Madonna & Guy Ritchie’s South Kensington Mews House Is Available To Rent

Madonna’s World Cup half-time show may have been slammed by critics last night (19 July), but at this point in her dazzling career it will take much more than a potentially pre-recorded performance to get the star dethroned as the Queen of Pop. After all, a few negative reviews can’t take away her fame, her fortune, or her staggering property portfolio. ‘Material Girl’ though she may be, Madonna hasn’t always opted for mega-mansions and multi-storey penthouses. In fact, when she first began dating director Guy Ritchie in the late 90s the pair shacked up together in a two-bedroom flat in South Kensington – now available to rent for £8,992 per month.

Inside Madonna’s Former Home

Having first moved into this quiet mews house when they started dating around 1999, Ritchie and Madonna continued to live here after their 2000 marriage, before eventually selling it on in 2003. Then owned by Ritchie, the duplex is a traditional mews house, with a carriage house below and living quarters on the second floor. With its white-painted brick and cobbled forecourt (decked out with potted plants and plenty of greenery), this property boasts a quintessential mews facade. At ground level, twin arched sash windows flank a black front door with a horseshoe mounted above it; on the first, double French doors open onto a wrought-iron Juliet balcony. 

Even if you never had the pleasure of being invited over to Madonna’s for tea, this mews house may look familiar – having starred in Matthew Vaughn’s iconic 2004 gangster film, Layer Cake. Starring Daniel Craig as the mysteriously named XXXX, Layer Cake follows a drug dealer whose retirement plans come to a halt when he is forced to rescue the daughter of a trade magnate. As a close friend of director Matthew Vaughn, Ritchie offered up his and Madonna’s South Kensington pad as a filming location. Serving as the home of Daniel Craig’s drug dealing character, The Queen’s Arms pub directly opposite the house can be spotted in in the film’s backdrop.

But this wouldn’t be the first or last time that this quiet mews would find on-screen fame. Queen’s Gate Mews also appears in Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell’s Performance (1970) and in The Bank Job (2008) with Jason Statham – its private location making it a favourite spot for film directors and wealthy residents alike. 

Built by architect William Jackson in the early 1860s, like most mews streets, Queen’s Gate Mews was originally used as the coach house/stable accommodation for the main houses on the surrounding roads. Having survived a direct hit from a highly explosive bomb during the Second World War, today the lane features 86 commercial and residential properties (plus four further cul-de-sac sections off Queen’s Gate Terrace). It also sits within the broader development of the Queen’s Gate Conservation Area, which was designated in 1969.

Stepping inside this 1,540 sqft property, the ground floor is an eclectic, open planned space featuring dark timber flooring, arched windows and Venetian blinds. Said to be designed by Guy Ritchie himself, the kitchen features an exposed industrial pipe that runs the length of the ceiling before culminating at the extractor hood over the kitchen hob. A slate-coloured feature wall runs across to the other side of the kitchen where the six-seater dining area is located. This wall is hung with a trio of framed artworks, as well as an antiqued mottled mirror that reflects the library area on the opposite side of the room, further opening up the space. 

Upstairs, a dedicated office space leads through to the two air-conditioned bedrooms. There is a walk-through area between the principal bedroom and the bathroom that could be used as a dressing room, as well as an en suite bathroom with a shower and twin basins. The main bathroom, meanwhile, retains an exposed brick archway from the original building, paired with Carrara marble half-tiled walls, a mosaic marble floor and a freestanding bath. 

Available to rent for £2,075 per week or £8,992 pcm. Find out more at dexters.co.uk