Category: BRAINSTORM

Wing of North Lancashire manor house offered in a prize draw

 

An Internet marketer named Dunstan Low paid £435,000 for the east wing of a Grade II listed Georgian manor house in the Lune Valley in Lancashire in 2011 and claims to have spent £150,000 renovating it. He has repeatedly tried to sell the house for sums as high as £845,000 but after having no success, is now marketing it in a raffle simply to get it off his hands.

 

Unable to keep up mortgage and Council Tax payments on the 3,185 square foot 6 bedroom property, Low decided to offer ‘Melling Manor’ – as it is now known – in a competition with tickets available for £2 online and entries by post for free.

 

Of his reasoning, the 37-year-old father of two told The Lancaster Guardian:

 

“I’ve had a slow down in business over the last five years and so we made the decision to sell the house”.

 

“After talking to many estate agents and quick buy companies, we believe it is in our best interest to take the sale of our property into our own hands, whilst offering someone else the opportunity to own and enjoy the property as their own”.

 

“I’d rather go out fighting than give it back to the banks. We’re not in arrears yet, but we’re bouncing along the bottom while I try to find work. It’s the mortgage payments and council tax that is costing so much”.

 

He added:

 

“I took a risk, and it’s not paid off. It’s a lot of work, but it has been such a lot of fun”.

 

To enter for free, write to: Win a Country House, 10 Gillison Close, Melling, Lancashire, LA6 2RD before 1^st August 2017 enclosing an answer to the question: “What style of property is this house? A) Victorian, B) Tudor, C) Georgian”. Entrants need to include their name, address, telephone number, email address also.

 

A 20-question interview with realtor and star of ‘Million Dollar Listing San Francisco’ Roh Habibi

 

The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

Expertise and swagger.

 

“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

Starve the ego, feed the soul.

 

Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2016?

Not flying using private aviation.

 

Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

Spontaneity before having children.

 

What might you swap all your wealth for?

Being more than qualified to surf the banzai pipeline on the north shore of Oahu in the thick of the lineup with the wolf pack during heavy winter swells.

 

Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the banking crisis?

It’s not often that we actually learn from the past unfortunately and it will likely happen again in the future in some other form. Stay cash heavy, leverage other peoples money to your advantage I suppose.

 

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

‘Try’.

 

In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

We should all make it a point to help as many people in any form of need that we can both financially and physically. I support many different charitable organisations. To name a few, the Arthritis Foundation, Giveback Homes, Habitat for Humanity and at local clubs for at risk youth where one mentors kids and becomes like a “big brother”.

 

The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

They are a necessary evil. I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t say I use my phone 24/7. I am trying to set boundaries more and more lately.

 

If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

Tom Ford.

 

If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

I would eat an amazing breakfast at the summit of Mount Everest.

 

What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

N/A.

 

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

Jasmine green tea with ginger and honey.

 

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

Steve Aoki’s: They are the most authentic and fun.

 

Who is the most positive person you know?

My coach, Tom Ferry.

 

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

Adrenaline: I’m a junky.

 

If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

My wife and daughters names on my inner wrist. Vertically.

 

If you were a car, what marque would you be?

The Ferrari Stallion.

 

Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

I used to be a professional break dancer.

 

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

Plaques, awards, degrees and photos with dignitaries, actors, athletes, musicians.

 

Roh Habibi is a star of Bravo TV’s ‘Million Dollar Listing San Francisco’. He is a luxury realtor in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley. He is married with two daughters and claims to “love surfing, mountaineering, soccer, travel and big deals”.

 

Follow him on Twitter at @rohhabibi, on Facebook at @rohhabibisf and on Instagram at @roh_habibi.

 

A 20-question interview with mobile and tech channel pioneer James Pimentel-Pinto

 

The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

Erik Estrada – Ponch in the popular television series CHiPs.

 

“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

“Live and Let Die”.

 

Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2016?

Marzipan.

 

Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

Cap guns.

 

What might you swap all your wealth for?

All the tea in China.

 

Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the state of the financial system?

Buy gold and precious stones.

 

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

“It’ll all turn out right if you play your cards right”.

 

In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

I do believe charity should begin at my home and all contributions are graciously welcomed.

 

The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

I rather like the old-fashioned British Telecom telephones with a dial.

 

If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

Peter Suchet, Peter Ustinov, Albert Finney and Dennis Waterman.

 

If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

An endless brunch at a little café I know in Penzance.

 

What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

Upon rising.

 

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

A martini without the vermouth.

 

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

I prefer dinners with trusted friends as a convivial ambiance is hard to beat.

 

Who is the most positive person you know?

Me.

 

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

Fillet steak with blue cheese melted on the top.

 

If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

The infinity symbol.

 

If you were a car, what marque would you be?

A 1982 Pontiac Trans Am.

 

Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

I was in the audience of Jim’ll Fix It in 1989 and ‘The Savile’ sat on my lap whilst warming up the audience. Thankfully he moved away quickly.

 

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

A replica TARDIS and a model of The Liberator from Blake’s 7.

 

Mobile channel and tech pioneer James Pimentel-Pinto works with early-stage startups to take an idea and turn it into a scalable, robust business. He has worked with AXA, ITV and J.P. Morgan and has over 27 App Store number ones to his name.

 

Follow him on Twitter at @ideafather.

 

The Steeple Times’ debate ‘Should London go it alone and become the new Monaco?’ provoked heated discussion

 

On 22^nd November at 12 Hay Hill in Mayfair, The Steeple Times gathered a panel that was expected to include the controversial columnist Katie Hopkins. She was kept away because of flooding on the train line she’d have to have taken from Devon to London, but instead what followed was far more heated than anything she’d have even said.

 

Assembled and seated after drinks, we brought together property mavern Nick Crayson, laywer and media personality Nancy Dell’Olio, top immigration lawyer Roger Gherson, financier Joaquin Lassala and tech pioneer James Pimentel-Pinto and let the fireworks commence.

 

With an audience of equally strong opinions – amongst them the firebrand Daily Mail columnist Alexis Parr, former ‘Flying Eye’ Russ Kane and staunch Brexiteer ex-headmistress Molly Bown – battle commenced when chairwoman Jackie Branston offered the question to the panel and room.

 

Roger Gherson was first to speak and suggested our politicians are destroying Britain’s ability to attract wealth. Seizing the funds of the moneyed classes and increasing stamp duty, he argued, is an entirely wrong approach to maintaining a successful economy. Surprisingly, given he’s an immigration lawyer, he announced he had voted for Brexit and added: “Don’t believe what you read in the papers as fact. What you read is just based on the bias of their respective owners”.

 

Spanish-Dutch Joaquin Lassala took an entirely different approach. He argued that an outflux of talent post-Brexit will kill London. “Foreigners don’t live off the system, they contribute”, he added. “Isolating London is not a solution”.

 

Nancy Dell’Olio explained though she’d been born in America and grown up in Italy, she perceives London to be her home. She blamed Gordon Brown for “destroying the success Tony Blair created” and championed the freedom of movement and democracy of Europe. She tempered this by suggesting that “London is different” and argued that “northerners worry more about immigration”.

 

Nick Crayson, a “lifelong Londoner”, took the view that “many sadly think ‘entrepreneur’ a dirty word” and suggested autonomy for London “would appeal”. He claimed to be an optimist for whatever will happen post-Brexit whilst James Pimentel-Pinto argued that “splitting London away from the rest of the country would be ridiculous”. He added: “People voted to get out of the EU, not out of Europe”.

 

Audience member and restaurateur Peter Godwin stepped up next and made the point that “leaving Europe has been nothing but negative”. He pointed out that we are now headed towards another war and that with Brexit and Trump in America, we are now in “unsteady times”.

 

Interjecting, Nick Crayson turned this on its head and suggested: “Be optimistic. Let’s f**k the blocs and think global”. He was immediately countered by Roger Gherson who remarked: “The rise of extremists is not because of Brexit, it’s because of the gap between the super rich and the rest of us becoming more extreme”.

 

A heated discussion about Romanian “peasant” immigrants followed at the behest of Jackie Branston and whilst Roger Gherson cautioned that “immigrants are human beings”, Alexis Parr challenged him and suggested it was “better to be egalitarian than PC”.

 

A joke about Ms Parr being “a woman whose bible is the Daily Mail” followed from Jackie Branston but with Peter Godwin claiming “we’re all foreigners” the discussion moved on to James Pimentel-Pinto pointing out that “the UK actually allows people to do their own thing wherever they’re from”. “It’s a melting pot and I wouldn’t have been accepted here given my dad’s Brazilian and my mum’s English if this country weren’t tolerant”, he added.

 

Next up, Nancy Dell’Olio told the room: “Democracy needs rules and not anarchy” and whilst American audience member Alyssa Sherman highlighted how “polarised” Britain has become post the referendum, Peter Godwin took the view that the vote had gone the way it had because those that voted in favour of leaving were people who subscribed to the view of “I don’t want to be told what to do”.

 

Referencing how he employees 53 staff – of whom only one is English – Godwin asked: “Is London that special?” and told of the benefits of immigration. He was countered immediately by Molly Bown. She announced: “I’m delighted by Brexit and London will continue to boom. Thirty years ago Monaco was superb. It isn’t now and London will always win two hands over. The banks will stay and we will boom and boom again”.

 

Crayson returned to remark: “I hate the fear press. Americans will have a far tougher time with Trump” but Alexis Parr came back at him. She stated: “Poor England. Our cities are flooded with immigrants” and immediately after incurring the wrath of Joaquin Lassala, added: “You are a NIMBY. Residents cannot get their children into schools”.

 

Again interjecting, Crayson responded to an audience member who highlighted how disillusioned the majority of the populous are, by saying: “Go for change. Give it a go. Don’t trust the polls. We’ve nothing to risk”. He was met with criticism from Roger Gherson who concluded: “We need to decide what kind of society we actually want to live in”.