Freddie Mercury’s house is available on the market for first time since 1980 minus his ‘beautiful litter’
LONDON — LONDON (AP) — Freddie Mercury ’s sanctuary in London, the place he lived the final decade of his life, is on sale for the primary time in almost half a century — minus his “beautiful litter.”
Backyard Lodge, because the neo-Georgian brick house within the posh Kensington neighborhood is thought, is on the market by Knight Frank for provides exceeding 30 million kilos ($38 million). It’s not publicly listed.
Mercury, the frontman for Queen, purchased the home in 1980 — the yr the band’s album “The Recreation,” with hits “One other One Bites the Mud” and “Loopy Little Factor Known as Love,” topped the charts. He reportedly paid money for the property, which was listed for greater than 500,000 kilos, in response to “Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury.”
“I noticed the home, fell in love with it, and inside a half an hour it was mine,” Mercury boasted, in response to the e book.
Mercury had intensive renovations finished to the home and loaded it with treasured art work, together with items by Picasso, Dalí and Matisse.
“I wish to be surrounded by splendid issues,” Mercury mentioned. “I wish to lead the Victorian life, surrounded by beautiful litter.”
Mercury died in the home in 1991 of AIDS-related pneumonia at 45.
He left the eight-bedroom villa and all his possessions to his shut buddy and ex-girlfriend, Mary Austin, who lived there. She has been raking in tens of millions promoting his assortment of stage costumes, tremendous artwork and track lyrics over the previous yr. The house was put up on the market late final month.
“This home has been essentially the most superb reminiscence field, as a result of it has such love and heat in each room,” Austin mentioned in a press release. “It has been a pleasure to dwell in and I’ve many fantastic recollections right here. Now that it’s empty, I’m transported again to the primary time we considered it. Ever since Freddie and I stepped by the fabled inexperienced door, it has been a spot of peace, a real artist’s home, and now could be the time to entrust that sense of peace to the following particular person.”
The well-known gate to the backyard, which was inscribed with graffiti and love notes from followers, was one in all 59 of Mercury’s most prized possessions that offered for 12.2 million kilos ($15.4 million) in September. The door introduced in 412,750 kilos ($521,000), together with a purchaser’s premium.
