Former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and automobile heiress Mrs Henry Ford II also called the Grade II listed home at 93 Eaton Square. Coming on to the market for the first time in 40 years, it is steeped in a colourful history peppered with the likes of Rudyard Kipling, King Edward VIII and Karl Lagerfeld. 

Photos: Tony Murray/Casa E Progetti/Beauchamp Estates

Ninety three Eaton Square is a blue plaque home originally built in 1827 by master builder Thomas Cubitt, who worked on Buckingham Palace, the Thames Embankment and much of the buildings around Belgravia, Pimlico and Bloomsbury.

Former PM and leader of the Conservative Party Stanley Baldwin, moved in with his wife in 1913 and stayed until his retirement in 1937.

First becoming Prime Minister in 1923 (and then again in 1924-1929 and 1935-1937), Baldwin hosted his cousin Rudyard Kipling as well as politicians and fellow Eaton Square residents Winston Churchill, Neville Chamberlain and Lord Halifax.

Stanley Baldwin also entertained the Prince of Wales, and later King Edward VIII, the two said to take an instant mutual dislike of each other.

As the story goes, the seeds of the 1936 Royal Abdication Crisis were sown at the residence. Wallis Simpson, then Edward VIII’s lover, was allegedly having an affair with Joachim von Ribbentrop, another Eaton Square resident and the German Nazi Ambassador to London – a scandal that outraged Baldwin and other conservative grandees.

Fast forward to the 1980s to when one of America’s most celebrated dynasties moved in.

Grandson to Henry Ford, founder of Ford Moto Company, Henry Ford II purchased the property in the early 80s.

His wife, Kathleen DuRoss Ford, a former model and photographer transformed 93 Eaton Square into one of the most elegant and gracious homes in Belgravia, commissioning architect Jeffrey Smith and renowned design house Colefax & Fowler to refurbish and decorate the interiors in English country-house style.

Following Henry’s death in 1987, Kathleen split her time between Eaton Square and overseas residences, entertaining family and A-list friends including Lee Radziwill, sister of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, actress Lily Tomlin and fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld.

When Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher left office in 1990, Kathleen lent her 93 Eaton Square which Thatcher and her husband Denis then used as their Belgravia home until they purchased a house in 1991 in nearby Chester Square.

The home consists of a main residence at 93 Eaton Square, and an interconnecting two bedroom mews house at 35 Eaton Mews North.

Combined, the property boasts three reception rooms (the grand reception room features a 14-foot high ceiling and original ceiling coving), six-seven bedrooms, a main family kitchen, a mews kitchen, a wine cellar and eight bathrooms.

It is part of a palatial white-stucco terrace of grand residences designed in classical style with projecting Doric colonnade and porches.

It is one of the most renowned homes in Eaton Square, and is for sale via sole selling agent Beauchamp Estates.

93 Easton Place is on sale for £23,000,000 through Beauchamp Estates. Call 020 7499 7722 or visit beauchamp.com