A key feature of the high-end London property market is the renovation and reinvigoration of what decades ago were sometimes considered tired old properties. With a real passion for the heritage of such properties and a clear attention to detail in the renovation, added to an often necessarily sizeable investment, it is not difficult to find a superior London home that combines modern comfort with a touch of old-style grandeur.

The story of 41 Queen’s Gate goes back to 1860 and Victorian London, a time of empire and power, when successful business people built city houses to show off their affluence. By 1920, however, the house’s story takes a rather unusual turn, when it became the headquarters of the Royal Entomological Society, with which it remained until it was sold to private owners in 2007, marking the start of its current refurbishment.

The property is a grade II listed house and covers around 1,410 square metres. Currently up for sale for GBP 25 million, the many highlights across its four floors (as well as ground, lower ground and basement floors) include 12 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a pool and Jacuzzi room, a billiards room, staff accommodation, a terrace and a lift – not forgetting an Arts and Crafts oak-panelled boardroom that has been transformed into an atmospheric cinema room.