Princess Diana's stepmother home goes for sale at £35m

2022-10-11

Stunning Mayfair home where Princess Diana’s stepmother Countess Raine Spencer grew up and married her first husband goes on the market for £35million – complete with a spa, swimming pool and gym

Mayfair home once owned by romance novelist Dame Barbara Cartland has hit the market for £35million
Princess Diana’s stepmother, Raine Spencer, hosted her first wedding to Earl Dartmouth in 1948 at the house
It was previously marketed at £40million back in 2020 before changing agencies this year and re-emerging
Stunning property includes a wellness suite complete with its own spa, gym and pool and 18 windows

The childhood home of Princess Diana’s stepmother, Countess Raine Spencer, has gone on the market for £35million.

The six-bedroom townhouse, in Mayfair, was owned by Raine’s mother, the romance writer Dame Barbara Cartland, and is where the society beauty made her debut aged 18.

The following year, the property hosted a reception for the marriage of Raine to her first husband, the Hon. Gerald Humphrey Legge, who was to become the 9th Earl of Dartmouth

Raine later married for a second time to the 8th Earl Spencer, upon which she became Countess Raine Spencer and the stepmother of Lady Diana Spencer.

The property continues to be fit for high society owners and now boasts a spa, steam room and a pool after being recently refurbished. It was originally on the market for £40million but has had its price dropped.

The childhood home of Princess Diana’s ‘acid’ stepmother, Countess Raine Spencer has hit the market and is for sake for £35million. Pictured, the second bedroom in the property

The stunning property, which counts 18 windows, was previously put for sale for £40million in 2020, but was pulled from the market before being taken over by another estate agent. Pictured, the reception room

Fine quality workmanship is evident in the stone detailing on the front of the house, with a stone architrave door case and elaborate French-inspired iron railings. Pictured, the ornate dining room of the Mayfair home

The house comes complete with its very own wellness floor, which includes a spa, a sauna, and a pool (pictured), decorated to high standards

Princess Diana’s stepmother Raine Spencer, who the royal dubbed ‘Acid Raine,’ lived in the house and married her first husband in one of the grand reception rooms (pictured with Diana before her death)

The double-fronted mansion, originally built in 1902, features a lower floor dedicated to wellness, complete with a pool, bar, and sauna, while the fifth and final floor gives immaculate views overlooking the rooftops of Mayfair.

Fine quality workmanship is evident in the stone detailing on the front of the house, with a stone architrave door case and elaborate French-inspired iron railings.

The walls and foundations date back to 1740 and a wide Edwardian façade of 18 windows blends flawlessly with the home’s features of 21st century elegance.

The building was awarded listed status in 1975 and has just re-emerged onto the market with luxury estate agents The building was awarded listed status in 1975 and has just re-emerged onto the market with luxury estate agents.

Pictured, the property’s beautiful exterior. The walls and foundations hark back to 1740 and a wide Edwardian façade of 18 windows blends flawlessly with the home’s features of 21st century elegance

The central London building was awarded listed status in 1975 and has just re-emerged onto the market with luxury estate agent Wetherell. Pictured, the study in the stunning property

With three tube stops within equal distance of each other, it is in the heartland of prime central London, with Grosvenor Square a few minutes’ walk in one direction, and Park Lane and Hyde Park in the other. Pictured, the main bedroom’s terrace

Peter Wetherell, Founder & Chairman of Wetherell, who brought the property back to the market, said: ’28 South Street is one of the finest mansions in Mayfair, a beautiful property which combines period features with modern amenities including the spectacular wellness suite with swimming pool on the lower ground floor.

‘The house has entertained Royalty, aristocrats and politicians and was the childhood home of both PM Sir Alec Douglas Home and Countess Raine Spencer, who is the subject of a fascinating new biography Three Times A Countess (2022) by Tina Gaudoin.’

The South Street house was originally built in 1902 and its façade is of Edwardian influence, with Arts and Crafts style detailing.

The South Street house was originally built in 1902 and its façade is of Edwardian influence, with Arts and Crafts style detailing. It has been recently refurbished, including the bathrooms (pictured)

Pictured, the hallway entrance. The property was commissioned by stockbroker and Liberal politician Sir Cuthbert Quilter (1841-1911), and designed by Grosvenor Estate architect Detmar Blow, with internal detailing by Fernand Billerey

It was commissioned by stockbroker and Liberal politician Sir Cuthbert Quilter, and designed by Grosvenor Estate architect Detmar Blow, with internal detailing by Fernand Billerey.

After it was completed, Quilter let the house to Lord Dunglass, where his son, Sir Alec Douglas Home was born on the 2nd of July 1903. Alec would grow up to serve as the British Prime Minister.

The house was later inhabited by romance writer Dame Barbara Cartland, who bought it in 1936 and kept it until 1950, and her daughter Raine, later Countess Spencer and Princess Diana’s step-mother, who dubbed her ‘Acid Raine.’

The central London property enjoys a private terrace of a large size, which is secluded from prying eyes thanks to ingeniously planted bushes. Pictured, the main bedroom’s terrace

Pictured, one of the stunning reception rooms of the house. Raine Spencer hosted her first wedding to the Earl of Dartmouth in the house in 1948

The central property enjoys a large stone terrace, perfect for summer entertaining. Elegant stairs leads to the insides of the mansion. Pictured, the property’s garden

The elegant home is complete with its own pool (pictured), which enjoys a true indoor-outdoor spa feel, and is decorated to a high standard

Spread over five floors, the house’s master bedroom (pictured), which was refurbished to a modern standard, opens to its own private terrace

Raine’s bedroom was located on the third floor of the imposing Mayfair mansion, and in 1947, she had a coming of age party at the house to mark her 18th birthday, where she was named Debutante of the Year.

The next year, aged 19, Raine married her first husband, the Honourable Gerald Humphrey Legge, 9th Earl of Dartmouth, in a sumptuous ceremony at the house.

Cartland lived at 28 South Street until the second World War, where she went to work for the War Office in Whitehall in various charitable capacities.

She also worked for the St John Ambulance Brigade, for which she was later made a Commander of the Order of St John of Jerusalem for her services.

After the Second World War, she used the mansion as a writing space, where she penned her 1949 A Hazard of Hearts and her racy Guide to Married Life (1950), which was banned in Ireland.

In 1950, Cartland eventually sold the Mayfair pad in order to purchase Camfield Place in Hertfordshire, formerly the country home of Beatrix Potter, where she lived until her death in 2000.

Novelist Dame Barbara Cartland lived in the Mayfair mansion until she moved out and sold it in 1950. Pictured, one of the reception rooms of the stunning property

Pictured, another view of the pool area. Dame Barbara lived at the house during the second World War and used it as a writing space until she sold it

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