When Michael Flatley was looking for his first London home in 1997s, he set his heart on a seven-bedroom mansion in west London’s Little Venice neighbourhood.
The Irish-American dancer reportedly ended up in a bidding war with Madonna, gazumping the superstar singer with a last minute offer of £500,000 more on the Grade-II listed property.
Built in 1840 in an Italianate style, Park Villas Place has a prime canalside location — and a scandalous past. In 1877 the actress Lillie Langtry lived there and entertained her lover, the then Prince of Wales, going on to become the mistress of Edward VII. She eventually had to sell the house to settle her debts.
When the Lord of the Dance star took it on, he enlisted architect and interior designer Peter Inston to extend and revamp the villa.
Marble floors in the entrance hall, an imported French stone fireplace, red silk wallpaper in the dinging room and a high-end range cooker in the kitchen are all still there from Flatley’s tenure.
The dancer also had deep wardrobes installed in one of the bedrooms so that he could use it as a dedicated wardrobe for his collection of sequined bolero jackets and hundreds of dance shoes.
Flatley entertained friends including the Irish football team and British royals at home, and the facilities were set up for hosting with a 14-seater dual aspect dining room.
The basement was turned into a leisure centre, with a swimming pool and gym alongside a mahogany-panelled club room complete with cocktail bar, cinema and card games area. A tiled mural of Flatley’s Irish home is still in situ in the pool area.
.jpg)
Flatley sold Park Place Villas in 2004. Now the three-storey Victorian villa is on the market for the first time in 20 years at £26 million with Aston Chase.
“The house has huge potential and a comprehensive refurbishment and the installation of the latest specification would create one of the finest trophy homes in London,” said Mark Pollack, co-founding director of Aston Chase.
“With its colourful Royal and celebrity backstory we anticipate significant interest in the villa from discerning buyers around the world.”
Park Place Villas includes a library, a turret and a rooftop terrace, with its own private driveway, double garage and off-street parking for two more cars.Flatley went on to work with Inston again to restore his historic home in Ireland, Castlehyde house, but the relationship between star and architect ended acrimoniously.
The star bought the 18th-century estate in 1999, but Castlehyde caught fire in 2016. Flatley bought in several contractors to restore the property, and last year alleged in the high court that they had failed to remediate toxic residue left by the fire.
Flatley and his family vacated the estate on health grounds, and the dancer is currently in remission from an “aggressive” form of cancer.
