Tag: 19th century

Mocking The Dockers
Welsh ‘mock castle’ once occupied by notorious spendaholic Lady Docker for sale for £2.85m; the Dockers were turfed out in 1956 after it was discovered they’d lavished the equivalent of £1.3m today of company money on the place without permission
- Alleged inspiration for ‘The Pink Panther’ film, Norah Docker (AKA ‘Naughty Norah’ and ‘Lady Muck’) described herself as “an artificial blonde, among thousands of artificial blondes searching for stardom.”
- Of her second husband, Sir William Collins, chairman of Fortnum & Mason, she announced: “He was 69, I married him for his money.”
- Lady Docker used her third husband Sir Bernard Docker’s company money to create Daimler cars upholstered in zebra hide – “because mink is too hot to sit on.”
- The couple also plundered the company to buy Glandyfi Castle in Wales and spent an equivalent of £1.3 million of today’s money on it.
- The Grade II listed, early 19^th century ‘mock castle’ became a small hotel and is currently for sale for £2.85 million.
The best known ‘occupants’ of Glandyfi Castle, an early 19^th century ‘mock castle’ eleven miles from Aberystwyth in Mid Wales, were Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) managing director and Daimler chairman Sir Bernard Docker and his notoriously decadent wife, ‘Naughty Norah.’

The Dockers, a “spendaholic” pair said to be the inspiration for the 1963 film The Pink Panther, lavished the equivalent of £1.3 million of today’s money buying and altering the castle in 1949 – the very same year they were robbed of £1.9 million of diamonds in today’s money at their Mayfair home also.

Sir Bernard and Lady Docker lived at Glandyfi until 1956 when it was discovered that they’d plundered the company through the presentation of vast expenses. Aside from the castle, Lady Docker had lavishly created five show ‘Docker Daimler’ show cars covered in gold and upholstered with amongst other things zebra hide. When asked why she had done such, she coyly responded: “Because mink is too hot to sit on,” but subsequently after these and the castle had to be returned, the couple bought a Bentley Continental as revenge.

Now, today, Grade II listed Glandyfi (pronounced ‘Glandovey’) is for sale for what seems like a comparatively reasonable sum of £2.85 million, but it now comes minus the “glitzy” additions made by the Dockers. The Regency Gothic style stone and slate main building extends to 8,280 square feet over four floors and provides 5 reception rooms, 10 double bedrooms and 10 bathrooms and in addition comes with a courtyard with guest accommodation, a 1 bedroom lodge and a range of disused barns.

Externally, aside from a mature landscaped garden, the 31.43 acre plot includes a walled former kitchen garden, grazing land and woodland, but what is most impressive is the setting of what James Delingpole termed “not so much an austere, toff’s castle as a theme-park recreation of one” with “undoubtedly the most magnificent view from any house I know in Britain.”

Speaking to Anne Ashworth of The Times last time the allegedly haunted castle was placed for sale in July 2019, current selling agent Belinda Hutchinson-Smith of Strutt & Parker – whom also was involved in marketing the property to the current owners, the Holmes family, back in 2007 when she worked at Savills – stated:

“It was surreal [in 2007]. We were in a time warp. Almost nothing had changed since the Dockers moved out in the 1950s. There were 1950s newspapers strewn across the dining tables and in the bedrooms, books were left open on bedside tables. But, at the same time, the house had a magical feeling.”

In comments to the BBC in September 2014, when the former Docker one-of-one 1954 Daimler ‘Stardust’ was sold at auction for £110,000, Glandyfi’s current owner Maureen Holmes remarked:

“[Sir Bernard and Lady Docker] were clearly living the dream. From the red and white marble fireplaces to a path through the woods made entirely of upturned gin bottles, the castle oozed excess.”

“The older people around here who remember them say they were unbelievable, almost mythical figures. At a time when everyone else was still on rationing, the Dockers were thundering through the lanes in limousines made out of gold and silver.”

“The irony is, that whilst the locals felt the Dockers’ perceived wealth meant that they were utterly removed from the community, in actual fact they probably had no more money than anyone else in the area.”

Lady Docker pictured in one of the opulent ‘Docker Daimler’ show cars she commissioned her husband’s company to create; the most famous of the examples was known as the ‘Golden Zebra’ – this 1955 Daimler two-door coupé based on the DK400 chassis featured metal trim pieces plated in gold instead of chrome, an ivory dashboard and zebra-skin upholstery.

Thrice married Lady Docker (1906 – 1983), born Norah Turner and also variously Norah Callingham and Lady Collins, was born in Derby and began her career as a hostess at the Café de Paris in London. In Lancashire, her name is still used as a derogatory substitute for ‘Lady Muck’ and in spite of her once extravagant lifestyle, she died in poverty at the not so chi-chi Great Western Royal Hotel in Praed Street, Paddington, London.

In one of her last interviews, Lady Docker remarked: “I have always had the persistence to march on. I will continue to do that, until the day I die.” In spite of her reduced circumstances, she is said to have “retained a remarkable joie-de-vivre, downing glasses of pink champagne to the last.”

English poet Thomas Love Peacock got married at Glandyfi Castle in 1820; Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan stayed at the property whilst filming ‘Springwatch’ in 2012.

The Names & Numbers – Glandyfi Castle, Glandyfi, near Machynlleth, Ceredigion, Powys, Mid Wales, SY20 8SS, United Kingdom

October 2020 – Relaunched for sale for £2.85 million ($3.69 million, €3.15 million or درهم15.54 million) through Strutt & Parker.

June 2019 – Listed for sale for £2.85 million ($3.69 million, €3.15 million or درهم15.54 million) through Strutt & Parker with 31.43 acres of land.

2012 – Whilst filming the BBC’s Springwatch, presenters Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan stayed at the castle. Strachan wrote in the guest book: “I couldn’t imagine a nicer, more comfortable place to stay… I felt like a princess in my amazing room.” Packham added: “Staying at the castle has been a total treat. Hospitality, fine food, wonderful environment, views to die for and history.”

Late 2000s to September 2019 – Operated as an 8 bedroom “informal and relaxed [hotel and wedding venue] without any stuffiness or restrictions” by a theatre designer named Maureen Holmes and her family.

May 2007 – Offered for sale for £1.25 million ($1.62 million, €1.38 million or درهم5.94 million) through Savills with 43 acres of land on behalf of the late owner, one Mrs Betty Piper (1914 – 2006).

January 1964 – The building is given a Grade II listing, reference 9874, and is described as “the only example [of a] Georgian country house in picturesque castellated style in the county.”

1956 – Following discovery of the Dockers’ “profligacy” and their removal from BSA, the castle is sold.

1949 – Purchased by Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited for the use of Sir Bernard and Lady Docker for the sum of £12,000 or the equivalent of £427,000 ($552,000, €471,000 or درهم2 million) today. The company then lavished £25,000 or the equivalent of £890,000 ($1.2 million, €983,000 or درهم4.2 million) today on “opulent renovations of the home.”

1906 – Following the death of Charles Jeffreys, the castle and its lands pass out of the hands of that family after 114 years.

1820 – English poet Thomas Love Peacock (1785 – 1866) married Jane Griffith (also known as Jane Gryffydh) at the castle. His fellow poet and friend Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 – 1822) referenced Peacock’s wife “the milk-white Snowdonian Antelope.”

Early 19^th century – Built to the designs of an unknown architect for George Jeffreys, High Sheriff of Cardiganshire in 1819 on an estate acquired by his great uncle, Edward, in 1792.

Some of Lady Docker’s Notable Remarks

Of herself, as she moved to London to seek fame and fortune:

“An artificial blonde, among thousands of artificial blondes searching for stardom.”

Of her vision in life:

“[To] bring some happiness back to a world left hollow by the horror of two world wars… We bring glamour and happiness into drab lives. The working class loves everything I do.”

Of her father:

“A self-made man.”

Of her male “targets” and those she viewed to be husband material:

“Through my life, I set both my sights and my price high.”

Of her chairman of Fortnum & Mason second husband, Sir William Collins:

“He was 69, I married him for his money.”

Of her third husband, Sir Bernard Docker:

“I deliberately trapped him.”

When asked to justify why she covered the seats of a 1955 Daimler in zebra skin:

“Zebra, because mink is too hot to sit on.”

On the loss of the ‘Docker Daimlers’ when they were taken away from her and her husband:

“It’s not the loss of the gold cars that makes me feel like this… And weren’t they fun? They were like my children… No, it’s that lovely party I was planning for 25,000 of the company’s workers for my 50th birthday. A tiptop affair – and now it’s all off. How could they do this to [Sir Bernard] after 17 years? Why, he’s such a hard worker that he even had a direct line to the firm from our yacht.”

Of Prince Rainier of Monaco after her son was banned from his son’s christening and she decided to burn the Monacan flag:

“I’m at war with Rainier.”

To the captain of the liner the Queen Elizabeth:

“This ship is being run by a bloody Communist! Don’t you dare touch me, you bloody Communist!”

Of some miners she invited on her yacht:

“The dear boys, I just loved them! It proved conclusively to me that the social barrier only exists in the mind.”

Of a Monaco casino employee she had allegedly assaulted:

“It was a good sock I gave that man, and he deserved it.”

Of the people of Jersey:

“They are the most frightfully boring, dreadful people that have ever been born.”

PICTURED TOP: Glandyfi Castle and the estuary beyond; Sir Bernard and Lady Docker at the castle.

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October 5, 2020
Lavish Living and Little Owls at Lilford Hall
Crumbling Northamptonshire estate Lilford Hall – where the little owl was introduced to Britain – for sale for £10 million, a sum £35 million lower than in 2014
- Grade I listed Jacobean mansion with 13 chimney stacks for sale for £10 million; it was for sale last for £44.9 million in 2014 in spite of being listed on English Heritage’s ‘At Risk Register.’
- Lilford Hall – parts of which have not been occupied since 1947 – is currently owned by a businessman who tried to sell burial plots in the grounds for £1,250 a pop and shares in a yacht loosely associated with Frank Sinatra for £23 each.
- The 321-acre estate includes not only overgrown parkland, but also a zoo with cages that formerly housed bears and a lake for flamingos.
- From 1711 until 1990, Lilford House was the seat of the Powys family – the 4^th baron is credited with introducing the little owl to the UK.
- More recently, in 1969, the “sexual mystic” artist Penny Slinger used the at-the-time derelict mansion in one of her best-known works.
A 32,406 square foot Grade I listed Jacobean mansion 82 miles from Central London has gone on sale for £10 million – or the equivalent of just £308 per square foot.

On this basis, Lilford Hall – set in 321 acres near Oundle – seems a comparative bargain when considered against the £4,786 per square foot sought for a Lennox Gardens, Knightsbridge triplex flat The Steeple Times featured in May, but buyers need to remember this – parts of this crumbling building, most notably the major state rooms, have not been used since 1947.

Marketed last in 2014 for the even more punchy sum of £45 million, the “exceptional residential and amenity estate located on the River Nene,” is now offered by agents Savills. The “wonderfully proportioned” U-shaped mansion itself is constructed of grey limestone and includes over 100 rooms and amongst them are 7 “impressive” reception rooms, a ballroom, a ‘great chamber’ and 9 bedrooms. In addition, there are two Georgian pavilions that were formerly coach houses and stabling, three cottages, a former zoo, the oldest private softball court in the world, a former flamingo enclosure and a deer park.

“Impressiveness in the chief attribute of Lilford Hall as a specimen of architecture” claimed County Life in 1990 and as the seat of the Powys family from 1711 until 1990, it became not only a Downton Abbey-esque entertaining pad, but also housed nurses in the Second World War. Here, indeed, is an English country house that has seen lavishness and decline and thankfully here is an example that thankfully escaped the wrecking ball wrought so disgracefully on such houses in the 1950s and 1960s.

Fascinatingly in the 1880s, Thomas Powys, 4^th Baron Lilford filled his aviaries on the estate with rheas, kiwis, pink-headed ducks, free-flying lammergeiers and it was from here that he also introduced the little owl into the UK. There are said to be around 5,700 breeding pairs today, but sadly, according to the RSPB, their numbers are now in decline.

More recently, in 1969, “sexually erotic” performance artist Penny Slinger took over the by then “derelict” mansion in conjunction with the filmmaker Peter Whitehead. Their resulting work, titled An Exorcism, was exhibited internationally and in 2004, after the current owners, Charles and Aziza Micklewright, acquired the house, they did something equally avant-garde; they attempted to sell burial plots in the grounds to Americans by citing the estate’s connections to the founder of the Brownists, Robert Browne – a man better known as ‘The Father of the Pilgrims’ and ‘The Grandfather of the Nation’ (of the United States of America).

Whilst Mr and Mrs Micklewright were lauded for their considerable efforts towards the “huge task” of restoring Lilford Hall, they came to the attention of Historic England in May 2019 when the building was listed on the At Risk Register. At that time, the Oundle Chronicle reported: “The roof covering is in poor condition leading to water ingress and distress to the upper storeys. The front bays require structural attention. A schedule of urgent repairs has been identified but not implemented, and no long-term solution has been agreed.”

Now, someone with very, very deep pockets is required to restore this gem. It would be helpful if they liked erotic art, bears, squash and owls also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cii3VlgfVy0

The artwork created by Penny Slinger and Peter Whitehead at the house has been exhibited internationally.

The Names & Numbers – The Lilford Hall Estate, Lilford, Oundle, Peterborough, Northamptonshire, PE8 5SG, United Kingdom

June 2020 – The estate is listed sale for £10 million ($12.5 million, €11.1 million or درهم46 million) through Savills. It includes 321.31 acres, of which 148.17 acres are pasture land whilst 157.48 acres are woodland. The majority of the estate is held on a freehold title, whilst the remaining 127.6 acres – known as ‘The Linches’ and ‘Lilford Woods’ – are held on a lease with 91 years remaining.

2015 – Promoted as ‘The National Memorial Gardens,’ burial plots in the gardens of the hall were offered “available to any UK resident or national for an outstanding price of only £1,250 ($1,568, €1,393 or درهم5,758)” by Mark Bailey of Harley Investments. Around the same time, a website dedicated to Lilford Hall marketed “a piece of the formal gardens” for sale for £299 ($375, €333 or درهم1,377) to include “an officially certified ‘Squire of Lilford’ [title] … with this little piece of history.”

March 2014 – The Irish Times reported that the asking price for the estate had been increased to £44.9 million ($56.3 million, €50 million or 206.8درهم million). They claimed the agents Coldwell Banker blamed “confusion over currency conversion rates and new instructions from the owner.”

April 2014 – The Lilford Hall Estate is listed for sale through Coldwell Banker on MyHome.ie for £33.7 million ($44.2 million, €37.5 million or درهم155 million) on behalf of “an English gentleman.”

2004 – The estate is acquired by the Micklewright family. Little information is available online about the Old Framlingham Charles Micklewright (born July 1958), but he is described as a “patent attorney” on Companies Houses pages. The businessman is mentioned also as a publisher and trustee of the Marsh Christian Trust elsewhere, whilst his Singaporean born wife, Aziza (born 1964), was a director of Lilford Properties Limited from 2013 to 2018.

A website operated by Sign of the Times Limited, a Hong Kong company of Lilford Hall, Lilford, Oundle, Northamptonshire, PE8 5SG, currently offers shares in a yacht named ‘Sinatra the Voice’ for £23.91 ($29.99, €26.64 or درهم110.14) per share. The boat was built in 1956 and is tenuously linked to Frank Sinatra by the fact that a one-time owner, Beale Poste, loaned it occasionally to the crooner between 1968 and 1974 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

1990 – The estate is closed to the public.

1980s – The house is used as a location in the BBC English Civil War inspired historical drama series By the Sword Divided.

1970s – Aviaries on the estate restocked by George Powys, 7^th Baron Lilford (1931 – 2005). He “opened [the estate] to the public as a leisure park” and housed more than 350 birds of 110 species there. It remained thus for around 20 years and included a restaurant and shop. The aviaries and the 1,896 square foot restaurant building remain present still today.

1969 – 1970 – American British “sexual mystic” artist Penny Slinger (born 1947) and Liverpudlian filmmaker Peter Whitehead used the “derelict mansion” as the setting for their works An Exorcism and Lilford Hall. They are lauded as a “photo romance” and exhibited at the Blum and Poe Gallery in Los Angeles in 2014, at the Haywood Gallery in London in 2015 and at the Fortnight Institute in New York in 2019.

1949 – Stephen Powys, 6^th Baron Lilford (1869 – 1949) died without having married or having had children. His properties aside from Lilford – a house in Mayfair, Bank Hall in Lancashire and the Bewsey Estate in Cheshire – passed to his second cousin twice removed.

1947 – The estate is sold to a company named Merchant Ventures by the Powys family (though they remain present on the estate until 1990).

1939 – 1945 – During the Second World War, the parkland of the estate was used as a military hospital for nearby airfields. From 1949 to 1954, some of the buildings constructed during this period were then used as a Polish school.

1923 – First-class Northamptonshire cricketer Major John Powys, 5^th Baron Lilford (1863 – 1945) built the first private softball court in the world in the grounds of the hall. It is now in disrepair and the roof has fallen into the inner court.

1909 – 1910 – The hall was extended in the Edwardian manner including the provision of a new master bedroom with dressing room and bathroom by William Dunn and Robert Watson of Dunn & Watson.

1901 – The estate surrounding the hall reaches its largest size and totals a vast 8,000 acres of land. Around this time, Queen Mary, wife of King George V, is said to have visited the gardens.

1880s – Ornithologist and expert on the fauna of the Balearics Thomas Littleton Powys, 4^th Baron Lilford (1833 – 1896) introduces the little owl into England on the estate. His aviaries were said to “feature exotic birds from all around the world” and a species of European lizard, the Lilford’s wall lizard (Podarcis lilfordi), is named in his honour. The 4^th baron is repeatedly mentioned in the works of Charles Darwin for his contribution to the study of the science of evolution.

1840s – Further changes to the building are orchestrated by the architect William Gilbee Habershon (circa 1818 – 1891). The Campaign to Protect Rural England described these Victorian extensions as “sensitive” in 2006 – a rare accolade given most additions to English country houses during this period were simply brash and vulgar.

1740s – The Palladian architect Henry Flitcroft (1697 – 1769) adds “outstanding” Georgian interiors whilst “respecting the hall’s Jacobean exterior.” He “softened and brightened” the building as a result and also “constructed the Georgian pavilions and additional storeys to the east end of the two wings.” Other works by Flitcroft can be seen at Bower House in Essex, Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire and Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire.

1711 – Lilford Hall is sold to the judge and Tory politician Sir Thomas Powys (1649 – 1719), Attorney General to King James II. Powys is best remembered for conducting the prosecution of the Seven Bishops in 1699. He is buried at Lilford.

1630s – Construction of the main exterior of what to this day remains Lilford Hall as a “Jacobean-style gentry house” by William Elmes (the younger).

1473 – The land that forms the estate is acquired by William Browne (1410 – 1489), a wealthy wool merchant and landowner from Stamford, from the estate of Baron Welles (who was beheaded by King Edward IV for treason). In 1495, “in a Tudor style,” he built a hall on the site and it passed to Robert Browne (1550 – 1633), the founder of the Brownists, ‘The Father of the Pilgrims’ and ‘The Grandfather of the Nation’ (of the United States of America).

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June 13, 2020
A £5 Million Party Wreck

Ruined Moroccan fortress fit for the most lavish of bashes for sale for £5.3 million; it may be “spectacular” but it most certainly doesn’t have Wi-Fi

Billionaires like Morocco. The late Malcolm Forbes (1919 – 1990) lavished the equivalent of £4.1 million today ($5.1 million, €4.7 million or درهم18.7 million today) holding his 70^th birthday at his property, Palais Mendoub, there in 1989. Guests – many of whom arrived by Concorde even – numbered Gianni Agnelli, Mario Buatta, Betsy Bloomingdale, King Constantine of Greece, Walter Cronkite, Diane von Furstenberg, Sir James Goldsmith, Calvin Klein, Dr Henry Kissinger, John and Patricia Kluge, Robert and Dr Betty Maxwell, Lucky Roosevelt, Elizabeth Taylor and Barbara Walters and boy did the food and drink flow. Of the fat bash, the New York Social Diary gushed: “It was a party festooning in ballyhoo, in glitter and glamour and illusion, comparable to Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball twenty-three years before in New York.”

Gone are the days of lavish bashes on the scale given by Malcolm Forbes (and gone are all those pictured) – Malcolm Forbes with his ‘date’ Elizabeth Taylor and the since exposed for what he truly was ‘media monster’ (and father of the equally repugnant paedophile procurer Ghislaine Maxwell), ‘Bouncing Bob’ Robert Maxwell and his long-suffering wife Dr Betty Maxwell.

The Concorde used to transport guests to Tangier has also passed on – a technological step backwards if ever there was.

Now, someone looking to throw an equivalently extravagant party once lockdown is over (and once they’ve lavished a small fortune renovating it) in Morocco, could acquire a 32,292 square foot space in what agents Kensington Properties call a “high up… striking position overlooking the River Nfis.”

Going further of the £5.3 million ($6.5 million, €6 million or درهم23.8 million) fortress, they add of Kasbah Tagountaft: “[It] is considered one of the most memorable sites of historical significance in Morocco” and was “once the home of the powerful Caid of the Goundafa tribe who vied for control of the Atlas Mountains at the end of the 19^th century.”

Whilst little else is described in the marketing material for this “absolutely stunning property, full of potential,” one thing’s for sure: Anyone with a requirement for working Wi-Fi when they arrive on site, need not apply.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSyktSKw4_k&feature=emb_logo

April 26, 2020
Superlative Stedcombe

Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale; Stedcombe House for sale for £4.5 million

An “outstanding” William and Mary country house built with the profits from the slave trade by one Richard Hallett (died 1747), whose “Black Negro servant called Ando” was accused of rioting in the streets of Lyme Regis in December 1702, has come to the market for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million).

Standing on the site of a manor house destroyed in the Civil War in 1645, Grade I listed Stedcombe House was built in 1697 by the Hallett family on their return from Barbados. It was occupied by them until their bankruptcy in 1889 and passed to the Stephens family, whom remained resident until 1960.

The house in 1961; note the 19th century porch (which was later removed). The house has the typical William and Mary look; we featured another example of such when we featured the sale of Oswaldkirk Hall in Yorkshire in October 2013.

The front elevation of Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom today (without the porch).

A painting of Richard Hallett at Stedcombe House with his black servant Ando by Julie Hine (painted 1992).

A birthday party with “exotic performers” at Stedcombe House in March 1907 (again, note the later removed 19th century porch).

This grand reception room in the house provides indication of the quality of the refurbishment carried out since 1988.

Left vacant and rotting subsequently, the house became infected by “serious dry rot,” but upon purchase by the current owner it was subject to a “meticulous and sympathetic renovation” according to selling agents Savills.

Described as a “large house overlooking the Axe valley” of “red brick in Flemish bond with Beer and Portland stone dressings” by Historic England, Stedcombe is a four storey symmetrical residence with a belvedere crowning its pinnacle. It is grand yet manageable and features 4 reception rooms, 9 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms and comes with a 3 bedroom gate lodge, a stable block and “numerous outbuildings” requiring renovation also.

Standing on a plot of 20 acres that includes three walled gardens, pastureland and woodland, the only limitation of this home is that its once vast estate is now separate from it. Otherwise, here is probably the quintessential example of one of Britain’s most stunning homes.

Of the 8,039 square foot main house, Savills note: “Several things about it are unusual, but its most significant characteristics are its easy flow of rooms and the quality of design. In keeping with its era, all the rooms benefit from high ceilings and excellent proportions.” Pevsner and Cherry (1988) add: “[Stedcombe House is] an exceptionally fine and complete example of this type of small late 17th Century country house, the compact and centralised plan being an early example.”

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The house viewed from the garden elevation; the grounds are laid out formally, but plainly are ready for a new owner with deep pockets to lavish attention on them.

The decorative style of the current owner is simple, but tasteful.

A room for reflection.

The dining room.

A more informal sitting space is to be found at basement level.

One can imagine hosting similar kitchen table suppers in this room very easily.

One of the grand bedrooms of the house.

Guests would not fail to be impressed by this canopy.

Even the bathrooms at Stedcombe House are grand.

The outbuildings at Stedcombe provide potential for conversion to other uses; office space, staff or guest accommodation or for use to provide a cinema room, games room or gym perhaps.

The sale price includes this gate house. It was built at a much later date, but is of a reflective architectural design.

The setting is unspoilt and the gardens roll into the countryside beyond.

Stedcombe’s acreage is split into gardens, woodland and parkland.

The entrance to the property is simple, but could be improved by a new owner.

A site plan of Stedcombe indicates its proximity to a neighbouring farm and other properties.

A glorious view of this stunning house from its gardens.

September 18, 2019
The Art of The Tablescape

‘Tables d’Exception’ launched at Rolls-Royce in Mayfair

On 29^th November 2018, the extremely connected and delightfully affable Alexandra Foley organised a party for her client the French interior architect and antique tableware collector Hubert de Vinols at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars London’s Berkeley Square showroom in Mayfair.

Showcasing Mr de Vinols’ ‘Tables d’Exception’ concept – whereby the ultimate lunch and dinner parties are created with antique ‘tablescapes’ inspired by the grand styles of the 18^th and 19^th centuries – the event not only offered guests a chance to view these ‘for hire’ works of art, but also a chance to begin what was one of the busiest Christmas party seasons in recent years in London in style.

Amongst those present were Heather Bird Tchenguiz, Liz Brewer, Basia Briggs, Dr Mark Collins, Navjot Dhanoa, Constantin Gordon, William Hanson, Christopher Hargreaves, Christian Huhnt, David Jenkins, Richard Martyn-Hemphill, Lord Oxmantown, Marie-Athena Papathanasiou, Alexis Parr, Melleney Samsudin and Matthew Steeples.

Of his reasoning to introduce his company into the UK to serve “à la française,” Vinols told The Steeple Times:

“I wish for Tables d’Exception to enable a return to refined entertaining, where a beautiful setting inspires convivial discourse. Tables d’Exception is the ‘Go To’ for generous hosts who want to entertain at the highest level, in the spirit of the Gilded Age and Belle Époque.”

Photographs: Courtesy of Edward Lloyd and David Kerr.

Pictured top: Hubert de Vinols, Heather Bird Tchenguiz and Matthew Steeples.

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An example of Hubert de Vinol’s work

Another option for those hiring his antique tableware

Organiser of the event The Hon. Alexandra Foley with Matthew Steeples and Marie-Athena Papathanasiou

Dr Mark Collins and David Jenkins

Basia Briggs

Melleney Samsudin

Dafydd Jones and Liz Brewer

Lord Oxmantown and William Hanson

Navjot Dhanoa, Matthew Steeples and Christopher Harrgreaves

Constantin Gordon and friend

Richard Martyn-Hemphill and Matthew Steeples

January 3, 2019
A Perfect Estate

Diverse 2,000 acre Suffolk riverside estate for sale for £31.5 million; it has been owned by the same family since the 19^th century and produces an income of some £500,000 per year

A vast Suffolk estate – just 120 miles from London – has gone on sale for £31.5 million ($40.1 million, €35.3 million or درهم147.4 million) either as a whole or in upto 21 lots through agents Knight Frank.

Owned by Sir Guy and Lady Quilter and originally part of a larger 8,000 acre property, the 2,177 acre Sutton Hall Estate, near Woodbridge has been in the same family since the early 1900s. It has 3½ miles of frontage to the River Deben and is divided between 1,432 acres of irrigable arable land served by two large reservoirs, 375 acres of mature woodland and 242 acres of grazing and parkland.

Centred around a 6,084 square foot Grade II listed Georgian house with eight bedrooms, the estate also comes with eleven further farmhouses and cottages, numerous outbuildings, a keepered sporting shoot and a private quay.

Crops grown on the property include wheat, winter barley, potatoes, sugar beat, rape, vining peas, carrots, parsnips and onions whilst the selling agents comment: “For those looking to create an even more diversified business, the environmental and agricultural opportunities are boundless.”

In remarks to Knight Frank’s 2018 Rural Report, Sir Guy Quilter recently stated:

“We feel very lucky to have had the opportunity and I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved, but it feels like we’ve done as much as we’re comfortable doing without changing the nature of the estate.”

“You have to feel completely comfortable running a place like this because you can get it wrong very easily. History is littered with estates that have turned to dust within a generation.”

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August 14, 2018
A Wheel Window

Grade I listed Tudor open hall house in West Yorkshire for sale; it comes complete with a replica cabin from a 1920s ocean liner and an ‘apple and pear wheel window’

Situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty near the Rochdale Canal in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, Wood Lane Hall is a Grade I listed Tudor open hall house that has recently gone of sale for £750,000 ($980,000, €842,000 or درهم3.6 million).

Centred around a two-storey open hall with a gallery over, the 7,950 square foot property also includes 5 reception rooms, a study, a bespoke pine kitchen with an AGA, 6 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, cellars and a double garage.

Aside from such things as embattled parapets, gargoyles, decorative plasterwork and paneling, the building – which dates to 1649 – features an unusual circular window known as a ‘rose wheel’ or ‘apple and pear’ window. One of the bedrooms was decorated in the 1940s with the insertion of the contents of a 1920s ship’s cabin and though described “in need of remedial work,” this fine building could easily be crafted back into a very fine residence.

Edkins & Holmes are the agents handling the sale.

The house was marketed some time ago with 3 acres of land and in better condition; this land is not mentioned in the current marketing material

The undoubted star feature of Wood Lane Hall is its ‘rose wheel’ or ‘apple and pear’ window

The insertion of the contents of a 1920s ship’s cabin makes this a most unusual bedroom

Wood Lane Hall in times past (date unknown)

A drawing of the property

A floor plan of the house

November 4, 2017
Gabriel and Sarah A. Chrisman

Port Townsend, Washington State residents Gabriel and Sarah A. Chrisman live as if they are Victorians. A bike shop employee and a writer respectively, the couple have never owned mobile phones and live in a house built in 1888 with a “period appropriate icebox” instead of a fridge and oil lamps instead of modern light bulbs. Of their existence, Sarah Chrisman comments: “The process didn’t happen all at once. It’s not as though someone suddenly dropped us into a ready-furnished Victorian existence one day – that sort of thing only happens in fairy tales and Hollywood. We had to work hard for our dreams. The life we now enjoy came bit by bit, through gifts we gave each other. The greatest gift we give each other is mutual support in moving forward with our dreams.” Sadly for them, they also get a lot of abuse.

September 30, 2017
Gothic Grandeur

Oxford’s only Strawberry Hill Gothic house for £2.15 million in spite of needing complete renovation

A house built in the Strawberry Hill Gothic style in Oxford has gone on sale for £2.15 million ($2.80 million, €2.43 million or درهم10.29 million) in spite of needing complete renovation.

Constructed circa 1840 – 1850 on the site of an earlier house, The Priory in Iffley Village has a battlemented stuccoed front on rubble with 19^th century Gothic traceried windows, a crenelated parapet and a Welsh slate mansard roof. It is described as being Oxford’s only example of this flamboyant style of architecture and was at one point run as a school run by Ursuline nuns.

Grade II listed since 1972, the 4,817 square foot property includes 6 reception rooms, a first floor kitchen, 6 bedrooms and 4 basement rooms but just 1 bathroom. It stands on a private, mature plot of 0.93 acres adjoining the Hawkwell House Hotel and is offered by agents Butler Sherborn.

July 19, 2017
Flop or Fly?

London estate agents launch three properties priced over £25 million each on General Election day

Pundits may be referencing worrying times ahead in Britain’s post-Brexit economy, but London’s top tier estate agents have come out all guns blazing on General Election day and launched a series of jaw droppingly priced properties.

In Knightsbridge’s Lennox Gardens, SW1X – where a similar, though situated on the much more sought after first-floor, apartment was promoted for what then seemed an ambitious £27.5 million ($35.6 million, €31.7 million or درهم130.9 million) in 2015 – Savills showcased a 6,392 square foot second floor flat with a basement annex priced at an even more punchy price of £35 million ($45.4 million, €40.3 million or درهم166.6 million). Aside from 2 vast reception rooms, 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, it comes with not only a fingerprint recognition security system but also 2 gymnasiums, a sauna, a steam room, a treatment room, a wine cellar and even a juice bar.

Elsewhere, this morning, on the UK’s top property portal, OnTheMarket.com, agents Knight Frank listed an apartment in Eaton Square, SW1W for £25 million ($32.4 million, €28.8 million or درهم119 million) whilst Aylesford announced the sale of a house in The Boltons, SW10 for £57.5 million ($74.5 million, €66.2 million or درهم273.8 million). Whether we get Corbyn or May, one is left with just one question: Will these super-prime properities flop or will they fly?

The main reception room of the £25 million Lennox Gardens apartment on the first floor of ‘The Lennox’, 31-33 Lennox Gardens, Knightsbridge, SW1x

The garden of the 2,188 square foot ground and basement apartment at 20 Eaton Square, Belgravia, SW1W

The drawing room of the 9,989 square foot 22 The Boltons, Chelsea, SW10

June 8, 2017