Mayfair home of the London Underground founder is for sale for £16.5m

The luxury former home of the founder of the London Underground is on the market with an impressive price tag of £16.5million.

The Grade II listed house is in London’s affluent Mayfair, just a short walk from Park Lane and only 0.3 miles from Green Park tube station.

It was once the home of Lord Ashfield, the first chairman of London Transport and founder of the London Underground.

Albert Henry Stanley – who became Lord Ashfield – was the first chairman of London Transport and founder of the London Underground

The house was built between 1896 and 1898 and retains plenty of original features, including ceilings that are 3.5metres high.

It has two balconies with views across Mount Street Gardens, which pre-date the house by nine years and house a variety of exotic plants, including a Canary Island date palm and three dawn redwoods from China.

The terrace property is on South Street, which provides easy access to Hyde Park and the West End.

The luxury family house extends across 6,477 square feet and has a blue plaque on the front exterior of the building confirming its former owner.

It has seven levels, including a kitchen and staff room on the lower ground level, along with a main bedroom suite on the second floor that includes a dressing room.  

 There is a grand entrance to the London townhouse that boasts tiled flooring, a large fireplace and a decorative stairwell

The luxury family home boasts seven different levels, including a large kitchen and a separate staff room, both on the lower ground level

Albert Henry Stanley – who became Lord Ashfield – was known as the creator of the London transport system and his services to the Underground were acknowledged with a knighthood in 1914.

That year, he took his first holiday – but it was cut short when he had to be smuggled from Germany in a freight train filled with soldiers to reach London the night before war was declared.

In 1916, he was appointed director general of mechanical transport at the War Office. 

In that same year, he resigned from the Underground Group, becoming the Conservative MP for Ashton-under-Lyme and the president of the Board of Trade under Prime Minister Lloyd George’s administration.

The house was built between 1896 and 1898 and retains plenty of original features, including ceilings that are 3.5metres high

Albert Henry Stanley was known as the creator of the London transport system and his services to the underground were acknowledged with a knighthood in 1914

The terrace property has two balconies with views across Mount Street Gardens, which house a variety of exotic plants

 The spacious property extends across 6,477 square feet, providing plenty of room for a growing family in an affluent part of the capital

The opulent dining room is shown to easily accommodate a table with ten spaces for entertaining family and friends

Lord Ashfield returned to the Underground Group as managing director in 1919 and then became Chairman in 1921.

Making his first and only speech in the House of Lords, Ashfield secured support for the state’s acquisition of the Underground Group.

On 1 July 1933, the London Passenger Transport Board became the world’s largest single passenger transport authority.

A family home in heart of the capital: The Mayfair property is being sold by Wetherell estate agents with a price tag of £16.5million

There is a total of six bedrooms including a main bedroom suite with a separate dressing room occupying the entire second floor

Lord Ashfield died in November 1948 and a memorial in his name was unveiled at the headquarters of London Transport, 55 Broadway, reading ‘Creator of London Transport’.

The luxury Mayfair property that was once his home is being sold by Wetherell estate agents.  

The average price of a sold property in this affluent part of London is £1,906,267, according to property website Zoopla,

It is in sharp contrast to the £329,407 average sold price of a British home during the past 12 months.

Daniel Copley, of Zoopla, said: ‘Located in the heart of Mayfair, this beautiful Grade II listed property was once the home of Lord Ashfield, best known as the first Chairman of London Transport. This palatial home also retains many of its charming original features including panelling and stained glass windows – while Mayfair’s exclusive boutiques and restaurants are only a short stroll away.’