This $9.7 Million London Apartment Was Designed to Showcase Fine Art
Art advisor Wendy Goldsmith, founder of Goldsmith Art Advisory, first fell in love with London’s posh Mayfair neighborhood many years ago for its elegance, charm, and neighborhood feel.
Goldsmith lived in New York for several years of her 15-year London tenure with Christie’s, where she ran the 19th Century European Art Department Worldwide, and now focuses on Modern and Contemporary Art with her art advisory firm. Upon moving back to her native England after time in New York, she found a stunning residence in a 1930s Art Deco building on Upper Grosvenor Street that reminded her of a building on Park Avenue.
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“When I first purchased an apartment in this building, I lived in a smaller unit on a lower floor for two years,” Goldsmith tells Robb Report. “It’s a very New York story, actually. I found out through our doorman that an elderly gentleman had just passed away and lived in a rare, double-sized apartment. I went right to his widow, purchased his four-bedroom unit upstairs and embarked on a gut renovation.”
Goldsmith tapped Guy Stansfeld Architects and Hubert Zandberg to transform the space and eventually reconfigure the layout into an open-plan home with two bedrooms and two bathrooms so there was more space in the living room. The 2,216-square-foot home faces south and features large windows that flood the home with beautiful natural light. It has an easy-flowing layout, spacious entertaining areas, and professional gallery lighting by Erco to light her personal art collection throughout the home. Goldsmith, who is moving her advisory to Palm Beach, Florida, recently listed the property for $9.7 million (£7.95 million).
The gorgeous unit was purposefully designed to showcase Goldsmith’s personal art collection, with large-format paintings, sculptures, and books. Her living room acts like a salon or gallery space, where she is able to showcase how to live among art for seasoned clients. It also serves as a meeting room, where they can go through the auction or art fair previews in comfort.
“When my clients are in town and are staying at Claridge’s or The Connaught, it’s so easy for them to just walk over,” Goldsmith says. “What’s better is that they’re not viewing art in a white cube. It’s really showcasing how to live with art. It’s so helpful to have some of my meetings in a domestic setting that often gives clients ideas of how to live with art themselves.”
You enter the home through a reception hallway, lined with art on one side and floor-to-ceiling shelves for art and auction books on the other side. This leads to the natural light-filled living room, with a cozy and colorful seating area and an office. Anchoring the space is a large-format piece by artist Ling Jian. Bright curved windows let in plenty of natural light and Goldsmith opted for bright pops of color and texture to enliven the space. Other pieces of hers throughout the home include a Salvador Dali statue, a Harland Miller work, and pieces from Sebastiaan Bremmer.
“Another reason I was so drawn to the neighborhood is because it’s the epicenter of the London art world,” she says. “The apartment is walking distance to Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and every top gallery. In addition, many of the galleries that were further east have moved west as close as they can to Mayfair. In recent years, the area has regained it’s crown as the cultural hub of London.”
There’s a bright primary suite with a generously sized walk-in closet and marble-covered en suite bathroom, as well as a smaller bedroom for guests. The building has a 24-hour doorman—unusual for London—and is within walking distance to the city’s best private members’ clubs, luxury hotels, shopping, and Hyde Park.
The property is listed by Becky Fatemi of Sotheby’s International Realty.
Click here for more photos of this Upper Grosvenor residence.
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