Eric Sykes in his first floor office in 1965
(Picture: Beauchamp Estates)London’s “fun factory” where comedy classics such as The Goon Show, Hancock’s Half Hour, Sykes and Steptoe and Son were created, has gone on the market for £6.5 million.
The Victorian townhouse in Bayswater was used by scriptwriter co-operative Associated London Scripts (ALS) from 1962 when it was bought by Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes.
The sprawling 5,697 sq.ft residence at 9 Orme Square near Queensway was used by some of the most famous writing names in British broadcasting over decades.
From his second floor office Terry Nation wrote the 1963 BBC script for Dr Who and The Daleks, while Dennis Spooner wrote scripts for Thunderbirds and Stingray for Gerry Anderson.
Spike Milligan - currently the subject of the play Spike - lived in three room in the house, which is being sold by the family of Eric Sykes, who continued to work from there until shortly before his death in 2012. Milligan sold his interest in the property to Sykes after his breakdown in the early Seventies.
The house, being sold by joint agents Beauchamp Estates and Carter Jonas, is expected to be turned into a six bedroom family home and could be worth more than £20 million when converted.
Features include high ceilings, Dutch gables, stone dressed chamfered bays, first floor balcony and entrance canopy. It has two Heritage Foundation Blue Plaques celebrating Milligan and Sykes’s lives at the property, installed in 2003 and 2013 respectively
Tim Macpherson, head of residential sales at Carter Jonas, said: “On the doorstep of Kensington Gardens and Queensway, undergoing regeneration into Bayswater village, 9 Orme Court is in a prime location that has become one of the most sought after up-and-coming places to live in the capital. As a single house this property provides a superb investment opportunity for a discerning private buyer or commercial developer.”
Gary Hersham, founding director of Beauchamp Estates, said the property “would make an outstanding London townhouse on the doorstep of Kensington Gardens, perfect for comedy and Dr Who fans alike.”
