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Boy George has listed the Grade II listed Gothic and Italianate mansion in North London for £17 million.
The Culture Club singer, 61, has lived alone in the house for nearly 40 years – he bought it in the mid-1980s after the release of the band’s hit, Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?
The six-bedroom mansion that Boy George, [George O’Dowd] covered in religious artifacts and expensive works of art, was built in 1868.
Ahead: Boy George has listed his Grade II listed Gothic mansion in north London with six bedrooms for £17million after a three-year refurbishment that left him embroiled in a battle with the council over a building permit
It underwent an ambitious three-year refurbishment, which first saw the singer embroiled in a battle with Camden Council over planning permission to extend the property and let in more light before a compromise was reached.
Boy George, reportedly worth £41.8 million, rented a flat in Soho while the works were taking place.
Result! The Culture Club singer, 61, has lived alone in the house for nearly 40 years – he bought it in the mid-1980s
The property, listed by Aston Chase, covers 5,453 square feet, with five of the six bedrooms – complete with their own dressing rooms and bathrooms. One room has a giant skylight instead of a traditional ceiling.
There is also a meditation room and a cinema room.
The house is decorated in a flamboyant style, there is a cast of David Bowie’s face, a Mr Brainwash piece on Kate Moss and plates mounted in frames.
A piece sitting next to his bed represents a well-endowed naked man.
In 2021 Sebastian Shakespeare of the Daily Mail reported that Boy George was overseeing a stunning £100,000 refurbishment of the gardens near his home.
He needed permission to recreate the gardens due to the listed status of the house, which is in a conservation area.
His planning agent said at the time: “The proposals have been developed to provide a plan sympathetic to the historic structure and character of the property and to the wider conservation area.”
Colorful: The property occupies 5,453 square meters and is covered with works of art and religious artifacts
Where the magic happens: Five of the six bedrooms – complete with their own dressing rooms and bathrooms – and one room has a giant skylight instead of a traditional ceiling
It included a ‘stepped water feature with reflective bath’.
The star, who grew up in Eltham, south London, has previously merged two adjacent properties into his current home.
George previously battled addiction to heroin and other substances for over twenty years and after battling his demons, he told The Guardian: ‘London is my home, I feel most healthy when I’m here.’
He told Yahoo in 2015: “I got sober in 2008. March 2, 2008. I know the exact date. I always think of that day as ‘the day I got well.’
Wow! Growing up in Eltham, south London, the star previously merged two adjacent properties to form his current home – he had undergone three years of renovations adding this glass extension that allowed more light into the property.
“I planned to get healthy at 40, but it took me another seven years of research to get to the point where I thought, ‘Okay, this isn’t working.'”
“I have to say it gets better and better the longer I’m sober.”
George’s initial plans for the house were rejected by the council about seven years ago before a compromise was made.
According to ES: Documents submitted in 2013 by Syte Architects of Soho wrote: ‘The house does not benefit from much natural light in the interior.
‘The front facade is oriented to the northeast. The rear has a south-west orientation, but a combination of factors means that the interior often suffers from poor levels and quality of natural light.’
The proposed extension is designed to create living spaces with a greater sense of connection to the garden and more natural light. These spaces will have a different atmosphere and character than the internal spaces in the existing home.’
A place of tranquility: the bathrooms are decorated in a chic minimalist style