Artfarm announces its arrival in London

Artfarm, the independent hospitality company behind Somerset’s Roth Bar & Grill and The Fife Arms in Braemar, has announced its first London project.

The company has signed a lease with Grosvenor Britain & Ireland for The Audley pub on Mayfair’s Mount Street.

Artfarm was founded in 2014 by Iwan and Manuela Wirth. That year, Artfarm opened its first restaurant, Roth Bar & Grill, as part of the Hauser & Wirth art centre in Bruton, Somerset. In 2018, it opened The Fife Arms in Braemar, Scotland, a Victorian coaching inn that underwent extensive restoration to return the building to its former glory. It was named The Sunday Times Hotel of the Year in 2019. Other Artfarm properties include Manuela restaurant in Los Angeles and Durslade Farmhouse in Somerset.

“We are delighted to be bringing this historic pub back to its former glory with Grosvenor and to make it the heart of the local community for years to come,” says Jonathon Cornaby, chief financial officer at Artfarm.

Built in 1888, The Audley was designed by Thomas Verity, the man who designed the exterior of the pavilion at Lord’s Cricket Ground. Grosvenor and Artfarm will renovate the grade II-listed building, restoring many of the original historic features lost due to bomb damage in the Second World War. The renovation of the five-storey building is provisionally set to be completed in autumn 2022, with the pub re-opening to the community with the addition of a restaurant and rooms.