A former rectory once owned by Wordsworth's brother, reimagined to create a state-of-the-art £15m dream home — with one little snag

(Image credit: Alexander Millett)

published 24 December 2021

It is unclear what William Wordsworth, whose Anglican divine brother Christopher lived at the former Georgian rectory of St Mary’s Lambeth in the 1810s, would make of its current, luxurious fate.

The property is currently on the market with Alexander Millett for £15 million, and is an inspiring place to live... with one slight snag. It's not actually been finished yet.

That's right: as real as the pictures on this page look, they are actually computer-generated.

Computer generated images show how Palace House could look upon completion

Palace House, as it is now known, is marketed in ‘shell and core’ condition, with all structural work complete and consents and permissions in place to turn it into a 13,448sq ft townhouse.

Once finished, it will have six bedrooms — all with en-suite bathrooms and dressing rooms, naturally — plus a swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam room, gym and 15-seater cinema in the basement.

Not your normal pied-a-terre, in other words.

It’s ‘in the very centre of London, yet matching the grandeur of properties located in the English countryside,’ say agents.

At a guess, the poet might approve of the extensive walled garden (daffodils optional, clouds unpredictable), views over Archbishop’s Park and galleried library.

On the west side of the carriage driveway, the Coach House contains a three-car garage and two-bedroom staff annexe.

Palace House is currently on the market via Alexander Millett for £15 million — see more pictures, or enquire with the agent for further details.

Lambeth: What you need to know

Location: The London Borough of Lambeth is located in South London on the Thames. Nearby stations include Lambeth North Underground (Bakerloo line), Westminster Underground (District, Circle and Jubilee lines), Waterloo Underground (Waterloo & City, Bakerloo, Northern and Jubilee lines) and Elephant and Castle (Northern line).

Atmosphere: The riverside borough is home to Lambeth Palace — the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Imperial War Museum. It is conveniently located for direct access into Westminster and beyond, and benefits from plenty of shops, restaurants and bars in the area.

Things to do: Take a walk along the Albert Embankment which runs adjacent to the Thames, or visit the exhibits at the Garden Museum. The Imperial War Museum is close by and a short walk over Lambeth Bridge takes you to Westminster and Victoria.

Schools: Walnut Tree Walk Primary School is rated 'good' by Ofsted, whilst King's College London Maths School and Evelina Hospital School are both rated 'outstanding.'

See more property for sale in the area.

Annunciata grew up in the wilds of Lancashire and now lives in Hampshire with a husband, two daughters and an awful pug called Parsley. She’s been floating round the Country Life office for more than a decade, her work winning the Property Magazine of the Year Award in 2022 (Property Press Awards). Before that, she had a two-year stint writing ‘all kinds of fiction’ for The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, worked in internal comms for Country Life’s publisher (which has had many names in recent years but was then called IPC Media), and spent another year researching for a historical biographer, whose then primary focus was Graham Greene and John Henry Newman and whose filing system was a collection of wardrobes and chests of drawers filled with torn scraps of paper. During this time, she regularly gave tours of 17th-century Milton Manor, Oxfordshire, which may or may not have been designed by Inigo Jones, and co-founded a literary, art and music festival, at which Johnny Flynn headlined. When not writing and editing for Country Life, Annunciata is also a director of TIN MAN ART, a contemporary art gallery founded in 2021 by her husband, James Elwes.

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Lambeth: What you need to know