Inside Russian Oligarch's $400 Million Mansion, Second Biggest Home In London

Witanhurst House, a historic mansion in Highgate, 23rd September 1969

An alleged close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin is said to be the owner of London's second-biggest family home.

Russian oligarch Andrey Guryev, the founder of Europe's largest phosphate fertilizer manufacturer Phosagro, owns the 11-acre Witanhurst estate, whose size is trumped only by Buckingham Palace in London, The Guardian reported.

Guryev, who is currently on the European Union's sanctions list, allegedly purchased the 25-bedroom property ⁠— located in Highgate, a wealthy hilltop neighborhood north of the city center ⁠— via Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's family, the New York Post reported.

The estate, which is estimated to be worth $400 million, has a massive, columned main home with multiple adjacent properties on one side. The property also has a "colossal" basement, according to The Guardian.

On its grounds are multiple water features and a park-sized, carefully landscaped sanctuary surrounded by hedges, according to aerial photos of the property published by the New York Post.

The home was used in the early 2000s as the set for the BBC talent show “Face Academy.”

Guryev is not believed to reside in the mansion, which he has denied being the "legal owner" of, according to MyLondon.

However, the New Yorker published a piece in 2015 saying it determined that Witanhurst belonged to Guryev, whose net worth currently stands at $5.5 billion, according to Forbes.

"You can't put the word 'need' on this," architect Robert Adam, who won a commission to rebuild the home in 2008, told the New Yorker of its excessive size. "The word is 'want.'"

London is said to be an attractive place for Putin's cronies to buy homes because of "its open-door policy to kleptocrats who have reportedly bolstered Putin's rule for the past two decades," according to New Statesman.

As war rages in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, oligarchs with interests in the U.K. are now being targeted by the British government.

On Thursday, the U.K. added Russian oligarch and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich to the list of sanctioned individuals with ties to Putin as part of its efforts to "isolate" the leader.

Those in the list will face an asset freeze on their properties and won't be allowed to sell, mortgage or rent out their homes.