A gadget-obsessed Russian dating app guru who transformed the basement of his London mansion into a Bruce Wayne-esque ‘Batcave’ has put the house on the market – for almost £30million.
Sergey Frolovichev, who made his fortune driving the growth of dating services Bumble and Badoo, bought the house on Greenaway Gardens in Hampstead for £13.35million.
He has since spent an estimated £15million and five years dismantling and rebuilding the high-tech cellar in the style of the fictional billionaire-cum-vigilante in his pursuit of creating the ultimate ‘man cave’.
In the DC Comics and the numerous film, TV and video game adaptations since, Batman builds the Batcave beneath his mansion for use as a secret base of operations as his crimefighting alter-ego.
Mr Frolovichev took particular inspiration from the Batcave design in his favourite film, 2008’s The Dark Knight, which saw Christian Bale don the iconic cowl to face off against Heath Ledger’s Joker.
And it even has its own superhero-style secret entrance: a set of retracting floorboards in the mansion’s sizeable games room that reveal a hidden staircase.
Awed guests will walk down a corridor lined with display cabinets that then leads to a workshop or studio space – buyer’s choice – that borrows heavily from the set design of the film.
The space will be perfect for a prospective buyer to tinker with their next crime-fighting gadget or, more likely, struggle with a difficult Powerpoint presentation.
This Hampstead mansion on the market for £29.95million has a unique superhero secret – its very own Bruce Wayne-style Batcave
The ‘Batcave’ is accessed via a set of stars under retractable floorboards (pictured: a mockup of how the space could look)
Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman in 2008’s The Dark Knight – seen in the Batcave that has inspired the design of the secret basement in Hampstead
A cabinet-lined entrance hall leads to the ‘batcave’ – ideal for displaying trophies, memorabilia, or armour-plated superhero costumes
Elsewhere, there is a swimming pool that rises from the floor, or can be drained and covered over as a dancefloor, plus a car stacker.
The main bedroom spans the entire width of the mansion, with its own pair of private roof terraces large enough for sun loungers; it also has two walk-in dressing rooms and a pair of ensuites.
Five other bedrooms, all ensuite, are scattered across the first and second floors, alongside a staff studio/bedroom on the lower ground floor.
And that’s before you mention its six reception rooms, triple-height entrance hall, study, kitchen and adjoining pantry, media room, health spa, steam room and sauna.
And if the retracting floorboards weren’t enough, a passenger lift will take residents and guests to all levels.
A lower ground terrace also provides access to the games room with cocktail bar.
In all, buyers can expect a full 14,501 square feet of interior space and 7,921 of external terraces to the rear accessed via yawning triple-glazed sliding doors.
There’s just one catch: you’ll have to finish building it yourself.
Extensive works have been carried out to bring the neo-Georgian home, originally built in 1934 by architect Charles Henry Bourne Quennell, up to scratch.
But as of now it is in ‘shell and core’ condition: fully plumbed, wired and heated courtesy of an energy efficient ground source heating system, underfloor heating and MVHR ventilation.
Each system is controlled through almost four dozen control panels in a subterranean plant room that could rival that of a mid-sized office block in size and complexity.
Agents Draper London say the house is future-proofed. It even has its own well in the designer back garden.
But Mr Frolovichev – who has called the UK home for the last two decades – is calling time on the rebuild to let someone else come in to finish the job he started.
The house is being sold by Russian tech entrepreneur Sergey Frolovichev (pictured), who has designed the house to a tee
The house boasts a lower ground floor games room that leads to a sweeping lower terrace (pictured)
If one set of gadt floorboards wasn’t enough, the swimming pool can be drained and transformed into a dancefloor
The house boasts six reception rooms and a triple-height entrance hall that lets guests know they’re entering somewhere special
A huge reception room with triple glazed doors that open out onto the house’s designer gardens
A bar and cinema room in the lower ground – an ideal setting for late-night Batman marathons
He shifted to the UK in 2005, moving here alongside billionaire Andrey Andreev, his business partner at Bumble’s parent company, then called MagicLab.
The company was sold to US asset management firm Blackstone for $3billion in 2019.
But he has since permanently set up shop in Italy with his wife and two children while waiting for the restorations to be completed. He no longer has any designs on coming back to the UK.
‘We have a bigger house in Como and a smaller apartment in Milan,’ Mr Frolovichev told a national newspaper.
At £29.95million it isn’t cheap. Buyers are also told to factor in an additional £5-7million above the asking price and another 12 to 18 months for a full fit-out – including developing the ‘Batcave’ to your own specifications.
But once finished, this billionaire’s playhouse will be worth at least £40million. Draper expects a similarly minded tech entrepreneur to be among the potential interested parties.
Craig Draper, managing director of the estate agent, says any buyer will have full access to the original plans and can call upon SHH, the architects involved in the project, to finish the job. Or they can do it all themselves.
‘This sale offers a once in a generation opportunity to create one of the finest new residences in Hampstead,’ he said.
