A diplomatic coup? Ex-consulate on sale for £2.5 million

At a ceremony in 1935 overseen by the Italian consul Ferruccio Luppis, a band of fascists donned black shirts and sang marching songs outside La Casa D’Italia, the newly opened Italian embassy in the heart of Glasgow. Speakers came to the building and expounded on the heroics of their home country and its leader, the dictator Benito Mussolini.
The former enclave of Italian fascism in Scotland, which today sits on Glasgow’s most expensive street, and counts Baroness Mone as a neighbour, could be yours for £2.5 million.
The Victorian townhouse, complete with marble columns, vaulted gold ceilings and parquet wood flooring, was originally built in 1874 for Walter Macfarlane, a wealthy Scottish industrialist. Designed by the architect Charles Wilson, 22 Park Circus has been used for many different purposes over the years.
After being Italy’s consulate in the city, the category A listed building was purchased in 1990 by developers who leased it to Glasgow city council for use as a register office for civil marriages for almost 20 years from 1994.
The developers then faced difficulties in selling the property. First listed in 2015 for £2 million, no buyers stepped forward and the grand townhouse was relisted two years later with a £1.5 million price tag.
In 2018 it was acquired by Ran Yan, who submitted plans for the building to be restored as a private residence. Now, it is back on the market at a significant price bump.
The listing, which is being organised by Savills estate agents, describes the sale as a “rare opportunity to acquire a precious piece of architectural history,” and hints at future potential uses.
“La Casa now lends itself to being a single luxurious private residence with self-contained staff quarters or, with the relevant consents, converted into a small number of high end apartments, with a modern lift system already in place. It could equally revert back to its embassy heritage or as an events venue.”
Cameron Ewer, a property agent at Savills, described the townhouse as a “Glasgow phenomenon, with many having shared their happiest and most exciting days here when it was a wedding venue and registry office.”
The 12,000 sq ft, four-floor home retains a “wealth of extraordinary period detail”, according to the listing, including “Ionic columns on the ground floor which create a magnificent entrance and frame the broad marble staircase that rises up to the main reception rooms on the first floor”.
Several schools can be found in the local area including private schools St Aloysius’ College, Glasgow Academy and Kelvinside Academy. Nearby, Kelvinbridge underground station provides community links to the city centre.
But potential buyers may face a large heating bill, as the property is rated E for energy efficiency.
In February nine townhouses and flats in Park Circus worth about £10 million were among the assets frozen by anti-corruption investigators linked to Mone and her husband, Douglas Barrowman.
The properties were purchased during a 20-month spending spree after a company led by Barrowman was handed £203 million in government PPE contracts during the pandemic.