Explorers break into £25m mansion on London's 'Billionaires Row'

2022-08-17

It could do with a lick of paint! Urban explorers break into dilapidated £25million Georgian mansion on north London’s luxurious ‘Billionaires Row’ that has stood in ruins for decades

Also known as Bishops Avenue, the street has a collective worth of £511m – one of the wealthiest in world
Former inhabitants of homes in the area include the super-rich Sultan of Brunei and Justin Bieber
The mansion, known as ‘The Towers’, was built in the 1970’s and has been abandoned for over a decade
Gabriella Burt, 20, decided to venture to the property because ‘clubbing and drinking isn’t really my scene’

Student ‘urban explorers’ snuck into a dilapidated Georgian mansion on north London’s Billionaire’s Row – where homes have a combined worth of around £511million.

Bishops Avenue, located between the north side of Hampstead Heath and East Finchley, consists of 66 mansions whose former inhabitants have included the super-rich Sultan of Brunei and the Canadian pop superstar Justin Bieber.

UCL student Gabriella Burt, 20, decided to explore one such mansion with friends, and posted videos to TikTok documenting her expedition.

The site of the property, which is known by locals as ‘The Towers’ and is thought to have been abandoned for decades, was first owned by British actress and music hall legend Gracie Fields before it was knocked down in the 1970s.

The current mansion then took its place, and was reportedly snatched up by the Saudi royal family during the Gulf War for an estimated £25million.

Miss Burt said: ‘We’ve actually been to this location twice, the first time was very nerve wracking as whilst we were inside the building we started to hear voices and the sounds of breaking glass, the voices sounded slurred and angry, we managed to get away before they could see us.’

A group of students snuck into an abandoned mansion on Bishops Avenue, also known as Billionaire’s Row in London – one of the wealthiest streets in the world

The Georgian mansion, known as ‘The Towers’ was built in the 1970’s and has reportedly been abandoned for over a decade

Billionaires Row consists of 66 mansions which have a combined worth of roughly £511 million

The Georgian mansion, known by locals as ‘The Towers’ was built around the 1970’s and has reportedly been abandoned for over a decade.

Previously owned by actress Grace Fields, the property was knocked down and rebuilt for the Saudi Royal family who were rumoured to have bought the house during the Gulf war.

The Towers is the largest mansion on the road, and is now rotten, overgrown, and falling apart, according to Insider who also identified the value of the road.

The 66-house street has been home to some of the world’s most wealthy, including Saudi royals, Heather Mills and Sir Billy Butlin – founder of the holiday camps.

Billionaire Richard Desmond, former owner of Express Newspapers and founder of Northern & Shell which publishes Ok! magazine, also owned a mansion on the street.

However, many of the luxury homes on the street have been uninhabited since they were purchased in the 1980s.

The street is located between the north side of Hampstead Heath and East Finchley, in North London

Former inhabitants and owners of homes in the area include the super-rich Sultan of Brunei and Justin Bieber

Derelict: The Towers is the largest mansion on the road, and is now rotten, overgrown, and falling apart

A row of 10 houses, worth £73million, has stood empty ever since they were reportedly bought by the Saudi royal family.

In 2016 Justin Bieber was reported to be renting a 15-bedroom mansion on the street for £108,000 a month.

Ms Burt added: ‘This abandoned mansion has some amazing architecture and also some great features inside that we were able to explore, the basement has a pool area and a bar, there was also a balcony.

‘We’ve actually been to this location twice, the first time was very nerve wracking as whilst we were inside the building we started to hear voices and the sounds of breaking glass, the voices sounded slurred and angry, we managed to get away before they could see us.

‘We assumed that homeless people may have been using the abandoned mansion as shelter.

‘The reaction online was crazy, I really didn’t expect it to blow up like it did.’

Ms Burt’s TikTok has now racked up over 306,000 views.

Many of the luxury homes on the street have been uninhabited since they were purchased in the 1980s

In 2016 Justin Bieber was reported to be renting a 15-bedroom mansion on the street for £108,000 a month

According to Burt, the inspiration behind her adventure came from an online forum called ’28 days later’, an urban exploring website.

After the video went viral, she said she has now been contacted by the urban exploring community, to offer tips and places to go explore.

The 20-year-old continued: ‘When the weather gets a bit cooler we’ve got a few ideas.

‘There’s an abandoned hospital in Peckham that I have been told about, I’ve not looked into it as of yet but that could be the next destination.

‘It’s been really nice to hear from the community.

‘The series of me dragging my friends to different activities is just something I’ve always done, instead of going clubbing and drinking in bars we’ve started going to night markets which only open in the early hours of the morning which not many people know about.’

Source: Read Full Article