.) white stucco three bedroom house in Hay’s Mews, the deal was fast-tracked by sole selling agent Wetherell in order to avoid the Autumn Budget’s rise in Stamp Duty for overseas buyers. The house was the last sale in Mayfair before the budget.
Wetherell highlight that the American purchaser decided to buy the house just before the Labour Government’s Autumn Budget, which took place on the 30th October 2024. As part of the Autumn Budget the Government implemented their already announced intention to increase the Stamp Duty surcharge on overseas nationals buying UK residential property from 2% to 3%. By exchanging and completing on the property on the 29th October the buyer avoided having to pay £125,000 in Stamp Duty tax.
Before Budget day, both the vendor and purchaser’s lawyers “burned the midnight oil” and fast-tracked the acquisition with the team from Wetherell spending the 28th and 29th October physically taking out furniture from the house and carrying it across Mayfair to the Wetherell office on Mount Street for storage.
Wetherell say that this is the third American in a row to own the Hey’s Mews house. The property was originally the London home of renowned American art collector Doris Lockhart Saatchi and was most recently the home of American financier and art collector Ralph I Goldenberg.
The three storey house in Hay’s Mews was commissioned by Memphis-born Doris Lockhart Saatchi, designed by John Pawson and built/reconfigured in 1987 providing an architectural masterpiece of minimalist design.
Offering cool uncluttered living spaces with dark-grey stone slab flooring, the dramatic interiors are illuminated by oversized full height windows on the ground and first floors. The house includes two spacious reception rooms, designed to showcase important works of art, a custom designed Pawson kitchen and a study.
The house features Pawson designed items that are now iconic sought-after design classics including a contemporary handle-free front door, font-like white marble Pawson Saatchi basins in the bathrooms and banks of white folding cupboards designed to keep spaces and surfaces clutter free. The remarkable artistic house is complete with an internal garage, ground floor patio garden and a 30 ft long rooftop terraced garden.
In 1987, when Doris Lockhart Saatchi split from her husband Charles Saatchi, she moved to the Mayfair house in Hay’s Mews. The home’s pure white spaces were the perfect way to showcase her contemporary art, which included works by Damien Hirst and Angela Bulloch.
In October 2000 the Hay’s Mews house was purchased by prominent Chicago financier Ralph I Goldenberg who was the co-founder of financial clearing firm Goldenberg, Hehmeyer & Co. Ralph I Goldenberg was a collector of contemporary art so in the Mayfair house he displayed works by artists including Willem DeKooning, Jackson Pollock, Robert Ryman, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly. Goldenberg lived in Mayfair until his retirement in 2018 when he moved to Italy where he lived until his death in 2022.
Samson Pfeiffer, Sales Manager at Wetherell says: “We are delighted to have sold this magnificent Pawson designed house in Mayfair which is a masterpiece of minimalist architecture and there is truly no other artistic residence like this in Mayfair. It has served as both a home and private art museum for two prominent American patrons of contemporary art, Doris Lockhart Saatchi and Ralph I Goldenberg.”
Peter Wetherell, Founder and Executive Chairman of Wetherell said, “Over the last three years the buying power of Americans purchasing in US dollars in London has grown, and they have become a renewed force in London’s super-prime residential market.
“Such is the American influence for example, that this is the third American in a row to own the house in Hay’s Mews. Five sectors – Hedge funds, IT, medical provision, logistics and media – have generated huge wealth for America’s multi-millionaires and billionaires, and they see London as one of the few world-city locations to live, work and spend leisure time.
“Americans are domestically used to new build homes, so in London newly built or recently refurbished homes like the Hey’s Mews house carry a premium for them.”
For information on the finest homes for sale or letting in Mayfair contact Wetherell on Tel: +44 (0)20 7529 5566 or visit www.wetherell.co.uk
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