Russian Tycoon's Wife Ordered to Demolish Unauthorised Sheds in Chelsea
The glamorous wife of a Russian insurance broker has been ordered to demolish two designer garden structures at her £4.5 million west London townhouse. The enforcement action follows complaints from neighbours who claimed the unauthorised buildings had transformed their exclusive Chelsea postcode into what they described as a 'shanty town'.
Neighbourhood Outrage Over Garden Structures
Mila Dolman, 41, enraged residents in one of London's most prestigious streets after erecting a summerhouse and children's playhouse in the garden of her Grade-II listed home without obtaining planning permission. The mother-of-three's homemade sheds were criticised for making her garden resemble 'more like a fairground than a prime London enclave' according to disgruntled neighbours.
One neighbour told the Daily Mail: 'It's a shanty town - they're listed houses, you can't even paint anything without permission. They're 70 ft gardens and it just looks terrible. It's two wooden huts. It's like something out of Winter Wonderland.'
Council Investigation and Enforcement
Ms Dolman purchased the five-storey, six-bedroom property with her husband Andrey Dolgopolov in 2019. However, complaints from neighbours in May 2023 triggered an investigation by Kensington and Chelsea Council planning officers.
Another resident explained: 'All the neighbours complained because it takes up a lot of the garden - and because no one else has been allowed to build things, it sets a precedent. We were certainly turned down. They have very strict planning laws here because of overbuilding.'
Planning officers conducted site visits and concluded the two outbuildings were of 'excessive size and bulk' and appeared as 'dominant and incongruous features' in the rear garden. Official documents stated the structures created 'visual clutter' and harmed the 'special architectural and historic interest' of the local conservation area.
Failed Appeal and Demolition Order
An enforcement notice was issued in May 2024 ordering complete removal of both structures. Ms Dolman appealed the decision, arguing the children's playhouse should remain while the summerhouse could be reduced in size. She also claimed builders had 'mistakenly constructed' the outbuildings larger than specified.
However, the independent Planning Inspectorate recently backed the council's position. Inspector Jason Whitfield concluded: 'Any steps that stop short of removing both buildings would fail to remedy the breach of planning control.' Ms Dolman now has two months to remove both structures and clear all debris.
Background of the Homeowner
Born in Moscow in 1984 to parents whose families were exiled to Tajikistan during Stalin's Great Purge, Ms Dolman trained as both a journalist and artist. She earned a ceramics degree from the Stroganov Moscow State University of Arts and a master's in TV journalism from Moscow State University.
On her website, Ms Dolman writes about leaving Russia after realising there was 'no creative and political freedom left'. She had celebrated the construction of her shed online, sharing progress with followers in Russian-language Facebook posts.
In one post, she wrote: 'Taking advantage of the good weather, we went outside. And instead of finishing the renovations inside, we began to build a shed, a summer house and a treehouse.'
Lifestyle and Current Situation
Alongside her artistic career, Ms Dolman has cultivated an affluent lifestyle, sharing photographs from international trips to destinations including France, Egypt, India, Venice, Mauritius, Dubai and Tunisia over recent years.
In posts about her travels, she has joked about alternating between private jets and budget airlines, writing about needing to fly private 'often enough not to feel poor' while attempting to minimise her carbon footprint.
When the Daily Mail visited the Chelsea area this week, demolition work already appeared to be underway on the controversial garden structures that have dominated local planning discussions for over a year.
