One of London‘s oldest homes – a Grade II-listed mansion built in 1673 – has gone on sale for £4.6million.
Constructed 353 years ago, Bowman House is a four-storey terraced home which is older than Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament.
Boasting four bedrooms, three bathrooms, four reception rooms and a ‘generous, eat-in kitchen’, the freehold property was recently renovated and converted back to its former glory.
It is believed to be one of London’s ten oldest homes according to estate agents Tavistock Bow and sits a short walk from Trafalgar Square – a battle which took place 125 years after the house was built – Charing Cross Station and Embankment Pier.
Originally built on land once belonging to York House, a riverside home whose gardens stretched out behind the Strand, the property was developed by Matthew Bowman on a newly laid road known as Duke Street.
Before the construction of the Embankment in the 19th century, Duke Street made up the bank of the River Thames.
The street’s name changed in the 1760s, when architect brothers John, Robert, James and William Adams developed the residential area known as the Adelphi Scheme, the Greek for ‘brothers’.
After being ‘modernised’ during the Regency period, the back of the building was extensively damaged by Second World War bombs and had to be rebuilt.
Bowman House, believed to be one of London’s oldest homes, is on sale for £4.6million
Built in 1673, the property predates Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament
After the current owner acquired the property in 2021, he converted it back from what had been his father’s accountancy office into a residential home
The property was renovated and fitted with a modern kitchen on the lower ground floor
One of the four bedrooms on the upper two floors of the property
Bowman House’s living room, completed as part of the restoration which finished last year
The property was developed by Matthew Bowman on a then-newly-laid road known as Duke Street
In 1984 it was sold to the current owner’s father, who used it as the office for his accountancy firm before his death in 2010.
The current owner acquired Bowman House in 2021 and turned it back into a home after winning planning permission in 2022.
As part of the redesign, the property was fitted with a new kitchen on the lower ground floor, a wood-panelled dining room and three living spaces on the ground and first floors and four bedrooms across the two floors above.
Running through the home is the newly restored wooden staircase.
After completing the restoration last year, the owner rented the property as a holiday let but has now decided to sell.
The owner, who did not wish to be named, told the Standard: ‘My family has cherished this building since being lucky enough to acquire it in the mid-1980s. Letting it go is not easy.
‘It’s a wonderful house — generous in scale, full of historic character and so beautifully positioned. But it feels like the right moment for the house to begin a new chapter with new owners, as our family begins new chapters of our own.’
