Historic Battersea mansion for sale for the same sum it was marketed for in 2011; it has been mostly empty throughout the intervening period and was renovated by the late billionaire Malcolm Forbes
Billionaire publisher Malcolm Forbes was a man who liked to live large. He had a huge yacht named The Highlander, threw lavish parties across the globe and counted Gianni Agnelli, Gordon Getty, Calvin Klein, Robert Maxwell, Rupert Murdoch, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump as friends. This “mysterious collector” also owned numerous residences and one of these, Old Battersea House in London, is for sale for the same sum as it was marketed for in 2011.
Often seen with Elizabeth Taylor at his side and described as “living life in the fabulous”, Forbes purchased Old Battersea House in 1971. It had previously been home to and saved from demolition by Battersea Council by the eccentric author and ghost hunter Wilhemina Stirling. She took up a lifetime tenancy on the building in 1931 and used it to house artworks by her sister, Evelyn de Morgan (1855 – 1919).
Grade II* listed since 1954 and adapted during Forbes and subsequently his son Kip’s ownership to showcase a vast collection of Victorian art and antiques, Old Battersea House was built on Tudor foundations in 1699 and was at first known as ‘Terrace House’. It originally had gardens extending down to the River Thames and is rumoured to have been designed by Sir Christopher Wren (1632 – 1723).
Featuring “handsome classical proportions throughout” and standing within a 110-foot wide walled garden, the 10,100 square foot house includes 4 reception rooms, 10 double bedrooms and 7 bathrooms. It has off-street parking and a garden store but it is sadly overlooked by the adjoining housing estate that was built in its grounds in the 1930s.
The impressive hallway of Old Battersea HouseAnother entertaining spaceElizabeth Taylor and her then husband Larry Fortensky at Old Battersea House in 1992Images of the house as it was furnished during the ownership of the Forbes family
Could Donald Trump’s ‘Fall of Rome-style’ downfall be triggered by the actions of his very own family?
Donald Trump came to power promising to ‘Drain the Swamp’ of Washington. Thus far he’s made it bigger and though he might think appointing as many cronies and family members as possible to senior positions will protect him, these people could very well ultimately lead to his path to destruction.
The Western Roman Empire’s fall can be attributed to many factors, but key amongst them were distrust, corruption and overspending. Already, in spite of being in office for only two months, Donald Trump is already exhibiting characteristics of all three. Last week, when the Senior Senator Dianne Feinstein suggested the president would “get himself out of office soon”, she referenced Mr Trump’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, opening a new golf course in Dubai. She stated:
“I think sending sons to another country to make a financial deal for his company and then have that covered with Government expenses, I believe those Government expenses should not be allowed. We’re working on a bill that would [deal with] that now”.
Elsewhere, Cosmopolitan remarked on the businessman turned politician’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her “nepotism”. They commented:
“If Ivanka Trump were not the president’s daughter, would she be given a White House office to perform a job that has no description? Of course not. Don’t believe me? Just try calling the White House and asking if you can have some gratis work space at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., one of the most coveted real estate properties on the planet”.
“Answers we need. And since Ivanka is taking advantage of taxpayer-funded resources, taxpayers have every right to ask to know what Ivanka is doing with them. Ivanka’s attorney told Politico she will serve as her father’s ‘eyes and ears’, a job description so vague, not to mention creepy, that it only functions to give the billionaire heiress cover to do whatever she, or her father, wants”.
“Ivanka will continue to pretend she’s a model for working women, applauding herself for having a ‘seat at the table’ with foreign dignitaries… Just remember she’s only sitting in that seat because her daddy let her. That’s not the case for the overwhelming majority of working women in America and we shouldn’t celebrate anyone for whom that is”.
Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the immensely wealthy son of a felon named Charles Kushner, also presents many a problem. Though he has sold his vast business interests to his mother and brother, “some ethicists say the potential for conflict remains”. In January, Bloomberg remarked: “[Jared] Kushner seems likely to know where the money is invested. His father, convicted in 2005 of witness tampering, illegal campaign contributions and tax evasion, remains central to the company”.
Kushner, a man who has dined with everyone from Tony Blair to Nigel Farage, most certainly showed genius in guiding Donald Trump to manipulate social media on his road to victory. He and his cronies, however, could also be the very same people to guide the 45th POTUS’ road to downfall.
Vast New York triplex with three bullet-proof panic rooms at The Heritage at Trump Place reduced in price by 47%; Is the Trump connection a factor?
In 2012, a Saudi royal placed a fifth, sixth and seventh triplex he “rarely uses” on the market for £61.7 million ($75 million, €71 million or درهم275.5 million). It didn’t sell and now it’s back for sale for just £32.9 million ($40 million, €37.9 million or درهم147 million) through Elizabeth Mercedes Berk of Mercedes/Berk.
Featuring three bullet-proof panic rooms and extending to a total of 10,500 square foot over three levels, #6A at 240 Riverside Boulevard – alternatively known as The Heritage at Trump Place – is a combination of six units in what is described as “one of New York’s finest full-service condominiums”. It is currently configured to provide 3 bedrooms but comes with plans to turn it into a 5-bedroom home.
Enjoying 120 foot of “contiguous, unobstructed park and Hudson River views”, the Upper West Side property – which is within a building that was completed in 2005 – features three private terraces, a restaurant quality kitchen with a sushi bar, a billiards room, a hair salon, a ventilated cigar room, a six-person Jacuzzi and a saltwater aquarium. Two adjacent units that currently provide staff accommodation can be included in the sale for an additional sum.
The current owner, Prince Nawaf bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, is 82 years old and said to be confined to a wheelchair. He was Director General of Saudi Intelligence from 2001 to 2005 and is described as “a close ally of the late King Abdullah”.
One has to ask: “With Donald Trump’s name associated with the building, will panic set in and will the price drop further?” We’re guessing the answer is “yes”.
Unlucky mansion in Yorkshire with 13 bedrooms for sale for a lower sum than it was marketed for in 2007 – despite having been renovated internally in the time since
Offered for sale for less than it was last marketed in a “dilapidated condition” in 2007, Whinburn Hall in the gritty West Yorkshire mill town of Keighley has now been largely restored internally but is still surrounded by neglected yet Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953 protected grounds.
Described as a “fine country house… contrasting with the cramped rows of terraces in the streets behind them” according to Wikipeda, this Grade II listed Victorian Arts and Crafts mansion was built in 1897 for Prince Smith III (1869 – 1940), an exotically named gentleman who later renamed himself Prince Prince-Smith before becoming Sir Prince Prince-Smith on the death of his father in 1922.
Constructed from wealth generated by the Prince-Smith family’s textile machinery manufacturing business, Prince Smith & Son, the house was redesigned and extended in 1912 – 1913 and became a training centre for the National Institute of Houseworkers in 1940. Sold again in 1950 to the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, the “modern manor house” was run as a residential school and special referral unit until 2008 and then, after a period of dilapidation and the rejection of plans to turn Whinburn Hall into flats, was bought by a 35-year old businessman named James Sheldon in 2008.
An unlucky mansion – Whinburn Hall, Hollins Lane, Utley, Keighley, West Yorkshire, BD20 6LU – On the market for £1.45 million in 2016; marketed in 2007 for £1.5 million (or the equivalent of £1.88 million today)
An unlucky mansion – James Sheldon purchased Whinburn Hall at the age of 35 and died there aged just 42
Sheldon, who worked as a lifeboat coxswain in Southport for 18 years, restored Whinburn Hall to use as a family home and also based his business Nav-comm, a specialist in the design of LED lighting systems for emergency vehicles, there.
In the years that followed, Mr Sheldon developed what he claimed to be a new form of “anti-terror security equipment” to detect explosives and drugs from 50 metres and took a stand at a trade show in London in 2013 to showcase this. It was later described as being like “an experiment a first year university student would have tried, but which failed” and in due course West Yorkshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit placed Sheldon and his father, Anthony, under investigation.
Both were arrested on allegations of fraud and on 23rd June 2015, after two police officers visited Whinburn Hall to inform the duo that they were to be rebailed for three months, 42-year old James Sheldon tragically jumped to his death from the fourth floor tower of the hall. It later transpired he had been served with an eviction order due his non-payment of the mortgage on the house and faced debts of some £1.25 million ($1.62 million or €1.45 million).
The main property, which is now for sale through agents Dacre Son & Hartley for just £1.45 million ($1.87 million or €1.68 million), currently – rather unluckily, some might also argue – features 13 bedrooms and 7 reception rooms. It comes with a detached bungalow and a dilapidated gatehouse and stands in 7 acres of protected gardens that includes a folly designed by the renowned Lancastrian garden designer and landscape architect Thomas Mawson. Hopefully the next owner, aside from tackling this “overgrown jungle”, will also bring with them better luck.
This ‘baronial hall’ is used as a dining room and is dominated a truly tasteless purple ceiling
The purple theme continues in this gallery
And there’s more of it in this corridor
A drawing room complete with ‘classy’ DFS style furniture and a huge television set could be somewhat improved
A striking fireplace in another room is surrounded by some pretty hideously coloured leather sofas
A staircase with a resemblance to something from a fun fair
Another staircase is a little more traditional
One of thirteen bedrooms
The house is surrounded by 7 acres of overgrown grounds
A somewhat amateur attempt at creating a helipad is located close to the house
The entrance gates
The roof of the adjoining gatehouse is literally caving in
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Born in Tranmere, Merseyside, veteran actress Patricia Routledge is best known as Alan Bennett’s Irene Ruddock in Talking Heads: Lady of Letters and as Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances. (more…)
