The tourists that tread Oxendon Street are unlikely to pause at No. 8 as they head for a West End theatre or nip between its pub neighbours.
But the six-storey townhouse is a Theatreland icon in its own right — and parts of it predate the nearest playhouses, Theatre Royal Haymarket and the Harold Pinter Theatre, by centuries.
After a decade off the market, the Grade II-listed property is now up for sale with Dexters for £4.6 million.
James Staite, a board director at Dexters Marylebone, says the house “is one of Westminster’s rarest, most architecturally important homes”.
“The house was listed by English Heritage in 1974, which has protected it from being split into apartments. Sadly other buildings [of the same era] have not survived as they were destroyed in the Second World War or demolished for redevelopment in the 1960s,” said Staite.
“It is believed to be the only house in the local neighbourhood that is still a single home, and which retains its original layout.”
Built in 1673, the five-bedroom townhouse is older than St Paul’s Cathedral, on which construction began in 1675 to replace the medieval cathedral destroyed in the Great Fire of London nine years earlier.
It sits within the wider Haymarket Conservation Area and is being sold with the freehold.
Colonel Thomas Panton, a gambler and property speculator who gave his name to nearby Panton Street, laid out this pocket of the city just west of Leicester Square from 1664.
No. 8 was used as a warehouse in the late 19th-century before its façade was rebuilt in 1958 in a convincing period style, with recessed sash windows below gauged flat arches.
Historic England also highlights the sundial, dated 1679, on the top left of the frontage, and the tell-tale traditional arrangement of interior spaces around a dog leg-turned balustrade. It is “the only remaining original interior in the Oxendon-Panton-Orange Street area”.
Wood-panelling and curved interior walls are further clues to the home’s 17th-century heritage, while the unusual layout means some of the bedrooms are accessed through receptions or other bedrooms.
Less antiquated is the full-width roof terrace, a crowning glory rare for the area that bolsters the 2,315 square feet of living space.
“It’s been beautifully maintained,” says Staite, who adds that the house has undergone sensitive restoration and modernisation in recent years.
It’s the ultimate address for theatre goers but perhaps not one for the noise-sensitive faction of West End dwellers, whose complaints have sparked a debate on the right of residents to challenge local nightlife. Today the house is flanked by two pubs, The Coach House and Tom Cribb, and counts numerous theatres, cinemas and bars as near neighbours.
Staite says that previous owners had held the keys for several generations and passed it down through the family, but that the current owners have kept it largely as an investment.
Records show the house was last sold in 2014 for £2.7 million.
“The level of interest has been strong, as we expected,” adds the agent. “Buyers have been attracted by the iconic location, the size and uniqueness of the house, as well as the rare luxury of a private roof terrace.
“It would would make the perfect home for a family of culture vultures who want to enjoy the finest shows, exhibitions and events London has to offer.”
