An historic London floating home with the postcard view of Tower Bridge - The Harpy is like no houseboat you’ve ever seen!
Please note that the minimum stay for this property is 3 nights
The Harpy Houseboat is owned and managed by Andrew Wadsworth.
Looking for a place to make your stay in London rock? Step aboard The Harpy Houseboat, Tower Bridge.
What would be an amazing home on dry land is even more amazing bobbing about on the Thames, 400m from Tower Bridge. With 4 double cabins, spectacular views, a 60ft open plan ‘floating loft’ living space and generous decks; there’s plenty of WOW factor in this extraordinary place!
The Harpy spent much of the last century serving as 'HMS Harpy’; an Edwardian Customs and Excise pontoon office, built in 1904; a grand old lady who King George V paid an official visit to in 1920; there's a photo of that on board. Her transformation into a stunning home, is impressive. Heal’s 1920’s antique oak furniture and a collection of eye-catching art and objects give the boat some real status, and you don’t need to go without all mod cons entertainment either – a Sonos/Bose surround sound system, SkyQ TV, DVD and Wi-Fi are all there too.
The living area has seating for 10-12; an enormous sofa, 1928 'LC2' Le Corbusier chairs, 1935 Alvar Aalto bentwood lounge chairs, and a Muji fold-down sofa bed, made even more stunning with Tower Bridge right in view, both inside and out on deck. There is extra dining space out there, and you won’t want to miss taking in the London cityscape by night.
The study has a Heal’s oak desk, a 1920’s Savoy bar chair, a big curved monitor screen and printer. The (landline) telephone system connects to the security gate entryphone and has a pager to all rooms.
There are Turkish kilims, tribal fabrics from the Congo, a unicorn (coming out of the wall) in the dining room, a model of a 1940’s American Corsair fighter plane over the stairs, Victorian photos of the construction of Tower Bridge and a collection of antique maps of the area, the earliest being 1720.
You might get some serious kitchen envy on board The Harpy. Sizeable, and packed with top quality kit including a gas hob, a big (or is that bigly?) American fridge/freezer/ice-maker, microwave and dishwasher, plus those smaller nice-to-haves like a ground coffee cappuccino machine, alkalising water purifier and rice steamer; making a fine place to cook. The kitchen table is by a bay window, providing an atmospheric river backdrop. The dining table (designed for Winston Churchill’s country house, Chartwell), seats 8 (on Gordon Russell barrel chairs), is splendid for grand dinner parties on board.
The quartet of cabins are equally well appointed, with fine antiques and Egyptian cotton linen on organic cotton mattresses. Master Cabin 1 has a beautiful 1920’s Heals’ oak four poster, originally owned by Daisy Fellowes, (a socialite of the time); the Great Aunt of Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes, no less. Cabin 1’s ensuite bathroom has a separate shower and a cast iron double-ended, tub bath. The picture window in Cabin 1 has electric curtains so you don’t need to get up to gaze at that view from 'The bed with the best view in London’.
Cabin 2 has a 5ft queen size bed, Cabin 3; a 4ft 6” double and Cabin 4; two single beds that can be joined to make a queen size 5ft double. Cabin 4 also has a Sky Q. All cabins have 1920’s Heals oak wardrobes, each with full length mirrors.There’s a cot for the youngest guest. Bathroom 2 has a shower/bath and there’s a guest loo and basin. The Harpy Houseboat also has a new 8kg/12kg LG washer/dryer and a new 55” curved screen LG Super HD definition TV.
Location-wise, you are in strolling distance of Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, HMS Belfast and St Katharine Dock. Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe and St Paul’s Cathedral are within walking distance. Southbank Centre, the London Eye, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are easily reached a little further along the Thames. Borough Market (by London Bridge), Maltby Street Market and Bermondsey Antique Market, are all within easy walking distance.
This must be the best houseboat in town – you’re sure to be raving about The Harpy long after you return home.
Please note that the minimum stay for this property is 3 nights
The Harpy Houseboat is owned and managed by Andrew Wadsworth.
See detailed pricing information on: www.theharpy.com/rates
From Previous Guests
Have you stayed here?
Leave a reviewWow what a place! We stayed for the weekend on this incredible boat. It is very well equipped, comfortable and homely and the views of Tower Bridge and the city are breathtaking. A great place to stay for a special occasion, I highly recommend it.
Stayed January 2020
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