The Steeple Times

Tag: 1938

  • Extravagance Knows No Bounds – £36m Mansion Previously Owned By Disgraced Tycoons Alan Bond And Conrad Black Again For Sale

    Extravagance Knows No Bounds – £36m Mansion Previously Owned By Disgraced Tycoons Alan Bond And Conrad Black Again For Sale

    Matthew Steeples takes a look at a £36 million Kensington mansion formerly owned by disgraced business tycoons Alan Bond and Lord Black; its former chatelaine was known for stating “I have an extravagance that know no bounds”

    Sir Winston Churchill’s daughter Mary Soames once described the buccaneering businessman and media tycoon Lord Black of Crossharbour as “London’s biggest bore unhung” whilst his wife, Lady Black – better known as the author and journalist Barbara Amiel – was suggested to be just a “rich bitch” by Sarah Sands in a “case for the defence” article in the Independent in October 2006.

     

    “Poster boy for the 80s” turned fraudster and jailbird Alan Bond (1938 – 2015) was an English-Australian businessman equally Marmite-like in being liked or loathed and now a Kensington mansion owned for a time by both subsequently disgraced businessmen is once again for sale.

     

    14 Cottesmore Gardens, formerly known as 12 – 14 Cottesmore Gardens, was purchased by Alan Bond’s Satellite Group for £7 million in the 1980s and sold by administrators of that business to Conrad Black and his wife for the knockdown sum of just £3.5 million in 1992.

     

    Plain old Mr and Mrs Black (as they then were) lavished further millions – some of which came from the company Hollinger International, Inc., which ultimately resulted in their downfall – on the double fronted 19th century mansion and used it for entertaining on a lavish scale. Guests, including the likes of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Joan Collins, Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Goldsmith, James Hanson, Arnold Weinstock, Jacob Rothschild, Peter Mandelson and Tony Blair, were said to flock to the parties they gave there, but in 2005 these gatherings of upto 400 people at a time came to an almighty end.

     

    Forced to sell at a bargain basement price of just £13.1 million on an ask of £17.5 million as the Canadian born billionaire faced jail time in America, Lord and Lady Black’s tenure was over and the residence saw its “arriviste torch” passed to Juan and Adriana Villalonga, a couple described as “a Mexican telecom czar and his beauty-queen wife.” Of what came next, The Globe And Mail’s Paul Waldie pointedly penned in February 2007: “[They] quickly erased many of the features that the Blacks prized.”

     

    Once again for sale as of April 2023, the value of 14 Cottesmore Gardens has again been deemed to have substantially risen. Knight Frank offer the 12,310 square foot, five-storey residence at a punchy price of £36 million and laud it as “imposing” and “presented in good order throughout.” They add that a “pre-planning consultation” has found that further accommodation could be added that would take the internal space to more than 15,000 square feet; business barons with deep pockets only need apply.

     

    Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

     

    Pictured Top – 54-foot wide 14 Cottesmore Gardens is described by selling agents Knight Frank as “offering lateral living so often requested but so hard to find in central London.” They neglect to mention that with its hedges cut back to the minimum, the place actually looks extremely forlorn.

     

    Lord and Lady Black Tom Bower Cardinal Richelieu Marie Antoinette
    Flamboyant Lord and Lady Black dressed as Cardinal Richelieu and Marie Antoinette for a party at Kensington Palace in 2000. For a time, the couple employed 17 butlers (if Tom Bower is to be believed) and had two private jets and homes – aside from the 19th Cottesmore Gardens mansion – in New York, Palm Beach and Toronto. “Guests packed into their parties at Cottesmore Gardens,” Bower remarked in his 2006 book the couple, adding: “Amiel was a big spender… Under the control of senior butler Andrew Lightwood, second butler Peter Wilson and a succession of third butlers, Amiel’s life in Kensington had become what her constantly changing staff called ‘bizarre.’ Each recruit was taken by Lightwood on an introductory tour of the house, ending on the roof. ‘Make sure the landing lights are on at all times,’ instructed Lightwood solemnly, ‘because Madame takes off from here on her broomstick looking for cats. She needs the lights to guide her return.’ His face would crack into a smile. ‘Most important, take care that she never sees you. She hates seeing any of us.’ Amiel’s eccentricity demanded that her staff hid whenever she approached, diving into cupboards if necessary, and never entered her quarters when she was present. Every day, all the bed linen was changed and subjected to ‘the penny test.’ A coin was dropped onto the sheets. If it failed to bounce they were not drawn sufficiently tight. Every cushion was arranged to a precise pre-ordained position, and each towel placed exactly as Amiel had predetermined. ‘Andrew!’ she screamed down the telephone on one memorable occasion, ‘the towels are in the wrong place!’ Lightwood, as Amiel knew, was in New York, but he was expected to telephone the staff in the house in London to rectify the error. ‘You f**king pillock!’ she yelled at another member of staff for reading her ‘Daily Mail’ before it was delivered to her.”
    Barrbara Amiel drawing room 14 Cottesmore Gardens
    Barbara Amiel Black (or ‘Lady Black’ as she prefers to be known) in her drawing room at Cottesmore Gardens (pictured). Of her, Sarah Sands on Lord and Lady Black in the ‘Independent’ in October 2006 opined: “Conrad and Barbara in their monstrous, glamorous way, knew how to throw parties. The talk was of geo-politics and hemlines. Nowadays, we scorn their extravagance and doubt the source of their wealth with prune-faced hindsight. Meanwhile, everyone is sucking up to Russians…. Barbara would disingenuously begin her midnight calls to me by saying in her low, breathy voice: ‘I hope I am not disturbing you.’ She would then offer little glimpses of her own home life. I remember her mentioning that Conrad Black was upstairs playing with his fleet of toy gun ships in the bath… I remember her examining an exhibition of doll’s houses at the Chelsea Flower Show and sighing how restful it would be to live in this cosy little home. How she envied people in small houses. The burden of wealth was one of her more dangerous fantasies. At one of her Gatsby-style parties in Kensington, she flinched at the elaborate canapés on offer: ‘Really, all I want is a sausage,’ she said, piteously. Then, she ran a hand down her inconceivably expensive dress and whispered: ‘I hate these parties, I am so shy.’ Later, I was invited to her boudoir, where she lay on cushion surrounded by her women friends. She was Kensington’s Cleopatra, surrounded by maidens such as the designer and Forte daughter Olga Polizzi, the political thinker Tessa Keswick and the writer Miriam Gross.”
    Drawing room 14 Cottesmore Gardens today
    The very same drawing room at 14 Cottesmore Gardens today. The décor is now somewhat more modern and less ‘classical country house-ified.’ It’s certainly more Soho Farmhouse than Alberto Pinto in style; it is currently a space that the former Meghan Markle would feel more at home than say, perhaps, the likes of Lord and Lady Black’s chum Ghislaine Maxwell and her fellow noxious nonce Ponzi scheming paedophile boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein. Mr Pinto was responsible, it should be noted, for the designs of most of Epstein’s residences.
    12 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens Conrad Black
    The front elevation of 12 – 14 Cottesmore Gardens during the era it was owned by Lord and Lady Black.
    Conrad Black Barbara Amiel Ghislaine Maxwell Jeffrey Epstein Little Black Book
    Multiple entries for Lord and Lady Black during the time they owned 14 Cottesmore Gardens appeared in the ‘Little Black Book’ address book often attributed as being that of the friends and associates of Jeffrey Epstein, but that featured more of the contacts of Ghislaine Maxwell in fact. In October 2020, Barbara Amiel took revenge on the pension pot plunderer’s padeophile sex trafficker daughter by featuring her in her “score-settling” memoir ‘Friends & Enemies: A Life in Vogue, Prison, & Park Avenue.” Maxwell had “dumped” Lady Black when Lord Black was being investigated for fraud. She wrote of their last meeting: “We were friends – so putting on my ‘So good to see you’ face, I headed for her. She bolted. Turned that sharp tight little turn when you really want to get away. And that was it.”
    Barbara Amiel
    Of the clear lover of plastic surgery Lady Black, in October 2020, Sarah Sands remarked in ‘The Mail on Sunday’: “She had a bohemian, almost masculine, view of opportunistic sex. She describes, for instance, accompanying an early love in his white Triumph sports car ‘in which once or twice I had performed fellatio to the fascination of passing truck drivers, all for fun.’”
    Conrad Black Barbara Amiel 2012
    After getting out of the clink in 2012, Lord and Lady Black decided to go back on the ‘razzle-dazzle’ and posed for photographers before heading back to London to party with friends. In May 2019, the rambunctious peer arrogantly announced he’d be returning to the House of Lords after President Donald Trump pardoned and praised him. Commenting, of this pardon, Lord Black declared: “I’m not bitter… Officially in the United States, I’ve never been charged and I won in the end. It was a war and there are casualties in wars. I lost the time, I lost a lot of money, but as you can see my standards of living isn’t bad… The truth is, these, last 15 years, I haven’t been as interested in British politics as I was before – in the Thatcher years. It could be quite interesting again, in fact it is as of right now – it’s very interesting… It’s my good fortune that at a time when it is feasible, it happens – by happy coincidence – that it is a time of great fermentation in British public affairs.” Surprisingly, he doesn’t seem to have turned up on occasions since.
    Alan Bond
    The previous owner of 14 Cottesmore Gardens, Alan Bond (1938 – 2015), will forever be remembered as “Australia’s most notorious corporate criminal.” Born in Hammersmith, London, Bond’s first crime occurred when he was charged with theft aged 14 in Fremantle in Australia and whilst he is remembered for bankrolling the successful challenge for the 1983 America’s Cup, it is for causing the then biggest corporate collapse in Australian history that he will be go down in history.
    Adriana Abascal López-Cisneros Villalonga with Emmanuel Schreder
    Former Miss Mexico Adriana Abascal López-Cisneros (at the time Adriana Villalonga) bought the house in 2005. She divorced the Spanish businessman Juan Villalonga in 2009 and married the French businessman Emmanuel Schreder in Ibiza in June 2013. In August 2014, the magazine ‘Quién’ featured the model and television presenter on its cover and at that time she described her new husband as “the love of my life.”
    Telefónica Juan Villalonga and wife Adriana Abascal
    Madrid born Juan Villalonga became the joint owner of 14 Cottesmore Gardens with his then wife Adriana Abascal – the couple were married between 2000 and 2009 – in 2005. He is listed on Companies House as being a director of the now dissolved Medikidz Foundation at the address between August 2009 and November 2013. Married since 2011 to a photographer named Vanessa Von Zitewitz, Mr Villalonga was a partner at McKinsey & Company in the 1980s, CEO for Credit Suisse First Boston and Bankers Trust in Spain in the early 1990s and CEO of Telefónica from 1996 to 2000. He was named as one of the best performing chief executive officers in the world by ‘Harvard Business Review’ in 2010 and is also linked to addresses in Monaco.

    The Names & Numbers – 14 Cottesmore Gardens (formerly known as ’12 – 14 Cottesmore Gardens’), Kensington, London, W8 5PR, United Kingdom

    April 2023 – Offered for sale for £36 million ($44.4 million, €40.9 million or درهم163.2 million) through Knight Frank. Valued on Homipi at an upper sum of £28.558 million ($35.250 million, €32.440 million or درهم129.456 million).

     

    2009 – Mr and Mrs Villalonga divorce and subsequently Adriana Abascal married Emmanuel Schreder, a French businessman, in Ibiza in June 2013.

     

    2005 – Sold by Lord and Lady Black for £13.1 million ($16.2 million, €14.9 million or درهم59.4 million) to Spanish businessman Juan Villalonga Navarro and Mexican model, Miss Mexico winner and television presenter Adriana Abascal López-Cisneros Villalonga.

     

    October 2004 – Placed for sale for £17.5 million ($21.6 million, €19.9 million or درهم79.3 million) according to NZ Herald.

     

    January 2004 – Valued at £14 million ($17.3 million, €15.9 million or درهم63.5 million) according to The Globe And Mail. At the time, the “mansion” in “the upscale Kensington neighbourhood” was described as having “10 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms and a swimming pool.”

     

    Featured also in The Guardian in an article by Chris Tryhorn. Quoting Lord Black, he shared: “At a certain price, anything is for sale. [It has] been shown to people in the not-too-distant-past.”

     

    Going further, Tryhorn added: “Artwork from the 18th and 19th centuries lines the walls, and there is plenty of storage space for the extensive wardrobe and shoe collection of Lord Black’s wife, Barbara Amiel, who famously declared once that her ‘extravagence knows no bounds.’ … It was originally two homes and one of the two original front doors is now a ‘deliveries’ entrance. He has used it in the past to host dinners with butler and maid service that was part-paid by Hollinger.”

     

    Also in 2004, in a profile in The Spectator, Peter Oborne wrote:

     

    “Every year the Blacks threw two parties, one at Christmas and one summer event, at their double-fronted 11-bedroom mansion in Cottesmore Gardens. Everybody who mattered at the time went: Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Goldsmith, James Hanson, Arnold Weinstock, Jacob Rothschild, royalty, the playwright Tom Stoppard.”

     

    “Some of these, injudiciously as it turned out, agreed to join the main Hollinger board. The luckier ones – Peter Carrington, Robert Salisbury – got away with being made directors of The Telegraph. As the Tories faded out, Labour ministers started to arrive, the indefatigable Peter Mandelson, David Blunkett and other ministers eager to ingratiate themselves with the Tory press. Prince and Princess Michael of Kent were assiduous in attendance. In London, the Nineties belonged to the Blacks. They were London’s most glamorous power couple.”

     

    “There had been a time when both Blacks had kept their feet on the ground. This ceased to be the case. One evening Barbara Black rang Charles Moore panic-stricken from her Kensington home. There had been a last-minute drop-out from one of the famous Black dinner parties. ‘I’m short of a woman,’ she told Moore. Moore surveyed the newsroom. His gaze alighted on the journalist Eleanor Mills, by chance the stepdaughter of the Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell.”

     

    “An hour later, hastily groomed, made-up and brushed, Mills was sipping pre-dinner drinks in Cottesmore Gardens. Then disaster struck. A male guest, Max Fisher, dropped out. Mills was approached by Conrad Black. ‘Finish your drink and skedaddle,’ he told her. Barbara Black then told her to go to the kitchen and out through the servants’ door, where the driver would pick her up and take her home.”

     

    2001 – Conrad Black is elevated to a life peerage in the United Kingdom at the suggestion of Tony Blair. He sat on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords until 2007 as The Right Honourable The Lord Black of Crossharbour KCSG, but took a “leave of absence” between 2012 and 2019.

     

    28th May 1996 – The Royal Borough of Kensington And Chelsea ordered that 12 – 14 Cottesmore Gardens “shall be known and described” simply instead as 14 Cottesmore Gardens.

     

    Mid 1990s – The Blacks set about renovating 12 and 14 Cottesmore Gardens with the help of J. E. Evans Associates. Of the work in October 2006, The Sunday Times shared a segment of Tom Bower’s 2006 hatchet job Conrad and Lady Black that read: “Amiel vowed to create a palace that would attract celebrity worshipers of a power couple. Part of the first floor was to be removed to create a huge ground floor reception area.”

     

    1992 – 12 and 14 Cottesmore Gardens sold by the administrators of the affairs of Alan Bond through estate agents Savills to media tycoon Conrad Black and his Watford born journalist wife Barbara Amiel Black for “well under the asking price” for a sum of £3.5 million ($4.3 million, €4 million or درهم15.9 million).

     

    Mr Bond had been granted mortgages valued at £16.2 million ($20 million, €18.4 million or درهم73.5 million) on the property by Bell Satellite Services on the property along with two others at 4 and 16 Belgrave Mews in London, SW1 previously according to a report published by Financial Review in March 1990.

     

    1991 – Rented to an American businessman for £6,000 per week ($7,400, €6,800 or درهم27,200 per week).

     

    1990 – Placed in the hands of administrators of Mr Bond’s and placed for sale through Savills for a bargain basement sum of £3.8 million ($4.7 million, €4.3 million or درهم17.2 million) according to Financial Review.

     

    1980s – Sold to Alan Bond’s Bell Satellite Group for £7 million ($8.6 million, €8 million or درهم31.7 million).

     

    Circa 1905 – Walter Tapper is said to have “designed a library with handsome Arts and Crafts plasterwork (now removed) at the rear of the building.”

     

    1903 – 14 Cottesmore Gardens registered as the home of a Mrs Benson according to the Muster Roll of Angus: South African War, 1899 – 1902.

     

    1869 – In their current marketing blurb, Knight Frank suggest: “There has been a house on the site of 12 – 14 Cottesmore Gardens since at least 1869. The current house has been altered, extended and most notably joined over the subsequent century and a half. With the local planning department strongly opposed to further amalgamation of homes, opportunities to acquire a house of this width will be rarer still in the future.”

     

    1850s to 1860s – Built “under the direction of David Howell, of Serjeants Inn, Fleet Street.” Mr Howell was described in 1853 as an “articled clerk to a solicitor, lately carrying on business as a solicitor.” The architecture was lauded as: “Designed in a bold classical manner, with rather fleshy consoles and modillions… and bands of Vitruvian scroll between the bases of the ground-floor windows.”

     

    More photographs of the £36 million mansion…

    Image 1 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    An entrance hall where power and privilege have most certainly mingled previously.
    Image 2 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    The 54-foot wide drawing is lauded by selling realtors Knight Frank as “arguably the best room in the house” and “double aspect.” They add: “[It has] six windows overlooking the street and additional views over the private garden to the rear.”
    Image 3 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    The columns where Barbara Amiel Black once posed for photographs remain, but the subsequent owners eliminated much of the 1990s ‘brash’ that had been installed by a Watford born woman whose excess clearly offended so many.
    Image 4 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    This dining room, where Conrad Black hosted presidents and prime ministers, is now somewhat diminished. The table for eight looks completely out of place and a future owner would do well to install something a little grander.
    Image 5 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    A double height entertaining space was installed at the insistence of the loftier-than-lofty Lady Black in the 1990s and it remains today. However, it is now currently being used for more casual affairs such as Netflix viewing rather than being the scene of something that you’d more likely find in the ‘House of Cards’ in fact.
    Image 6 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    A new owner might reinstate the grandeur of the past; sadly, however, this seems unlikely and the purchaser is more likely to be a footballer or Internet tycoon than a super-connected business tycoon.
    Image 7 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    This currently very dark and very depressing study would most certainly not appeal to the very clearly very, very bright yet very, very pompous The Right Honourable The Lord Black of Crossharbour KCSG – a man who is said to count Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte as “his military heroes.” Of him in July 1997, Mark Honigsbaum in the ‘Independent’ remarked: “Although Black’s grandfather had briefly been a business partner of Harold Harmsworth, the original Viscount Rothermere, it was from his father, George Montegu Black Jr, that Black learned the art of corporate warfare, the importance of historical perspective and that gambling provides a disappointing rate of return compared to the Dow Jones index… The young Conrad was precocious. At the age of eight he sank his life savings of $60 into a single share of General Motors. He also became obsessed with Napoleon, and would astound his father’s friends by reeling off details of campaigns. Another story has him washing dollar bills and hanging them out to dry on a line outside his father’s home in Toronto. The last is apocryphal – Black says he slipped in the mud and was cleaning his change – but the image of the young capitalist, wise beyond his years, is accurate. His childhood tutor, the historian Laurier LaPierre, once asked Black why he always seemed to have the air of someone waiting for something to happen… A few years ago, for instance, the rumour went round Fleet Street that Black had bought Napoleon’s preserved penis at an auction. Black denied it, but many remain convinced that Bonaparte’s body part sits in Black’s collection of military curios… Black is no philanderer and is devoted to his second wife, the former ‘Sunday Times’ columnist Barbara Amiel. They are said to be intellectual soul mates and the parties at their four-storey mansion in Kensington are famous for bringing together a cross-section of the great and good.”
    Image 8 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    One could not imagine the likes of the late great Baroness Thatcher, for example, liking the idea of sitting in this extremely depressing and dark waiting area. A new owner would do well to obliterate a décor scheme that could have only been favoured by a completely colour blind banker.
    Image 9 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    A room currently described as a ‘cinema room’ measures 28’6” by 21’6” and is situated at the rear of the house. One can imagine Conrad Black having sat here for hour upon hour watching historical dramas about Napoleon with the likes of chums such as the acclaimed historian Andrew Roberts, the gambling tycoon John Aspinall and the politician and diarist Alan Clark, but a new owner will be more likely next showing episodes of ‘Succession’ – based on ‘The Telegraph’ tycoon’s rival Rupert Murdoch – than viewing historical works one most definitely suspects.
    Image 10 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    Dining whilst the staff cook would NEVER have been on the agenda in the era that pomposity reigned whilst Lady Black was chatelaine of 14 Cottesmore Gardens.
    Image 11 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    A 2,000 square foot entire floor fit for a tycoon… The master bedroom suite of the house takes up the entirety of the second floor of the building. It incorporates not only the principal bedroom, but also a “his” dressing room and a “her” dressing room as well as a sitting area, a bathroom, a shower room and storage rooms. It has direct lift access and is bigger than the average Brit’s entire house.
    Dressing room 14 Cottesmore Gardens Barbara Amiel
    A dressing room in the house where Barbara Black opened up to ‘Vogue’ and displayed “closets overflowing with dazzling evening gowns, designer handbags and 100 pairs of Manolo Blahnik shoes. ‘I have an extravagance that knows no bounds,’ she famously declared. Unfortunately for Lady Black, the article was closely perused at investment company Tweedy, Browne, a Hollinger International shareholder.”
    Image 12 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    This playroom certainly did not exist in the era that Lord and Lady Black owned the property. It would be more likely crammed with books or stuffed with Manolo Blahnik shoes than toys from Toys ‘R Us. A new owner may likely reinstate it as an additional bedroom or office or games room perhaps.
    Image 13 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    The pool room measures 43’9” by 26’9” and is no doubt where Lady Black spent many an hour relaxing.
    Image 14 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    The garden to the rear was where Lord and Lady Black hosted their annual summer party (with guests “spilling” into their drawing room also). In surprisingly Tardis-like fashion, the duo were able to supposedly squeeze in upto 400 guests at such occasions. Amongst those said to have enjoyed hospitality there were Joan Collins and of such, magazine publisher Nicholas Coleridge wrote: “If you get a kick out of milling about with present and former prime ministers, cabinet ministers, minor royals, dukes, editors, vastly rich Americans, distinguished historians, gossip columnists, playboys and lots of pretty ‘it’ girls, then this was the place to be.”
    Image 15 - 14 Cottesmore Gardens(1)
    The existing floor plan of the property illustrates the vast scale of the building offered. A buyer, Knight Frank observe, has additional options and “a pre-planning consultation has been carried out with RBKC by leading architects Studio Indigo.” They add: “[It] would completely reconfigure the house adding an additional basement floor and taking the internal space to more than 15,000 square foot. The resulting house would have a 40-foot by 41-foot south-facing rear garden.”
    Site plan 14 Cottesmore Gardens
    A plan of the site as presented in 1996 when 12 and 14 became known just as 14 Cottesmore Gardens.
  • Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti

    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti

    Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57SC Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 99.9% lower than the most famous of the four originals is said to be worth

    If ever rediscovered, a car termed “the most beautiful ever created” – the second of four Bugatti Type 57S Atlantic coupés – would supposedly be worth £93 million ($113 million, €104 million or درهم415 million).

     

    Handcrafted as part of a limited production with sales only to the British banker Victor, 3rd Baron Rothschild, an English tennis player named Richard B. Pope and a Frenchman named Jacques Holzschuh between 1936 and 1938, the second coupé made was used for promotion and then given to its creator, Gianoberto ‘Jean’ Bugatti (1909 – 1939). After he was killed whilst testing a Type 57 tank-bodied racer, his car passed into the hands of various racing drivers. It was then hidden away with the outset of the Second World War, but sadly never resurfaced.

     

    Named in honour of Mr. Bugatti’s aviator friend Jean Mermoz (1901 – 1936), whom never returned from a journey across the South Atlantic in 1936 in a Latécoère 300 Croix-du-Sud plane, the 12-foot long 57SC is lauded as the ultimate automotive design icon. Bugatti themselves term the “world’s most valuable vehicle” to be “extraordinary” and reference the coupé “unique in its time and still unique today.”

     

    As a result of their desirability, the car – which Motor Authority terms “delightfully swoopy… [the] crown jewels of Bugatti production cars” – has unsurprisingly inspired a number of automotive designers to create homages to it. One example, created by “hot rodder” Terry Cook, is being auctioned this month – but one thing’s for sure, whatever it sells for, its hammer price will nowhere near that of a ‘real’ example.

     

    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    In March 2017, the “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57SC Atlantic coupé,” the Delahaye USA Pacific was auctioned at the Mostalgia Amelia Island sale in Florida. It sold for £182,000 ($220,000, €204,000 or درهم808,000). The same car is headed to auction again this month.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    Jean Bugatti pictured next to the ‘Royale Esders Roadster’ prototype he designed in 1932.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The four Bugatti 57SC Atlantic cars.

    The “reimagined Atlantic” concerned was made by Cook’s firm, Delahaye USA, in 2016 and is described as “noticeably longer than the original, 10 inches to be exact.” It has a 127-inch wheelbase and features a BMW fuel-injected 12-cylinder engine and automatic transmission and unlike its forerunners comes equipped with air conditioning, heating and power windows. The stainless steel tubular seat frames are exact copies of those from the 57SC now owned by Ralph Lauren and the fabric is described as “richly decorative.”

     

    RM Sotheby’s will sell the 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific – which actually is titled a 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ – as part of their ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000) for this “wonderful modern homage.” Of it, they add: “The Delahaye USA Pacific is sure to turn heads no matter where it may travel, be it on any side of either ocean.”

     

    Those on an even more limited budget could still live the ‘Atlantic dream’ – Ralph Lauren is currently marketing a 1:18 scale, die-cast, hand-painted replica of Mr. Lauren’s 57SC for ‘just’ £1,595 ($1,930, €1,784 or درهم7,090).

     

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    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The metallic gray-blue 1936 Bugatti Type 57S – chassis number 57374 – was originally owned by Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild and thus known as the ‘Rothschild Atlantic.’ It was sold for in excess of £24.8 million ($30 million, €27.7 million or درهم110.2 million) in 2010 to the collector Peter Mullin. The car is now displayed at the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The missing 1936 57SC – chassis 57453 – was presented in black and known as ‘La Voiture Noire’ or ‘The Black Car.’ It was the second Atlantic manufactured, disappeared from France in February 1941 and has never been seen since. Jean Bugatti considered this particular example his “most innovative and most valuable creation.”
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The 1936 Bugatti 57SC – chassis number 57473, ‘the Holzschuh Atlantic’ – was first owned by Jacques Holzschuch and his wife, Yvonne, and presented in black. After they were killed in the Second World War, the car’s subsequent owner, René Chatard, was hit by a train whilst in it 1955. He and his companion died and the remains of the vehicle were sold on. The restored car – considered a replica by experts – is displayed at the Torrota private collection in Spain.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    Clothier Ralph Lauren with his 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC – chassis 57591, the ‘Pope Atlantic.’ It was originally owned by Richard B. Pope and presented in sapphire blue, but painted black after being sold to Ralph Lauren in 1988.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    At the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, commemorating the 110th anniversary of Jean Bugatti’s birth, Bugatti sold a one-off model named ‘La Voiture Noire’ in homage to the missing 57SC for circa £15.7 million ($19 million, €17.6 million or درهم70 million). They declared it: “The most expensive new car ever sold.”
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The model available from Ralph Lauren.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The steering wheel of the 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The seats are an artwork in themselves.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    Another view of the interior.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    With the doors open, from the front.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The spare wheel.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    From the front.
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    From the rear (complete with twelve exhaust pipes).
    Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti – 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific by Terry Cook – Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57S Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 100% lower than the missing most famous of the four originals is said to be worth – The vehicle will be sold as part of the RM Sotheby’s ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21st to 29th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000)
    The bonnet of the vehicle with a model of the car that inspired it on it.
  • A Set fit for a Peacock

    A Set fit for a Peacock

    Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale; tour the home of the man who got Princess Margaret high on hash

    Expelled from Eton “for being generally totally impossible,” antiques dealer Christopher Gibbs (1938 – 2018) was not a man one would have imagined would have liked the idea of living in a place with archaic rules. This “peacock pied piper to society in the Swinging Sixties” whose “drug consumption awed even Keith Richards,” however, surprisingly chose as his London base Albany in Mayfair and now his former residence is for sale.

     

    “A hermitage; quiet as a lagoon, secluded from the roar of Piccadilly” according to the author Sheila, Countess of Birkenhead in her 1958 tome Peace in Piccadilly, Albany – which is only ever referred to as ‘The Albany’ by the extremely ill-advised – quintessential dandy Gibbs lived in the building for “more than half [his] life.” Whilst also owning properties including Davington Priory in Kent – which he later sold to Bob Geldoff – and a “mystic hangover” home in Tangier, it was here that this ‘King’ of “distressed bohemian” style found a place that offered him: “Perfection for a singleton, an oasis of serenity in the frenetic heart of West London.”

     

    This curious “cloistered world” has numbered Sir Isaiah Berlin, Alan Clark, Lord Byron, William Gladstone, J. B. Priestley, W. Somerset Maugham and Terence Stamp amongst those who have passed its vetting committee of trustees and Gibbs – a man who legendarily got Princess Margaret so high on marijuana that she had to go to hospital – even embraced its “no pets, no children, no whistling, no noise and absolutely no publicity” policy.

     

    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    Antiques dealer Christopher Henry Gibbs, (29th July 1938 to 28th July 2018), son of The Hon. Sir Geoffrey Gibbs KCMG and Lady (Helen) Gibbs CBE, was called the ‘King of Chelsea’ due to his ability as the ultimate connector. He put the Rolling Stones together with Prince Rupert Loewenstein (whom became their business manager) and he persuaded his friend John Paul Getty, Jr. to donate £50 million to the British National Gallery in 1985.
    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    Christopher Gibbs by Robert Mapplethorpe and with Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull.
    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    Christopher Gibbs pictured in his bathroom at L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ; the bathroom as it is today is in need of “some updating” according to agents GreenHunt.
    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    ‘Set L6’ circa 2013, as furnished then by Christopher Gibbs.

    Photographed there by the curmudgeonly Victor Watts on a daybed that allegedly belonged to Lord Tennyson, described the home he created in an article for The New York Times’ ‘Style Magazine’ in April 2013:

     

    “I had the place to myself and proceeded to make it my own in the accustomed style: sober mahogany, Oriental rugs, family pictures. I’ve continually reordered these rooms, distilling, paring, pruning, as chaste as my voluptuous nature allows.”

     

    “So enraptured with my Albany life did I become that, reason deserting me (not for the first or last time) I gave up a spacious Bond Street gallery where I had my antiques shop and took one at the back of Albany, a small if elegant space with an entrance into the building, another onto the street and best of all a door into the underground passage – a quiet, invisible stroll home.”

     

    “I love returning from Morocco, where I now spend much of my time, seeing the friendly porters at the door, hearing the clip-clop of feet on the Rope Walk, seeing the old-timers sitting in the little ivy-lined garden, sunning themselves by the little bronze statue of Antinous and the fountain, regularly invaded by the ducks from St. James’s Park – and enjoying sudden glimpses into other people’s lives through uncurtained windows, the hours marked only by the clock chimes of St. James’s Church, accompanied by the more uptempo tinkling of the clock at Fortnum & Mason, our local grocers.”

     

    “At this point, when I am in London, I can’t imagine staying anywhere but Albany – all the more reason, perhaps, to clam up, maintain the longstanding omertà (or I should say discretion) that has held sway for centuries now, and count my blessings.”

     

    Gibbs’ former home, ‘Set L6,’ is situated on the second floor in Albany’s Courtyard. It extends to some 1,178 square foot and includes a hall, reception room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. On the third floor, a separately accessed studio space has a shower room and kitchenette and of the property, the selling agents remark: “Whilst capable of immediate occupation, [it] does require the bathrooms being upgraded.”

     

    Sold for just £60,000 ($75,000, €69,000 or درهم275,000) leasehold in March 2019 (presumably the term must have been very much towards its end), agents GreenHunt listed ‘Set L6 Albany’ on Zoopla first in May that year. Now, in April 2020, it remains for sale, but is instead listed on Primelocation. They seek £925,000 ($1.2 million, €1.1 million or درهم4.2 million) and offer it on a new 20-year leasehold with an upfront premium and a peppercorn ground rent.

     

    Living in the building is not just the preserve of those with deep pockets. Peviously, in 2014, we featured ‘Set A5 Attic Albany’ – which was just £395 per week ($494, €454 or درهم1,800 per week) – whilst for those looking for something grander currently, a second and third floor freehold set is currently available through Sotheby’s International Realty for £4.95 million ($6.19 million, €5.69 million or درهم22.73 million). It extends to 1,890 square feet, is described as “meticulously refurbished” and includes an especially impressive drawing room.

     

    Christopher Gibbs quoted:

     

    “[I’ve always attracted] the grand and the raffish and the fast and the chic.”

     

    “[I am] monumentally narcissistic.”

     

    “I am a bit snooty… I do make exceptions, but very few.”

     

    “We are here to learn, and my goodness I have a lot to learn.”

     

    “[I was expelled from Eton for] Rabelaisian antics – illicit drinking, pantry raids of other boys’ rooms – that sort of thing.”

     

    “Taste is something you catch – like measles or religion.”

     

    “I like things in their natural state – people especially. As life goes by, that’s what I admire: objects and people that are unmonkeyed with, that are themselves, not trying to be something else.”

     

    “I’m not interested in creating a dazzling impression of richness. We can make do with surprisingly little in life. It is best to have a few things which are really nice. I don’t approve of the mean look, but I do approve of the spare look, where every little bit is telling.”

     

    “Being a shopkeeper, I used to sell things, sometimes.”

     

    “I definitely suffer from the blown-mind syndrome… The only thing I’ll say in my favour, is that I was practically the only person I knew who actually went to work at nine o’clock in the morning, whether I’d been up to eight o’clock or not, because I had a job, my own business, and I realised that, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have any of those things.”

     

    “[I] help people make nice cosy homes where they are going to live happy, beautiful lives.”

     

    “[I] encourage friends to dig into their heirlooms, to wear old clothes, to turn their backs on ugliness and conformism.”

     

    “Collectors today want a good car, a good sound system, and a huge pink heart painted by Damien Hirst with dying butterflies on it which costs £400,000. Yet for much less you could buy something completely fascinating made 300 years ago.”

     

    Quotes about Christopher Gibbs:

     

    “Taste is difficult to define, but his is absolute perfection” – Min Hogg, founding editor of World of Interiors.

     

    “[He was] like an 18th century English parson who knew more about Etruscan vases than anyone at the British Museum” – Sir John Richardson, July 2018.

     

    “I’m here to learn how to be a gentleman” – Mick Jagger of his then neighbour Christopher Gibbs whilst at a dinner party at his house.

     

    “He was very flash… Sometimes he just wore tight jeans or fancy dress, like the others; but mostly his tastes were elaborate; suits with double-breasted waistcoats and cloth-covered buttons, and velvet ties, and striped Turkish shirts with stiff white collars, and cravats. Above all, he had a passion for carnations and was forever buying new strains, pink-and-yellow, or green-ink, or purple with red flecks” – Nik Cohn, author of Today There Are No Gentlemen, January 1971.

     

    “Part Montesquieu, part Beau Brummel, and part Baudelaire… [Christopher Gibbs was a] well-born Renaissance man with an unmatched eye for aesthetics and a talent for friendship and the mot juste” – Hamish Bowles, international editor at large for Vogue, July 2018.

     

    “Christopher was almost single-handedly responsible for making English antiques, and English heritage, look ‘cool’ again” – James Reginato of Vanity Fair, July 2018.

     

    “A connoisseur of the weird and the wonderful” – Christopher Mason of The New York Times, September 2000.

     

    “[He was an] acid-tripping ex-roué once known as the King of Chelsea” – Bitter words from the ex-Daily Mail ‘journalist’ and poison pen James Delingpole, executive editor of Breitbart.

     

    “[The] avatar of Swinging London” – A more kind description from Sam Roberts of The New York Times.

     

    “The arbiter of bohemian style” – Mitchell Owens of Architectural Digest Pro, July 2018.

     

    “Christopher Gibbs: the man who brokered £50 million Getty grant to the National Gallery – and fed Princess Margaret hash brownies” – Huon Mallalieu of The Art Newspaper, July 2018.

     

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    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    The entrance hallway of ‘Set L6’ has a fireplace.
    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    The master bedroom of ‘
    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    Looking into the reception room.
    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    The somewhat basic kitchen is definitely in need of an upgrade.
    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    The view from the set.
    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    Albany’s famous ‘Rope Walk’ – Of it, Gibbs commented: “So ingrained is the sense of decorum that even to utter a friendly hello to a neighbor as we pass on the stone stairs or the covered outdoor canopy, known as the Rope Walk, might be violating a taboo, as if a few words of small talk could break the spell of privacy we Albanians prize so deeply. (A nod suffices, a hat raised to a lady.)”
    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    Residents have access to the most peaceful outside spaces.
    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    The third floor space included in the sale is arranged as a long, thin studio room.
    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    It has a small kitchenette.
    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    And a somewhat dated shower room.
    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    A plan indicating how ‘Set L6’ is currently arranged.
    A Set fit for a Peacock – £925,000 for Albany ‘set’ of Christopher Gibbs – Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale – £925,000 for L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ, United Kingdom through GreenHunt.
    A plan of the third floor studio space.
  • A Bowled Down Price

    A Bowled Down Price

    Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum

    In March 2015, The Steeple Times featured a Texan mansion described by some as “more iconic than Southfork.” Back then this “replica of George Washington’s Virginia estate” had been for sale for four years already and now, in March 2020, it’s still on the market.

     

    Offered at prices as high as £26.1 million and as low as £12 million, Mount Vernon overlooks White Rock Lake in Dallas and was built between 1928 and 1930. It was sold in 1938 to one of the world’s largest oil baron’s, H. L. Hunt (1889 – 1974) – a man “reputed to have the highest net worth of any individual in the world” at the time of his death.

     

    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    John Amend with Laura Bush at the bowling alley at Mount Vernon and with his wife Teresa.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    One of the entrances to Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America.

    Passing on to a commercial real estate tycoon and fellow supporter of the Bush political dynasty named John Amend in 1999, the 10,511 square foot house was subsequently renovated and aside from creating spaces including a prayer room, a 10,000 bottle wine cellar, a 1950s style diner and a car museum, what is considered to be the finest private bowling centre in America was added. It comes complete with a digital jukebox that has over 500,000 songs on its concert hall quality sound system

     

    Whilst Mr Amend and his wife Teresa hosted guests including Glenn Close and President George W. Bush at Mount Vernon, in 2011 they decided to “simplify their lives” and placed it for sale. In the time since, its yoyo-ed on and off the market but speaking about the property to the Dallas News in February this year, realtor Allie Beth Allman claimed the Amends have now “made it a goal to sell the property this year.” She went further and stated:

     

    “Many interested buyers have made offers, but the family has been reluctant to sell… The kids are just now at the age that they really enjoy it, and they spend a lot of time over there. It’s hard to give that up when your grandkids are saying, ‘Oh, don’t sell.’”

     

    Allie Beth Allman & Associates now seek £14.9 million for Mount Vernon and the 10 acres that surround it.

     

    The Names & Numbers – Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America

     

    March 2020 – Relisted at £14.9 million ($18.5 million, €16.6 million or درهم67.9 million) and still for sale through Allie Beth Allman & Associates.

     

    May 2019 – Relisted at a price of £12 million ($14.9 million, €13.4 million or درهم54.7 million).

     

    May 2016 – Relisted at a price of £14.1 million ($17.5 million, €15.7 million or درهم64.3 million).

     

    March 2015 – Featured in The Steeple Times whilst listed with Allie Beth Allman & Associates and Christie’s Real Estate at a price of £15.3 million ($19 million, €17 million or درهم68 million).

     

    September 2013 – Reduced in price to £15.3 million ($19 million, €17 million or درهم68 million).

     

    November 2012 – Reduced in price to £23.7 million ($29.5 million, €26.5 million or درهم108.3 million).

     

    2011 – Placed for sale for £26.1 million ($32.5 million, €29.2 million or درهم119.4 million).

     

    2004 – Hosted its first event as “the nation’s finest professionally equipped bowling centre.” The alley reportedly cost £1.16 million ($1.45 million, €1.3 million or درهم5.33 million) to construct.

     

    2002 – Renovated and expanded.

     

    1999 – Sold to the self-declared real estate “pioneer and innovator” John T. Amend and his wife Teresa for an undisclosed sum.

     

    1938 – Sold by Thomas Y. Pickett to Harold Lafayette Hunt, Jr. for $69,000 or the equivalent of £740,000 today ($922,000, €826,000 or درهم3.4 million today).

     

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    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
    A Bowled Down Price – £14.9 million for Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America down from £26.1 million through Allie Beth Allman & Associates – Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum.
  • A Poirot Curve

    A Poirot Curve

    Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum

    Featured as the main article in Country Life just 15 days after the start of the Second World War on 16th September 1939, Hamstone House on the 946-acre St. George’s Hill estate in Weybridge, Surrey was constructed between 1937 and 1938 for Herman Peter Thygesen Lind (1890 – 1956), the founder of a firm that later constructed both Waterloo Bridge and the BT Tower in London.

     

    Now offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates, this Grade II listed “classical” house is described on British Listed Buildings as being “in Georgian tradition” and of “brown ham stone ashlar,” but has a look that is more akin to something out of Agatha Christie’s Poirot novels. In 1987, Christopher Warman of The Times, lauded it as “the most important architectural centrepiece of St George’s Hill” and “[looking] like the bridge of a huge ocean going liner.”

     

    Accessed via a Grade II listed double gatehouse, Hamstone House is curved in shape and was somewhat mockingly featured in Punch magazine as “[standing] out like the Duchess of Windsor’s flamingo brooch in a local jewellers window.” Its 8 acres of gardens and grounds were listed as “not [looking] out of place in the grandest of crematoria.”

     

    Refurbished most recently in 2006, the 23,546 square foot freehold property now includes amongst other things 5 reception rooms, 5 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms and an indoor swimming pool. The second floor is dominated by a large roof terrace accessed via an office, from where no doubt Mr Lind no doubt planned many a business manoeuvre as he looked out across what is listed as “rural grandeur.”

     

    Sold to a company connected to Oleg Deripaska, the somewhat controversial oligarch and associate of Peter (now Lord) Mandleson in 2001, Hamstone House was previously marketed for £5 million ($5.7 million, €5.4 million or درهم21.2 million) in 1987 according to Wikipedia.

     

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    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
    A Poirot Curve – Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum. Hamstone House, South Ridge, St. Georges Hill, Weybridge KT13 0NF, United Kingdom is offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates.
  • A Sugar Palace

    A Sugar Palace

    Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond

     

    On Monday, the Daily Mail’s Sebastian Shakespeare revealed that Lord Sugar – of The Apprentice fame, in case you didn’t already know – is trying to sell his motor yacht, the ‘Lady A’, for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million).

     

    The 181-foot long gin palace accommodates 12 guests in 6 cabins and has a crew of 15. Built in Japan in 1986 for the subsequently disgraced and now dead Australian tycoon Alan Bond (1938 – 2015), the vessel passed through various other hands before being bought by Lord Sugar in 2015. Originally known as ‘Southern Cross III’, the boat was renamed ‘Indian Princess’ during supposed ownership by the brewing tycoon and ‘King of Good Times’ Vijay Mallya and ‘Emihar Chios’ whilst owned by the Greek shipping tycoon Harry N. Vafias.

     

    A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.
    Lord and Lady Sugar

    A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.
    Former owners Harry Vafias, Vijay Mallya and Alan Bond

     

    Totally refitted over 10 months in 2016 by Burgess Marine and then renamed in honour of Lord Sugar’s wife since 1968, Lady Sugar (originally Ann), the ‘Lady A’ is described as a “unique market opportunity” and “one of the most distinctive yachts on the water” by brokers Edmiston.

     

    A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond. A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.A Sugar Palace – Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million) with brokers Edmiston after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond.

  • A Villa In The Sky

    A Villa In The Sky

    Gargantuan Mayfair aprtment goes on sale for £30 million; it has eighteen windows facing Hyde Park and is in a building designed by the architect of Broadcasting House

     

    A vast maisonette, described as a “villa in the sky”, on London’s Park Lane has gone on sale for £30 million ($38.8 million, €34.6 million or درهم142.6 million) in spite of being in need of complete redecoration.

     

    Split over the seventh and eighth floor of a portered building named Fountain House, the apartment offered extends to 6,897 square foot and includes 4 reception rooms, 2 kitchens, 10 double bedrooms, 2 staff bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. Its principle reception room is 38-foot long and its dining room is described as “easily sitting 22 guests”.

     

    A Villa In The Sky – Apartment 74/75, Fountain House, Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K 7HQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £30 million ($38.8 million, €34.6 million or درهم142.6 million) through Wetherell
    Houses on the site of Fountain House on 30th December 1930 (prior to their demolition)

     

    Designed by George Val Myer (1883 – 1959), an architect best known for the BBC’s Broadcasting House, in conjunction with F. J. Watson-Hart and built by Sir Robert McAlpine & Sons between 1935 and 1938 on the site of demolished mansions, Fountain House includes around 60 residential units, offices, a fuel station and a car showroom.

     

    On the market through Wetherell on a lease of 84 years, the service charge for the flat is £81,538 per annum ($105,584, €94,135 or درهم387,836 per annum).

     

    A Villa In The Sky – Apartment 74/75, Fountain House, Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K 7HQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £30 million ($38.8 million, €34.6 million or درهم142.6 million) through WetherellA Villa In The Sky – Apartment 74/75, Fountain House, Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K 7HQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £30 million ($38.8 million, €34.6 million or درهم142.6 million) through WetherellA Villa In The Sky – Apartment 74/75, Fountain House, Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K 7HQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £30 million ($38.8 million, €34.6 million or درهم142.6 million) through WetherellA Villa In The Sky – Apartment 74/75, Fountain House, Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K 7HQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £30 million ($38.8 million, €34.6 million or درهم142.6 million) through WetherellA Villa In The Sky – Apartment 74/75, Fountain House, Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K 7HQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £30 million ($38.8 million, €34.6 million or درهم142.6 million) through WetherellA Villa In The Sky – Apartment 74/75, Fountain House, Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K 7HQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £30 million ($38.8 million, €34.6 million or درهم142.6 million) through Wetherell A Villa In The Sky – Apartment 74/75, Fountain House, Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K 7HQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £30 million ($38.8 million, €34.6 million or درهم142.6 million) through Wetherell

  • Bernie Madoff – The Wizard of Lies

    Bernie Madoff – The Wizard of Lies

    TV drama film examining largest financial fraud ever by an individual set to air in May in America; ‘The Wizard of Lies’ examines the crimes of Bernard L. Madoff

     

    On 20th May, Americans will finally be able to watch director Barry Levinson’s take on the crimes of the Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff when The Wizard of Lies airs on HBO.

     

    Sentenced to 150 years for his £51.9 billion ($65 billion, €61.2 billion or درهم238.7 billion) crime, Madoff is played in the television drama film by Robert De Niro whilst Michelle Pfeiffer takes on the role of his wife, Ruth.

     

    Two trailers have recently been released to international audiences and we share the most recent below. A date for the drama’s release in the UK is still to be announced.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=146&v=4G2carVhVJk

  • Taxi!

    Rare 1938 Austin taxi to be auctioned; it is one of just four known to survive

     

    On 29th March, the very day Theresa May taxis towards Brexit and triggers Article 50, H&H Classics will auction a 1938 Austin 12/4 Heavy Low Loader Taxicab with coachwork by J. & H. Ricketts at their Imperial War Museum Duxford sale in Cambridgeshire.

     

    Offered with an estimate of £24,000 to £28,000 ($30,100 to $35,200, €27,700 to €32,400 or درهم110,700 to درهم129,100)., the quirky landaulette hooded vehicle features a retractable roof, roof rack and taxi meter. It has a red interior and an 1842 cc engine.

     

    The maroon and black vehicle was used in London before the Second World War and up until 1955, participated in the London to Brighton Historic Commercial Run in 1964 and then was left in a lock-up in Gravesend, Kent until the 1980s. Restored and returned to the road in 2003, the car is described as being in “presentable” condition.

     

  • Taxi!

    Taxi!

    Rare 1938 Austin taxi to be auctioned; it is one of just four known to survive

     

    On 29th March, the very day Theresa May taxis towards Brexit and triggers Article 50, H&H Classics will auction a 1938 Austin 12/4 Heavy Low Loader Taxicab with coachwork by J. & H. Ricketts at their Imperial War Museum Duxford sale in Cambridgeshire.

     

    Offered with an estimate of £24,000 to £28,000 ($30,100 to $35,200, €27,700 to €32,400 or درهم110,700 to درهم129,100)., the quirky landaulette hooded vehicle features a retractable roof, roof rack and taxi meter. It has a red interior and an 1842 cc engine.

     

    The maroon and black vehicle was used in London before the Second World War and up until 1955, participated in the London to Brighton Historic Commercial Run in 1964 and then was left in a lock-up in Gravesend, Kent until the 1980s. Restored and returned to the road in 2003, the car is described as being in “presentable” condition.

     

    Taxi! – 1938 Austin 12/4 Heavy Low Loader Taxicab with coachwork by J. & H. Ricketts to be sold by H&H Classics at their Imperial War Museum Duxford sale in Cambridgeshire on 29th March 2017 – Estimate: £24,000 to £28,000 ($30,100 to $35,200, €27,700 to €32,400 or درهم110,700 to درهم129,100) Taxi! – 1938 Austin 12/4 Heavy Low Loader Taxicab with coachwork by J. & H. Ricketts to be sold by H&H Classics at their Imperial War Museum Duxford sale in Cambridgeshire on 29th March 2017 – Estimate: £24,000 to £28,000 ($30,100 to $35,200, €27,700 to €32,400 or درهم110,700 to درهم129,100)Taxi! – 1938 Austin 12/4 Heavy Low Loader Taxicab with coachwork by J. & H. Ricketts to be sold by H&H Classics at their Imperial War Museum Duxford sale in Cambridgeshire on 29th March 2017 – Estimate: £24,000 to £28,000 ($30,100 to $35,200, €27,700 to €32,400 or درهم110,700 to درهم129,100)Taxi! – 1938 Austin 12/4 Heavy Low Loader Taxicab with coachwork by J. & H. Ricketts to be sold by H&H Classics at their Imperial War Museum Duxford sale in Cambridgeshire on 29th March 2017 – Estimate: £24,000 to £28,000 ($30,100 to $35,200, €27,700 to €32,400 or درهم110,700 to درهم129,100)Taxi! – 1938 Austin 12/4 Heavy Low Loader Taxicab with coachwork by J. & H. Ricketts to be sold by H&H Classics at their Imperial War Museum Duxford sale in Cambridgeshire on 29th March 2017 – Estimate: £24,000 to £28,000 ($30,100 to $35,200, €27,700 to €32,400 or درهم110,700 to درهم129,100)Taxi! – 1938 Austin 12/4 Heavy Low Loader Taxicab with coachwork by J. & H. Ricketts to be sold by H&H Classics at their Imperial War Museum Duxford sale in Cambridgeshire on 29th March 2017 – Estimate: £24,000 to £28,000 ($30,100 to $35,200, €27,700 to €32,400 or درهم110,700 to درهم129,100)