Tag: 4 reception rooms

Beautiful Bolehyde

Wiltshire manor house once owned by the Duchess of Cornwall and considered as a home by the Duchess of Cambridge’s parents again for sale

Described as a “royal love nest for the Middletons” by The Telegraph when last marketed for sale in March 2011, Bolehyde Manor (pronounced according to the paper: “Bow lea Hyde”) in Wilshire was home to the Duchess of Cornwall, as plain old Camilla Parker Bowles, from 1973 until 1986.

Considered, but subsequently discounted by Carole and Michael Middleton as a home prior to their purchase of the £4.7 million The Manor at Bucklebury (featured in The Steeple Times in June 2012), Grade II* listed Bolehyde Manor at Allington, near Chippenham was at that time offered for £4.76 million according to the Daily Mail’s Richard Kay.

Kay lauded the “14^th-century pile near Chippenham” as having “everything an aspiring lord (and lady and the manor could wish for” and reported it as having been “not just where Prince Charles retreated when his marriage crumbled, intriguingly it was also where he courted Lady Diana.”

According to the royal biographer Christopher Wilson – quoted in an article in the Daily Express in May this year – “in 1979, there was very little pretense about the intensity of the relationship between Prince Charles and Camilla. Most of the week he would be staying at Bolehyde Manor, sometimes Andrew Parker Bowles would come home for the weekend and Prince Charles would stay. But there was a very curious ménage à trois between these three.”

Whether the house sold in 2011 is unknown, but this week it has again been placed for sale through agents Savills. They are marketing the manor at a sum £1 million lower for £3.75 million and with it comes 80.13 acres.

Aside from the main 4 reception room, 8-bedroom main house, there is a 3-bedroom annexe and in addition the property has three additional cottages, stabling and outbuildings. There is a tennis court and swimming pool with the grounds and the majority of the land is devoted to organic farming.

One thing is, for sure, the former Meghan Markle won’t be putting in a bid in spite of Bolehyde Manor having glorious gardens that have opened under the National Garden Scheme.

The Names & Numbers – Bolehyde Manor, Allington, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN14 6LW, United Kingdom

June 2020 – For sale for £3.75 million ($4.71 million, €4.21 million or درهم17.31 million) through Savills.

March 2011 – Offered for sale for £4.76 million ($5.98 million, €5.35 million or درهم21.96 million) by the Earl and Countess Cairns.

1986 – Sold for £600,000 ($754,000, €674,000 or درهم2.8 million) by Andrew and Camilla Parker Bowles to Simon and Amanda Cairns.

1973 – Andrew Parker Bowles moves in along with his then wife Camilla.

1927 – Sold to a Mrs Mallet du Cros “in very indifferent repair” by the Gale family according to Country Life. She “restored and modernised it.”

1635 – Sold to a yeoman named John Gale.

Mid 17^th century – Built on the site of an earlier house occupied by one Thomas de Bolehyde, a tenant of the Abbot of Glaston-bury.

Pictured top: Carole Middleton, Bolehyde Manor and the Duchess of Cornwall.

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The interior features traditional English country house style decoration.

This study is currently lined with plenty of reading material.

Original features including panelling abound throughout Bolehyde Manor.

A pleasant courtyard garden is to be found to the rear of the house.

To the front is a formal lawned area.

Three cottages come with the house as well as an annexe also.

The gardens have previously been opened to the public under the National Garden Scheme.

They are quite delightful.

A plan of the 80 acres currently offered with Bolehyde Manor.

June 2, 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
Lord of the Thatch

Former Wiltshire home of ‘Lord of the Flies’ author Sir William Golding for sale for 562% more than he sold it for in 1985

The one-time home of the author and Nobel Prize in Literature and Booker Prize winner Sir William Golding, CBE (1911 – 1993) has gone on sale for £795,000 ($1.1 million, €891,000 or درهم3.9 million) in spite of needing modernisation.

Ebble Thatch at Mead End, Bowerchalke, near Salisbury was the residence of the Lord of the Flies author in 1940 and between 1958 and 1985 and it was here that he met his fellow villager, the scientist James Lovelock CH, CBE, FRS. He sold the house in 1985 on deciding to move to a Georgian mansion in Cornwall for £120,000 (the equivalent of £334,000, $441,000, €374,000 or درهم1.6 million today).

Consisting of 4 reception rooms, a kitchen with AGA, a conservatory, 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms the main house is described as “flexible” and “well-configured” and in addition there is a detached 1 bedroom cottage on the property’s 0.7 acre plot.

Strutt & Parker are the selling agents.

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November 19, 2017
A Derelict Doer-Upper

Derelict 18^th century Oxfordshire mansion with 125 acres of land for sale for £10 million

A 125-acre Oxfordshire estate with Humphrey Repton landscaped grounds has gone on sale for £10 million ($13.2 million, €11.3 million or درهم48.7 million) in spite of being described as being “in poor order.”

The Coombe Park Estate at Whitchurch-on-Thames is situated at the end of a ¾ of a mile long private drive just 49 miles from Central London. Constructed in 1865, the original mansion was later demolished and what now remains consists of a 13,368 square foot house created from the original servants’ quarters, a coach house and an extension built in 1982.

Featuring 4 main reception rooms, an indoor swimming pool, 6 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, Coombe Park itself “has been unoccupied a number of years” but now presents an opportunity for a buyer to unleash its “enormous potential” according to selling agents Strutt & Parker.

In addition to the main residence, there are three additional houses, an orangery, a coach house, offices, a sports pavilion, an indoor tennis court, stabling and a boat house included in the sale.

According to a blog from 2008, the estate – which was used by the American military as a rest and recuperation ‘flak house’ during the Second World War – has been in the ownership of an individual from Rotterdam since 1982. He is described as having now “sadly lost his fortune.”

October 17, 2017
A Caged Crib

Former San Francisco home of actor Nicolas Cage for sale for £11.4 million or 660% more than it sold for in 1996

Thrice married and an Academy Award winning actor Nicolas Cage is also known for lavish spending. Aside from once buying twenty-two cars in one hit – including a “squadron” of nine Rolls-Royce – he “wound up” owning fifteen personal residences in 2007 and now one of them is for sale for £11.4 million.

898 Francisco Street in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighbourhood was purchased by a trust connected to Cage in 2006 for £6.9 million and sold by him in 2008 at a loss for £6.3 million. It was built in Gothic Tudor style in 1914, extends to 6,305 square foot and is spread over four floors.

The front door is an example of fine craftmanship within the house

As is the carving on this fireplace

Featuring 4 reception rooms, 6 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms, the house also has a 2-car garage and enjoys views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and the Bay Area. It has a garden to the rear and is adjoined by a further adjacent plot on Hyde Street that has potential for a further residence.

Debi Dicello of Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing and seeks either a total of £11.4 million for the entire property or £8.8 million for the main house and £2.6 million for the adjacent 40-foot by 60-foot lot.

898 Francisco Street – The Numbers

2017 – £8.8 million ($12 million, €10 million or درهم44.1 million) for the main house plus £2.6 million ($3.5million, €2.9 million or درهم12.9 million) for the adjoining plot.

2008 – Sold for £6.3 million ($8.5 million, €7.1 million or درهم31.2 million).

2006 – Bought by a trust connected to Nicolas Cage for £6.9 million ($9.4 million, €7.9 million or درهم34.5 million).

1996 – Sold for £1.5 million ($2 million, €1.7 million or درهم7.4 million).

September 17, 2017
Breaking For Gold

Thatched seaside cottage in West Sussex for sale; it has a plot laid out in the style of the Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal winning garden of 1936

A thatched seaside cottage on what has been described as “the Sussex Riviera” has gone on sale for £3.25 million ($4.19 million, €3.67 million or درهم15.39 million) through agents Savills.

Having the look of something you might also find in the Hamptons in America, The Breakers on the Willowhayne Estate at East Preston, near Littlehampton was built in 1936 in the Arts and Crafts style and restored over the last nine years by the current owners.

Providing 6,006 square foot of accommodation over three floors, the house includes 4 reception rooms, 6 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. It stands on a 0.75-acre beachside plot laid out in the plan of the winning garden at Chelsea Flower Show in 1936 and has an outdoor swimming pool – built in 2010 – also.

A neighbouring house, owned by one of the original question setters for the game Trivial Pursuit, burnt to the ground in January 2014.

July 9, 2017
Peaking in Pacific Heights

Indication of booming realty market in San Francisco provided in the form of a Pacific Heights pad offered for sale for 1,503% more than it sold 20 years ago

A detached house in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights that dates to 1906 has gone on sale for a sum £9.8 million higher than it sold for in 1997.

Subject to a seismic upgrade and renovated in 2013, 2370 Washington Street is located in the popular Fillmore corridor and situated on a 50-foot wide lot.

Aside from 4 reception rooms, 2 kitchens, 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, the 7,965 square foot house features a media room, a wine cellar, an elevator and a 4-car garage.

2370 Washington Street is offered for £8.2 million by agents Neal Ward Properties.

The Numbers – 2370 Washington Street, San Francisco

Sold for $655,000 in 1997 (the equivalent of $999,000, £785,000, €893,000 or درهم3.7 million today) in 1997.

Sold for $1.68 million in 2012 (the equivalent of $1.79 million, £1.41 million, €1.60 million or درهم6.57 million today).

Asking price of $10.5 million today (£8.2 million, €9.3 million or درهم38.6 million).

June 15, 2017
A Villa In The Sky

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

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

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

Houses on the site of Fountain House on 30th December 1930 (prior to their demolition)

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

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

June 8, 2017
Wealthy in Wiltshire

Classically proportioned Wiltshire village house for sale; it’ll supposedly appeal to “your typical wealthy Briton” (whatever that might mean)

Primarily built between 1620 and 1760, a classically proportioned four-storey house in the Wiltshire village of Seend has been placed on the market this week for £4.5 million ($5.8 million, €5.2 million or درهم21.2 million).

Of ashlar and rendered stone construction and built for Mary, Dowager Duchess of Somerset in 1760, Seend Park (or ‘Seend Green House’ as it was previously known) was owned by the now retired judge Sir Mathew Thorpe from 1971 and since 1990 by its current owners. It has been Grade II listed since 1962 and was somewhat unkindly described by the architectural scholar Sir Nikolaus Pevsner CBE FBA (1902 – 1983) as: “So absolutely plain… that it looks like an institution”.

The main house, which has been modernised in recent years and extends to 11,357 square foot, includes 4 reception rooms, 11 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. It has many original features and in addition there is a 4 bedroom, 1,994 square foot lodge and a 3,630 square foot coach house within the property’s 26.4-acre grounds.

Of the pint-sized mini estate, James Mackenzie of selling agents Strutt & Parker told The Times: “Architecturally, the house will attract your typical wealthy Briton”.

May 27, 2017
Anything But A Steel

Renovated Pacific Heights, San Francisco residence with Danielle Steel as a neighbour for sale for sum 652% higher than it sold for in 1994

A buyer wishing to live just to the north of Danielle Steel’s architecturally striking ‘Spreckels Mansion’ home can now purchase 1994 Jackson Street in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights.

For sale with agent Malin Giddings, the 5,490 square foot, 4-storey detached house offered includes not only 4 reception rooms, 4 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, but also a bar, wine room, exercise room, elevator and barbecue. It comes with a 2-car garage, two balconies and a garden and is curiously described as having a “re-scripted aesthetic” that “caters to the 21^st century family while incorporating the best finishes of yesterday and today”.

Built in 1940 and completely reconfigured by Ken Fulk – an “incredible… sprightly… design guru” with a client list ranging from Napster’s Sean Parker to Bebo’s Michael and Xochi Birch, according to Vanity Fair – £8.40 million ($10.75 million, €9.62 million or درهم39.50 million) is sought for the house.

Indicative of the sharp rise in prices in the neighbourhood since it became popular with the titans of Silicon Valley, 1994 Jackson Street sold for $6.25 million in 2008 (the equivalent of $7.10 million, £5.55 million, €6.35 million or درهم26.09 million today) and $1.43 million in 1994 (the equivalent of $2.36 million, £1.84 million, €2.11 million or درهم8.67 million today). Plainly, now, this is a house that’s anything but a steal.

Prior to renovation – 1994 Jackson Street, Pacific Heights, San Francisco, California, CA 94109, United States of America as it was presented when sold in 2008

1994 Jackson Street today

The house is set just beneath Danielle Steele’s ‘Spreckels Mansion’ (2080 Washington Street)

Danielle Steel and her palatial home

1994 Jackson Street (viewed from the side)

The house has been made-over by San Francisco “man-about-town” Ken Fulk

He is famed for having designed homes for amongst others Michael and Xochi Birch

The staircase of 1994 Jackson Street

The house’s main reception space

The dining room

The kitchen

A colourfully carpeted entertaining area

A recreation room with a bar

The master suite has a bedroom area, sitting area, dressing room, balcony and bathroom

Another of the four/five bedrooms in the house

The view

A floor plan of the space

May 27, 2017