Literary or theater enthusiasts familiar with Oscar Wilde’s play ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ may already know that it’s setting in London is not fictional at all. Half Moon Street is, indeed, a real (and regal) place in the city’s affluent Mayfair neighborhood.
Wilde was inspired by the location when he lived at this 14 Half Moon Street townhome in the late 1800s, then in use as apartments for single male tenants. At that time, the area was more bohemian and artistic. Costumier Raoul ‘Reggie’ de Veulle, novelist Hugh Walpole, and poet Siegfried Sasson all resided at his exact address as well.
The Irish author was known to socialize at his building and nearby, including at the adjacent Flemings Tavern, Café Royal on Regent’s Street, the Albemarle Club, and Burlington Arcade. The circa-1730s townhouse itself became the clear inspiration for Algernon Moncrieff’s Half Moon Street home featured heavily in the Act One of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest.’ It was characterized as being lavishly dressed, and the real-life version, newly listed for £14 million, upholds this immortalized reputation.
Stepping inside, the entrance hall makes a grand first impression with its patterned marble flooring, Carrara Biano marble fireplace, intricately carved moldings, and crystal light fixtures. The rest of the seven-level home exudes similar panache. The kitchen is modern and glamorous while the primary suite occupies the entire second floor. Just upstairs, the main guest suite sprawls across the third floor for near-equal opulence.
Currently owned by a multi-millionaire from the United Arab Emirates, the five-bedroom townhouse was finally returned to being a single-family home in 2008. Before then, the Mayfair mansion almost exclusively held offices following World War II—quite a departure from its rousing Victorian-era, “Wilde” past.
Beauchamp Estates holds the prized, nearly 300-year-old listing.
