Agency takes on a piece of comedy history for sale at £6.5 million
Orme Court in London’s Bayswater, where Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes, Peter Sellers and Terry Nation worked, has gone on the market.
“Money can’t buy you happiness but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery,” Spike Milligain once said. And for those with a spare £6.5 million you can pick up the freehold of the “home of British Comedy” in London’s Bayswater.
9 Orme Court is a 5,697 sq.ft. Victorian building, known as the “home of British comedy”. Eric Sykes, Spike Milligan (who also lived there), Peter Sellers, Terry Nation and others worked on famous TV, radio and theatre scripts
Now Sykes’ family has decided to sell the property providing the opportunity to return into a single six-bedroom home.
GOON SHOW
Listed via joint sole selling agents Beauchamp Estates and Carter Jonas the place where The Goon Show, Hancock’s Half Hour, Dr Who and the Daleks, Genesis of the Daleks and Steptoe and Son were created was originally built by the Orme family in the 1890s as part of a terrace of grand London townhouses.
The twin Heritage Blue Plaque property – celebrating Spike and Eric’s lives – provides substantial accommodation over lower ground, raised ground and four upper floors.
For his office Eric took the first-floor reception room to the front of the property, with Spike taking the first floor living room to the rear.
The site is also the birthplace of Dr Who’s famous daleks and Davros. From his second floor office Terry Nation wrote the 1963 BBC script for Dr Who and The Daleks and in 1975 the recurring character of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks. From his office Dennis Spooner wrote scripts for Thunderbirds and Stingray for Gerry Anderson.
DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS
With its residential origins and not being statutorily listed, the property has the potential to benefit from permitted development rights and be returned to residential use without the need for a full planning application.
Gary Hersham, Founding Director of Beauchamp Estates says: “This famous property would make an outstanding London townhouse on the doorstep of Kensington Gardens, perfect for comedy and Dr Who fans alike.”
