This is the stunning London mansion bought for almost £20million by the wife of a Chinese tech billionaire.
Photos obtained by the Daily Mail reveal the incredible opulence inside the former Italian embassy – which has undergone a multi-million pound renovation to become a six-bedroom mansion.
The 7,692 sq ft house in Belgravia – one of the capital’s swankiest neighbourhoods – boasts six en-suite bedrooms including the 520 sq ft master suite, a basement cinema room and a lift to transport guests between the six floors.
Located in a gated enclave, it boasts cutting edge security features including secure underground parking for two cars, two vaults and separate accommodation for a staff member.
New owner Cathy Ying Zhang, who is married to Jack Ma, founder of retail giant Alibaba, got a £2million discount on the house according to Land Registry documents, paying £19.5million last October after it was listed for £21.5million.
The deal is one of the biggest London house sales since Labour came to power last year and comes despite a recent slowdown in super premium properties following the abolition of non-dom tax status and amid fears of a wealth and mansion tax.
But when the Daily Mail visited the red-brick home, which sits on Lygon Place, a Grade II-listed terrace of eight townhouses, locals seemed none the wiser about their moneyed new neighbour.
This included Adam Delmaestro, who owns the Maestro cafe around the corner, who said most of the residents of Lygon Place have in fact moved out now, ‘thanks to taxation’, with only one or two remaining.
This is the stunning London mansion bought for almost £20million by the wife of a Chinese tech billionaire
Photos obtained by the Daily Mail reveal the incredible opulence inside the former Italian embassy
‘It’s affected my business,’ he said. ‘The residents themselves wouldn’t necessarily come in here but they would hire people who would use our services – a chauffeur, a groundsman or a nanny.’
Another shopkeeper in the area similarly did not know of Ms Zhang’s arrival – but said he thought the resident next door to her new home had recently moved out.
Though in the heart of London, just a stone’s throw from Victoria train station, the area was quiet, with each building tightly controlled by prominent CCTV monitors, sophisticated doorbell cameras, and intercoms.
The grand Lygon Place property itself, with only a sleek blue Land Rover and a works van on its sweeping circular driveway, was completely deserted, as was the private mews opposite,
The only signs of life were at the terrace’s concierge, where staff were friendly and polite – but declined to comment.
One man who lives in the next street along, lined with stucco-fronted houses, said he knew of Jack Ma but did not know anything about his wife moving in nearby.
‘As far as I know it’s fully occupied. A mate of mine used to live in there before moving to Monaco,’ he said.
Another woman living on the road, which looks out on to a smart, verdant square, said she had heard about Ms Zhang’s move on Instagram – but not locally or personally.
Her neighbour, meanwhile, said through her intercom, rather than at the door itself, she knew nothing of the move.
One elderly resident said ‘it is not a very neighbourly area’: ‘When the flu was going round, the neighbours across the road came round to check if I was OK.
‘I thought that was sweet and they said I should come round for coffee some time. I put a slip of paper with my number on through their door but I never heard back.’
The recent sale marks the first time the property has been on the open market since it was bought by Benito Mussolini’s fascist government in 1923.
Pictures inside the house show chequered marble flooring, a guest cloakroom and a grand central staircase around an artistic chandelier.
The house also boasts a reception room on the ground floor and the first-floor drawing room and dining room all with parquet flooring and wood panelling.
The main bedroom takes up the whole second floor with two walk-in dressing rooms and a giant marble bathroom with twin sinks.
On the top three floors are the five remaining bedrooms.
Pictures inside the house show chequered marble flooring, a guest cloakroom and a grand central staircase around an artistic chandelier
The main bedroom takes up the whole second floor and boasts two walk-in dressing rooms
The house also has a private courtyard garden (pictured)
In the basement is a cinema room (pictured), fitness studio and staff quarters.
The recent sale marks the first time the property (pictured) has been on the open market since it was bought by Benito Mussolini’s fascist government in 1923
After the war, Lygon Place was used for 60 years as the embassy office of the Italian defence attaché, the diplomat representing the country’s armed forces
The house also has a private courtyard garden and in the basement is a cinema room, fitness studio and staff quarters.
It is located just a few minutes’ walk from Buckingham Palace and is less than a mile from Sloane Square.
The terrace turned embassy off Ebury Street was designed and built in 1900 in the Arts and Crafts style by the architect Eustace Balfour.
Count Dino Grandi, Italy’s wartime ambassador to London, entertained Prince Edward there, before he became King in 1936, and his wife Wallis Simpson.
As well as the suspected Nazi sympathisers, the diplomat also welcomed fascist politician Oswald Mosley and his wife, writer Diana Mitford, to the embassy.
Ex-Prime Minister David Lloyd George was also among the guests of the count, whose efforts to force peace between Italy and Britain were thwarted by Mussolini, who brought him back to serve as justice minister for the remainder of the war.
After the war, Lygon Place was used for 60 years as the embassy office of the Italian defence attaché, the diplomat representing the country’s armed forces.
A property developer purchased the building in 2006 and turned it back into a home.
But the area still carries a connection to espionage as the house next door was the home of Sir Reginald Drax, a British admiral and old schoolmate of James Bond creator Ian Fleming, who himself lived on nearby Ebury Street.
In his 1955 novel Moonraker, Fleming used Drax’s name for one of his memorable villains.
Drax’s house, featuring an underground swimming pool, went up for sale for £45million in 2022.
Mansion prices in the capital have slumped by four per cent in the last year, according to Knight Frank, the steepest drop since February 2021.
George Lucas, the Star Wars director, bought a £40million mansion in St John’s Wood in north-west London in September.
Fashion designer Tom Ford, meanwhile, bought an £80million stucco-fronted mansion in Chelsea last year, before Rachel Reeves increased the stamp duty surcharge on second homes.
Mr Ma and Ms Zhang have been building a portfolio of properties around the world.
Last year she bought three adjoining properties in Singapore for £26million and was listed as the sole shareholder of a company that bought a château in France, according to the Financial Times.
They met at Hangzhou Normal University in the 1980s.
Mr Ma went on to found Alibaba in 1999 which is now the world’s second largest e-commerce company behind Amazon.
Today he is estimated to be worth £35billion.
