RM Sotheby’s auctioneer Lord Dalmeny hammers down a 2001 Mini Cooper with 6 miles on the clock for the staggering sum of nearly £60,000; it would have cost around £10,500 new
In August 2014, Historics Auctioneers hammered down a 2001 Mini Cooper Sport 500 with 30,270 miles on the clock for £9,632 ($10,959, €10,992 or درهم40,248) whilst an example with just 204 miles on the clock “stunned the motor trade” when it sold for £20,160 ($22,938, €23,006 or درهم84,240) in September 2015.
Now, another of the certified last 500 Cooper Sport 500’s made to celebrate the end of ‘classic’ Mini production – which would have cost around £10,500 ($11,900, €12,000 or درهم43,900) when new – sold on Saturday at the RM Sotheby’s London 2022 sale for the even more staggering sum of £57,500 ($65,400, €65,600 or درهم240,100). It had been offered with an estimate of £30,000 to £40,000 ($34,100 to $45,500, €34,200 to €45,700 or درهم125,400 to درهم167,100).
One of the last of the ‘original’ Minis designed by Sir Alexander Issigonis CBE FRS RDI (1906 – 1988) in conjunction with Dr Alexander Moulton CBE FREng (1920 – 2012) has now become the most expensive example ever sold. It has only 6 miles on the clock and had been displayed at the Cayman Islands Motor Museum until 2021.
Of a tiny car that achieved a very high price, in their listing, RM Sotheby’s remarked:
“It offers a rare chance to acquire a one-private-owner-from-new example with only ‘delivery miles.’”
“All 500s were manufactured with the 1275 Plus four-cylinder A-series engine, rated at 62 horsepower. Customers could choose from one of four body colours: Anthracite, British Racing Green, Solar Red, or Tahiti Blue, with the roof and bonnet stripes finished in Platinum Silver, regardless of body colour choice.”
“Included as special extras were 13-inch alloy wheels, a high-level brake light, four spot lamps, a certificate, and a commemorative plaque mounted inside the glove box. Inside all Cooper Sport 500s, the seats, door cards, steering wheel and dashboard were upholstered in black and silver leather. Rather than the standard plastic interior fittings, this model featured an alloy gear knob, window winders, dashboard, door handles, and pulls.”
“This Cooper Sport 500 is painted in Solar Red over a Platinum Silver roof, and is believed to be one of only 110 produced in this colour combination. It was registered on 3rd May 2001 and purchased new by its sole private owner from Caffyns of East Sussex, England. A copy of the original sales invoice accompanies this Mini. The cabin remains a factory-correct affair, with the seats upholstered in black and silver leather, the carpets trimmed in black, and retaining its original alloy fittings.”
Pictured top – The front of the car sold by RM Sotheby’s (left) and chairman of Sotheby’s since 2017 Harry Primrose, Lord Dalmeny DL on the rostrum auctioning the vehicle on 5th November 2022 (right).
The car sold on the 5th November 2022 at the RM Sotheby’s sale at Marlborough House in London.A similar example – which was also one of the last 500 built, number 465 – in Tahiti Blue with 30,270 miles on the clock sold for £9,632 in August 2014 at the Historics Auctioneers sale at Brooklands Motor Museum in Weybridge, Surrey.A much older Mini, a coachbuilt 1965 Cooper S DeVille by Radford, originally owned by Sir Paul McCartney fetched £182,000 ($207,100, €207,700 or درهم760,500) at auction in Auburn, USA in September 2018. Its hammer price made it the most expensive Mini ever sold.A 1.6-litre petrol 2002 Mini Cooper S owned and driven by Madonna when she lived in London with her then husband Guy Ritchie was placed for sale for £55,000 ($62,600, €62,800 or درهم230,000) in August 2018 by one of her personal drivers – who acquired it in 2006. The singer clearly loved the “nippy” motor as in her 2003 hit ‘American Life’ she included the lyrics: “I drive my Mini Cooper, and I’m feeling super-duper, yo they tell me I’m a trooper, and you know I’m satisfied.” At the time ‘Auto Trader’s’ digital editor Rachael Hogg remarked: “It’s really timely that this car is up for sale just as Madonna turns 60. Previously owned by one of the world’s biggest music sensations and affectionately referenced in songs and TV interviews, this is the most expensive Mini Cooper S on the market, because for many it’s not just a car: it’s a significant piece of Madonna memorabilia. The three-door Mini Cooper S Hatch is a modest choice for a celebrity of Madonna’s wealth, but a sensible one for a star living in central London wanting to go under the radar when on the school run. It appears to be in immaculate condition still, so would make a lovely runaround for a Madonna fan with cash to flash.” At the time the same car without a ‘popstar pedigree’ was valued at £2,315 ($2,634, €2,642 or درهم9,673) – a sum 1,800% lower than what the singer’s car was offered for.
More pictures of the little car sold for a very big price by RM Sotheby’s at their Marlborough House, St James’s, London, SW1 sale on 5th November 2022 prior to the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
‘The Steeple Times’ selects five houses currently for sale that were decked out with “police line do not cross” tape after murders occurred there; would you want to live in a ‘murder house’?
Since September 2020, when we featured ‘Five of the Worst – Undesirable Homes Currently For Sale’ – amongst them Jeffrey Epstein’s since sold New York “paedo pad” and a Gothic villa in Cheshire where a lawyer stabbed his Sotheby’s auctioneer wife to death in March 2005 – we were inundated with additional suggestions.
In September, the New York Post’s Katie Jackson penned an article on ‘murder houses’ in which she quoted a YouGov poll that found 30% of Americans “wouldn’t hesitate to buy and live in a house where a previous owner was murdered.” The study also found that “only 32% of Americans would deem murder a dealbreaker.”
Going further, Jackson quoted Tony Mariotti, a California listing agent. He shared: “Only California, South Dakota, Alaska and Vermont have laws requiring sellers to disclose a recent death in a home, including murders or suicides.” In Britain, where shockingly estate agents aren’t even regulated, no such declaration has even been on the statute.
Now, following up two years after our previous feature, we today showcase five properties that even the most gung-ho realtor or estate agent would find hard to flog on. “Why?” we hear you ask; the answer: All of them have been the scenes of murders most horrid.
A Double Glazed, Double Murder – Pingle House, The Pingle, Upwell, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE14 9BN, United Kingdom
Pingle House as presented in the current marketing brochure from Purple Bricks. No mention is made of the gruesome events that occurred there in January 1999 and instead the agents laud a “spacious home within a rural setting with views over open countryside.”The reasoning for the brutal slayings of Janice Sheridan (left) and her mother Constance Sheridan (centre) has never been revealed as the man convicted of killing them, Kevin Cottrell (right), put in a guilty plea and thus never explained himself. Some still claim him not to be the killer and suggest that the Sheridans had upset travelers in the locality. Whatever the case, they clearly did not deserve to be subjected to multiple stabbings and torture before their untimely deaths.The detached property – which pictures show to have dramatically altered overs the years – was sold at a bargain basement price after the 1999 killings for just £30,000 in 2000. The then purchaser, builder Patrick Withers later told Channel 4: “One person’s misfortune is another person’s gain” of the ‘bargain’ he believed he’d got himself whilst bizarrely his wife, Eileen, recalled having known the Sheridans as she, like them, was also a dog breeder.In the Channel 4 programme ‘Blood Under The Carpet’ – broadcast in 2003 – the Withers showed viewers around the ‘murder house’ they’d purchased. They noted all the changes they’d made, but it seems the original sink present from the time of the killings still remains in the property’s bathroom.
For sale for £200,000($230,000, €233,000 or درهم845,000) through Purple Bricks.
Whilst the property valuation site The Move Market suggests Pingle House should be worth around £251,000 today, it is currently on the market for a sum 20% lower. Sold previously in 2001 for just £30,000, for a remarkable profit at £155,000 in August 2006 and £191,000 in April 2017, here is a 3-bedroom detached house that was the scene of two killings sometime in the days between the 7th and 10th January 1999.
Lived in at that time by Constance Sheridan, 70, and her “successful dog breeder” daughter, Janice, 45, this is an isolated home on the border of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire where both ladies were viciously stabbed to death in what was termed a killing “ruthless and determined.” The case subsequently featured in a Channel 4 programme, Blood Under The Carpet.
A then 33-year-old double glazing salesman with two juvenile convictions for burglary and “indecent acts” in 1983, Kevin Cottrell – who “claimed to be ‘the friendly face of home shopping’” according to The Guardian and who had sold the Sheridans a single UPVC window in 1998 – was convicted and jailed for life for the apparently “motiveless” double murder in April 2000.
Cottrell’s decision to enter switch his not guilty plea to guilty at the last minute left the Sheridans family “devastated.” Though, at the time, Miss Sheridan’s half-sister, Diana Penfold, remarked: “We just want to know why. We were hoping that we might get some answers during the trial, but still we won’t,” bizarrely the website JustJustice.org continues to suggest that “the wrong man is [in] jail.”
Purple Bricks make no mention of the since totally reconfigured property’s past in its sale brochure, but if it does achieve asking price, the current owners will achieve a sum 567% higher than when it was sold after the gruesome slayings that occurred there.
An Evidence Hideway – 2827 Aquetong Road, Solebury Township, New Hope, Pennsylvania, PA 18938, United States of America
2827 Aquetong Road in New Hope, Pennsylvania was where Cosmo DiNardo and Sean Michael Kratz hid “key evidence” that connected them to the 2017 killings. The car of Thomas Meo was found in a shed at the property along with title documents, keys and a diabetes kit that the victim needed to survive. It has been renovated by Cosmo DiNardo’s aunt – who purchased it from his mother in December last year for just $1.Serial killer Cosmo DiNardo (left); victims Thomas C. Meo, 21, and Dean A. Finocchiaro, 19 (top row centre) and Jimi T. Patrick, 21 and Mark R. Sturgis, 22 (bottom row centre) and serial killer Sean Michael Kratz (right). Both DiNardo and and Kratz were 20 at the time of the murders.
For sale for £624,000 ($700,000, €716,000 or درهم2.6 million) through Tony Esposito of REMAX Aspire.
Sold previously for £285,000 in May 2005, £401,000 in August 2006 and for just £1 in December 2021, this 1,528 square foot detached house stands on a plot of 0.89 acres. Built in 1821 and fully renovated, this 3-bedroom property is being marketed as a place to “just unpack your bags and move right in,” but no mention is made of its connections to the murders of four young men between 5th and 7th July 2017.
Bought in 2006 and sold to her sister for a nominal sum in 2021 by Sandra Affatato DiNardo – who still owns the 90-acre farm nearby where her deranged drug dealer son Cosmo DiNardo slaughtered Dean A. Finnochiaro, Thomas C. Meo, Jimi T. Patrick and Mark R. Sturgis with the assistance of his cousin Sean Michael Kratz – a shed at 2827 Aquetong Road was where much of the evidence connected to the slayings was subsequently hidden.
DiNardo, who tried to burn the bodies of the four men in a pig roaster on his family’s farm, subsequently said he had “wanted to set the victims up when they came to the farm to buy marijuana.” He claimed he killed them simply because he “felt cheated and threatened.”
Featured in a two-hour 2020 Investigation Discovery Channel special titled The Lost Boys of Bucks County, DiNardo was sentenced to life in prison without parole in May 2018 whilst Kratz received the same in November that year. DiNardo’s claims that he was “responsible” for at least two other killings in the previous five years remain to this day unverified.
Of her spawn of the devil child, in 2017, Sandra DiNardo pathetically bleated: “My son wasn’t this horrible animal that everybody says he was. He lost his life a year before those kids. He’s a prisoner in his own brain. He’s lost forever.” A neighbour responded: “He was pretty nutty. He used to walk around here in camouflage with a gun hunting squirrels. He’s a scary kid” whilst Cosmo DiNardo himself somewhat more accurately concluded: “I threw my life away for nothing… My life’s done… For nothing.”
The Manson Murder Mansion Site – The Cielo Estate, 10066 Cielo Drive, Beverly Hills, California, CA 90210, United States of America
‘The Cielo Estate’ currently for sale extends to 3.6 acres and has everything from a hair salon to a 75-yard pool with 3 waterfalls, 2 Jacuzzis, a 35-foot water slide, a swim-up bar, a private grotto, a koi pond and a lazy river. It is described as “an entertainer’s dream” and “the epitome of world class Beverly Hills luxury living.” There is no mention made in the sales listing of whether there is any memorial to Sharon Tate and her friends being situated on the property.Sharon Tate Polanski (left) was just 26 years old and nearly 9 months pregnant when she was murdered. She had been stabbed 16 times by Charles Manson (centre) and his followers. Screenwriter Jeff Franklin (right) has been trying, without any signs of success, to sell ‘The Cielo Estate’ for quite some time. Before demolition in 1992, the building at 10066 Cielo Drive was a very much more modest affair.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcgFq50ll2E
For sale for £53.519 million ($59.995 million, €61.415 million or درهم220.332 million) through The Altman Brothers Team and offered for rent for £223,000 per month ($250,000, €256,000 or درهم918,000 per month) also.
A “lazy river” that winds through the 3.6-acre grounds of ‘The Cielo Estate’ is just one of its many unusual features, but what agents Joshua and Matthew Altman fail to mention is that the vast 21,000 square foot crib they’re flogging was built in the exact location where the most infamous Manson murders occurred.
Remodeled most recently by ABC’s Full House sitcom creator Jeff Franklin and listed for £76 million last year, the “mega mansion” offered stands on the rubble of a building where 1960s ‘It Girl’ Sharon Tate was slayed along with three friends on 8th August 1969 by the Californian cult commune gang, the ‘Manson Family.’
Now featuring 9 bedrooms, 18 bathrooms and a garage for 16 cars, the original house – which had been rented by Tate with her film director husband Roman Polanski – was demolished in 1994 after being sold for £5.4 million to a realtor-developer named Alvin Weintraub. He redeveloped and created what he termed an “Andalusian-style estate, in a league of its own” and added to the property by purchasing additional land.
Others to have lived in the various structures that have stood at 10066 Cielo Drive include the French actress Michèle Morgan, the talent manager Rudolph Altobelli and the musician Trent Reznor of the rock band Nine Inch Nails. The latter rented the house in 1992 and set up a recording studio which he dubbed ‘Pig’ in reference to murderer Susan Atkins writing “Pig” in Tate’s blood on the front door.
Reznor stayed in the house less than one year and subsequently explained: “There was too much history in that house for me to handle” whilst in 1998, Weintraub remarked: “We went to great pains to get rid of everything. There’s no house, no dirt, no blade of grass remotely connected to Sharon Tate.”
The Master Bedroom Dismembering – ‘The Castle House’ or ‘The Klindt Castle,’ 1220 Royal Oaks Drive, Davenport, Iowa, IA 52806, United States of America
Current owner Nancy Townsend Klemme states that she has “remodeled the entire house, including the area where the murder took place.” She adds: “[We] didn’t get a discount on the property because of its past.”Mrs Klemme (left) and her family have lived in ‘The Klindt Castle’ for 26 years; Dr James Klindt with his wife Joyce and son Bart (centre) and at his 1984 trial (right).
For sale for £329,000 ($369,000, €377,000 or درهم1.4 million) directly through its current owner, Nancy Townsend Klemme.
Sold to its current owner for £101,000 in October 1996, this is the house where Dr Jim Klindt, a chiropractor, killed his wife Joyce on 18th March 1983 by lobbing a pool ball at her head in their bedroom. He subsequently dismembered her body with a chainsaw, dumped the pieces into the Mississippi river and was sentenced to the maximum 50 years in prison in 1984 for his crimes.
Of why she bought the 3,150 square foot 3-bedroom property, Nancy Townsend Klemme – whose own mother was murdered also – told the New York Post in September: “We bought the house due to the beauty of it and the uniqueness. We were 100% aware of what happened there but it didn’t bother us… I like unique houses.” She is selling up to move to a former monastery she has purchased.
Dr Klindt was released from prison for good behaviour in 2004 and opened a taco stand named Eats and Sweets in 2006 after working for eight out of the twenty years he spent in prison as a cook. He was arrested repeatedly after his release – for drug possession, traffic offences and interfering with officers amongst other things – but later turned to charity work.
Of attempting to do good deeds, the “strong as a bull” doctor – who died in November 2010 after suffering a “bad fall” – remarked: “I figured if you can make something good out of something that wasn’t so good, that’s good. I told them they should use my notoriety to get a few bucks for the kids.”
Turning to whether he felt any remorse for killing his wife – who’d planned to divorce him – Dr Klindt added: “I apologised for the act, I apologised for the lies.” A letter he sent to Joyce Klindt’s family, Criminal revealed, was never answered and supposedly his son “doesn’t like it much when reporters write stories about his dad’s crime.”
A Coffee and Concrete Bather, Horror in Honolulu – 357 Lelekepue Place, Hawaii Loa Ridge, Diamond Head, East Honolulu, Hawaii, HI 96821, United States of America
357 Lelekepue Place looks like a dream home by the ocean; it proved the ultimate nightmare for Gary Ruby.34-year-old Scott Hannon was arrested along with his boyfriend in March 2022, but freed the next day as the police realised he “played no part in the murder” (left); victim Gary Ruby (centre) and 23-year-old Juan Tejedor Baron, confessed to the killing after being tracked down by cops in California, trying to flee on a bus to Mexico (right).The Corcoran Pacific Properties listing for the property lauds that it was “completely remodeled by a European designer in 2015” yet makes no mention of the gruesome attempt to dispose of the body of Gary Ruby in the bathroom there in Febraury 2022 (left); the agent included also a photograph of a “welcome” door mat but did not include any of the “police line do not cross” tape that was likely there previously (unsurprisingly).
Recently sold for £2.296 million ($2.575 million, €2.630 million or درهم9.457 million) by Heidi Bertucci of Corcoran Pacific Properties.
Just sold for a sum 13.7% higher than the £1.957 million it was knocked down to Gary Ruby for in November 2020, this 2,327 square foot gated community 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom residence was marketed as an “entertainer’s dream” by selling agents Corcoran Pacific Properties.
Sadly for 73-year-old Mr Ruby, the ‘entertainment’ didn’t last long at this seaside address as he was strangled to death there by his 23-year-old male lover Juan Tejedor Baron on 8th February 2022 after he had revealed to him that he had HIV.
Baron subsequently entombed Ruby’s body in concrete – to which he somewhat ludicrously added coffee beans believing they would help “better mask the smell of the decomposing body” – before stealing his victim’s Audi A6. He then fled with his other lover, 34-year-old Scott Hannon, to California.
Subsequently arrested and charged in March, Juan Tejedor Baron’s trial has now been delayed until January 2023. Whether the new owners of this murder house will serve their guests coffee remains unknown, but the Beat of Hawaii website confirmed in August that listing agent Heidi Bertucci “said the property received a true Hawaiian blessing before being listed for sale.” She graciously also added that the “bathtub has, of course, since been replaced.”
Northern Irish ‘fusionist’ artist Amanda Watt’s ‘Release’ exhibition in St James’s, London is a must visit suggests Matthew Steeples
Former president of Ireland Mary Robinson, Academy Award winning director of Rain Man Barry Levinson, Oscar winning actor Owen Wilson and casino and hotel boss Steve Wynn are amongst the notable collectors of the works of the rightly renowned ‘fusionist’ artist Amanda Watt.
Born in Northern Ireland in 1960 and a graduate of the Belfast College of Art and Design in 1982, here is a talented lady who has spent much of her life in California and Florida but who last night – 22nd September 2022 – opened a solo exhibition at Gallery Eight in ritzy St James’s, London. It “pays homage to the past: the multiple perspectives of cubism; the bright energy of expressionism; and the simplicity of primitivism all combine in her unique and highly recognisable style” and will remain on show in the Duke Street gallery until 8th October.
A member of the somewhat eccentric Chelsea Arts Club – whose luminaries have also variously included the late, great Dudley Sutton (best known as Tinker Dill in Lovejoy), the County Durham born poet John Armstrong, the celebrated journalist Kate Mulvey and the photographer to the stars John Stoddart – in London, Watt has participated in group exhibitions there previously and also at galleries including Clarendon Fine Art and Elizabeth James in London, Buschelen Mowart in Vancouver, Canada John Dupree in Washington DC and Lee Hamilton in Santa Monica, California.
Commenting on her current exhibition – which is titled Release and features a themed selection of acrylic works – this multi-dimensional creative remarked:
“Release is the culmination of many years’ work since returning to Northern Ireland. The process has been a huge creative release. I have been emotionally honest, and unabashedly put it all out on the canvas to be viewed.”
“Every technical and intuitive weapon in my armoury has been employed to imbue this body of work with absolute and complete authenticity. The backstories and memories attached to some of the paintings may not always be the most wholesome, but now seeing it in its entirety I believe the result is bright, bold, positive and uplifting.”
Going further and referencing a style lauded as “bold, bright and brave” and her as someone who “merges styles that inspire her, while playing with the fusion of East and West” by her publicist, Watt adds:
“I eat, sleep and dream colour. There is no ‘good colour’ or ‘bad colour’: all colour is beautiful. It’s the unique way each tone works together that determines the mood, energy and emotion of my paintings.”
Amanda Watt will be exhibiting at Gallery Eight, 8 Duke Street, London, SW1Y 6BN from 23rd September to 8th October 2022, open Monday to Saturday from 11am to 7pm. For more information see AmandaWatt.co.uk or follow on Instagram at @Amanda_Watt_Art.
Of her painting ‘Hockney’s View’ (acrylic on canvas, 100cm by 150cm) the artist comments: “I have always been a fan of David Hockney, and painting in LA at the same time as him I had many similar influences: the vibrant, sparkling colours of the sea and sky; the winding roads of the Hollywood Hills; the plush interiors of my collectors and the houses I would visit on a daily basis. ‘Hockney’s View’ encapsulates many of these aspects in a painting that I see as an homage to Hockney, but expressed in my own artistic language, encompassing my own thoughts, feelings and memories.”Watt at work – She observes: “My paintings of the female form explore the theme of relationships, whether with themselves, other characters, or with the external viewer. My women are strong, but at the same time thoughtful and somewhat reserved. Their strength manifests itself in their confident poses, strong lines, and bold colours.”Amongst the works on show is a painting titled ‘Mindfulness.’And another titled ‘Love Knows No Bounds.’
Smallest stand-alone house in Chelsea for sale for 100% more than it was offered for in 2017; there’s barely room to swing a cat
Described as “small but beautiful” by its purchaser Robin Swailes in 2017, a former gravedigger’s cottage in Britten Street, Chelsea, SW3 has gone on sale for double its last asking price.
Just 8-foot wide, but now increased in size with the addition of an undemised roof terrace to its second floor, the 290 square foot house – once dubbed by the Mirror as “London’s smallest detached house” – has been renovated by its current owner and is now described by selling agents Harding Green as “highly distinctive” and “characterful.”
With just an open plan sitting room and kitchen and a minute shower room to the ground floor, the property has a bedroom above and that’s about that.
Of it, on social media, Amit Karia sensibly concluded: “A one-bedroom house, narrower than the length of an average car… If I don’t look at the price… A great size for an Airbnb for a business trip or a quick weekend.” Responding, a lady named Lucy Armitage answered: “The world has gone completely mad.”
What on earth would the legendary Roy Brooks have made of this pad? Aside from offering up that it might “not have enough room to swing a cat,” he would no doubt have approved that the marketing agents have stuck a bottle of Dom Perignon next to some tiny bar stools. Whoever is crazy enough to part with £1.2 million will no doubt be able to glad to at least be able to neck that as they ruminate on their very, very expensive pint-sized purchase.
The Names & Numbers – 20 Britten Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 3TU, United Kingdom
September 2022 – Offered for sale for £1.2 million ($1.4 million, €1.4 million or درهم5.1 million) by Harding Green.
March 2017 – Sold for 19% above the asking price for £713,823 ($832,877, €821,921 or درهم3.1 million) to 54-year-old Robin Swailes, a businessman and director of North Oxford Property Services. Of his purchase, Mr Swailes told the Mirror: “Everyone dreams of owning a detached house in central London. It is small but beautiful and we’re going to renovate it and use it as a pied-à-terre.”
February 2017 – Offered for sale for £600,000 ($700,000, €691,000 or درهم2.6 million) by Douglas & Gordon.
Harding Green described the two-storey property with undemised roof terrace above as a “proper Chelsea gem.” They laud it having comfort cooling and electric floor heating throughout and describe it as “cleverly built” and as having a “wealth of storage space.”The staircase is lauded as “beautiful” and “winding” whilst other features are said to include LG projectors, a Bang and Olfsen sound system and a Bose sound bar that provide “a superb level audio-visual experience.” The house also has electric blinds and there is even a boiling water tap in the kitchen.A box containing a bottle of Dom Perignon has been strategically placed by the marketing agents for booze loving buyers.The only bedroom in this pint-sized property has a retractable bed that folds into the wall behind if and when space for other activities in the bedroom area is required.There is no bath tub in the house, but there is a tiny shower room that features mosaic tiling that Harding Green highlight as “enhancing the movement [with] dynamic design” – whatever that may mean.The roof terrace addition is accessed via an opening roof light. It has new balustrading, composite flooring and self-watering hedge tubs. Overlooking St Luke’s Church’s gardens, here is another spot for Dom Perignon loving sorts to indulge in a glass at the end of a day shopping on the nearby King’s Road.This floor plan illustrates how truly tiny this £1.2 million crib is. Whether it sells for such a staggering sum as Britain faces a winter of crisis remains to actually be seen.
Latest owners of sickening site of Jeffrey Epstein’s £13.2 million Palm Beach “paedo pad” seek to erase memories of what went on there with construction of a “Cape Dutch” style crib
After venture capitalist David Skok and his interior designer wife Mally purchased the cleared lot on which Jeffrey Epstein’s former Palm Beach “paedo pad” once stood in September 2021, Mr Skok subsequently commented: “One of our goals was to take something that, I think, had a very bad reputation and was a blight on the community, and do everything we could to bring that to a state of beauty and grace that really added to the town.”
The couple – who have “links to Boston and South Africa” purchased 358 El Brillo Way for £22.5 million from developer Todd Michael Glaser, who had himself bought Epstein’s 11,589 square foot “white box” abuse den in March 2021 for £13.2 million and then sent in the wrecking ball – went on to scrap Glaser’s plans for a “14,000 square foot Art Moderne mansion” and have now sought instead to build a much more modest 9,529 square foot structure on the site.
Described as being of “Cape Dutch style,” the building proposed was this week described by the Palm Beach Daily News as:
“To be built around a small courtyard, the six-bedroom house would have smooth white stucco-clad walls, a red tile roof and Flemish-style scalloped parapets. On the west side, steps would lead down to the lawn from a terrace facing a cove on the Intracoastal Waterway. The front door would front El Brillo Way, a dead-end street about a half-mile south of Worth Avenue and a mile north of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club.”
Whether the new structure will have a vast and decidedly creepy “party shower” – as Epstein had installed when he bought 358 Brillo Way in 1990 for just £1.8 million and as Ghislaine Maxwell also had in her Manchester-by-the-Sea crib (which remains on sale still) – is something that the Skoks and their representatives have yet to comment on.
Pictured top – Jeffrey Epstein and her lover Ghislaine Maxwell (left) and a rendering for the proposed replacement for the Palm Beach, Florida house where they abused so hundreds of minors (right).
The house as owned by the Ponzi scheming paedophile Epstein from 1990 until his death on 10th August 2019. It was occupied for much of that time also by his co-collaborator Maxwell and it was there that they disgustingly used and abused hundreds of innocent victims.After the evil paedophile Jeffrey Epstein died and before the house was razed to the ground, the gates of the property became prone to visits from vigilantes and graffiti artists. On one occasion, quite appropriately, a tag that read: “Gone but not forgiven” was added.On 19th April 2021, the house was visited by a wrecking ball and razed to the ground.The plot was subsequently landscaped by its developer owner before being sold on to a trust connected to David and Mally Skok for £22.5 million on 30th September 2021.The new owners instructed their architects to build what they call a “Cape Dutch style” residence. It, in fact, doesn’t differ much in its look from any McMansion, but is certainly more aesthetically pleasing than the naff and most definitely creepy crib that it is the proposed replacement for.A full rendering of the circa 1-acre site, the proposed residence and its water frontage.Ponzi scheming paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and mucky madam nonce Ghislaine Maxwell took to life to Palm Beach as there, aside from the glitz and the glamour of Worth Avenue and Mar-a-Lago, they were able to lure in young victims to sexually abuse and traffic.Replacing the wicked couple that once lived there if and once their new ‘McMansion’ is eventually constructed as residents will be David Skok and his wife Mally. The pair have lived in London, UK, Boston, USA and Plettenberg Bay, South Africa and both are successful business people in the worlds respectively of finance and interior decoration.When the FBI raided the El Brillo Way home of Epstein after his arrest in the summer of 2019, they photographed the entire property. Amongst the more bizarre features was a vast “party shower” where the twisted abuser and his sidekick Maxwell no doubt disgustingly engaged in ‘activities’ with multiple sexual partners – whether willing or not. Thankfully, with demolition complete this seen of heinous crimes has now been erased from the planet.Now reduced in price to just £6.1 million ($6.95 million, €7 million or درهم25.5 million) from £6.3 million ($7.295 million, €7.4 million or درهم26.8 million) in February this year as clearly nobody wants the former residence of a mucky madam sex trafficker, the Manchester-by-the-Sea “hideaway” that Ghislaine Maxwell (AKA ‘Mrs Scott Borgerson,’ ‘Jennifer Ellmax,’ ‘Jen Marshall,’ ‘Janet Marshall’ and just plain old ‘G’) shared with her now estranged husband since 2016 also had a “party show.” It was a little more modern than that found in Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach pad, but of it a neighbour remarked: “The house did have one unusual feature – a huge shower. It had Wi-Fi so they could control it from their phones, a steam unit, the whole nine yards. It was like a party shower. You can imagine what they got up to in there.” Clearly, shower room parties were high on the agenda of this bunch of deviants.
The Names & Numbers – 358 El Brillo Way, Palm Beach, Florida, FL 33480, United States of America
Standing on a lot of 33,000 square foot and near the terminus of the dead-end street, here is a property that will forever be associated with the wicked activities of the croaked paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his incarcerated co-collaborator mucky madam sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
The site has a history going back to the 1950s, but the new owners undoubtedly would no doubt rather forget what went on there from 1990 until 2019:
May to August 2022 – Mr and Mrs Skok’s architect Roger Janssen of Dailey Janssen Architects and landscape designer Jorge Sanchez of SMI Landscape Architecture worked and reworked designs at the request of the Palm Beach Architectural Commission.
30th September 2021 – The vacant lot is sold for £22.506 million ($25.845 million, €26.082 million or درهم94.916 million) a trust “linked to… seasonal Palm Beach residents” David and Mally Skok.
April 2021 – Offered for sale for circa £26.1 million ($30 million, €30.3 million or درهم110.2 million) on the MLS by 360 El Brillo LLC, “a limited liability company associated with developer Todd Michael Glaser.”
19th April 2021 – Demolition begins to make way for new build with Glaser giving one word in comment to the Daily News of the wrecking ball arriving. It was: “Finally.”
15th March 2021 – Sold to Miami property developer Todd Michael Glaser for £13.2 million ($18.5 million, €15.3 million or درهم67.9 million).
July 2020 – Listed for sale for £15.726 million ($21.995 million, €18.227 million or درهم80.777 million) by Kerry Warwick of The Corcoran Group. The property was described as standing on a lot of 36,050 square feet and featured a 14,223 square foot “white box” structure with 6 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms and a 3-car garage.
August 2019 – 12 News reported that the gates to the house had been vandalised by someone who tagged them “@Leroy” in large red letters.
2011 – Ownership transferred by Epstein from his name to an entity named Laurel Inc., a company registered in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
1990 – Sold to Jeffrey Epstein for £1.8 million ($2.5 million, €2.1 million or درهم9.2 million) and “significantly remodeled.”
1952 – Built to the designs of Austrian born John L. Volk (1901 – 1984) “in West Indies-style architecture.”
The “Paedo Pad” As Was…
Referenced in April 2021 as a “pleasure palace” by the Mirror’s United States editor Christopher Bucktin, 358 El Brillo Way was where Epstein and Maxwell “abused dozens of girls.”
Prince Andrew is said to have “allegedly spent weeks” there “surrounded by topless teens” and guests got to see walls “adorned with pictures of naked girls” and cupboards “stocked with sex toys.”
Estate agent Lawrence Moens commented: “I only got involved in the sale to ensure it would be wiped off the map” whilst a neighbour added after the “grotesque” structure’s demolition: “Thank God it’s gone.”
Pictures below, taken after the FBI’s 2019 raid, illustrate amongst other things rooms where the mucky madam and her sidekick entertained, massage tables used for abuse and the very house manuals, address books and message books which this gruesome duo used during their interactions with the powerful and the privileged and those that they used and abused.
As government of Gibraltar auctions a seized £65 million oligarch superyacht with interiors by Jeffrey Epstein’s favourite designer to ‘bargain seekers,’ Matthew Steeples asks: “Why haven’t other seized ‘questionable assets’ been sold off already?”
On Tuesday in Gibraltar, the first sale of a superyacht seized from a Russian oligarch is likely to be hammered down when the government there flogs it at auction after it was detained when it docked there in March this year. It is estimated to be worth circa £65 million ($76.9 million, €76.6 million or درهم282.4 million), but may well sell for much less.
Of the gin palace, whilst Dunya Yachts laud it as “universally acclaimed” and “widely acknowledged as the finest yacht to ever come out of Turkey,” others mock it is as “Jeffrey Epstein naff” given its interiors were originally designed by the since croaked paedophile’s favourite designer’s Alberto Pinto (1943 – 2012) eponymous firm.
Having echoes of bad taste that would undoubtedly appeal to Epstein’s big bottomed boat loving mate Lord Mandelson – a chap known for bringing together George Osborne, Nat Rothschild and Oleg Deripaska on a £127 million ($150 million, €149 million or درهم551 million) 238-foot long tub off Corfu in August 2008 – also, Axioma sleeps upto 12 in 6 cabins with a crew of upto 20 individuals. It has been described by ‘Alex The Yacht Guy’ on his YouTube channel as “one of the most chartered yachts in the industry” and has been priced out from around £75,000 per night ($88,700, €88,400 or درهم326,000 per night) upwards.
Decorated to have a “beach house-style interior” according to the text of an undated marketing brochure for it prior to the exterior being part repainted in a curious-to-garish shade of baby blue, the 5 deck vessel also has a gallery, a main salon, a 14 seat dining room with Versace china and glassware, an 8 person 3D cinema, an infinity swimming pool, an alfresco dining area for upto 16, a Jacuzzi with a bar, open air and indoor gyms, a massage room, a steam room and a sun deck.
Accompanying also is a ‘chase boat and limousine tender’ capable of 40 knots, two further tenders and water toys including kayaks, wakeboards, 2 Sea-Doos and a Yamaha WaveRunner.
Offering caution about the condition of the vessel, Howe Robinson Partners state of Axioma in their marketing material: “[This is marketing material] a general overview and without guarantee and is left to buyers to form their own impression during inspection.”
Curiously, as reported this morning by The Guardian’s Rupert Neate, proceeds from the sale will benefit JP Morgan rather than the people of Ukraine as the US investment bank is owed £17 million ($20.1 million, €20 million or درهم73.9 million) by Pumpyansky – a billionaire whose worth has previously been estimated as high as £1.84 billion ($2.18 billion, €2.17 billion or درهم8 billion).
“Pumpyansky [is] a shareholder of Pyrene Investments… [They] took a loan with JP Morgan Chase & Co… [but] Pumpyansky’s involvement with Pyrene Investments breaches the loan agreement. Pyrene Investments is owned by Furdberg Holding of Cyprus and, at the time of the loan agreement, Pumpyansky was the sole shareholder.”
“As Pumpyansky was on the sanction list his assets were frozen and it was illegal for the bank to accept any repayments from him. With his superyacht Axioma seized in Gibraltar, JPMorgan Chase & Co. pursued an opportunity to see a return on their investment.”
Of interest in the sale, Nigel Hollyer, the broker to the Admirality Marshal of the Supreme Court of Gibraltar, told The Guardian that “more than 30 people had flown to inspect the yacht in person.” He added:
“[There has been an] unexpected late surge by prospective buyers. They are people from across the world. They are people who own or have owned boats of similar size, and have been attracted to this boat because of the judicial sale process – they are convinced they’re going to get a bargain.”
To date, Axioma has counted Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and Kim Kardashian’s half-sister Kendall Jenner as noted names who have spent time onboard. Who’ll be next is unknown, but one thing’s for sure – it most certainly is as unlikely to be Putin’s apologist Bernie Ecclestone – who faces his first court hearing in London on Monday coming over an alleged £400 million ($473 million, €471 million or درهم1.7 billion) fraud – as any other rotten Russian oligarch.
Today, given the noted previous enthusiasm of the likes of likely next Prime Minister Liz Truss for grabbing the ill-gotten gains of Russian oligarchs, isn’t it now time that some more of the seized boats and buildings in London, Lake Como and beyond belonging to these people were put up for sale? Equally, isn’t it time that some money from such sales was actually used to help those in need in Ukraine also?
Pictured top – Dmitry Pumpyansky being awarded the 4th Degree Order ‘For Merit to the Fatherland’ on 31st July 2014 by President Vladimir Putin (left) and the Axioma superyacht formerly owned by the former in auction marketing material in August 2022.
Swanky renovated artists’ studio in ritzy South Kensington enclave for sale for just £375,000 – naturally, there’s a catch
In November 2016, The Steeple Times featured the sale of a 1,352 square foot artists’ studio behind Fulham Road favourite PJ’s when it was offered for the punchy sum of £2.7 million ($3.20 million, €3.18 million or درهم11.74 million) in spite of being in need of modernisation. Records on RightMove.com suggest it did not actually sell then and has not sold since.
Now, six years later, when you’d have thought rocketing London property prices would have meant such properties would be selling for a hell of a lot more, another studio in the ritzy enclave of Avenue Studios, SW3 is actually for sale for just £375,000 ($444,000, €441,000 or درهم1.6 million) or £460 per square foot ($545, €541 or درهم2,000 per square foot) in spite of being in excellent condition. There is, inevitably, a catch – and a rather major one.
The 814 square foot property offered is on a lease of 13 years, expiring on 12th June 2035, and is accompanied by a rent of £12,900 per year ($15,300, €15,200 or درهم56,100 per year) and a service charge of £1,448 per year ($1,714, €1,704 or درهم6,293 per year).
Any buyer, thus, will have to pay at least £186,524 ($221,000, €220,000 or درهم811,000) on top of the asking price if they opt to stay in residence until 2035, but they will get a spectacular double height living-dining-working space with an open-plan kitchen, a mezzanine bedroom, a shower room and a parking space in the heart of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Between 1850 and 1914 many artists’ studios were constructed in Kensington and Chelsea in the wake of “the pro art political climate” supported by the likes of Disraeli, Gladstone and the royal family. The first of them, ‘The Avenue’ – where the properties mentioned are situated – was built at 76 Fulham Road in 1870.
Now Grade II listed, this ‘set’ of studios has variously been the home and workplace of a number of distinguished artists including Joseph Boehm Edward Poynter, Alfred Gilbert and Philip Wilson Steer.
If you’re into the art of a bargain (that actually might not quite be such a bargain), contact agents Best Gapp. You might even, potentially, be able to follow the lead of Donald Trump and get yourself an ‘art of a deal’ at a knockdown price.
Situated on the first floor of this Victorian building, agents Best Gapp laud the space as “live-work” and a “rare opportunity… near to the excellent facilities of South Kensington and the Kings Road.”The kitchen is functional but any buyer would likely rip it out and replace with something a bit more swanky.The sleeping platform mezzanine bedroom isn’t exactly large and just 8-foot in width but does fit a double bed. There are wardrobes but those that like to shop at nearby swanky shops such as Carolina Herrera, JOSEPH and Ralph Lauren might be rather disappointed at their size.The shower room is functional and certainly far more chi-chi than the basic facilities that were probably present when actual artists lived in this space.The high-ceilinged space is bright and airy and ideal for a bachelor or bachelorette. As to whether an upcoming artist could actually afford it, that seems unlikely but if someone with the wealth of Tracey Emin is looking for a crash pad in Chelsea, this could be an ideal spot given it is especially close to inspirational locations including the Victoria & Albert Museum.The exterior of the property offered is not exactly awe inspiring in its beauty.The floor plan of the 814 square foot Sydney Close studio shows the expansive size of the 22’3” by 21’10” main area. The agents specify it as providing “sitting areas” and “dining areas” rather than actually lauding it as suitable for artistic creations.
Once planned as an ‘Island of Hope’ for detoxing drug addicts, derelict Bull Sand Fort in the Humber Estuary sells at auction for 880% above its £50,000 guide price
The British get into a tizzy about islands and castles and when Bull Sand Fort in the Humber Estuary, near Hull was placed on the market recently it was inevitable that its £50,000 ($60,100, €58,700 or درهم220,600) guide price was going to attract the usual dreamers and wannabe Grand Designers.
Just as with the sale of McDermott’s Island – featured in The Steeple Times in November 2018 when offered for sale at £79,000 ($94,900, €92,700 or درهم348,500) and still one of our most repeatedly opened articles to this day – interest in this kind of property clearly ignites the passions of the public.
Described as being in “need of refurbishment” but with “potential for development and alternative uses,” here is a structure that could be turned into a destination hotel, Bond villain type lair or even a truly unusual Airbnb. When it came on the market, “bemused locals” are said to have “jokingly asked: ‘Do Tesco deliver?’”McDermott’s Island at the southeastern end of Lough Key, near Boyle in County Roscommon proved very popular with readers of ‘The Steeple Times’ in spite of the castle there being in a very “perilous state.” Associated with the Legend of Una Bhan – the tragic story of a girl who fell in love with the son of the clan chief owner of the island – McDermott’s Island also featured in the works of W. B. Yeats and was visited by Sir Bob Geldoff when he made a BBC film titled ‘A Fanatic Heart’ about the Irish poet in 2016. It was previously used for the Sky One sitcom ‘Moone Boy’ starring Steve Coogan and Johnny Vegas in 2014.
Built between 1915 and 1919 with the intention of being used in the First World War but not actually put into actual operation until the Second World War, the now Grade II listed sea fort offered for sale was one of two fortifications intended to protect the strategically important ports of Hull and Grimsby from German submarines.
Originally “featuring 12-inches of armour designed to withstand gunfire from naval units,” according to the selling agents Savills, “during World War II, it was armed, besides the usual small and rapid-fire weapons, by two 6-inch guns and two 6-pounder guns. It had sufficient accommodation for a garrison of 200 men… The fort was decommissioned in 1956.”
Going further, they add: “The fort includes 3 floors with basement and magazine below sea level, and central 2-storey observation tower. Fresh water supply is available at the fort via an artesian well. Externally there is a balcony and jetty.”
Sold in 1997 to the since defunct Streetwise Charitable Trust – who intended to turn it into an ‘Island of Hope’ for detoxing drug addicts – Bull Sand Fort is of 4-storeys and the larger of the two structures. It is said to have been constructed with “great difficulty as its sandbank is 11-feet below water.”
In spite of being a rotting hunk of concrete that is 1.5 miles from dry land and only accessible by boat, Bull Sand Fort knocked down at auction yesterday for £490,000 ($588,500, €575,000 or درهم2.2 million) or 880% above the guide price by Savills.
The smaller of the two forts, Haile Sand Fort – also known as Sand Haile Fort – sold for £117,000 ($140,500, €137,300 or درهم516,000) at auction in October 2018 to a “mysterious buyer” on a guide price of £90,000 ($108,100, €105,600 or درهم397,000). It appeared in an article in GrimsbyLive this year and photographs indicated that though it appears in a better condition than Bull Sand Fort, it is still to be redeveloped.
Of the property, Steven Morish of Savills told the BBC that it was an “exciting and unique lot” and added it could be “a high-end hotel, restaurant, ‘Grand Designs’ style personal dwelling, retreat or a tourist attraction.” Honorary research fellow at the Blaydes Maritime Centre at the University of Hull Dr Robb Robinson mockingly responded: “The building would be a bit ‘short on mod cons and a bit bracing’ for anyone to live there. ‘If somebody can up with something interesting to do with it, that would be fantastic,’ he added.”During the Second World War a steel mesh was stretched between the two structures and across the mouth of the estuary to prevent enemy submarines getting to the strategically important ports of Hull and Grimsby. Now, perhaps, given his liking for warring and the fact that the country likes him out of sight, maybe the buyer could let Boris Johnson and his puppet mistress move in. They’d be far enough out to see, after all, to stop annoying the nation whilst allowing them to blast out ABBA whilst only annoying seagulls.The Streetwise Charitable Trust planned to rename the construction the ‘Island of Hope’ and had a working name of ‘Detox UK.’ They intended to provide “purposeful front-line help to people blighted by unrelenting addiction who have reached a critical point to recover from alcohol and substance abuse.” They added that they intended “to provide a free, safe and secure medical detox facility on a World War One island fort located in the River Humber estuary for 30 days.” They are now listed as a “removed charity” and the future of this very unusual structure is now in the hands of whoever paid 880% above its guide price yesterday.
“Stately home in miniature” Poston Court could become the most expensive small country estate ever sold in Herefordshire; is it worth £10.5 million?
In 2012, when the late Shane Warne and his then lover Elizabeth Hurley paid £6 million for a manor house with 187 acres in Herefordshire it was lauded as “one of the most expensive houses ever sold” in that county.
Now, with the launch to the market of the 266-acre Poston Court Estate – situated near Britain’s best known ‘Book Town,’ Hay-on-Wye – at a staggering price of £10.5 million, a new record will be achieved for what is considered a “small country estate.”
Situated in a parish in which Lewis Carroll’s younger brother, the Reverend Skeffington Hume Dodgson, was vicar from 1895 to 1910, Grade II* listed, 4,362 square foot Poston House at Vowchurch overlooks the Golden Valley, the Black Mountains and the Forest of Dean. It is described as enjoying “some of the finest views in England” and is 139 miles from London and 48 miles from Cardiff.
Renovated by subsequent recent owners and most recently the subject of “a glamorous reinvention by [the] designer Francis Sultana,” according to a December 2021 feature in House & Garden, this “stately home in miniature” was originally a shooting lodge and includes amongst other things 4 reception rooms, 3 bedroom suites and a media room.
In addition, there is a 2,606 square foot secondary residence, Poston Lodge, with a further 3 bedroom suites, a 1,831 square foot 4 bedroom cottage, a studio office with a wet bar and a 1,885 square foot orangery with a swimming pool. Outbuildings number barns and garaging and in addition there is a tennis court, parkland originally laid out by King George III’s master gardener Sir Thomas Robinson, woodland and the “the space and topography” to create a small shoot.
The front elevation of the Grade II* listed main residence on the estate.Viewed from the rear.An aerial shot shows Poston House and its ancillary residences and outbuildings.Liz Hurley and Shane Warne paid £6 million for Donnington Hall in September 2012. Her life at the 13-bedroom Georgian house set in 187 acres has attracted press attention in the time since and in October 2021, Hurley angered neighbours by leaving the estate “looking like a battlefield” after felling dozens of trees. In 2013, the dopey diva complained that “noisy sheep were keeping her awake.”The wall mount to Sir Edward Boughton, Bart. (1794 – 1794) in St Bartholomew’s Church, Vowchurch remarks of him: “He was a man of clear discrimination, of sound judgment, of unshaken fidelity in his friendships and of inviolable honours and integrity.”
The Names & Numbers – Poston Court (Also known as Poston House), Vowchurch, Hereford, Herefordshire, HR2 0RJ, United Kingdom
June 2022 – Offered for sale for £10.5 million ($13.2 million, €12.3 million or درهم48.5 million) through Knight Frank with 266.23 acres.
2015 – Sold to a “British couple, who have led a fairly international life but, six years ago, were looking for a quiet place in the English countryside. They previously had a far larger country house, but came to realise that it did not reflect the way they wanted to live. ‘Most of the house was never used – there were rooms I wouldn’t go into for weeks at a time,’ Poston’s current chatelaine recalls. ‘But when we saw this, it ticked every single box for us,’” according to House & Garden.
September 2013 – Offered for sale for £3.5 million ($4.4 million, €4.1 million or درهم16.2 million) through Strutt & Parker and Carter Jonas with 223.5 acres.
May 2009 – Offered for sale for £4.25 million ($5.35 million, €4.99 million or درهم19.63 million) through Andrew Grant with 270 acres on behalf of Mr and Mrs Ludwig.
1999 – Sold to Stephan Ludwig, owner of Dreweatt Neate Fine Art, and his wife Emily.
1988 – Bought and restored with the assistance of the architect and Liberal policitian Philip Jebb by Esmond Bulmer of the Bulmers cider making family. Of the property at this time, the “viper wit” art historian Sir Roy Strong CH, FRSL remarked: “In the evening went to dinner with Esmond and Susie Bulmer at Poston. The house was a hunting lodge by Sir William Chambers but transformed by them into a hilltop Trianon with panoramic views over the Herefordshire landscape” in his 2016 book Scenes and Apparitions: The Roy Strong Diaries, 1988 – 2003.
1960s – Sold to a local farmer and “thereafter went into rapid decline,” according to Country Life magazine. House & Garden point that it “had hens nesting in its central rotunda dining room.”
1890 – Two wings attached to east and west.
1882 – Altered and extended.
1794 – Sir Edward Boughton, Bt. dies aged 52 and subsequently the property passes subsequently to his various descendants. A wall monument in St Bartholomew’s Church, Vowchurch remarks of him: “He was a man of clear discrimination, of sound judgment, of unshaken fidelity in his friendships and of inviolable honours and integrity.”
1765 – Built as a Georgian ‘casino’ (Italian for “small house” rather than a gambling reference) or ‘round house’ by the Swedish-Scottish architect Sir William Chambers RA – whose best-known works are Somerset House in London and Kew Gardens in Richmond upon Thames – for Sir Edward Boughton, Bt. (1742 – 1794).
Around this time also, Sir Thomas Robinson, master gardener to King George III, laid out the estate’s grounds with “many of the magnificent trees seen here today,” according to Knight Frank.
Sir Edward became the 8th Baronet Lawford in 1780 following the murder of a distant cousin, Sir Theodosius Boughton, Bt. (1760 – 1780) of Lawford Hall, Warwickshire who was poisoned days after his 21st birthday by his brother-in-law Captain ‘Diamond’ Donellan – whose wife would have inherited if he had died before he was 21. It was a famous case of its time and ultimately Donellan was executed in 1781 for his murder.
1749 – The manor of Poston is sold by the trustees of the 5th Duke of Beaufort to the Boughton family.
1635 – “Henry Earl of Worcester paid £400 (the equivalent of £62,000 today or $78,000, €73,000 or درهم286,000) for the house, which remained in the hands of the Somerset family, Dukes of Beaufort.”
1522 – “It passed to the Parry family, who were granted a licence to enclose the deer park.”
1227 – “Ralph Scudamore, the benefactor of Dore Abbey, had a fortified house here,” according to Country Life.
Poston House
The drawing room of the house is decorated in “germolene with a bit of lilac” say the current owners.The circular dining room is situated in the building’s central rotunda. Of it ‘House & Garden’ comment: “The aforementioned rotunda dining room retains some of the relics of the Bulmer period and is rich in original, as well as contemporary, references to the building’s 18th-century origins. These include three grisaille panels showing the Sacrifice to Pomona, painted by Esmond’s son Edward and recently restored. Edward, himself an interior designer and historic paint specialist, also designed two console tables, their Vitruvian scroll detailing now repeated in the edge of the circular Mattia Bonetti rug. Surrounding the magnificent ‘Three Graces’ dining table, also by Mattia, is a set of antique black klismos chairs bought in Paris.”The handmade kitchen is by a firm named Martin Moore.Previously an additional bedroom, a circular room in the basement has been converted into a media room.The primary bedroom suite is decorated in a ritzy fashion in de Gournay silk wallcoverings.There are two additional bedroom suites in the main house; they wouldn’t look out of place in a fashionable country house hotel.
Poston Lodge
The “miniature stately home” also has space for guests, staff and relatives. Amongst the accommodation is a lodge house with 3 bedroom suites named Poston Lodge.It has been decorated similarly to the main house and includes a sitting room.The kitchen has an AGA.One of three bedrooms.
Outbuildings, Offices, Orangery and Swimming Pool
A courtyard of outbuildings has been partially converted and offers potential for further accommodation.Beyond a terrace at Poston Court is an orangery building that houses a swimming pool.The swimming pool measures 32’8” by 13’5” itself.A studio office building extends to 604 square foot.
Grounds
The tennis court is ready for a budding Emma Raducanu and has been resurfaced and fenced.Over 1,000 tonnes of soil has been brought in to restore the formal parkland’s slopes.The views across unspoilt countryside are spectacular.The entrance to the estate is relatively modest and gives little away as to the £10.5 million property that it leads to.An aerial shot of the house illustrates its proximity to an especially unsightly telecommunications mast. The agents hail it as a benefit and state that its “electricity supply [is] on priority service level due to emergency services located on [the] mast.” Other elements of the infrastructure on the property include CCTV, two boreholes and an A/C saltwater treatment plant for the swimming pool.A plan of the compact 266 acre estate.
Matthew Steeples talks to Martin Ellis Jones of Hetherington Hats about the return of the ‘topper’ as real-life drama returns to Royal Ascot in June 2022
This morning came sad news for racing fans everywhere with the death of ‘The Long Fellow’ Lester Piggott at the age of 86. Relatively tall compared to other jockeys and a trainer from 1985 onwards, this racing great was more recently found trackside at the Epsom Derby or Royal Ascot resplendent in a top hat.
Turning to the topic of such formal headwear, at lunch in the “secret garden” that is Stanley’s in Chelsea recently, the go-to-expert in ‘toppers’ that is Martin Ellis Jones of Hetherington Hats told of how hard it has been with firstly a year of cancelled and then a year of closed racing at the spectacular Royal Meeting.
In a “normal year,” Hetherington Hats sells around 100 top hats to racegoing customers with a penchant for the finest vintage to wear to Royal Ascot – amongst them the “lovely” singer Damon Albarn and Doctor Who and The Crown actor Matt Smith. For two years now, Ellis Jones has seen business down by £1 million but “looks forward to the return of his most wonderful customers” for 2022’s four-day event.
Describing his emporium as the “last stop for the curious” given the array of silk and even beaver fur hats on offer at his premises, Ellis Jones surprisingly adds that his clients have never been Russians and are, in fact, mainly those seeking “wonderful shapes in mint condition at sensible prices, all sizes.”
Pictured top – The late, great Lester Piggott (left), top hats from Hetherington Hats (centre) and Martin Ellis Jones (right).
A Question of Hats with Martin Ellis Jones
MS: “What is the oldest and most expensive top hat you’ve sold?”
MEJ: “I sold a hat made in 1825 to Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud’s representatives for £12,000. They also bought another for £8,000.”
MS: “What is the most fascinating hat story you can share?”
MEJ: “I once sold a pink top hat – yes, entirely pink in colour. It had been made in America for the then Prince of Wales in 1868.”
MS: “What is the best value hat you’ve sold?”
MEJ: “Compared to his wealth, the Aga Khan. I sold him a hat for £1,200 at Royal Ascot because he’d left his in his helicopter and it had already departed. It thus ensured his arrival went ahead unhindered.”
MS: “Who has been your favourite customer to date?”
MEJ: “George Goring of The Goring Hotel and Brian May, co-founder of rock band Queen. He stayed 2.5 hours and was so utterly charming.”
“Once also, the Swiss ambassador came to visit. He yodeled and so I gave him a free hat.”
MS: “And who been your least favourite?”
MEJ: “The singer Adele. She kept looking at her wrist watch and seemed like she had no interest in anything other than leaving.”
A top hat (also called a high hat, a beaver hat, a silk hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men that now mostly is worn at Royal Ascot, The Derby and weddings. Associated also with hat tricks and stage magic costumes, here is an item of traditional formal wear that Hetherington Hats offer for both sale and hire.“The last stop for the curious” is the strapline of Hetherington Hats and in 2007, the firm reported: “Our latest creation to gain prime time television coverage was a champagne silk top hat, which was provided at the request of Mel C of the Spice Girls. The hat was created as a one-off special for Mel C’s performance with the rest of the Spice Girls on the top rated prime time Strictly Come Dancing’s ‘Grand Finale’ show which was screened on 21st December, 2007. We made the hat in a week.”
