Tag: 2005

  • Flying a White Elephant

    Flying a White Elephant

    Orange County mega-estate sold last for £14 million on an original asking price of £67 million offered for sale again for £43 million after death of owner

     

    The largest residential estate on the Newport Coast of California is back on the market. One Pelican Hill Road North in Newport Beach – alternatively known as ‘Villa Del Lago’ or ‘Villa of the Lake’ – is a property with an extraordinary past and though listed on construction for £67 million in 2009, eventually sold at a fire auction in 2012 for just £14 million. Its subsequent owner, a Japanese industrialist and publisher, death has now resulted in it being placed for sale again and this time £43 million is sought.

     

    Situated on a plot of 12.47 acres and comprising 17,706 square foot of ‘Italianate-style’ accommodation, One Pelican Hill Road North was last marketed as having 8 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms. On a new, dedicated marketing page for it, it is now being promoted as having, amongst other things, 2 screening rooms, a china/silver room, an “indoor lap pool with fibre optic twinkling star ceiling”, a 14-car garage and a “wine cave”. Outside, there is a “cascading private lake”, stabling, a riding ring, a putting green, an “organic edible garden” and potential for a vineyard.

     

    Jeffrey Janger and Linda Janger of Pace Properties have the listing currently but given another agent, Michael Gosselin of Surterre Properties, previously commented: “Newport Coast has yet to see any homes sell for more than $20 million (£15.5 million)”, it’ll be likely there’ll be a few price cuts yet.

     

    One Pelican Hill Road North – The Extraordinary Numbers

     

    2003 – Land purchased for $3.2 million by Monarch Estates. Subsequent construction loans total $27.3 million.

     

    February 2009 – Completed house placed for sale for sale for $87 million by a realtor named John McMonigle, the managing member of a partnership developing the project.

     

    May 2010 – Price reduced to $57 million.

     

    January 2011 – Three offers received, all were below $37 million and not accepted.

     

    April 2012 – Offered at a court-sanctioned auction with “no opening bid sought”. Sold for $18.5 million to Toshiaki Ogasawara, an industrialist and publisher of the Japan Times.

     

    January 2017 – Placed on the market after Ogasawara’s death in December 2016 for $55 million.

     

    Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties. Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties. Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties. Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties. Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties. Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties. Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties. Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.

  • Five of the Best – ‘Star Cars’ at Silverstone

    Five of the Best – ‘Star Cars’ at Silverstone

    A selection of five cars owned and previously owned by ‘personalities’ to be auctioned at the Silverstone Classic Sale in July

     

    On the 29th and 30th July, Silverstone Auctions will sell both classic and contemporary cars at their Silverstone Classic Sale in Northamptonshire. Amongst them are five cars owned or previously owned by the Sultan of Brunei, the actor Rowan Atkinson, the singer Lulu, the television chef Gary Rhodes and the musician Elton John.

     

    1996 Aston Martin DB7 i6 Volante£28,000 to £32,000

    ($37,000 to $42,000, €32,000 to €37,000 or درهم‎‎135,000 to درهم‎‎154,000)

    Five of the Best – ‘Star Cars’ at Silverstone – A selection of five cars owned and previously owned by ‘personalities’ the Sultan of Brunei, the actor Rowan Atkinson, the singer Lulu, the television chef Gary Rhodes and the musician Elton John to be auctioned at the Silverstone Classic Sale on 29th and 30th July 2017. Includes Aston Martin, Ferrari, Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz.Supplied new to the Sultan of Brunei and kept by him until 2005, this British Racing Green and Chancellor red leather interior Volante is being marketed as a “future modern classic.” It comes with a “huge history file” as well as its royal pedigree.

     

    2015 Land Rover 90 Celebration Heritage Edition£38,000 to £45,000

    ($50,000 to $59,000, €43,000 to €51,000 or درهم‎‎183,000 to درهم‎‎217,000)

    Five of the Best – ‘Star Cars’ at Silverstone – A selection of five cars owned and previously owned by ‘personalities’ the Sultan of Brunei, the actor Rowan Atkinson, the singer Lulu, the television chef Gary Rhodes and the musician Elton John to be auctioned at the Silverstone Classic Sale on 29th and 30th July 2017. Includes Aston Martin, Ferrari, Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz.One of the last 400 traditional Land Rovers made and offered on behalf of its current owner Rowan Atkinson CBE, this example has just 2,260 miles on the clock. The actor and comedian is selling as he has recently upgraded to the 110 four-door version.

     

    1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5-litre coupé£100,000 to £120,000

    ($131,000 to $157,000, €114,000 to €137,000 or درهم‎‎481,000 to درهم‎‎578,000)

    Five of the Best – ‘Star Cars’ at Silverstone – A selection of five cars owned and previously owned by ‘personalities’ the Sultan of Brunei, the actor Rowan Atkinson, the singer Lulu, the television chef Gary Rhodes and the musician Elton John to be auctioned at the Silverstone Classic Sale on 29th and 30th July 2017. Includes Aston Martin, Ferrari, Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz.Delivered new to then wife of Maurice Gibb, Marie McDonald McLaughlin Gibb (AKA ‘Lulu’ and now Lulu Kennedy-Cairns OBE), this “last of the line classic” was kept by the Boom Bang-a-Bang singer for three years. It has had two additional owners since and needs its air conditioning recommissioning.

     

    2006 Ferrari F430 F1£125,000 to £155,000

    ($164,000 to $203,000, €143,000 to €177,000 or درهم‎‎602,000 to درهم‎‎746,000)

    Five of the Best – ‘Star Cars’ at Silverstone – A selection of five cars owned and previously owned by ‘personalities’ the Sultan of Brunei, the actor Rowan Atkinson, the singer Lulu, the television chef Gary Rhodes and the musician Elton John to be auctioned at the Silverstone Classic Sale on 29th and 30th July 2017. Includes Aston Martin, Ferrari, Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz.Owned by television chef Gary Rhodes from new and having covered just 558 miles in its 11-year life, this Ferrari is capable of a top speed of 196 miles per hour and 0-62 miles per hour in just 3.7 seconds. It has been serviced four times and is described as “a unique opportunity to buy a real collector’s piece.”

     

    1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona£525,000 to £575,000

    ($688,000 to $753,000, €600,000 to €657,000 or درهم‎‎2.5 million to درهم‎‎2.8 million)

    Five of the Best – ‘Star Cars’ at Silverstone – A selection of five cars owned and previously owned by ‘personalities’ the Sultan of Brunei, the actor Rowan Atkinson, the singer Lulu, the television chef Gary Rhodes and the musician Elton John to be auctioned at the Silverstone Classic Sale on 29th and 30th July 2017. Includes Aston Martin, Ferrari, Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz.Owned by Sir Elton John from 1973 to 1975 and supposedly bought off the back of the success of his Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album, this Daytona has covered 81,675 miles from new and is said to be “presented in excellent order.”

     

    For more details about the auction and viewing, click here.

     

    The Wing Building, Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN.

     

  • Not So Little Italy

    Not So Little Italy

    Vast “Italian style” oceanfront mansion in Orange County, CA relaunched for sale for £42.7 million; it has failed to sell at prices as high as £53 million

     

    An 18,000 square foot barn of a residence described as “the finest oceanfront home in SoCal” has been relaunched to the market this month at a price 20% lower than when it was first listed in 2013.

     

    Built in what is somewhat ambitiously termed an “Italian palazzo style” and featuring Spanish tile roofing, five imported European fireplaces and “terrazzo flooring evoking those in The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades”, 2585 Riviera Drive stands on an acre plot in north Laguna Beach’s private Irvine Cove community. It is one of twelve oceanside homes in a gated, 24-hour-a-day guarded community and enjoys “spectacular views” of the Pacific and access to a private beach.

     

    Constructed to the designs of the Warner Group over a period of eight years and completed in 2010, the house offered occupies half of a larger plot owned until 2002 by Joan Irvine Smith, a woman whose family had at one time been the main landowner in the area. It features not only 5 bedroom suites and 9 bathrooms but also a screening room with bar, a 10,000 bottle wine cellar with tasting room and a 6-car garage with hydraulic lift.

     

    Within the grounds stands a guest house that was designed to be “a scaled back replica of Philip Johnson’s Glass House in Connecticut” and a 53-foot brass and glass waterfall made from materials salvaged from a Los Angeles bank. There are also 100-year old olive trees, a rose garden and a pool with cabana and spa.

     

    Not So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda Loder
    An aerial shot of the site during construction
    Not So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda Loder
    The house today with the ocean beyond

     

    Owned by businessman Ronald K. Loder, the founder of RKL Consulting, and his wife Yolanda, 2585 Riviera Drive is for sale with Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties. Of it, in 2013, Mr Loder remarked:

     

    “My wife and I love traveling to Northern Italy, particularly Bellagio and the lake country, where we’ve always admired the architecture… [But] I wouldn’t want [our house] to be construed as Tuscan in any way… Even though we built an Italianate palazzo, we wanted the flavor [sic] of mid-century design around us”.

     

    “We wanted people to know they were stepping into an oceanfront property the moment they arrived”.

     

    The Numbers – 2585 Riviera Drive, Laguna Beach

     

    June 2002 – Land subdivided into three plots; 2585 Riviera Drive sold for sum of $10.5 million (the equivalent of £11.1 million, $14.3 million, €12.7 million or درهم52.5 million today).

     

    July 2013 – Placed for sale for $65 million (the equivalent of £53 million, $68.2 million, €60.5 million or درهم250.6 million today).

     

    May 2017 – Relaunched for sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million).

     

    Not So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda LoderNot So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda LoderNot So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda LoderNot So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda LoderNot So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda LoderNot So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda LoderNot So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda LoderNot So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda Loder Not So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda Loder Not So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda LoderNot So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda Loder Not So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda LoderNot So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda LoderNot So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda LoderNot So Little Italy – 2585 Riviera Drive, Abalaone Point, Irvine Cove Community, Laguna Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92651, United States of America – For sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million) through Maxine Laube of Surterre Properties – Owned by Ronald K. Loder and Yolanda Loder

  • Sharon Hodgson MP

    Sharon Hodgson MP

    Despite being Shadow Minister for Public Health and claiming to be a campaigner to improve children’s diets, Labour’s ‘jolly giant’ Sharon Hodgson is a big fan of kebabs. This Geordie ex-payroll clerk once claimed she’d rescue her handbag if her house were on fire, remarked: “Labour is teetering on the edge of political irrelevance” in 2016 and in 2017 usefully concluded: “Brexit has given us the capacity to look at things differently”. She’s up there with Diane Abbott in terms of her brainbox qualities.

     

  • Staging the Dollars

    Staging the Dollars

    Prominent banker attempts to sell San Francisco mansion for a sum 205% higher than it achieved in 1993; it comes with an outdoor theatre

     

    Built in 1904 of brick on a wood frame and subject to a seismic upgrade in 1994, 3444 Washington Street in Presidio Heights, San Francisco was sold for $15.2 million in 2006 (the equivalent of £11.8 million, $18.4 million, €13.9 million or درهم55.8 million today) and before that for $5.9 million in 1993 (the equivalent of £7.8 million, $10 million, €9.1 million or درهم36.7 million today). It is currently owned by the banker David A. Coulter and his “social entrepreneur” wife Susan Weeks Coulter and has recently been placed for sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million).

     

    Offered by Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company, the 9,074 square foot “Georgian-style residence” comes with not only 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms but also an outdoor amphitheatre complete with terraced seating and an al fresco kitchen with a barbecue. The 4-storey building was last remodeled in 2008 and also includes a media room with wet bar and views of the Golden Gate Bridge, a wine cellar with capacity for 1,600 bottles, a lift, staff quarters and a 2-car garage.

     

    Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.
    Susan Weeks Coulter and her husband David A. Coulter (left and right)
    Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.
    3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America
    Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.
    The garden features an amphitheatre complete with terraced seating
    Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.
    The view from the house

     

    Property taxes on the house were a not insubstantial sum of £154,959 in 2015 ($199,685, €182,686 or درهم733,690). Mr and Mrs Coulter attempted to sell 3444 Washington Street in 2008 but subsequently withdrew it from the market after reducing their then asking price from $17.5 million to $12 million (the equivalent of £13.6 million to £10.6 million, $19.9 million to $13.6 million, €16 million to €12.4 million or درهم64.3 million to درهم50 million today). They also own reportedly bought a penthouse at 55 East 72nd Street in New York in 2012.

     

    Pennsylvania born, Carnegie Mellon University educated Mr Coulter, currently a special limited partner at Warburg Pincus, was previously vice chairman of JP Morgan Chase & Co. from 2001 to 2005. He was chairman and CEO of Bank of America Corporation for two years from 1996, but was unceremoniously fired when that organisation was “eaten alive” by Hugh McColl’s NationsBank in October 1998.

     

    Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter. Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter. Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter. Staging the Dollars – 3444 Washington Street, Presidio Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94118, United States of America – For sale for £14 million ($18 million, €16.5 million or درهم66.1 million) through Linda Mayne of Mayne & Company and owned by banker David A. Coulter and his social entrepreneur wife Susan Weeks Coulter.

    https://vimeo.com/212072933

  • Bob Marshall-Andrews QC

    Bob Marshall-Andrews QC

    A “libertarian-left” Labour MP between 1997 and 2010, distinguished barrister and novelist Bob Marshall-Andrews defected to the Liberal Democrats in 2017. Described as “an irritant” to his former party whilst they were in government, multi-millionaire Marshall-Andrews built and owns “one of the most innovative houses of the 20th century – the famed ‘Teletubby House’ in Druidston, Pembrokeshire – and is chairman of the George Adamson Wildlife Trust. In 2013, of him, Chambers Legal Directory remarked: “Juries love him… I’ve never seen a jury eat out of anyone’s hand as much” whilst he amusingly references himself as “the complete antidote to political humbug”. Of Labour, this “intellectually brilliant” individual added: “They’re a basket case…They effectively abdicated all responsibility [on Brexit]”.

     

    Bob Marshall-Andrews QC – Barrister, former Labour MP and novelist Bob Marshall-Andrews QC – Barrister, former Labour MP and novelist

     

  • Pete Cashmore (AKA ‘The Sage of Media’)

    Pete Cashmore (AKA ‘The Sage of Media’)

    Born in Banchory, Aberdeenshire in 1985, Pete Cashmore founded Mashable, a “one-stop-shop” digital media news and blogging site, in his bedroom in 2005 with the aim of “changing the world”. The firm now has over 120 employees, is based in New York and has 9 million followers on Twitter and achieves over 45 million unique views per month. He was once described as “one of the most influential voices of his generation – on and offline” and was also called “more than just a superb head of hair” by Hearst’s Town & Country magazine in 2016.

     

  • Dastardly Diane

    Dastardly Diane

    Diane Abbott MP, a woman unable to grasp numbers, revealed to be perfectly capable of grabbing as much as she can for her very own pocket

     

    Quite capable of whining about supposedly being unfairly targeted by so-called trolls in spite of being in the pay of and thus accountable to the public, Britain’s most hypocritical Member of Parliament, Diane Abbott, has pocketed over £110,000 in licence payers’ money from the BBC since 2003.

     

    Ms Abbott, it was revealed Thursday by the Mail Online, has been paid £700 each and every time she appeared on BBC One’s This Week and in addition has also raked in cash from conferences, corporate events and literary festivals.

     

    As well as getting £2,000 for turning up to a Citywealth Power Women lunch in 2014, this Socialist horror commanded £2,500 for a speech in Jersey and £2,000 for a talk at a BNP Paribas sponsored event later that year. Aside from this, there have been many other additional payments and on this basis, we ask one thing: “How can a self-motivated money grabber like Diane Abbott claim to speak for ordinary people?”

     

    The answer is simple: This numerically challenged woman cannot. Just like we said of Nigel Farage some months ago, Abbott is no longer a woman of the people. She is a woman of the elite.

     

  • Living Large

    New Jersey mansion, complete with 58 rooms, for sale for equivalent sum to what it cost to build in 1909; the £37 million house’s original owner was a man whose extravagance knew absolutely no bounds

     

    George Crocker (1856 – 1909) makes F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby seem like an amateur. Born in Sacramento and the son of a railway magnate worth some $30 million on his death (the equivalent of £634 million or $812 million today), Crocker was willed a significant $6 million (the equivalent of £127 million or $163 million today) on the condition that “after the space of five years continuously he shall abstain from the use of spirituous, vinous, and malt liquors to the extent that he shall not during this period have been intoxicated”.

     

    Crocker decided to ignore the terms of his father’s behest and from 1888 to 1891 lived in San Francisco as “one of the most reckless young men about town when reckless young men thereabouts were common” but then admitted himself to a sanatorium, put himself on the straight and narrow and finally collected the sum of $6 million in 1898.

     

    With wealth and a glamorous wife, Emma Rutherford, a widow from California, Crocker set himself up as the toast of New York society. Though he owned a townhouse at 1 East 64th Street and a villa in Newport, it was on paying $96,500 (the equivalent of £2.2 million or $2.8 million today) for the 1,100 acre Darling estate in Bergen County, Mahwah, New Jersey in 1901 that he truly became someone noticeable.

     

    Choosing what he called “the finest site for a residence in the country”, Crocker commissioned an architect named James Brite (died 1942) to build him a mansion “sparing no expense”. Modeled on a Jacobean prodigy house, Bramshill House in Hampshire, England and built from Indiana limestone and Harvard brick, the “Crocker Mansion” or “Darlington” – as it is more widely known – cost $2 million to build (the equivalent of £38.2 million or $49 million today) and included 75 rooms and around 50,000 square foot of accommodation. Its features included steam heating, elevators, ice cream freezers, integrated vacuum systems and a switchboard and in its grounds a racetrack and 16 greenhouses were constructed whilst a pond was stocked with 4,000 trout.

     

    Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate
    George Crocker and Emerson McMillin

    Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate

    Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate
    The design of Darlington was based on “one of the most haunted houses in England”, Bramshill in Hampshire; that building itself was also eventually separated from much of its estate and after being used as the European Police College was sold to developers City & Country for £25 million ($19.5 million) in 2014

     

    Commentators wowed at the resulting creation and noted details such as a library painted after the style of the Italian Renaissance by Tiffany Studios, elaborate wood carving by Italian craftsmen and Tiffany silver chandeliers and a 1906 Aeolian player pipe organ in the building’s 30-foot high Great Hall. In 1912, Architectural Record, chose even to swoon over the basement. They remarked:

     

    “Where Bramshill’s cellar housed for centuries lanterns, tallow dips, forest faggots, wooden vessels for the distribution of light, heat and water through personal service of human slaveys, its American reincarnation is a storehouse of miracle workers in the comfort and luxury of modern domestic life”.

     

    Unfortunately, Mr and Mrs Crocker did not truly get to enjoy the fruits of their extravagant spending. Emma Crocker died in 1904 of cancer and George Crocker also succumbed to the disease in 1909. His estate was valued at $20 million (the equivalent of £422 million or $541 million today) and amongst items found at his mansion were 60,000 personally monogrammed, custom-made cigars valued at $30,000 (the equivalent of £635,000 or $813,000 today).

     

    Sold subsequently to a “self-made” banker, industrialist and astronomy enthusiast named Emerson McMillin (1844 – 1922) in 1909 for $1 million (the equivalent of £21.1 million or $27.1 million), Darlington was next used to display a fine collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain whilst a herd of Jerseys were kept in the grounds.

     

    After McMillin’s death, his widow sold the estate in 1924 for $685,000 (the equivalent of £7.6 million or $9.8 million) to the Darlington Development Company, which in turn made it available to the Darling Golf and Country Club. They converted the building to a hotel and club that “promised to offer a new dimension to life in Mahwah” but “the development corporation and the club were soon in financial difficulties” and the McMillin estate foreclosed and regained possession.

     

    A new buyer came forward in the form of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Newark. They paid $478,000 for the property in 1926 (the equivalent of £5.2 million or $6.6 million today) and used Darlington as a theological seminary. The surrounding land was gradually sold off and in 1986, the Immaculate Conception Seminary also departed.

     

    Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate
    Darlington today – The 30-foot high Great Hall is still dominated by a 1906 Aeolian player pipe organ
    Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate
    Darlington today – Ilija Pavlovic expanded the mansion by some 12,000 square foot and amongst other things added a large home cinema
    Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate
    Darlington today – Another addition comes in the form of a vast wine cellar; George Crocker’s father would not have approved

     

    Subsequently restored and modernised with, according to Forbes, plumbing, heating, air conditioning and communications systems being installed, Darlington was placed on the market with just 12.1 acres in 2005 by Darlington Associates, a firm who’d built “multiple residential communities surrounding the mansion”. An ambitious figure of $25 million (the equivalent of £24.4 million or $31.3 million today) was sought for the now classified historic site but it was not until 2008 that a buyer came forth in the form of a local businessman named Ilija Pavlovic. He paid just $8.875 million (the equivalent of £8 million or $10.2 million today) and then embarked on the “challenge” of “both preserving the historic home while also restoring it to meet 21st-century standards”. The resulting creation spans four floors and includes amongst many other things a tea room, 3 libraries, 2 game rooms, 2 kitchens, a “his and her master bedroom wing”, 12 further guest bedrooms and 5 staff bedrooms.

     

    The biggest issue with the house, it transpired, was that its 476 leaded windows needed to be replaced. This reportedly cost $2 million alone (the equivalent of £1.8 million or $2.3 million today) and in addition, Pavlovic renewed all the mechanical systems, redid all 19 bathrooms, replaced the slate roof and added amongst other things a spa with an indoor lap pool, a gym, a massage room, a beauty salon and a home cinema. There is also a gatehouse, a professional kitchen that can serve 250 meals at a time, a wine cellar, a poker room, a cigar room, a billiards room, an 8-car garage, a tennis court and an outdoor swimming pool.

     

    Property blog 6sqft – which claimed Friday that the current owners do not live at Darlington full-time and simply use it to host events – reported that this still massive mansion minus its formerly equally gigantic estate is now for sale now for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through a firm Mr Pavlovic chairs, Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate. Any buyer will undoubtedly be a vastly wealthy figure, but one can guarantee one thing: They’ll never live as lavishly as the barmy boozer George Crocker.

     

    Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate

  • Living Large

    Living Large

    New Jersey mansion Darlington, complete with 58 rooms, for sale for equivalent sum to what it cost to build in 1909; the £37 million house’s original owner was a man whose extravagance knew absolutely no bounds

    George Crocker (1856 – 1909) makes F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby seem like an amateur. Born in Sacramento and the son of a railway magnate worth some $30 million on his death (the equivalent of £634 million or $812 million today), Crocker was willed a significant $6 million (the equivalent of £127 million or $163 million today) on the condition that “after the space of five years continuously he shall abstain from the use of spirituous, vinous, and malt liquors to the extent that he shall not during this period have been intoxicated”.

     

    Crocker decided to ignore the terms of his father’s behest and from 1888 to 1891 lived in San Francisco as “one of the most reckless young men about town when reckless young men thereabouts were common” but then admitted himself to a sanatorium, put himself on the straight and narrow and finally collected the sum of $6 million in 1898.

     

    With wealth and a glamorous wife, Emma Rutherford, a widow from California, Crocker set himself up as the toast of New York society. Though he owned a townhouse at 1 East 64th Street and a villa in Newport, it was on paying $96,500 (the equivalent of £2.2 million or $2.8 million today) for the 1,100 acre Darling estate in Bergen County, Mahwah, New Jersey in 1901 that he truly became someone noticeable.

     

    Choosing what he called “the finest site for a residence in the country”, Crocker commissioned an architect named James Brite (died 1942) to build him a mansion “sparing no expense”. Modeled on a Jacobean prodigy house, Bramshill House in Hampshire, England and built from Indiana limestone and Harvard brick, the “Crocker Mansion” or “Darlington” – as it is more widely known – cost $2 million to build (the equivalent of £38.2 million or $49 million today) and included 75 rooms and around 50,000 square foot of accommodation. Its features included steam heating, elevators, ice cream freezers, integrated vacuum systems and a switchboard and in its grounds a racetrack and 16 greenhouses were constructed whilst a pond was stocked with 4,000 trout.

     

    Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate
    George Crocker and Emerson McMillin

    Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate

    Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate
    The design of Darlington was based on “one of the most haunted houses in England”, Bramshill in Hampshire; that building itself was also eventually separated from much of its estate and after being used as the European Police College was sold to developers City & Country for £25 million ($19.5 million) in 2014

    Commentators wowed at the resulting creation and noted details such as a library painted after the style of the Italian Renaissance by Tiffany Studios, elaborate wood carving by Italian craftsmen and Tiffany silver chandeliers and a 1906 Aeolian player pipe organ in the building’s 30-foot high Great Hall. In 1912, Architectural Record, chose even to swoon over the basement. They remarked:

     

    “Where Bramshill’s cellar housed for centuries lanterns, tallow dips, forest faggots, wooden vessels for the distribution of light, heat and water through personal service of human slaveys, its American reincarnation is a storehouse of miracle workers in the comfort and luxury of modern domestic life”.

     

    Unfortunately, Mr and Mrs Crocker did not truly get to enjoy the fruits of their extravagant spending. Emma Crocker died in 1904 of cancer and George Crocker also succumbed to the disease in 1909. His estate was valued at $20 million (the equivalent of £422 million or $541 million today) and amongst items found at his mansion were 60,000 personally monogrammed, custom-made cigars valued at $30,000 (the equivalent of £635,000 or $813,000 today).

     

    Sold subsequently to a “self-made” banker, industrialist and astronomy enthusiast named Emerson McMillin (1844 – 1922) in 1909 for $1 million (the equivalent of £21.1 million or $27.1 million), Darlington was next used to display a fine collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain whilst a herd of Jerseys were kept in the grounds.

     

    After McMillin’s death, his widow sold the estate in 1924 for $685,000 (the equivalent of £7.6 million or $9.8 million) to the Darlington Development Company, which in turn made it available to the Darling Golf and Country Club. They converted the building to a hotel and club that “promised to offer a new dimension to life in Mahwah” but “the development corporation and the club were soon in financial difficulties” and the McMillin estate foreclosed and regained possession.

     

    A new buyer came forward in the form of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Newark. They paid $478,000 for the property in 1926 (the equivalent of £5.2 million or $6.6 million today) and used Darlington as a theological seminary. The surrounding land was gradually sold off and in 1986, the Immaculate Conception Seminary also departed.

     

    Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate
    Darlington today – The 30-foot high Great Hall is still dominated by a 1906 Aeolian player pipe organ

     

    Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate
    Darlington today – Ilija Pavlovic expanded the mansion by some 12,000 square foot and amongst other things added a large home cinema

     

    Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate
    Darlington today – Another addition comes in the form of a vast wine cellar; George Crocker’s father would not have approved

    Subsequently restored and modernised with, according to Forbes, plumbing, heating, air conditioning and communications systems being installed, Darlington was placed on the market with just 12.1 acres in 2005 by Darlington Associates, a firm who’d built “multiple residential communities surrounding the mansion”.

     

    An ambitious figure of $25 million (the equivalent of £24.4 million or $31.3 million today) was sought for the now classified historic site but it was not until 2008 that a buyer came forth in the form of a local businessman named Ilija Pavlovic. He paid just $8.875 million (the equivalent of £8 million or $10.2 million today) and then embarked on the “challenge” of “both preserving the historic home while also restoring it to meet 21st-century standards”. The resulting creation spans four floors and includes amongst many other things a tea room, 3 libraries, 2 game rooms, 2 kitchens, a “his and her master bedroom wing”, 12 further guest bedrooms and 5 staff bedrooms.

     

    The biggest issue with the house, it transpired, was that its 476 leaded windows needed to be replaced. This reportedly cost $2 million alone (the equivalent of £1.8 million or $2.3 million today) and in addition, Pavlovic renewed all the mechanical systems, redid all 19 bathrooms, replaced the slate roof and added amongst other things a spa with an indoor lap pool, a gym, a massage room, a beauty salon and a home cinema. There is also a gatehouse, a professional kitchen that can serve 250 meals at a time, a wine cellar, a poker room, a cigar room, a billiards room, an 8-car garage, a tennis court and an outdoor swimming pool.

     

    Property blog 6sqft – which claimed Friday that the current owners do not live at Darlington full-time and simply use it to host events – reported that this still massive mansion minus its formerly equally gigantic estate is now for sale now for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through a firm Mr Pavlovic chairs, Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate. Any buyer will undoubtedly be a vastly wealthy figure, but one can guarantee one thing: They’ll never live as lavishly as the barmy boozer George Crocker.

     

    Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate Living Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real EstateLiving Large – Crocker Mansion or Darlington, Mahwah, Bergen County, New Jersey, NJ 07430, United States of America – Built by George Crocker and currently owned by Ilija Pavlovic – For sale for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate