Google Street View The imposing former home of JFK.
A lavish London residence, once the home of US President John F Kennedy, is going to be turned into a family mansion potentially worth more than double the price of a penthouse at One Hyde Park, the world's most expensive apartment residential development.
The Knighstbridge property in Princes Gate was quietly sold for around £70 million last week, the London Evening Standard reports. The buyers are believed to be a billionaire family from Saudi Arabia.
Developers from Viridis Real Estate may convert the 41,000 square foot property into a single "mega-mansion" worth up to £287 million or two large homes, the Evening Standard said. The record price paid for a home in London was an apartment at One Hyde Park for around £140 million.
Virdis states on its website that planning consent has already been granted for two homes - one 30,000 sq ft and the other 11,000 sq ft.
The proposals sound impressive: The property would feature a swimming pool, an underground car park, a wine cellar, staff quarters, a jacuzzi, and a gym, according to the Daily Mail.
In addition to roof terraces and private gardens, Viridis says the homes' formal rooms "will be restored to their former classical glory whilst on the lower ground floors new and highly contemporary living zones will be created with leisure and parking facilities that provide occupants with absolute security and privacy."
Viridis reportedly first submitted plans for the property in 2011, which were approved, but the company has now refiled with improvements and more floor space.
Becky Fatemi, managing director of luxury estate agent Rokstone, told the Mail the home could become one of London's "most outstanding super-prime mansions." She mentioned that once refurbished and converted it could rival the capital's most lavish private residencies.
The house was built in the late 1840s and was designed by architect Harvey Londsdale Elmes. It housed merchant and investment bankers Junius Spencer Morgan and his son, JP Morgan himself. They offered it up to the US government and JFK stayed there while his father, Joseph, was the country's ambassador in the 1930s. It was later used by the Royal College of Practitioners.
Here's the plaque outside the home indicating JFK once lived there.
