Carlyle Mansions, a prestigious red brick mansion block in Chelsea, built in the 1880s, is the perfect place to get your creative juices flowing. Named after historian and notable mathematician Thomas Carlyle, the building is better known for its famous literary residents including Henry James, T.S Eliot and Ian Fleming. Thanks to the talents of its former occupants, the six storey brick apartment complex has been nicknamed ‘Writers’ Block’ by locals.
T.S Eliot, the author of famous poems like ‘The Waste Land’ and ‘The Hollow Men’, shared a three bedroom apartment on the third floor of Carlyle Mansions for over a decade in the 1940s and early 1950s. In 1948, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature and assumed a more reclusive lifestyle, sharing the flat with his editor John Hayward.
During this period, Eliot’s neighbours would have included the novelist Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond series. With substantial financial support from his mother, Fleming took up residence in an apartment on the fifth floor in 1950 and later wrote several books here including ‘Casino Royale’. Fleming originally grew up in Cheyne Walk, and wrote of his move to Chelsea as a ‘return to childhood surroundings.’
American-English author Henry James also lived in the mansion block on and off throughout his life. Regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, several of his works such as ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ and ‘Daisy Miller’ remain popular today. He described his flat at number 19 as his ‘Chelsea Perch… the haunt of the sage and the seagull.’
Today, a three bedroom apartment in this iconic building has become available for sale. Positioned on the second floor, the home is large and spacious with high ceilings and original period features, such as ornate marble fireplaces and Victorian cornicing.
The home has a south facing reception room and dining room with tall sash windows that overlook the River Thames. There are two double bedrooms on this level catered for by a family bathroom and a principal bedroom with an en suite bathroom, shower and bathtub.
Percy Lendrum, Director of Dexters Chelsea and Belgravia says, ‘this apartment provides an excellent opportunity for an incoming buyer to refurbish the flat to their own style while adding value. Located a short walk from the boutiques and independent shops of Kings Road, as well Sloane Square tube station, it’s in a prime location in central London.’
