Property of the Week: The former ruin that’s now adored by the fashion world on sale for £2m
A micro-hotel, a period masterpiece, a world-famous fashion shoot location… this extraordinary house in east London is all of these things and more.
Mile End Road, Stepney Green, £2m
This four-storey, four bedroom Queen Anne terrace within the Stepney Green Conservation area was one of many built by John Ireland in the 18th century for merchants and naval officers. At 301 years old, it’s one of the oldest properties on the market in London.
After a brief stint as a laundrette in the 1960s, it fell into disrepair until it was saved from decades of dereliction in the 1990s by The Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust supported by grant aid from English Heritage. Renowned interior designer David Carter then bought the house and set about making the house a home.
“The house was more than a project; it was a ruin,” he says. “It has survived wars, plagues, revolutions. It just needed someone to love it and restore it to its former glory.”
It will be very hard to find somewhere quite so magical
The unique decor soon attracted fashion houses and glossy magazines to his doorstep for photoshoots. Dame Helen Mirren, Nigella Lawson and Orlando Bloom have all posed for the cameras here, while Louis Vuitton, Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel have all shot here for advertising campaigns.
With five receptions and a large attic studio, Carter also ran it as an eccentric micro-hotel called 40 Winks and hosted fabulous international literary pyjama parties. Laura Laws, head of residential at selling agent Savills Wapping calls it “one of east London’s most interesting properties”, while Carter adds, “I have been extraordinarily happy here… It will be very hard to find somewhere quite so magical.”
Call Savills Wapping on 020 7456 6800