Winston Churchill's first 'bachelor pad' on sale in Mayfair
The London apartment where Winston Churchill wrote his memoirs of the Boer Wars and held lavish parties as a young man is up for sale in Mayfair's Mount Street for £3.5 million ($4.67 million). The two-bedroom apartment of about 100 square metres is known as Churchill's first 'bachelor pad', where he lived for five years in his 20s as he forged his political career, between 1900 and 1905. Situated next to The Connaught Hotel, it is now on sale for the first time in 10 years, through Wetherell and Clifton Property Partners. The young Churchill, who had fought in the Boer War and made his name as a foreign correspondent, was newly elected as an MP for Oldham in 1900, and leased the apartment from his cousin as a base in London for his political work. This was where he prepared his groundbreaking maiden speech criticising the Second Boer War, a conflict between the Dutch-speaking colonies of South Africa and the British Empire. It was also where he built the stepping stones for his spectacular political career of more than 60 years, becoming prime minister in 1940 after the outbreak of the Second World War and such a key figure in the fight against Nazi Germany. At 105 Mount Street, the young politician entertained guests such as Lord George Hamilton, secretary of state for India, Lord Percy and Sir Arthur Stanley. He also pursued a string of doomed romances including American actress Ethel Barrymore in 1903, and heiress Muriel Wilson. He also met his future wife in those years, then 19-year old Clementine Hozier, at a ball at Crewe House on Curzon Street – which is now the Saudi embassy – though they did not meet again for four years. In 1904, he opposed the government's proposed Alien's Bill, which was designed to curb Jewish immigration. This marked the first steps in Churchill's lifelong political support of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The apartment sits above the Sautter, where Churchill bought his famous cigars, and is adjacent to The Connaught Hotel, which was then known as The Coburg. In 1905 Churchill published his two-volume biography of his father, Lord Randolph Church, for which he received an advance of £8,000, equivalent to about £826,000 today. The advance and the royalties from the books allowed Churchill to buy his own house at 12 Bolton Street in Mayfair, where he moved the next year. The master bedroom on Mount Street has a bay window, built-in mirror wardrobes and an en suite shower room. The second en suite double bedroom was used by Churchill as a dining room. The apartment has a separate kitchen with white stone worktops and flooring and glass-fronted display cabinets. Churchill's cook of more than 50 years, Georgina Landemare, made his favourite roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and consomme soup in the kitchen. He once said to her: 'It is well to remember that the stomach governs the world.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Dubai Eye
2 hours ago
- Dubai Eye
Israel Knesset rejects vote on dissolving itself
Israel's parliament rejected early on Thursday a preliminary vote to dissolve itself, the Knesset said in a statement, after an agreement was reached regarding a dispute over conscription. The vote, which could have been a first step leading to an early election that polls show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would lose, was rejected with 61 lawmakers opposing it to 53 supporting it. The Knesset consists of 120 seats, and the majority needed to pass the vote was 61 lawmakers. This gives Netanyahu's ruling coalition further time to resolve its worst political crisis yet and avoid a ballot, which would be Israel's first since the eruption of the war with Hamas in Gaza. Netanyahu has been pushing hard to resolve a deadlock in his coalition over a new military conscription bill, which has led to the present crisis. "I am pleased to announce that after long discussions we have reached agreements on the principles on which the draft law will be based," Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee Yuli Edelstein said in a statement. Some religious parties in Netanyahu's coalition are seeking exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students from military service that is mandatory in Israel, while other lawmakers want to scrap any such exemptions altogether. The exemptions have been a hot-button issue in Israel for years but have become particularly contentious during the war in Gaza, as Israel has suffered its highest battlefield casualties in decades and its stretched military is in need of more troops. Growing increasingly impatient with the political deadlock, ultra-Orthodox coalition factions have said they will vote with opposition parties in favour of dissolving the Knesset and bringing forward an election that is not due until late 2026. "It's more than ever urgent to replace Netanyahu's government and specifically this toxic and harmful government," said Labour's opposition lawmaker Merav Michaeli. "It's urgent to end the war in Gaza and to bring back all the hostages. It's urgent to start rebuilding and healing the state of Israel." Successive polls have predicted that Netanyahu's coalition would lose in an election, with Israelis still reeling over the security failure of Palestinian militant group Hamas' October 7 2023 attack and hostages still held in Gaza. Hamas' surprise attack led to Israel's deadliest single day and shattered Netanyahu's security credentials, with 1,200 people killed and 251 hostages taken into Gaza. Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza has since killed almost 55,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Gaza, left much of the territory in ruins, and its more than two million population largely displaced and gripped by a humanitarian crisis. Twenty months into the fighting, public support for the Gaza war has waned. More than 400 Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat there, adding to anger many Israelis feel over the ultra-Orthodox exemption demands even as the war drags on. Ultra-Orthodox religious leaders, however, see full-time devotion to religious studies as sacrosanct and military service as a threat to the students' strict religious lifestyle.
Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Middle East Eye
Israel guilty of 'extermination' in attacks on Gaza schools and cultural sites, says UN
Israeli attacks on Gaza's education and cultural infrastructure amount to war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination, a UN investigation body has said. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, published its findings in a new report on Tuesday. It found that Israeli air strikes, shelling, burning and controlled demolitions had damaged or destroyed more than 90 percent of schools and university buildings across the Gaza Strip. That destruction has made it impossible for 658,000 children in Gaza to have an education over the past two years. 'We are seeing more and more indications that Israel is carrying out a concerted campaign to obliterate Palestinian life in Gaza,' said Navi Pillay, chair of the commission. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'Israel's targeting of the educational, cultural and religious life of the Palestinian people will harm the present generations and generations to come, hindering their right to self-determination.' The report said Israeli forces had committed war crimes, 'including directing attacks against civilians and wilful killing, in their attacks on educational facilities that caused civilian casualties'. It also documented cases in which Israeli forces used educational buildings as military bases. One example cited was the conversion of al-Azhar University's al-Mughraqa campus into a synagogue for Israeli troops. It reported one instance of Hamas fighters using a school for military purposes. 'Deeply impacted intangible culture' The report found that over half of Gaza's religious and cultural sites had been damaged or destroyed, including places where civilians had sought refuge. Israeli forces either knew or should have known the cultural significance of such sites, but failed to prevent harm, the commission found. The report included Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, where authorities appropriated, developed and profited from cultural heritage sites representing Palestinian, Jewish and other cultures, while displacing Palestinian residents. 'Attacks on cultural and religious sites have deeply impacted intangible culture, such as religious and cultural practices, memories and history,' said Pillay. The Gaza genocide is not a 'bug' - it is the logic of Israel's system Read More » 'The targeting and destruction of heritage sites, the limiting of access to those sites in the West Bank and the erasure of their heterogenic history erode Palestinians' historical ties to the land and weaken their collective identity.' The commission called on Israel to immediately cease attacks on educational and cultural institutions, end occupation and settlement activities, and comply with international law. The report will be officially presented to the UN Human Rights Council on 17 June. Israel withdrew from the council earlier this year, accusing it of being biased against Israel. In March, the commission accused Israel of committing 'genocidal acts' by destroying reproductive healthcare facilities in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded at the time by labelling the council 'an anti-Semitic, corrupt, terror-supporting, and irrelevant body'. According to Palestinian health and government officials, since October 2023, at least 54,927 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli forces, of whom 28,000 are women and girls. Amongst those killed are at least 1,400 health sector workers, over 300 UN aid workers, and more than 220 journalists.
Middle East Eye
6 days ago
- Middle East Eye
Lebanon: Israeli jets bombard Beirut suburb on eve of Eid al-Adha
Israeli air strikes rocked the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital on Thursday night, on the eve of the Eid al-Adha holiday, marking the latest major violation of the November ceasefire agreement. Lebanese news agency Ani said Beirut was hit by about 10 strikes, two of which were "very violent" and saw thousands fleeing their homes. The Israeli army said it had struck the southern suburbs targeting forces belonging to Hezbollah's "air unit". About an hour before the strikes began, Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-speaking spokesman for the Israeli army, told residents to evacuate a radius of at least 300 meters around four buildings located in the Al-Hadath, Haret Hreik, and Bourj el-Barajneh neighbourhoods. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun denounced the attacks as a "flagrant violation" of the ceasefire that ended a year of conflict last year. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Friday there would "be no calm in Beirut, nor order or stability in Lebanon without security for the State of Israel. "The agreements must be respected, and if you don't do what is necessary, we will continue to act, and with great force," he said. Hezbollah and Israel were engaged in cross-boundary skirmishes for nearly a year after the latter began its war on Gaza in October 2023. Can the US push Lebanon to normalise with Israel? Read More » In September 2024, Israel escalated the fight by exploding thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah members before launching a widespread bombing campaign across the country followed by a ground invasion. More than 3,900 Lebanese people were killed, including the Hezbollah's long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah. Following the establishment of a ceasefire on 27 November, Israel occupied five strategic points in the south of Lebanon. It has also carried out repeated air strikes in the south. According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED), an American NGO which tracks violence, Israel carried out at least 330 aerial attacks between 27 November and 10 January 2025. The Lebanese army said on Friday that it had begun to coordinate with the committee responsible for supervising the ceasefire - of which Paris and Washington are members - "in order to prevent aggression". But Israel "insisted on violating this agreement and refusing to cooperate with the committee," it said. "[This] only weakens the role of the committee and that of the army," it added
