A former party town house that's said to have hosted JFK is on sale for over $15 million in London
- A Mayfair, London, home said to have ties to JFK and Wallis Simpson is on sale for $15.2 million.
- A viscountess and mistress of Edward VIII once owned the home, real-estate firm Wetherell says.
- The six-bedroom, Gothic-style Farm House has a mix of modern, medieval, and Jacobean features.
A luxurious, six-bedroom property that is said to have hosted John F. Kennedy has gone on sale for £11 million, or about $15.2 million, in London, according to its property listing on the real-estate company Wetherell's website.
Located at 22 Farm Street, Farm House is a Gothic-style property in the expensive Mayfair district, neighboring renowned hotels such as The Ritz.
According to Peter Wetherell, founder and chairman of the eponymous real-estate firm, records accessed by Wetherell show that the town house was rebuilt in the 1900s by a Mrs. M. Strakosch, but its original building date remains unknown. Wetherell said that little is known about Strakosch, including her first name which is not cited on the historical land records.
Arranged across four floors, the house has six bedrooms, three reception rooms, two terraces, a dressing room, and a dining room.
Speaking to Insider, the Wetherell founder said the house has always invited admiration from passersby.
"If you walked around Mayfair and you leave remembering a few amazing sites, this would be one of them," he said of the home that belonged to Swiss socialite Viscountess Thelma Furness in the 1930s, according to Wetherell's online brochure.
For Wetherell, what makes Farm House special are its wide facade and Gothic design, which are rarely found on the market because homes with such features are regarded as "keepers."
The property balances modern interiors, including the orange-carpeted staircase in the hallway, with traditional medieval and Jacobean features including a grand oak front door that's carved with the heads of the 12 apostles.
The property also has a rich history
Wetherell said the property's current owner understands that John F. Kennedy was hosted in the house while visiting London's US embassy in 1961. Wetherell told Insider that the home was used by the embassy as a place of entertainment during that time due to its "wow factor."
"You come into a grand entrance hallway, you can have drinks in the entrance hallway, and then go into the dining room afterward," he said, describing a hypothetical evening of entertainment at the home. "Then you go upstairs for your brandy and cigars into the drawing room."
The brochure says that while Viscountess Thelma Furness owned the home she had an affair with Edward VIII, the then-Prince of Wales, between 1930 and 1934. It notes that Furness' twin sister Gloria Vanderbilt was friends with Wallis Simpson, the American socialite who later became the duchess of Windsor.
When Furness left for America, she allowed Simpson to stay in Farm House where she also became a mistress to the Prince of Wales, according to the brochure. Wallis and Edward married in 1937 and remained together until he died in 1972. When Simpson died five years later, they were buried alongside each other at Windsor Castle, Insider previously reported.
Farm House was also referenced by the American actress Gloria Swanson in her autobiography, "Swanson on Swanson," where she wrote: "I called on my friend Lady Thelma Furness, who was Gloria Vanderbilt's twin sister, and she had a charming house on Farm Street."
"The house, in fact, where Thelma's friend Wallis Simpson had kept the Prince of Wales company while Thelma was away in the States," she added.
Wetherell, who did not disclose whether his firm has prospective buyers at the time of writing, hopes the house will invite interest from American buyers who appreciate its ties to US history.
"Whenever I speak with my American clients they always admire this house for its character and also for its provenance with such amazing historical connections," he said.