Gorgeous, Spacious Houseboat Walter Greaves Is $1.9 Million of Understated Luxury

Over the past years, London has seen a surge in the number of houseboats used as primary residences, and the reasons behind the boom are not hard to fathom. Houseboats, unlike non-movable pieces of real estate, can sometimes offer comparable living space, the same kind of luxury amenities, but at a fraction of the price, and the advantage of movability in case the owner wants to relocate.

As a rule, houseboats don’t have engines, but they can be towed by tugboat to a new destination or when a mooring contract ends. They also offer a unique lifestyle, unmatched by any piece of real estate on solid ground, and come with fewer taxes and fees. If you don’t mind living inside a floating home and you have money to burn, Riverhomes has a very enticing proposition for you, located in a very posh neighborhood in west London.

This 2017 houseboat is called Walter Greaves, after the famous painter who also lived in the area back in the day. It’s currently moored at Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, in a celebrity neighborhood that has housed anyone from Greaves to Roman Abramovich, Bram Stocker, T.S. Eliot and Ian Fleming, and rockers Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. As such, it benefits from all the advantages of living in a gated community, including CCTV surveillance, a night watchman, and on-site maintenance team, though these come at an extra cost.

Designed and built by the Chelsea Yacht and Boat Co., the Walter Greaves residence has been on the market on and off since completion. At 85 feet (26 meters) long, it offers a living space of 1,848 square feet (171.7 square meters) across two levels, divided between one master bedroom and two suites for guests, three bathrooms, a reception area, and a sizable terrace on the deck.

As far as houseboats on The Thames go, this is perhaps the most famous, but this could have something to do with the fact that it’s been listed for sale repeatedly. Initially asking £2.5 million ($2.9 million at the current exchange rate) when it was first listed in 2017, the residence is now asking £1.65 million ($1.9 million) – a considerable drop in price and an even bigger bargain than before.

The way Riverhomes puts it, as also evidenced in the 2018 AP video interview at the bottom of the page, for this kind of space, you’d have to spend up to three times the amount on a brick-and-mortar home. Walter Greaves has a very unassuming exterior, which is probably on purpose, but the interior is generously spacious and very modern, with an understated design style that feels homey and posh.

There’s a drawing room that can serve as a separate study or media room, an open-plan kitchen with a dining area, and a master bedroom that rivals what you’d find on a proper yacht – down to a walk-in wardrobe. The residence has air conditioning, underfloor heating, three large bathrooms decked in ornate stone, high-speed internet, and the most impressive views you could possibly get in London. Perhaps more importantly, Nick Austin from Riverhomes tells The Sun that the houseboat comes with a 20-year mooring license in an area where this kind of licenses are not exactly easy to come by.

“If you turned that boat into bricks and mortar, you would be looking at £3-5 million [$3.5-5.8 million] for the equivalent square footage, so by comparison this is a bargain,” Austin explains. “It doesn't have an engine so you can't go anywhere but it's unusual quirky living and from the fore deck you have a beautiful view of south west London.”

Now, a real estate agent can always be expected to speak highly of the property they’re selling because, well, that’s what they do for a living. But the video, as blurry as it is, does show that this is one posh way of trying a unique lifestyle with all the creature comforts of a proper home in a very fancy neighborhood.