A historic house has been devastated by fire in an exclusive north London neighbourhood.
The fire broke out at the Grade II-listed Hollybush House in Barnet shortly after 1am today.
The Georgian mansion in Hadley Green Road, which is undergoing a refurbishment, suffered extensive damage in the blaze before it was brought under control by 7.15am.
Neighbours said an 18-month renovation project was nearly finished to turn the historic property into a family home before the disaster struck.
An eyewitness, who alerted the fire service, said he believes the blaze could have started in the roof, which eventually collapsed.
The man told MailOnline: ‘I called the fire brigade and they got here pretty quickly.
‘There was another man who was here before me but he didn’t call the police or firefighters for some reason. Flames had engulfed the house within about 20 minutes, it all happened quite quickly. And obviously it’s all timber inside so that’s why they’re spraying it with so much water now.
‘The fire brigade turned up with eight to ten fire trucks but they struggled to find the hydrant. They spent a lot of time protecting the gentleman’s house next door which is also a listed property. They done that quite successfully.
‘At about 4am it was still ongoing and the house was completely destroyed.
‘There was blue and green flames at one point last night so we thought it was gas but it didn’t explode in the end.
‘It started in the roof I think. In the space of about 20 minutes the whole house was engulfed in flames.’
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The renovation works are being carried out by Robert and Helen Speroni according to planning documents. Helen is thought to be the managing director of a building products company Radmat with a £80 million turnover, MailOnline reports.
At its peak, there were 70 firefighters at the scene, some of whom were expected to remain there throughout the day to dampen hot spots.
The roof of the main house appears to have collapsed, with fire tearing through the first floor.
The ground floor also appears to have been significantly damaged and fire crews were focusing on saving the adjoining cottage.
Pictures show the mansion under refurbishment, wrapped in scaffolding, with a skip and construction materials outside.
Another neighbour said no one was living at the property, which was being turned into a family home for the owners to live in.
One neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, told the outlet: ‘We live around here and they’ve been doing renovation work for ages on it. It’s just so weird that a fire would start at that time on a bank holiday Monday. Makes no sense.’
A spokesman for London Fire Brigade said: ‘The whole of the roof, as well as the first and ground floors of a detached house under refurbishment are alight. There are currently no reports of any injuries.
‘One of the brigade’s 32-metre turntable ladders is being used at the scene as a water tower to tackle the fire from above.’
The six-bedroom mansion was built in the late 18th century and was last sold in 2020 for £4.5 million.
It also has a 2.23-acre garden with three terraces, a pond and a swimming pool.
The blaze has caused extensive damage in one of the area’s most expensive properties, where homes typically sell for around £1.75 million – nearly six times the UK average.
Hadley Green has been a home to notable figures like the explorer David Livingstone, novelist Fanny Trollope and film pioneer Birt Acres.
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