Vanbrugh Castle: house inside Greenwich ‘castle’ inspired by the Bastille goes on sale for £2.75 million

Evening Standard

By Ailis Brennan
March 26, 2021

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A home inside an 18th century castle modelled after the Bastille has gone on the market in Greenwich for £2.75 million.

The four-bedroom apartment inside Maze Hill’s Vanbrugh Castle comes with secret tunnels, the remains of an amphitheatre, and a rooftop terrace boasting views of the Royal Observatory.

Architect Sir John Vanbrugh built the Grade I-listed castle in 1718, and modelled it after the famed Bastille prison in Paris, where he had been imprisoned 30 years earlier. He spent two years in its confines after being accused of espionage.

Vanbrugh’s illustrious CV also includes the designs for Blenheim Palace, the World Heritage Site and seat of the Dukes of Marlborough in Oxfordshire, and Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, much later used as the setting for the 1981 adaptation of Brideshead Revisited.

The property for sale features an extensive master bedroom with its own dressing room, a large cellar, as well as an underground annex, which can be used as cinema or games room and has its own independent kitchen and bathroom.

The architect and pupil of Christopher Wren built the Greenwich home for himself and his wife Henrietta Maria Yarborough who he married in 1719.

Later in its history, the building was donated to the RAF Benevolent Fund and used as a school for the children of RAF personnel killed in the World Wars, before being restored by the Blackheath Preservation Trust in 1977 and turned into luxury apartments.

The property is listed for £2.75 million with Nest Seekers International and prospective buyers should contact Rubens Brotto, on +44 7961 984841 or email RubensB@nestseekers.com



Rubens Brotto
Rubens Brotto
Managing Director - Super Prime Division