What property slump? Russia's richest woman buys Fame Academy mansion for £50m - only a year after it was sold for £32m
Wealthiest wife in Russia: Elena Baturina is worth £1.3billion
With most homeowners worried about the plunging price of their property, there's always the exception that proves the rule.
After being sold last year for £32million, the biggest private house in London bar Buckingham Palace has just been bought for £50million - a 56 per cent rise in 12 months.
Witanhurst, a 90-room Grade II Queen Anne listed mansion in Highgate, is the latest investment by the Mayor of Moscow's wife Elena Baturina.
She is the richest woman in Russia in her own right with a fortune of £1.3billion.
The property has been used for the BBC's Fame Academy in the past and the Queen even played tennis there as a girl at a pre-Wimbledon party hosted by a former
owner.
It is in a dilapidated state, with holes in the ceilings and crumbling cornices, and no work has been done on it since it was bought from an Arab family by property developer Marcus Cooper last July.
But with her company, Inteco, said to be the most successful building conglomerate of the post-Soviet era, 45-year-old Miss Baturina should have no problem restoring Witanhurst to its former glory.
Something of a controversial figure in Russia, Miss Baturina is said to have her pick of many of the more lucrative construction contracts in Moscow.
Earlier this year, she and her husband - who have links to London's former mayor Ken Livingstone - also bought a home in Holland Park.
It is thought that Witanhurst with its many high ceilings will provide ample space to display Miss Baturina's lavish art collection.
Its renovation will be on a grand scale since she does not do things by halves.
When, for example, she and Luzhkov failed to find a suitable school for their two daughters, she decided to build her own, complete with state-of-the-art security.
Witanhurst is set in seven acres in a conservation area on Highgate West Hill. The main house dates back to the early 18th century and has featured in period dramas including Nicholas Nickleby, the thriller Dead Gorgeous and lesbian bodice-ripper Tipping The Velvet.
Biggest house in London (except for Buckingham Palace). Witanhurst has 90 rooms
Lavish: Witanhurst has 40,000 square feet, with a grand reception hall, 25 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, five acres of gardens
Soap magnate Sir Arthur Crosfield bought the building in 1913 with the intention of creating a house to impress the highest echelons of British society.
He commissioned architect George Hubbard to come up with a Queen Anne- style extravaganza.
When he finished in 1920, Hubbard did not disappoint.
Guests would drive up through a three-fingered gatehouse and would be ushered into a teak hallway so big that it would leave even the brashest, self-important guest gasping.
Witanhurst has 90 rooms spread across three floors, including 25 bedrooms. One of the largest is the 70ft Grand Ballroom. There are also extensive terraces.
Entertainment: The mansion has a huge amount of space to entertain guests
It has oak flooring and the timber wall panels are in walnut, with carved cornices embellished with gold leaf.
Sir Arthur's wife took full advantage of her home. She held the must-be-seenatparty before Wimbledon each year.
It attracted, among others, the future Queen, Princess Elizabeth, who was snapped heading up the steps to the house from the tennis courts in 1951.
Wealthy family: Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzkov, with his wife Elena Baturina (right) and two daughters
Eventually, however, it fell into disrepair and had been on the market for some time when Mr Cooper bought it on July 18 last year. Six weeks later he put it back on the market for a rather ambitious £75million.
At the time he claimed that, once restored, it would be worth £150million.
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