Inside Margaret Thatcher’s Westminster home as it goes up for sale

Originally built in 1720-1722 the Georgian townhouse offers elegant accommodation over lower ground, ground and two upper floors and provides an entrance hall, three spacious reception rooms, a formal dining room, a hand-crafted kitchen opening onto the patio garden, three double bedrooms, two bathrooms, a wash room and wine cellar.

With spacious entertaining spaces and period features including sash windows, wooden wall panelling and original fireplaces, the townhouse offers superb views of the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and the ancient College Garden.

Between 1984 and 1993 the townhouse on Great College Street served as the Westminster home of Lord Alistair McAlpine (1942-2014), who was the Conservative party treasurer between 1975-1990, and his glamorous second wife, Romilly Hobbs.

As a devoted ally of Margaret Thatcher, when she fell from power in 1990, after 11 years at 10 Downing Street, the loyal Lord McAlpine offered Thatcher and her husband Denis, the townhouse at Great College Street as a Westminster refuge – despite owning a house opposite Dulwich Park in South London, Thatcher preferred to stay close to the British epicentre of political power.

Thatcher left McAlpine’s townhouse later in 1990, relocating to the grand home of Mrs Henry Ford II on Eaton Square in Belgravia, before finally in 1991 moving to her own five-storey home on Chester Square. Thatcher’s legacy is still evident at Great College Street, however, in the form of a ‘Division Bell’ she insisted on having installed, used to summon MPs to Parliament when a vote was about to be taken.

Now the townhouse on Great College Street is seeking a new owner, perhaps again from the world of politics.

Harry Laflin, Director of DEXTERS (Westminster), says: “Offering unmatched views of the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and the ancient College Garden, this magnificent Georgian townhouse was formerly the London home of Conservative party treasurer Lord Alistair McAlpine, and provided a base for Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major. Over many decades this house has hosted famous political figures and has an incredible sense of history, given its important heritage we anticipate significant interest in the property from discerning buyers from both the UK and internationally.”

The townhouse on Great College Street is for sale for £3,650,000 (freehold). For further information or to arrange a viewing, please contact DEXTERS (Westminster) on Tel: +44 (0)20 7590 9570, or visit www.dexters.co.uk