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.
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.
Duplex in a New York hotel that’s never been an actual hotel for sale for £1.1 million; Hotel Des Artistes has been home to everyone from Sir Noël Coward and Isadora Duncan to Gary Oldman and Rudolph Valentino
A one-bedroom apartment in New York’s renowned Upper West Side cooperative, the Hotel Des Artistes, has gone on sale for £1.1 million ($1.35 million, €1.3 million or درهم5 million).
Never actually a hotel, but instead conceived in 1914 as a space with 10 stories dedicated to artists’ studios and the rest as residences, the building was transformed into an apartment building in the 1970s. Aside from attracting many well-known residents – amongst them Ozark star Richard Thomas and J.P. Morgan heir Harry Crosby – the property was inspirational to the 1977 psychological horror drama Audrey Rose.
Unit 608, which is situated on the 9th and 10th floors of a 17-story, 119-unit building located at 1 West 67th Street, centres around a large living room with 18’10” beamed ceilings. Along with hardwood flooring, oak woodwork, there is a separate dining room, small kitchen, a galleried office, a bedroom and a bathroom.
Residents of the cooperative have access to a full-time concierge, a swimming pool, a squash court with a basketball hoop, a gym and a landscaped roof terrace. In addition, discounted rates and room service are available from the building’s well thought of ground floor Italian restaurant – The Leopard at des Artistes.
Speaking of the Hotel des Artistes, a “current resident” told Boo York City:
“It’s definitely one of the best apartment blocks in the city. The wonderful thing about these double-height apartments is the total sense of freedom, graciousness, space and light.”
“The building itself has such an eccentric, rich history because of the amazing people who have lived here. There are artists who’ve been here for 40 or 50 years, people who’ve raised their kids here, and apartments that have been in the same family for 70 years.”
Past residents of this Gothic style building that was originally intended for artists have included Sir Noël Coward and Gary Oldman. Other well-known faces who’ve variously lived there have numbered the dancer Isadora Duncan and the painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell.
Some Of The Many Famous Faces Who Have Lived In 1 West 67th Street
Completed in 1917, this ornate building is near to the western side of Central Park and was designed by the “esteemed architect” George Mort Pollard. Its Neo-Gothic style includes decorative statuary and gargoyles on its façade that “represent the arts.”
Renovated and reconfigured in 1979 by Judith Stockman and designated a New York City Landmark, the structure has been home to many writers, artists and politicians – amongst them:
Artist and creator of “the calendar girl” Rolf Armstrong.
Author and Jaws creator Peter Benchley.
Artist and “Christy girl” creator Howard Chandler Christie – who painted murals for the building’s restaurant.
Writer, bon vivant and J.P. Morgan heir Harry Crosby – who killed himself and his mistress in the building in 1929.
Acclaimed dancer Isadora Duncan.
Illustrator and “Gibson girl” creator Charles Dana Gibson.
Academy Award winning actor and Cabaret star Joel Grey.
Politician and regular guest host of Good Morning America Peter Lindsay.
Danish ballet dancer and choreographer Peter Martins.
Artist and Uncle Sam poster creator James Montgomery Flagg.
Renowned actor and Darkest Hour star Gary Oldman.
International jetsetter and Simca automobile heir Jean ‘Johnny’ Pigozzi – whose 7,652 square foot triplex in the building sold for circa £9.6 million ($11.9 million, €11.4 million or درهم7 million) in April 2019 against a far more punchy orginal asking price of £15.3 million ($19 million, €18.2 million or درهم69.8 million).
Prolific painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell.
Socialite and Vogue editor Gloria Schiff.
Emmy Award winning actor and The Waltons and Ozark star Richard Thomas.
Italian actor, silent screen star and sex symbol of the 1920s – nicknamed ‘The Latin Lover’ – Rudolph Valentino.
Apartment #608, Hotel Des Artistes, 1 West 67th Street, Upper West Side, Manhattan New York, NYC 10023, United States of America
The Communal Areas of Hotel Des Artistes and The Leopard Restaurant
Duplex in ritzy Upper East Side co-op where Jeffrey Epstein besties Glenn and Eva Dubin live slashed in price by millions; who’d want them as neighbours given their links to the mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell are about to be unsealed?
Documents relating to billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist Glenn Dubin and his allegedly racy one-time Ford Model wife Dr. Eva Andersson-Dubin will shortly be unsealed in a lawsuit filed against the now convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
Dubin has been described as a “friend” who “liked vacationing” with the croaked Ponzi schemer and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
His now wife dated Epstein from 1983 to circa 1991 and allegedly and most creepily, the late paedophile “wanted to marry” the couple’s teenage daughter Celina.
Supposed memory loss sufferer Andersson-Dubin has denied suggestions that she participated in group sex and gave evidence at mucky madam Miss Maxwell’s trial in December 2021.
A 14-room duplex in the Upper East Side apartment block where the Dubins live has had its price slashed by 16% to £21.2 million after exactly a year on the market leading to a realtor asking: “Who’d want to live next door to such people?”
An apartment in the tony block that is also home to Jeffrey Epstein’s former besties financier 65-year-old Glenn Dubin and his 61-year-old former Miss Sweden wife Dr. Eva Andersson-Dubin has had its price slashed by 16%.
Dr. Andersson-Dubin – who “dated Epstein for years before she and [Glenn] Dubin married in 1994,” continued to holiday and jet around with the sex offender thereafter and whom wrote to Epstein’s probation officer to shockingly confirm she was “100% comfortable with [him] around my children” – was described during Ghislaine Maxwell’s December 2021 trial as “among [Epstein’s] most loyal confidantes” by The Daily Beast.
During her time on the stand, Andersson-Dubin claimed she did not recall ever meeting a victim referred to as “Jane” and went as far as to claim that Epstein “adored” her family. Asked if she had been party to sexual encounters with “Jane,” her answer was said to be a “firm” reply of “absolutely not.”
In a development, reported last week by Haven Orecchio-Egresitz for Insider, it was revealed:
“U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska had ruled that documents involving the Dubins and their former house manager Rinaldo Rizzo will be released.”
“The Dubins didn’t oppose the release of the documents, other than one part of the transcript that Preska said had a typographical error. That document will remain sealed, Preska said.”
“This lawsuit was settled in 2017, but Giuffre – who accused Epstein and Maxwell of sex trafficking her – had fought for years to have material from it unsealed. Maxwell initially opposed the unsealing, but now takes no stance. The Miami Herald is also among the parties fighting for the documents to be made public.”
The couple, who continued to associate and socialise with Epstein in the years after his 2008 conviction, purchased unit 15A at 1040 Fifth Avenue on 20th September 1996 for £23.6 million – which at the time was a “record for the building” according to Observer. That top trumps figure was surpassed in August 2016 when Thomas Lehrman and his wife Marjorie sold their “eleven-room spread” for £25 million to a limited liability company connected to the James S. Tisch, a member of the billionaire family connected to Loews Corporation.
Marketed by Serena Boardman of Sotheby’s International Realty, apartment #910C, 1040 Fifth Avenue is lauded as “remarkably graceful” and having “picture perfect Central Park views from an extraordinary 18 windows.” It has been owned by the same family for over fifty years and thus is ready for a complete overhaul.
Of it, a normally anything but shy and in fact instead publicity-prone New York realtor, whom The Steeple Times spoke to Monday on the condition of anonymity, shared:
“1040 Fifth Avenue certainly has a perky past, but whilst Jackie Kennedy and Generoso Pope Jr. were unlikely bedfellows when they both lived there at the same time, the stench of the Epstein-Maxwell connections of Glenn, Eva and Celina Dubin is actually very off-putting to buyers. Who on earth would want to live next to them?”
“It’s no wonder no one is biting-at-the-bit to snap up the apartment currently on offer and I can only suggest the sellers perhaps put off marketing until these two social misfits move off elsewhere.”
Whether the Dubins will take the Fifth Amendment if dragged into another court case remains yet to be seen; whether anyone will want to become their new neighbours, equally, does also.
Pictured top – Ghislaine Maxwell with Eva Andersson-Dubin in fancy dress on 31st October 2005 in New York City enjoying themselves at a bit of a bash (left), the exterior of the rather ritzy co-operative 1040 Fifth Avenue (centre) and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis snapped leaving the building in the 1960s.
The Names & Numbers – 1040 Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side New York, NY 10028, United States of America
Described as “one of the great apartment houses of the 1920s,” this 17-floor skyscraper designed by Rosario Candela was built in 1930 and includes just 27 residences. A “mid-rise” in style, the limestone clad building has a full-time doorman and overlooks Central Park and the aptly named – given she lived there for 30 years – the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir.
Residents Past & Present:
Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe award winning actress and model Candice Bergen and her real estate magnate husband Marshall Rose.
Former director of the Office of WMD Terrorism at the U.S. Department of State, member of staff on the President’s WMD Commission and Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG) former CEO Thomas D. Lehrman and his wife Marjorie Lehrman.
Italian businessman, newspaper man and founder of The National EnquirerGeneroso Pope Jr. He inherited his “22-room spread” from his immigrant father, according to Vanity Fair, and ironically published more pictures of his neighbour Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis than anyone else.
Apartment #910C: Featuring 14 rooms, 4 bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms:
19th April 2022 – Price reduced to £21.2 million ($27 million, €25.2 million or درهم99.2 million).
10th January 2022 – Price reduced to £22.8 million ($29 million, €27 million or درهم106.5 million).
28th April 2021 – Listed for sale for £25.1 million ($32 million, €29.8 million or درهم117.5 million) by Serena Boardman of Sotheby’s International Realty.
Apartment 15A – 5,300 square foot and featuring 5 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms:
20th September 2006 – Sold to Glenn Dubin and Eva Andersson-Dubin for £23.6 million ($30 million, €28 million or درهم110.2 million).
1996 – Sold to David Koch for £7.5 million ($9.5 million, €8.9 million or درهم34.9 million).
1964 – 1994 – Home to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Mrs Kennedy paid £196,000 ($250,000, €233,000 or درهم918,000) or the equivalent of £4.2 million today ($5.3 million, €5 million or درهم19.6 million today).
In very much the style of the late Alan Clark MP who slept with the wife of a South African judge and both of his daughters – Bizarrely, before he croaked the taxi driver turned Ponzi schemer turned paedophile Jeffrey Epstein told associates in 2014 that he wanted to marry Celina Dubin in spite of having previously dated her mother. The croaked criminal was called “Uncle Jeff” by the child and is said to have also introduced Glenn Dubin to Jes Staley, the now former CEO of Barclays, and according to Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s May 2016 deposition, ‘Vanity Fair’ reported “Dubin was the ‘first’ powerful person that Maxwell sent her to have sex with ‘after my training.’” A chef of the financier and his former Miss Sweden wife, Rinaldo Rizzo, testified that a 15-year-old Swedish girl brought to the Dubins’ home told him “she was involved in some forced sexual activity at Epstein’s Caribbean island and was told by Maxwell and Epstein not to discuss it.” The curious and beyond bizarre relationships and friendships of the hedge fund billionaire, his family and the now dead Jeffrey Epstein and the now incarcerated Ghislaine Maxwell will once again be revisited once documents are unsealed shortly.On 17th December, Dr. Andersson-Dubin was questioned by Ghislaine Maxwell’s defence attorney Jeffrey Pagliuca in a New York City courtroom. At that time, “she denied suggestions that she had participated in group sex with a woman who alleged that Maxwell facilitated orgies when the accuser was 14” according to ‘Insider.’ Under cross examination by prosecutor Alison Moe, the doctor was asked: “Dr. Dubin, are you having some issues with your memory?” She bizarrely replied: “Yes, I do… It’s very hard for me to remember from far back. Sometimes I can’t remember things from last month… My family notices it.”In February 2021, in an exclusive story, crusading author Kirby Sommers shared evidence with ‘The Steeple Times’ that suggested the previously unnamed 9-year-old child pictured on the lap of Jeffrey Epstein on his plane in the ‘Daily Mail’ was Celina Dubin. Of this image, later during the pension pot plunderer Robert Maxwell’s daughter’s trial, ‘The Daily Beast’ suggested: “[We] previously reported that the defense [sic] wanted to bar photographs showing Epstein with his young goddaughter. One image, according to defense lawyer Chrisitan Everdell, showed Dubin’s daughter “lying across [Epstein’s] lap with her bottom – although with underwear on, but he’s got his head down close to the bottom.” (It’s unclear whether this picture, or a similar one, was shown to Dubin.)”Dubbed the “pioneer paparazzo,” “the Godfather of the U.S. paparazzi culture” by ‘Time’ magazine and a “Paparazzo Extraordinare” by ‘Newsweek,’ Ron Galella (born 1931; pictured top right) was best known for his “obsessive treatment” of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the years during which she resided at 1040 Fifth Avenue. In 1972, this “most co-dependent celeb-pap relationship ever” resulted in a free-speech trial – Galella v. Onassis – that eventually saw Galella fined and ultimately agreeing to never taken her picture ever again. Florida born Generoso Pope Jr. (1927 – 1988; pictured below), a man whose connections to the Italian-American mafia dogged him throughout his life, was a neighbour to the assassinated 35th President of the United States of America’s widow in the building.Jacqueline Kennedy bought the 15th floor apartment that is now home to the Dubins in 1964 prior to her 1968 marriage to Aristotle Onassis. She retained ownership of it until her death in 1994.
Images of Apartment #910C Fifth Avenue
1040 Fifth Avenue is situated directly opposite Central Park.The 9th and 10th floor duplex currently on the market is entered via a 30-foot long room described as a “gallery.” It has a marble floor and is said to “anchor each of the principal entertaining rooms.”An oak paneled library is listed as “large and handsome.”The 30-foot long living room has two sets of double doors and a wood burning fireplace.The “elegant formal dining room” has a “marble-mantled wood burning fireplace” and is said to enjoy “divine tree-top outlooks.”Surprisingly, the “enormous” kitchen is modern in style and has a Viking oven that appears to be nearly new. Beyond it is a breakfast room, a pantry, a laundry room and “an unexpected east facing elongated terrace that could be accessed from an expanded breakfast area, and would be lovely for a step out to enjoy a bright morning or the crisp evening air.” The current staff accommodation includes 4 staff bedrooms and 3 staff bathrooms.The “marvellous master suite” has a wood burning fireplace, a park facing dressing room and a private bathroom.The chintzy dressing room would not be a room to spend time in if you had a headache.If her were still co-presenting the panel show ‘Through the Keyhole,’ Loyd Grossman could ask: “Now, who’d live in a house like this?” after looking at the master suite’s bathroom. Aside from yet more bizarre tenting to the ceiling and powder blue fittings matched with gold taps and flowery tiling, one could imagine a dictator’s wife only viewing this room to be tasteful.Another bedroom is decorated with wallpaper that would have delighted the late Laura Ashley and has a tented ceiling that only dust and moths could love.A bedroom at the rear is anything but opulent.Clearly the current owners aren’t advocates of king-sized beds, but clearly also they love flower power in the wallpaper department.Another bedroom, complete with a fireplace and park views, has already been stripped of all furnishings.The current owner’s love of anything but calming wallpaper continues in this bathroom. It is one of 6.5 such spaces in the duplex.The “picture perfect views” across 843-acre Central Park are available from “an extraordinary 18 windows.”The floor plan of the 9th and 10th floor duplex currently for sale through Sotheby’s International Realty neglects to detail the exact square footage of the property.Situated close to the Solomon R. Guggeheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Neue Galerie New York and The Jewish Museum, the duplex on offer is situated between East 86th and East 85th Streets.
‘The Steeple Times’ selects five undesirable homes currently for sale that many would say would remain best avoided; they’ve all been in the news and they’re all connected to infamous names
Destined most certainly not to feature in Penny Churchill’s Downton Abbey-esque country house porn Country Life column or as an Evening Standard chi-chi ‘Homes & Property’ ‘House of the Week,’ we have selected five undesirable homes currently for sale.
In spite of the fact that one has a link to a recently deceased paedophile, two have been the scene of murders, one is supposedly haunted and the final was the setting for a bizarre nine year sleep, their prices seem somewhat crazy – but maybe some people will just love the idea of living with notoriety. Whether any of these undesirable homes sell for their asking prices, however, seems as likely as the case of Jack the Ripper ever being solved.
Paedo Palace – 9 East 71st Street, Lenox Hill, New York, NY 10021, USA
For sale for £69 million ($88 million, €74 million or درهم121 million) through Modlin Group.
Known as the ‘Herbert Straus House’ in polite circles, but now forever more likely to be remembered as ‘Jeffrey Epstein’s Paedo Mansion,’ this 28,000 square foot, 7-floor, 40 room mansion was home to the deceased bestie of Prince Andrew from 1996 until his incarceration and suicide in 2019.
Few details are shared on the listing other than to declare it of “gargantuan size and opulence” and “the largest single-family home in New York City.” Though the late Alberto Pinto’s design work at the property is lauded, there’s no mention of what Ghislaine Maxwell got up to there or the bizarre birthday parties with Christopher Mason.
Originally called ‘Oakleigh,’ this “striking Gothic Victorian villa” subsequently became known as ‘The House of Horror’ but has now been renamed ‘Devisdale House’ in an attempt to relieve it of a position in the ranks of undesirable homes.
In March 2005, Christopher Lumsden, a partner in the international law firm Pinsent Masons, killed his former Sotheby’s auctioneer wife Alison in the house in a “frenzied domestic attack in the master bedroom” according to The Sun. He stabbed her 30 times after she announced she was leaving him for another man and was amazingly jailed for just five years “after he was found guilty of manslaughter on the ground of diminished responsibility, claiming he had a depressive illness.”
‘Oakleigh’ subsequently “fell into rack and ruin” in spite of reports suggesting Lumsden may have inherited his wife’s fortune, but more recently it was purchased by a property developer. They have added an especially ghastly underground swimming pool, sauna, cinema room and triple garage and now pompous selling agents Jackson-Stops pretentiously laud the property as “incredible,” “striking” and “meticulously remodelled.” Christopher Lumsden, meanwhile, was released from prison after serving just two years of his jail sentence.
A Killer Castle – Pencoed Castle, Pencoed Lane, Llanmartin, Newport, Gwent, Wales, NP18 2ED, UK
For sale with a guide price of £950,000 ($1.2 million, €1 million or درهم1.7 million) by auction on 17th September 2020 through Allsop.
Pencoed Castle dates to the 13th century and in the time since one can imagine all sorts has gone on there. Most recently, in 2016, a then 56-year-old businessman Peter Morgan strangled his girlfriend of three years, a 25-year-old personal escort named Georgina Symonds, in a bungalow in the castle grounds. The married multi-millionaire was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 25 years in prison and with that the estate found itself joining the ranks of undesirable homes.
Wales Online report that “it is not known if Mr Morgan still owns the property,” but for less than a million pounds, a buyer could get themselves not only the castle (which could be turned into 12 dwellings and offices also), but also a former farmhouse, two bungalows and 64.8 acres of land. Previous plans to turn the site into a Disneyland-style theme park called Legend Court came to nothing and of the property a local cryptically remarked: “This place’s recent history is very dark.”
Axing a Ghost – Maplecroft, 306 French Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, MA 02720, USA
For sale for £696,000 ($890,000, €751,000 or درهم1.2 million) through Century 21 The Seyboth Team.
Sold last for £469,000 in February 2018 and £386,000 in November 2014, Maplecroft is described by realtor Suzanne St. John as “a Queen Anne Victorian Mansion,” but many would consider it fitting instead of a listing on a roster of undesirable homes. It was built in 1887, extends to 3,935 square foot and includes 7 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.
The allegedly haunted residence, which stands on a plot of 0.31 acres, is notable as the post-prison home of one Lizzie Borden (1860 – 1927) – a woman who was the main suspect in the 1892 axe murders of her father and step-mother. Accused, tried and acquitted, Miss Borden inherited a fortune, bought Maplecroft and when she died of pneumonia her wake was held in the parlour.
The current owner also owns the house where the murders were committed and runs it as a ‘murder house B&B.’ He had intended to convert Maplecroft into something similar, but COVID-19 (and perhaps the spirit of Lizzie Borden) got in the way.
A Nine Year Sleep – Sleepy Cottage, 1 School Lane, Turville, Henley-On-Thames, Buckinghamshire, RG9 6QX, UK
For sale for £750,000 ($960,000, €810,000 or درهم1.3 million) through Savills.
Strictly speaking, our final choice in our roster of undesirable homes, has had only a gruesome past in a fictional sense given that it sits in a village used in Midsomer Murders. Nobody in their right minds – if such a place did really exist – would want to reside in any of Midsomer’s locations given the risk of ending up brown bread would be so high, but the innocent sounding name of this cottage makes it worthy of mention.
Used also in the perfectly harmless series Goodnight Uncle Tom and the BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom Sleepy Cottage is also noteworthy as it was most famously home to ‘The Sleeping Girl of Turville.’
Of this enigma, selling agents Savills remark:
“Ellen Sadler, who lived in the cottage with her family when in 1871, aged eleven she purportedly fell into a deep sleep from which she could not be roused for nine years. The case attracted international attention from newspapers, medical professionals and the public. She became a tourist attraction for the village, and her family made considerable money from visitors’ donations.”
“Rumours exist that among the elder Turville residents that Royalty even took an interest in her. The Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, visited her and laid his hands on her which people in those days believed would cure the sick.”
“As the years went on and with no sign of Ellen waking, speculation grew that her illness was caused by her mother, an issue that was never resolved. In late 1880, soon after her mother’s death, Ellen awoke. She later married and had at least five children.”
Undesirable Homes Currently For Sale – Pictured top: Jeffrey Epstein’s initials were prominently displayed at the entrance to 9 East 71st Street whilst the entrance hallway beyond aimed to impress with its classical grandeur. Goodness knows how many unfortunates passed through this space on their way on their way to be abused by the late Mr Epstein and his mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell.
