Category: OPULENCE & SPLENDOUR

Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible originally owned by the Emir of Qatar to be auctioned

The late Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (1995 – 2013), seized power in a bloodless palace coup d’état in 1995 and transformed his country into the richest country in the world per capita. He had three wives and twenty-four children and in 1984 purchased a Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible to use when in London. That car was sold on in 2005 and is now to be auctioned.

Presented in Royal Blue with magnolia leathr piped blue, the car has covered 13,756 miles and has recently been serviced at a cost of £6,000. It has a 6.75-litre V8 engine and given its weight is capable of “wafting” from 0-60 mph in 9.8 seconds.

Silverstone Auctions will sell the car with an estimate of £100,000 to £120,000 ($124,000 to $149,000, €112,000 to €135,000 or درهم‎‎,455,000 to درهم‎‎,546,000) as part of their NEC Classic Motor Show Sale in Birmingham on 12^th and 13^th November.

One bedroom flat in SW3 on offer for a price that will surprise

When one thinks of one bedroom flats, one doesn’t generally expect them to be especially pricey. Agents Russell Simpson, however, are currently selling one in Cadogan Gardens, SW3 and it comes complete with a staggering asking price of £3.25 million ($4.1 million or €3.7 million or درهم‎‎,14.9 million).

Admittedly the 1,260 square foot ground floor apartment on offer is lavishly decorated, situated on the borders of Belgravia, Chelsea and Knightsbridge and has its own front door, but it is still ultimately just a one bedroom flat.

Thanks to George Osborne, at the asking price, the buyer will also have pay £303,750 in Stamp Duty at an effective rate of 9.3% if the apartment is to be used as a primary residence or £401,250 at an effective rate of 12.3% if it is to be a second home or used as a buy-to-let.

Chelsea artists’ studio offered for sale; most artists will be unable to afford it

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 set of purpose-built flatted studios in Chelsea was built at 76 Fulham Road in 1870. It was named ‘The Avenue’ and now one property there is for sale for £2.7 million ($3.4 million or €3 million or درهم‎‎,12.4 million) – a figure far out of the reach of the majority of artists.

The Grade II listed set of studios at ‘The Avenue’ has variously been the home and workplace of a number of distinguished artists. Amongst them have been Joseph Boehm Edward Poynter, Alfred Gilbert, Philip Wilson Steer and now a buyer has the opportunity to buy what is described as an “impressive, unmodernised, mixed residential and artists’ studio” space that extends to 1,352 square foot. It is offered by Best Gapp and comes complete with a large studio room, a kitchen, cloakroom, two bedrooms, a bathroom and parking for one car in Sydney Mews.

New York penthouse being marketed on its prized Manhattanite 212 area code and Fifth Avenue address

Just as has occurred in London’s Mayfair, “dusty” office buildings in New York are being turned into luxury apartments. For many years, according to The New York Times, a “neo-Gothic tower” at 212 Fifth Avenue in the ‘NoMad’ area sat “mostly empty” but now “the veil [has been] lifted” and it has been turned into a 48-unit residential condominium.

This week, the building’s best apartment – boldly described as “Manhattan’s rarest and most dazzling gem” and named ‘The Crown Penthouse’ – has been launched to the market at a price of £55.9 million ($68.5 million or €62.3 million). It features 10,079 square foot of accommodation on the 22^nd, 23^rd and 24^th floors and comes with 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and two amazing roof spaces with an outdoor pool that total 5,730 square foot.

Of the triplex, Shlomi Reuveni, managing director of selling agents TOWN Residential, told Luxury Listings NYC:

“It is the ultimate New York address. You can’t make that up. It has incredible appeal to it. I can’t say that people buy because of the address, but it adds a certain cache”.

Common charges are listed at £15,782 ($19,344 or €17,599) and monthly taxes don’t come in cheap either at £17,619 ($21,596 or €19,646).

Britain’s strangest house goes on sale for £10 million; it coincides perfectly with Halloween and you’d expect to find it in Switzerland rather than Hampton Court

Previously offered for £13 million ($15.8 million or €14.4 million) and now reduced to £10 million ($12.2 million or €11.1 million), The Chalet at what its selling agents Cluttons describe as ‘Hampton Riviera’ (public authorities list it less grandly as ‘East Molesey’) is undoubtedly the weirdest private residence in Britain.

Owned by an eccentric architect since 2012, The Chalet was imported to Britain in 1882 and is a Grade II listed building.

Previously used as a restaurant, the current owner set about converting the 8,000 square foot building into a five floor, four bedroom home but he did not take a conventional approach. He raised the building above the floodplain in 2014 and created a residence that has everything from an indoor 69-foot man-made beach with 40 tonnes of sand, a Roman bath with a door from a submarine, a 1,600 bottle wine cellar, a dining room with Swarovski crystal automated doors and an 18 seat Swarovski crystal clear table and a £500,000 ($610,000 or €555,000) kitchen with five Gaggenau fridges.

The somewhat vulgarly designed house allegedly cost £4.7 million ($5.7 million or €5.2 million) to renovate in total and comes with 606 foot of mooring and parking for upto 20 cars. A vast floating swimming pool is currently under construction to the riverside elevation of the property.

Only one question springs to mind: “Who on earth would want it?”

Fiat 500L bought as a gift for Samantha Cameron by her husband to be auctioned

David Cameron took the stupidest gamble of his life – and wrecked our country in the process – when he announced his decision to allow the British public to vote on whether to leave or remain in the UK. He made an equally dim decision when he sold a Fiat 500L he bought for his wife in 1998 and kept until 2005 for just £1,000 given that car is now for sale with a much increased guide of £18,000 to £22,000.

The white 1972 car – registration ‘DUE 662K’ – was purchased by the now former Prime Minister as a surprise birthday present and has covered 15,000 miles since new. It was sold to a taxi driver, Tim Ashby, who had collected the Camerons from RAF Fairford. He spotted the “rather neglected” car in their driveway and offered to buy it.

The Fiat was subject to a refurbishment in 2011 and is to be sold by Silverstone Auctions at their 12^th and 13^th November NEC Classic Motor Show sale.

Northern country house for sale for £700,000 more than it sold for a year ago in spite of Brexit market decline

The Higginson family put Hay Carr, a stunning Lancashire estate, on the market in late 2014 for £4.25 million ($5.2 million or €4.7 million) and sold it shortly thereafter.

The new owner, for reasons unspecified, has chosen to not stay long and has now placed the 55-acre estate for sale with Savills for £4.95 million ($6 million or €5.5 million)– £700,000 ($852,000 or €780,000) more than the 2014 asking price.

We suggest this punchy increase is unlikely to be achieved given that the much busier London super-prime market is down 86% post Brexit.

BHDR market one of New York’s most impressive apartments; the price is staggering and the now deceased owner was one of Wall Street’s largest 1980s characters

Top New York realty and development firm Bahadiring Realty are amongst a group of agents to be marketing one of Fifth Avenue’s largest and most striking apartments for the sum of £78.6 million ($96 million or €88 million).

Previously on with Brown Harris Stevens for £98.3 million ($120 million or €110 million) and within a Rosario Candela designed building built in 1932, Apartment 7/8A at 834 Fifth Avenue consists of over 12,000 square foot of accommodation on the building’s seventh and eight floors. It has a frontage of 100 foot to Central Park and came to the market first in April this year following the death of its owner, the former Salomon Brothers CEO John Gutfreund in March.

Owned by Mr Gutfreund (1929 – 2016) and his second wife Susan since the 1980s, the Upper East Side co-op apartment has not only a 50-foot long living room with two fireplaces but also a total of 4 bedrooms – including a 1,600 square foot master suite – and such amenities as a smoking room with wet bar and a butler’s pantry with a felt-lined, walk-in steel safe for storing silver.

Other impressive features include a grand entrance hall with a marble staircase and 24-foot ceiling heights, staff quarters and a wine cellar. Mrs Gutfeund, The Wall Street Journal reported, is selling “because the apartment is too large for one person”.

Of the sprawling Henri Samuel designed 22 room, 9 bathroom property, Emir Bahadir of BHDR remarked:

“This is Fifth Avenue’s most pedigreed building. This apartment is flooded with sun and light from all directions and has been decorated by the French designer Henri Samuel. No expense ha been created to create an architectural masterpiece”.

Mr Gutfeund featured prominently in the 1980s Wall Street classic Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis, one of his former employees. Of it, he is said to have commented: “Your fucking book destroyed my career, and it made yours”.

Other past and current residents of 834 Fifth Avenue have included Elizabeth Arden, Rupert Murdoch, Laurence Rockefeller, Charles R. Schwab and Alfred Taubman.