The King’s Observatory, Old Deer Park, Richmond

Property Summary

A Grade I listed Palladian observatory of about 7,343 sq ft with four bedroom suites, restored by its present owner in a first phase completed in 2018. Two interconnecting octagonal rooms, an entrance hall with a mezzanine gallery and a two-storey library, form the heart of the house, flanked by spiral staircases. On the raised ground floor are a triple-aspect drawing room, the library and a dining room hung with hand-painted Chinese silk panels; the lower ground floor holds a family room and two further bedroom suites above the original brick vaults. The original working cupola survives on the roof. The grounds include an ornamental lake, a Portland stone boathouse, listed nineteenth-century anti-magnetic huts and a landscape reworked by Kim Wilkie, part of it with Scheduled Monument status.

Photography: Alex Winship Photography

Key Features

• Grade I listed; commissioned by George III, completed 1769
• About 7,343 sq ft, four bedrooms, four bathrooms
• About 6.59 acres in Old Deer Park, with a private serpentine drive
• Octagonal entrance hall and library, with Georgian glazed shelving
• Triple-aspect drawing room with 4.72 m ceilings
• Ornamental lake and Portland stone boathouse
• Planning permission referred to by the agent for a staff cottage and for further accommodation of up to about 10,000 sq ft, subject to the relevant consents
• Leasehold, 138 years remaining

Design Comment

This is a house where the architecture is the asset and the design question is one of restraint. The first phase of restoration has already made it a comfortable home; what remains is the interior and the choice of what, if anything, to add. As a Grade I building, any change to the fabric needs listed building consent, so the scope for a personal scheme lies in colour, joinery tones, furniture, lighting and the way the principal rooms are furnished. The consented extension, which the agent describes as largely below ground, raises its own questions about how new family and service space might connect to the historic vaults. This is potential, to be tested with the relevant consents and advisers.

Development Consultations

To assist potential buyers of this property to understand their full design and development options, Janine Stone & Co. is able to provide complimentary design concept and development consultations. It can be arranged for these consultations to take place at the property or in our London studio. Janine Stone & Co. will provide guidance on architecture, refurbishment and planning considerations, in addition to helping interested parties to develop their early design ideas into floor plans with estimated project costs and timelines for realisation.

Should a successful acquisition take place, we would be happy to take these initial concepts through to a full concept and subsequent planning, design and build phases.