Britain's second richest man refurbishes his £200m home: Russian-born tycoon orders 'mind-boggling' revamp of London mansion with 13 bedrooms, pool and now a multi-storey car park in the basement
- Russian-born tycoon Leonid Blavatnik bought property in 2004
- The mansion also has a 25-metre swimming indoor and outdoor pool
- It eclipses the Candy Brothers' One Hyde Park block in Knightsbridge
- Basement has a hot tub, gym, massage room, cinema and wine cellar
- Mr Blavatniks' wealth estimated at £11bn in the Sunday Times Rich List
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A newly-renovated mansion in London's most expensive street could be worth an incredible £200million, estate agents say.
The 13-bedroom grade II*-listed house in Kensington Palace Gardens, west London, has been improved to a 'mind-boggling' standard by Britain’s second-richest man, Russian-born tycoon Leonard Blavatnik.
The Warner Music Group owner has a 25-metre swimming pool, divided between indoor and outdoor sections, which property experts said is probably unique in central London.
The basement has a hot tub, gym, massage room, cinema and wine cellar. The property is protected by armoured glass and it has a 'multi-storey' underground car park served by a car lift with room for five vehicles.
Luxury: 15 Kensington Palace Gardens, the 200million plus refurbished home next to Kensington Palace
Before renovation: The property when it was bought by Leonard Blavatnik for £35million
Warner Music Group owner Len Blavatnik and wife Emily (left) and with singer Katherine Jenkins
Mr Blavatniks paid £41million for 15 (pictured here) and 15b Kensington Palace Gardens in 2004, reportedly outbidding Roman Abramovich and Lakshmi Mittal
According to property experts, the modernisation means it could be worth as much as £7,000 per sq ft if it were to come on the market.
That would eclipse the Candy Brothers' stunning £6,000 per sq ft apartment block One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge.
However, last week it was revealed an end of terrace home in London is set to become the most expensive property ever sold in the UK after it went on the market for £250million.
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ShareThe six-storey Grade I listed Regency mansion is a stone's throw from Buckingham Palace and boasts 50,000 sq ft of living space, making it one of the capital’s largest private homes.
Last autumn, a huge house at Rutland Gate overlooking Hyde Park was put on sale for £300million, although its price was slashed when it failed to find a buyer.
Around the same time, 1 Cornwall Terrace, opposite Regent's Park, was advertised for £100million, which estate agents said was the highest price ever asked for a terraced house.
An artist's impression from a property brochure of 15 Kensington Palace Gardens
Unique: The artists impression of the swimming pool at the property which is believed to be the only indoor/outdoor private pool in central London
Kensington Palace Gardens is one of Britain's most exclusive addresses, dubbed 'billionaire's row'
Mr Blavatnik is close to completing his two-year project on the 27,000 sq ft Kensington Italianate villa just a stone's throw from the Embassy of the Russian Federation Residence.
Giles Hannah, managing director of Mayfair based VanHan, told the Evening Standard: 'It is one of the best on the street, with a particularly large garden and fantastic views overlooking the lawns of Kensington Palace, where the Duchess of Cambridge will be pushing her pram.
'He’s doing it to a phenomenal standard. It has vast ceiling heights. All the windows have armoured glass.'
Eclipsed: The Candy Brothers' £6,000-per-sq-ft apartment block One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge
On sale: This house in St James's has apparently gone on the market with an asking price of £250million
The basement has a hot tub, gym, massage room, cinema and wine cellar. A 'multi-storey' underground car park is served by a car lift with room for five vehicles.
Mr Blavatniks’ wealth has been estimated at £11billion in the Sunday Times Rich List.
He paid £41million for 15 and 15b Kensington Palace Gardens in 2004, reportedly outbidding Roman Abramovich and Lakshmi Mittal.
THE BILLIONAIRE TAKING OVER THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
Born Leonid Valentinovich Blavatnik in 1957 in the Soviet Union, he arrived penniless in the U.S. with his parents at the age of 21 but immediately took to American entrepreneurial capitalism.
After studying computer science at Columbia University in New York and attending Harvard Business School, he made an early fortune buying and selling apartments in Manhattan.
In May 2011 he bought Warner Music Group, in a $3.3billion all-cash buyout of the world’s third-largest music company, whose artists include Green Day, Metallica and Bruno Mars.
In February, he bought Parlophone Records, the once legendary record label, for £500 million.
Parlophone has the likes of Coldplay, Tinie Tempah and Blur on its roster and Blavatnik’s purchase makes him an even stronger power in the music game.
He has all of Parlophone and other EMI assets that were put up for sale by Universal after they’d taken over the company.
The house, which cost £10,000 to build in the mid 1850s, served as the Iraqi ambassador’s residence until 1989, before becoming an annex of the Russian embassy that reputedly housed intelligence officers.
Mr Blavatnik, now a U.S. citizen, has rented 15a over the road while the work has been carried out by French-owned contractors Bouygues UK.
It is restoring the main house and turning the garages of the former stable block known as Cope House into a two bedroom 'security post' as, according to planning documents, '24 hour surveillance is needed.'
With completion still several months away, the work has sent a buzz through the property sector. But it is not yet clear whether Mr Blavatnik will try to find a buyer or simply keep the house as his London pad.
One 'fixer' specialising in the top end of the market said: 'The word is that if someone wanted to make an offer at an attractive level, then it would probably be considered seriously.
'I haven’t heard a particular number, but if you price it out per square foot £200 million is about where other super-premium pro-perty prices would suggest it’d be.'
Andrew Langton, chairman of Aylesford International who sold Mr Blavatnik the house, said the tycoon would be in no hurry to sell.
He said: 'He's banked $8billion this year, he doesn't need to sell anything.'
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