The former Bahamas residence of the late Duke of Windsor, who used to be King Edward VIII, has just gone on the market for anyone who might want to live in the same lavish rooms as this controversial figure of British history.
Edward VIII ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom in 1936 upon the death of his father, George V. But to rule he would have had to abandon the love of his life, American divorcee Wallis Simpson - and so that same year he chose to abdicate the throne in favour of his younger brother, George VI, Queen Elizabeth’s father.
After his abdication, Edward VIII became the Duke of Windsor and lived in France with Wallis Simpson, who he married in 1937. But rumours that the couple were Nazi sympathisers grew around Europe, so much that the British monarchy decided to send Edward away by appointing him Governor of the Bahamas in 1940.
When Edward and Wallis arrived in Nassau, on New Providence island, the official Government House wasn’t ready yet - the couple stayed in Sigrist House, a mansion overlooking Goodman’s Bay in Cable Beach. And that’s the house that Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty has just put on the market for US$8.5 million.
The house, built in Spanish colonial style with wooden details imported directly from England, consists of 15,000 square feet which includes the gardens, a pool, terrace and patio. It has fifteen bedrooms and thirteen full bathrooms, and the space is divided to provide privacy for all guests, even those staying for longer periods of time - there’s the main part of the house but then also a separate apartment, as well as two different guesthouses.
Everything inside Sigrist House has been modernised and updated to the best standards of 21st-century living, but it stills maintains its natural character of a place “designed for gracious living in a bygone era”. If you’d like to know more about it, you can check out its official listing here.