Tom Conti puts home he bought for £165k on market for £17.5million

Tom Conti was in planning battle with football star neighbour Thierry Henry
The actor once claimed he would never leave his Hampstead mansion
But it appears he has lost patience in fight to halt building developments
He has now put his five-bedroom home on the market for £17.5million

Simon Cable for the Daily Mail

Published:
22:49 GMT, 29 May 2015

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Updated:
01:20 GMT, 30 May 2015

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With its sprawling gardens and tranquil setting, his home once provided a rare oasis of calm among London’s busy streets.

But it appears Tom Conti has finally lost patience in his battle to halt the numerous building developments which he claims are blighting his leafy North London suburb.

The actor, who was engaged in a long planning dispute with ex-footballer neighbour Thierry Henry, has now put his Hampstead mansion on the market for £17.5million – 30 years after he bought the five-bedroom property for £165,000.

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Sound investment: The actor has installed a ballroom, minstrels’ gallery and cinema room in the house

Wooden beams: An upstairs recreation room in the stunning five-bedroom property in Hampstead Heath

The move comes seven years after he claimed he would never leave and insisted that buying the house was the best thing he had ever done.

The 6,649 sq ft home, set in gardens measuring more than half an acre, also has a games room, study and a library. According to the estate agents, a large roof terrace offers views as far as the Surrey Hills.

But the past decade has seen a string of high-profile planning battles between neighbours and the local council. Conti was infuriated in 2012 after councillors gave the go-ahead for former Arsenal star Henry to demolish a neighbouring property and replace it with a modern design that included a 40ft fish tank.

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Three years on, that property remains a noisy building site littered with construction equipment.

Criticising Camden Council’s decision to allow Henry’s development, the star said at the time: ‘There are a lot of retired people round here or people like me who work from home – I write – and it’s a terrible disturbance. This used to be a wonderful place to live, but in the past ten years there’s been endless, endless building.’

Earlier this year Conti objected to plans submitted by City financier Caspar Berendsen to build a mega-basement under the nearby Grade II-listed 18th century home where John Galsworthy wrote The Forsyte Saga.

Selling up: Actor Tom Conti and his wife Kara. Right, ex-footballer and neighbour Thierry Henry

Imposing: A large reception room leads on to a conservatory, set in gardens measuring more than half an acre

Light and airy: A glass-topped table in the extensive kitchen. The property also has a large roof terrace

The Shirley Valentine actor, 73, branded the scheme ‘inhumane’, claiming it would cause intolerable disruption to the lives of long-suffering locals.

He also took on Tesco when he campaigned alongside Emma Thompson to prevent the supermarket chain opening a store in nearby Belsize Park. And he fought developers back in 2008 by taking part in a protest against a housing development in Kentish Town.

Conti bought his home, which was built in 1902, in 1985 when it was divided into flats.

He set about transforming it into one of London’s finest private homes complete with a small ballroom, minstrels’ gallery and a cinema room.

Stars such as David Bowie have stayed at the house, while Conti and his wife, Kara Wilson, have hosted charity galas for up to 75 people at a time in the ballroom. The house has been put on the market with London Real Estate Advisors, with the estate agency describing it as ‘without doubt one of the most significant houses in London’.

It is being advertised with its own website and prestigious online brochure, reserved for the most exclusive properties.