Richmond Home Of Annabel’s Namesake Annabel Goldsmith Listed For £25m

If you think the parties held at London member’s club Annabel’s are exclusive and glitzy affairs, the parties hosted at the home of its namesake, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, were on another level stardom. 

The Annabel’s for those in the inner circle, Ormeley Lodge in Richmond has played host to many dazzling guests over the years. Princess Diana, for one, was a frequent attendee at Annabel’s legendary Sunday lunches throughout the 1990s. When she wasn’t tearing through a Yorkshire pud, the royal could be found lounging by the pool and spilling palace secrets. As Annabel’s youngest son, Ben, told The Times, ‘[Diana] was incredibly close with my mother for the last decade of her life. She was there constantly, lying by the pool.’ Ben would often be left to play with fellow Eton students Prince William (in the year below) and Prince Harry.

Meanwhile, Ben’s older sister Jemima would bring over her boyfriend Hugh Grant, while their neighbour and close family friend Princess Alexandra of Kent would often pop by. The journalist and broadcaster David Frost and his wife, Carina Fitzalan-Howard, were frequent guests, as were Jemima and Ben’s eventual spouses Pakistani cricketer turned prime minister Imran Khan, and banking dynasty heiress Kate Rothschild – both of whom continued to live on the estate long after their respective divorces, with Khan said to still own an apartment there. 

As for the parties, every politician, aristocrat and A-lister in the book were in attendance. ‘There’d be a big, open marquee at the back and a table up the middle with an enormous buffet-style table, stacked high with lobster and shrimp and all that sort of stuff. It was opulent, delicious food,’ said Ben. ‘And there’d always be a little jazz band with [the pianist] Neville Dickie, who came and played every year for 50 years. And then Annabel’s barman, Mohamed, doing all the drinks at the summer party and at Christmas.’

With a reputation for hosting such sensational soirees, it’s only natural that Annabel Goldsmith’s first husband – Birley Club founder Mark Birley – would name his first Mayfair nightclub after her in 1963. Ormeley Lodge would later be purchased for her by her second husband, the wealthy financier Sir James Goldsmith, in 1976. 

Dating back to the final days of the Queen Anne period and the start of the Georgian era, Annabel Goldsmith’s former home embodies both English Baroque and Classical styles – characterised by its Corinthian pilasters, high ceilings and grand proportions. Once described by Nikolaus Pevsner as ‘exquisite’, today the 10-bedroom property boasts a Grade II* listing. 

And no wonder. Over time, Ormeley Lodge has been home to a distinguished string of residents, including the 4th Earl of Scarsdale, the diplomat Horatio Walpole (the younger brother of Robert, Britain’s first prime minister) and Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer for William Pitt the Elder. Later residents include Sir John Sinclair MP, Charles Hanbury-Tracy (4th Baron Sudeley) and Ronald Alfred Lee – a leading authority on English clocks who used the property as a home and showrooms for his antiques business. He was followed by David Fane, a Lord-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II and John Scott-Ellis, 9th Baron Howard de Walden.

Spanning a total of 15,800 sqft of living space, the sprawling suburban estate is made-up of various outhouses, all situated in a quiet enclave between Ham Common and Richmond Park – a true country estate with a London postcode. Adjacent to the Nature Reserve of Ham Common Woods and adjoining the western edge of Richmond Park, it’s no wonder Goldsmith’s son Ben was inspired to become an environmentalist. Within the estate itself, the 2.3 acres of walled gardens comprise a series of outdoor ‘rooms’ – spanning a formal knot garden by Arabella Lennox-Boyd and an expansive ornamental lawn with planting designed by Mary Keen. Wide herbaceous borders, wildflowers meadows, an orchard, kitchen garden, aviary, tennis court and secluded pool with a pavilion complete the offering. 

With such an Eden in-hand, it seems a shame that it would be sold on. But with the death of Annabel last year, aged 91, the family were finally convinced it was time to let go of her former home. The Goldsmith family explained: ‘Ormeley Lodge has been our much-loved family home for 50 years, the setting for countless happy memories. We now feel the time is right to pass the property onto its next custodian, and we hope it will be enjoyed and cherished as much as it has been by our family.’ As Ben added: ‘My mother was the centre of that place. She was the one that had that planetary pull. Without her there it feels to me like rather an empty shell.’

On the market for £25m. Find out more at knightfrank.com and sothebysrealty.co.uk