The freehold of The Sir Richard Steele pub, in Haverstock Hill, is being marketed by AG&G London, which is taking offers in the region of £4, 400,000.
Landlord Jimmy McGrath, who took on a 20-year lease in 2023 after running the watering hole in the 1980s, told the Ham&High he was not aware the pub was on the market.
He said: “I acquired the lease a little while ago so it may be the freeholders.
“I have a genuine lease and I’m not concerned. I would like to know who’s selling it and who’s acquiring it to keep on top of it.”
Steele’s has gained notoriety in the past for its celebrity clientele, which has included Kate Moss, Sadie Frost, Jude Law, Rhys Ifans and the Gallagher brothers.
Helena Bonham Carter’s house backs on to its garden.
The sale is being marketed as an “investment” and includes the trading bar and function rooms on the ground floor and four luxury self contained flats on the two floors above.
Jimmy, who also runs the King William IV pub in Hampstead High Street, ran the pub in 1984 before handing the reins to his son.
The watering hole was then taken over by Faucett Inns in 2011, which dissolved in 2021 after turning the former function room upstairs into flats.
Jimmy previously told the Ham&High he wanted to bring back “happy times” to the pub adding: “The pub was available and I always liked it. There were happy times there and memories so why not.”
Following a complete internal refurbishment he brought comic elements to the decor, including a sign over one of the two exits which reads Nobody Gets Out Sober.
The pub is named after Sir Richard Steele, the writer, playwright, politician, and co-founder of The Spectator magazine, and a portrait of him was brought to the front of the pub in front of a large bar.
The AG&G brochure says: “Neither staff, management nor customers are aware of the property being marketed for sale and should not be approached under any circumstances. This is the sale of the investment only. Business is unaffected.”
The pub sits in the Eton Conservation area and is not listed, but it was made an asset of community value in 2016.
