Tag: art

Billionaire Battersea

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).

Businessman and publisher Malcolm S. Forbes (1919 – 1990) with seven times married actress Dame Elizabeth Taylor DBE (1932 – 2011) at his lavish 70th birthday party at the Palais Mendoub, Tangier, Morocco in 1989

Old Battersea House, 30 Vicarage Crescent, Battersea, London, SW11 3LD, United Kingdom

A. M. D. Wilhemina Stirling (1865 – 1965) owned the house prior to Malcolm Forbes

Christopher ‘Kip’ Forbes (born 1951) assisted his father restore Old Battersea House and later oversaw the family selling its art collection in 2003 and 2009

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.

Savills seek £12 million ($15 million, €14 million or درهم54.9 million) for Old Battersea House.

The impressive hallway of Old Battersea House

Another entertaining space

Elizabeth Taylor and her then husband Larry Fortensky at Old Battersea House in 1992

Images of the house as it was furnished during the ownership of the Forbes family

April 6, 2017
A Blank Canvas

Chelsea “studio with living rooms” built for Augustus John and later owned by Dame Grace Fields DBE available to rent

Though the Pembrokeshire born artist, bohemian and pacifist Augustus John (1878 – 1961) was best known for his portraits of Lawrence of Arabia and Dylan Thomas, he is also said to have fathered as many as 100 children over the course of his life. A Grade II listed “Dutch farmhouse-style” studio he built and occupied for twenty years in Chelsea, London is currently available to rent.

This vast studio room is the most impressive feature of 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6U

Built in 1913 to 1914 from designs by a Dutch architect named Robert van ’t Hoff and Grade II listed, 28 Mallord Street cost an estimated £2,200 to build (the equivalent of £233,000, $291,000, €272,000 or درهم1.1 million today). It includes features influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright and was described by Augustus John as “my new studio with living rooms” on completion. He lived there until 1934 and though initially delighted by the building’s “solidity and tautness”, ultimately termed it “this damned Dutch shanty” and moved to a new, purpose-built ferro-concrete at Fryern Court in Fordingbridge, Hampshire.

Owned by the thrice married actress and singer Dame Gracie Fields OBE (1898 – 1979) – who described it as “feeling like home” and “a love nest” – in the 1930s and sold for £5.4 million in 2009 (the equivalent of £6.6 million, $8.2 million, €7.7 million or درهم30.2 million today). 28 Mallord Street is now available to rent for £9,500 per week ($11,800, €11,100 or درهم43,500 per week) or £494,000 per year ($616,000, €576,000 or درهم2.3 million per year) through Aylesford International.

Augustus John OM, RA was celebrated for brilliant figure drawings, and for a new technique of oil sketching; his work was often favourably compared with Gauguin and Matisse

A Blue Plaque commemorating the artist was installed on the building in 1981

28 Mallord Street in 1981

Actress and singer Dame Gracie Fields OBE took up occupancy of the building soon after Augustus John sold it

Expanded to provide 5,109 square foot of accommodation over five levels, the house is dominated by a 38’3” by 25’2” studio reception room with a ceiling height of 18’4” and also includes upto 6 bedrooms, 2 kitchens and a temperature controlled wine cellar with Hermès wallpaper.

Aylesford describe 28 Mallord Street as “a true family home, the ultimate blank canvas and ideal for any art collector”. They offer it on an unfurnished basis.

March 31, 2017
Bigots & Baseball Caps

Intolerance comes in many forms but the very worst kind is middle class hypocrisy

In a week when Damien Hirst was told: “Go home!” by animal rights activists in Venice (who also dumped 40kg of dung outside where he is due to exhibit a non-animal related show at the Palazzo Grassi), I, myself, experienced the wrath of a middle class maniac.

On Saturday, minding my own business, walking along a quiet South Kensington street, I was accosted by a well-dressed woman. She screeched at me: “Take that hat off. It promotes terrorism”.

My crime? Wearing a William Evans baseball cap. The reasoning for her distaste? The cap was captioned: “Gun and rifle makers, 1883”.

After I responded to this ridiculous individual by telling her: “I can wear whatever I wish” and she had had her chance to rant about about intolerance and extremism, I realized one sorry thing: Here, in front of me, stood was nothing but the worst kind of bigot.

William Evans signature baseball caps are available for £25. Wear one at your peril.

March 27, 2017
Painting & Poetry

North Yorkshire mill house complete with its own valley for sale; Wordsworth waxed lyrical about its setting and Turner painted it

Described as “a delightful and delicious valley” by the Romantic poet William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850) in 1799 in a letter to his friend and fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 – 1834), Mill Gill outside Askrigg in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire has more recently been described as a “real hidden gem”.

Sketched also in 1816 by the Romanticist landscape painter J. M. W. Turner (1775 – 1851), the valley is the setting for Mill Gill House, a 6-bedroom stone-built residence that dates to 1721. For sale currently for £850,000 ($1.06 million, €987,000 or درهم3.91 million), the 2,604 square foot house stands in 18 acres of grassland, woodland and ponds. It comes with a “historic relic” 3-storey sawmill complex complete with original machinery, a 2-storey coach house, a high eaved field barn and a 2-storey dovecote.

Of their time at what they call a “mini-estate”, current owner Professor David Blake told The Yorkshire Post:

“I fell for it and so did my wife [Rita], who is a mad keen gardener. It’s such a beautiful place… I’d like to see the mill kept as a workshop and used by an artisan, maybe by a potter or a joiner. That would our ideal buyer”.

“We will miss it and we really don’t want to go. We are just about to take our daily walk. We go and feed the hens and then we feed the ducks on the pond and then we carry on to the tip of the waterfall. It’s the walk Wordsworth did and in summer when everything is blooming, it is even more beautiful. So much so it makes you want to cry”.

Grade II listed Mill Gill House is being marketed by estate agents Robin Jessop.

March 23, 2017
Anything Can Happen

5,000 acre Irish estate where “anything can happen” for sale for £24.1 million; its current owner would prefer a buyer who’ll allow him to use it for three months a year

Michael Jackson hid out at Luggala in County Wicklow, Ireland in 2006 for three months after being cleared of child molestation charges and other guests at this magical estate have included Francis Bacon, Orlando Bloom, Bono, John Paul Getty II, Mel Gibson, John Hurt, Mick Jagger, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Paul McCartney and Anita Pallenberg.

Encompassing a plot of some 5,000 acres, Luggala (meaning: “a hollow in a ridge”) is also known as ‘Fancy Mountain’ and has been used in films including Zardoz, Braveheart and Excalibur. It is located 28 miles south-west of Dublin, was described by the singer Marianne Faithfull as “the most beautiful place in the world” and the main house there has gradually morphed into what has been called “the most decorative honeypot in Ireland”.

Architecturally significant, Luggala Lodge (also known as Luggala Castle), was built in 1787 and is lauded as having “that special brand of 18^th century Gothick that rejoices in little battlements, crochets, trefoil and quatrefoil windows and ogee mantelpieces, Indeed, quite like the Gothick of pastry cooks and Rockingham china”. It “boasts all the appurtenances of a grand castle but on a miniature scale” and though standing on a modest footprint, extends to some 7,438 square foot in total.

In 1937, the estate was bought by the Hon. Ernest Guinness (1876 – 1949) and given to his daughter, Oonagh, on her marriage to Lord Oranmore and Browne – a peer with the rare distinction of managing to sit in the House of Lords without ever saying a single thing. It subsequently became a place where “nobody could stay away: Dublin intelligentsia, literati, painters, actors, scholars, hangers-on, toffs, punters, poets and social hang-gliders” and was even immortalised in poetry by Seamus Heaney.

Current owner of Luggala, the decidedly eccentric the Hon. Dr. Garech Browne (born 1939)

Luggala Lodge, Roundwood, Leinster, County Wicklow, Ireland

Luggala Lodge after a fire in 1956

Oonagh Guinness, Oonagh, Lady Oranmore and Browne (1910 – 1995)

On Oonagh, Lady Oranmore and Browne’s death in 1970, the estate passed into the “custody” of her son, the Hon. Dr. Garech Browne. He has spent considerable sums restoring the house and made it a “cultural hub for Irish music, art and literature”. A co-founder of the record label Claddagh Records and instrumental in the formation of the traditional Irish folk group, The Chieftans, Browne and his Indian princess wife, Purna Devi of Morvi, added an indoor swimming pool to Luggala Lodge as well as a Gothic library for his collection of 8,000 books.

Now for sale due to 77-year old Garlech Browne and his wife primarily choosing to be based in Singapore, it has been suggested that the Irish State should purchase the estate. Thus far no offer has been forthcoming and this week Jennifer O’Connell of The Irish Times even penned an article that suggested: “Opening the national chequebook is not the way to secure [Luggala’s] future”.

Luggala – which comes with 7 estate lodges and cottages – is offered jointly by Sotheby’s International Realty and Crawford’s with a guide price of £24.1 million ($30.1 million, €28 million or درهم110.7 million). The Guernsey based Guinness Trust that currently controls the actual ownership of the property has indicated that it “seeks a freehold sale and will entertain offers with both vacant possession and non-vacant possession”. Though such a deal seems as unlikely as that that Christian de Guigné IV proposed of his £81 million ($100 million, €94 million or درهم367 million) estate at Hillsborough in California, at the mythical delight that is Luggala, anything could indeed happen.

February 4, 2017
A Serpentine Summer House

Serpentine Galleries summerhouse originally installed in Kensington Gardens for sale – it’ll cost you a bit more than what you might find down at B&Q

Each summer, since the year 2000, the Serpentine Galleries have commissioned what they term a ‘pavilion’ to stand alongside their original gallery in Kensington Gardens. These have varied from the sublime to the ridiculous but whilst most have been thought provoking, in 2016 the project was extended to include four summer houses next to the nearby 18^th century Queen Caroline’s Temple.

One of these creations, designed by a Nigerian architect named Kunlé Adeyemi, is now for sale and available for delivery to a new location. It is described as a “one-off piece of art-meets-architecture” by selling agents The Modern House and by its designers as “an inverse replica [and] tribute to [Queen Caroline’s Temple’s] robust form, space and material, recomposed into a new architectural language”.

Constructed from prefabricated building blocks assembled from rough sandstone, Adeyemi’s design was conceived as a tea house that “might have grown out of the ground”. It is all about “eating, resting and playing” but at £95,000 ($116,000, €110,000 or درهم427,000) plus VAT at 20% it is quite the polar opposite of the kind of summer house most people might purchase down at B&Q.

January 12, 2017
Terrible Tracey

Tracey Emin announces she’s quitting London after her plans to construct a carbuncle that resembles a Hitler-esque oven are rejected; Londoners rejoice

Tracey Emin CBE, RA is no doubt liked by somebody, somewhere. She’s made a fortune from what she calls “art” and though her unmade bed is often derided as one of the most stupid creations ever, she had the last laugh when it sold for millions.

Now, though, this vastly overrated multi-millionairess member of ‘The Club’ is moaning that she’s “not wanted” in London anymore and is quitting for pastures new. Her reason? Tower Hamlets Council rejected her plans to demolish a listed building in Spitalfields and replace it with a carbuncle resembling one of Hitler’s ovens.

A perfectly fine listed 1920s building stands on the site currently (centre right)

Ms Emin wished to replace it with this hideous carbuncle

Tracey Emin believes people should “love is what you want”; the people spoke and showed they did not love her terrible proposal

In an interview with The Guardian, Emin – whom bizarrely married a “big f**king stone” earlier this year as she “no longer wants to be alone” and whose palatial East End residence already includes a swimming pool – angrily justified her decision. She remarked:

“Tower Hamlets says: ‘We don’t want you’… Well, there’s plenty of other places that do. It’s that simple”.

“Why would you want to be somewhere you’re not wanted? What I’m going to do now is move out of London. I don’t have any choice on that… There’s places now in Britain that are desperate for artists – Margate’s thriving, Folkestone, Hastings. All that Kent coast. And I could have a giant studio and be really relaxed”.

“I’m an international artist who hasn’t got enough room to swing a cat at the moment… If I knocked it down and built a hotel or flats I could greatly benefit. I could build eight, nine, ten flats in here”.

Of the objections to her proposals, she added:

“I’m in a vulnerable place right now… I was scared about having to take all these people on my own – it’s a big thing”.

“I just feel I’ve been pretty bullied by the whole thing and I don’t want to be bullied any more… I don’t get the reaction I get from people”.

In response to Ms Emin’s remarks, local resident Susie Stape told The Steeple Times:

“What this woman, best known for her ghastly unmade bed ‘artwork’, wanted to build looked like something straight out of Auschwitz. It was highly offensive in an area traditionally linked to refugees and all I can say is that I pity wherever Tracey Emin heads next. She’s a blight on any community and we’re so delighted that we’ll soon be rid of her”.

Ms Stape is right: God helps whatever community Terrible Tracey descends on next.

A side view of the rejected design

Another projection of the ugly building that has thankfully been rejected

December 20, 2016
The Pret Prayer

A new addition to the South Kensington neighbourhood in October 2016, the Pret Prayer likes to get his mat out in front of all and sundry in Pret A Manager in Old Brompton Road, SW7. He also likes to paint and listen to his radio – on full volume, of course. He then joins the Pret Sleeper and dozes off.

October 22, 2016
The New Andy Warhol

A private view of the works of Lincoln Townley at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea

Described as “the new Andy Warhol” by the actor Michael Caine, acclaimed artist Lincoln Townley’s works were displayed at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea on Wednesday 19^th October. To welcome the exhibition, a party was held to mark the occasion and it was a rare thing – a truly genuine happening.

One of Lincoln Townley’s paintings

A select group of readers of The Steeple Times were kindly invited by Laurenzo Mefsut of Trace ART and amongst them were fashion gurus Rocky Mazzilli and his mother Louise Michielsens, art curator Chrissy Cant, financiers Michael Clark and James Moon and newly engaged PR gurus Stuart Leach and Marianne van Pelt.

Others present included Townley’s actress wife, Denise Welch, as well as the Britain’s Got Talent contestant Nick Celino, the former WAG Lizzie Cundy and the socialite and event organiser Philip Sallon.

Of the works, Mr Mefsut commented:

“Townley’s style in oil, acrylic, and gilding is bold and modern, inspired by the psychedelia and grotesquerie of Francis Bacon and the street life of Soho. His satirical canvases send up the misplaced seriousness with which modern life sees itself, exposing the dark underbelly of finance, sex, and the concept of luxury itself”.

Works offered are priced from £50,000 for limited edition prints and quickly rise to £250,000 for original paintings.

The exhibition was held on the ground floor of the Saatchi Gallery

Writer, art critic, and a former personal assistant to John Lennon and Yoko Ono Anthony Fawcett with Trace ART’s Laurenzo Mefsut

Actress Denise Welch smiles proudly next to her former strip club promoter turned artist husband Lincoln Townley

Michael Caine was undoubtedly the most famous man in the room

Philip Sallon plainly said something that shocked this lady

Rocky Mazzilli and Louise Michielsens were on especially good form

Michael Clark and Ekaterina Fields with a work by Lincoln Townley

Alexandra Naylor, Ailsa Moon and James Moon next to a work by Lincoln Townley

Michael Clark, Denise Welch, Rocky Mazzilli and Baldassare La Rizza

Former WAG Lizzie Cundy

Rocky Mazzilli, Michael Clark, Alexandra Naylor, Louise Michielsens and Eve Ferret

Former “Coronation Street” actress Sally Lindsay and her drummer husband Steve White

PR gurus Stuart Leach and Marianne van Pelt

‘Britain’s Got Talent’ contestant Nick Celino enthusiastically talked about his new record, “Out Of My Mind”

This guest chose to indulge in taking selfies

Whilst Philip Salloon kept himself busy on his mobile device

Though interior decorator Baldassare La Rizza was a late arrival, he found time to be photographed with Rocky Mazzilli and Matthew Steeples

This guest was keen to show off her glistening teeth

Photographer Axel Bernstorff remarked that he’d “enjoyed meeting many new people”

Marianne van Pelt, Rocky Mazzilli, Stuart Leach, Louise Michielsens and Philip Sallon

October 21, 2016
Emir Bahadir – What’s on your mantelpiece?

A 20-question interview with 25-year old New York based BHDR real estate brokerage and development firm founder Emir Bahadir

The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

My driving force is being able to bridge the gap between international investors and local markets. Being a member of the fifth generation of my family, my guiding force is maintaining the business standards set forth by my ancestors.

“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

‘More is more, work smart not hard’ and ‘Well done is better than well said’.

Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2016?

This is relative depending on the realm of the industry you are in. Two of the things that I find unacceptable are dishonesty and lack of communication.

Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

I miss my high school days when I had no responsibility and was surrounded by intellectual people. Maybe this has a lot to do with my young age and my active business life, even then. I feel I never got to be reckless after graduating from high school in Switzerland and became very responsible and focused instead.

What might you swap all your wealth for?

I would swap my wealth for helping end hunger and poverty throughout the world. Most people don’t have awareness of what the world’s real needs are.

Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the state of the financial system?

Based on that comment, that statement is truthful. Based on that statement, today the banking system is changing for the better. I believe in the short-term we will see a lot of improvements.

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

I used to think: “The worst thing in life is to end up alone”. It’s not: “The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone”. The reason why I hate this phrase is because it is so true.

In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

Charity does start at home. Growing up, my parents emphasised the importance of charity and then it became a way of life, a routine. I have volunteered in Zambia to help build schools and teach kids. Whilst there, we also took 500 mattresses to the schools in different tribes. Today, my family’s foundation helps hundreds of children with scholarships to study and become successful members of their communities.

The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

There is always a risk using any kind of technology regardless if it is security based or not. However, I think there is a strong need for technology, especially with the fast pace of the business world these days.

If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs, Abraham Lincoln, Mozart and Picasso.

If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

I hope that won’t be my reality ever. However, to answer your question, I would like to eat the judge who sentenced me to death.

What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

Lunchtime usually is the time to start. However, at weekends, noon bellinis are acceptable.

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

A martini; a very, very dirty martini.

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

I do enjoy my own parties because I pay so much attention to the details prior. It means that, during the event itself, I can put all my energy and efforts into entertaining my guests.

Who is the most positive person you know?

My grandmother is one of the most positive people I know and my COO, Tanya, always calms me down when I get a little wound up.

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

Eating chocolate late at night.

If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

Even though I have a tattoo of the OHM sign, it does not really sum me up. I wish it did. My other one, Dum Spiro Spero (When I Breath I Hope), would be the one to describe me. I tend to hope and dream and work hard to make my dreams come true.

If you were a car, what marque would you be?

A Bentley – Fast and furious, yet classy and comfortable.

Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

That I am humble and relatable to is a surprise to most people. Considering my background and my current motivation to succeed on another level, people don’t expect it.

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

I have a small sculpture by Jeff Koons.

Emir Bahadir is a 25-year old entrepreneur based in New York. He was educated at the American School in Switzerland and New York University. Bahadir is the founder and CEO of the BHDR real estate brokerage and development firm, invests in tech startup firms and is also an art collector.

Follow him on Instagram at @emirbahadir and use his own hashtag, #bahadiring

October 18, 2016