A Mysterious European Is Turning London's Largest Mansion Into A Modern Xanadu

2011-07-12T20:15:00Z

Welcome to Witanhurst -- the largest residential home in London and perhaps the city's most mysterious property.

The estate, which sits on five acres in London's exclusive Highgate district, has been more or less vacant since 1970, when its owner stopped paying the hefty upkeep bills, according to Forbes.

But last year, a massive overhaul kicked off to restore the home to its former glory.

newformula via Flickr

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The blueprints call for the renovation of Witanhurst's 25 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms and walnut-paneled grand ballroom, as well as the construction of a subterranean extension that will nearly double the mansion's size and house a pool, hairdressing salon, and cinema, according to The Daily Mail.

The expansion is expected to cost around $80 million and will make Witanhurst just 2,000 square feet smaller than Buckingham Palace, London's largest residence, The Daily Mail reports.

But incredibly, no one knows who currently owns the estate, or who is footing the renovation bill.

Here's what we do know (via The Daily Mail):

A local developer bought the estate on behalf of an Arab family in 2007 for $51 million, saying he would renovate and resell the property for $239 million.
But the house reappeared on the market months later, untouched, for $120 million.
The home sold again in 2008 to a mystery buyer who completed the purchase through an offshore entity in the British Virgin Islands for $80 million.
The buyer filed ambitious renovation plans, including the construction of a glass pavilion. Those plans were initially rejected but later approved on appeal.
Not even the architect knows who the buyer is. The construction team has reportedly said that the owner is "a wealthy European family looking for a permanent base in London."
It was widely reported that Yelena Baturina, a Russian tycoon and wife of former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, was behind the renovation. But Baturina, who made her fortune in construction, has vehemently denied those rumors.

No matter who owns Witanhurst, it's clear that overhauling the abandoned estate is a Herculean task. Two photographers, JakeSPhoto and Eddie Error, were kind enough to share their images of Witanhurst's decayed interior with us.