Hanover Lodge

Since then, it has been home to several notable people, was part of Bedford College, and the residence of the French ambassador, before the businessman and Conservative peer Lord Bagri purchased a 150-year lease from the Crown Estate in 1994.

[3] In 1994, the businessman and Conservative peer Lord Bagri purchased a 150-year lease on Hanover Lodge from the Crown Estate for £5.9 million and over the next 12 years spent millions of pounds renovating it, hiring the architect Quinlan Terry to supervise, including an underground swimming pool that can be converted into a ballroom.

[4] Renovations were finally completed in 2009, "after 10 years and 100 applications for planning and listed building consents" costing an estimated £25 million.

[8] Goncharenko has made a series of planning applications to "further enlarge the basement and to remodel the interior" of the 26,000 sq ft house.

Above ground, "much of the work appears to involve ripping out large swathes of expensive décor only recently installed by Lord Bagri, including intricate cornicing, decorative wall-frieze paintings and timber and marble floors".