It will certainly be an attractive property for some house-hunters.
A charming two-bedroom apartment at 87 Marchmont Street in London is up for sale for £1,025,000 – and it is on the exact site where Frankenstein author Mary Shelley once lived.
Shelley moved in with Percy Bysshe Shelley (1815) to a home where now the Bloomsbury apartment buildings stand. An outside blue plaque, erected in 2009, highlights the historical significance of this property.
The two-bedroom, first-floor apartment at 87 Marchmont Street is up for sale for £1,025,000 million (pictured in the centre)
Mary Shelley (pictured left) moved in the house that is now the Bloomsbury Apartment Building, 1815 together with Percy Shelley her lover. Pictured on the right is the blue plaque that marks the property’s literary importance. Photo courtesy Creative Commons
Mary was 16 years old when Percy fell for her. He was then 21. Harriet Westbrook became his first wife.
Both were attracted to the Gothic church graveyard of St Pancras Old Church, just one block from Marchmont Street. Here, she fell for his ‘wild, intellectual, unearthly looks’ and the pair allegedly consummated their relationship on her mother Mary Wollstonecraft’s tombstone.
Mary’s father, the philosopher and novelist William Godwin, disapproved of their relationship, and so they ran away together to Europe with Mary’s stepsister, Claire Clairmont.
After touring through France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom until they were unable to pay for their travels, Percy and Mary returned to England. Mary and Percy returned to Britain, where they lived at several addresses. One of these was Marchmont Street.
Claire moved in with them. According to Exploring London, their landlady was named Mrs Harbottle, and it was during this period that Mary and Percy welcomed a son, William, who was nicknamed ‘Willmouse’.
This is the Marchmont Street living area. Mary and Percy moved from England to this street during their return to England after they had returned home from their trips.
Mary’s stepsister, Claire Clairmont, lived with the literary couple at the Marchmont Street residence
In 1816 they moved away, leaving England for England, where Lord Byron, a Romantic poet, resides at Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva.
Mary Shelley was just 18 when she began writing Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. This book would be her lasting legacy.
Legendary horror tale tells of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who gave life to an animal as part of an unfortunate experiment.
This is the Marchmont Street apartment’s kitchen. Mary, Percy, Claire and their companions departed the Marchmont Street apartment in 1816. They travelled to Villa Diodati (on Lake Geneva).
Mary and Percy lived in 26 Marchmont Street. However, the building was destroyed by fire in 1904. It was demolished in 1904. The new number for the building that it left behind was 87. Today, the building’s first floor is on the market looking for a new home.
The property is being sold through estate agency Dexters, and according to its listing, it has ‘original wood flooring throughout, floor-to-ceiling sash windows, a separate kitchen as well as a private terrace’.
As well as two bedrooms, the apartment features ‘a spacious reception room’, which is ‘a comfortable dining and living area’, and one bathroom.
The two-bedroomed property has ‘original wood flooring throughout’ and ‘floor-to-ceiling sash windows’
Above is the property’s ‘spacious reception room’, which is ‘a comfortable dining and living area’
The apartment’s kitchen leads out onto a decked terrace with ‘high walls for privacy’ (pictured)
The kitchen leads out onto a decked terrace with ‘high walls for privacy’.
The listing adds: ‘Marchmont Street is set in the heart of Bloomsbury and offers everything from independent cafes to high-street chains within The Brunswick Centre. The nearest tube is Russell Square and King’s Cross is less than half a mile away.’
Michael Keating, Director of Dexters Bloomsbury, says: ‘This bright first-floor flat offers buyers the opportunity to purchase a piece of history in one of London’s most historic neighbourhoods.
‘Marchmont Street has a wide array of pubs, cafes and second-hand bookstores. For the literary inclined, St Pancras Old Church and its graveyard are still just a 15-minute walk down the road.’
For more information visit dexters.co.uk.