David Bowie’s Abandoned London Mansion
British rock star David Bowie tragically died this week at the age of 69. Rarely-seen photos of his abandoned London mansion offer some insight into the publicity-shy side of this remarkable icon.
British glam rock icon David Bowie tragically died this week at age 69, leaving an impressive legacy behind, and not just from his music. As well as the hefty royalties he earned from his music career, Bowie was a successful property mogul.
During his lifetime, Bowie lived all over the world, renting and owning property in New York, Los Angeles, Lausanne, Sydney, Mustique and London.
He spent most of his later years in his penthouse apartment in Manhattan’s Soho neighbourhood, close to his management company offices.
He spent years designing and creating a home in London’s Gilston Road, Chelsea, with designer Jonathan Reed. But he never used it due to the overbearing paparazzi and media invasion of privacy in the UK, said a source close to him.
He eventually sold the four storey house seven years ago for a reported £7.2 million.
Bowie also previously had a pad on the Caribbean island of Mustique, which he sold for £3.5 million to late publisher Felix Dennis in 1995, who died in 2014. It appears to have recently been sold again by agent Knight Frank, where it is listed as ’under offer’ with a price on request believed to be £14 million.
The ‘Starman’ singer also owned a 19th century mansion in Switzerland, for which he sold for a reported £2.5 million in 1999 – the same year he sold a home in Los Angeles for a reported £5 million.