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£6.7m to live where Peter Pan was born
Mira Bar-Hillel and Katharine Barney14 Jan 2008
The house where J M Barrie wrote his timeless children's classic Peter Pan is on the market for £6.75 million.
The semi-detached Victorian property is in Gloucester Road, opposite Kensington Gardens where the author met the Llewelyn-Davies children who inspired his stories about the Lost Boys.
Set back from the road, it has six bedrooms, one with an en-suite shower room, two large, connecting reception rooms, a study, kitchen, breakfast/dining room, utility room, bathroom and two more shower rooms.
There is a private garden, accessed from the reception rooms, and access to communal gardens, which are well-kept.
The house has two balconies that face south-west.
The other half of the property was demolished and replaced in very different style after the Second World War.
Will Pitt, manager of Foxtons in South Kensington, said: "The house really has caused a stir in the market and although it is unique and an incredible opportunity regardless of background, the history really does add an extra dimension.
"Who wouldn't like to stand in the nursery of Peter Pan? The current owners fell in love with the period features and the bathroom sink is original, as is the dumb waiter. The house also has a front garden, which is very provincial and most unusual in South Kensington."
Barrie first met the five boys while walking his St Bernard, Porthos, in the gardens in 1897.
He amused them by telling stories, wiggling his eyebrows and leaving them "hidden messages" from fairies such as Tinkerbell.
The author, who was married to Mary but had no children of his own, attached himself to the Llewelyn-Davies family and formed a strong connection with the boys' mother Sylvia while her husband Arthur was still alive.
The family, who nicknamed him Uncle Jim, would accompany him to his cottage retreat near Farnham. Both parents died of cancer in their forties and Barrie became their sons' guardian and trustee in 1910 along with other relatives.
Two of the boys, George and Michael, died in their twenties. A third, Peter, a publisher plagued by his identification as "the real Peter Pan", committed suicide in his sixties.
Reader views (1)
It would be nice if the vendors, who are attempting to cash in on the Peter Pan connection, would make some donation out of sale proceeds to Great Ormond Street Hospital who will no longer be able to earn from their Peter Pan legacy since the book fell into public domain.
- Jackie, London, 14/01/2008 14:41
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