Tag: business

Five of the Worst – Undesirable Homes Currently For Sale

‘The Steeple Times’ selects five undesirable homes currently for sale that many would say would remain best avoided; they’ve all been in the news and they’re all connected to infamous names

Destined most certainly not to feature in Penny Churchill’s Downton Abbey-esque country house porn Country Life column or as an Evening Standard chi-chi ‘Homes & Property’ ‘House of the Week,’ we have selected five undesirable homes currently for sale.

In spite of the fact that one has a link to a recently deceased paedophile, two have been the scene of murders, one is supposedly haunted and the final was the setting for a bizarre nine year sleep, their prices seem somewhat crazy – but maybe some people will just love the idea of living with notoriety. Whether any of these undesirable homes sell for their asking prices, however, seems as likely as the case of Jack the Ripper ever being solved.

Paedo Palace – 9 East 71^st Street, Lenox Hill, New York, NY 10021, USA

For sale for £69 million ($88 million, €74 million or درهم121 million) through Modlin Group.

Known as the ‘Herbert Straus House’ in polite circles, but now forever more likely to be remembered as ‘Jeffrey Epstein’s Paedo Mansion,’ this 28,000 square foot, 7-floor, 40 room mansion was home to the deceased bestie of Prince Andrew from 1996 until his incarceration and suicide in 2019.

Few details are shared on the listing other than to declare it of “gargantuan size and opulence” and “the largest single-family home in New York City.” Though the late Alberto Pinto’s design work at the property is lauded, there’s no mention of what Ghislaine Maxwell got up to there or the bizarre birthday parties with Christopher Mason.

Murder Mansion – Devisdale House, Dunham Road, Bowdon, Cheshire, WA14 4QG, UK

For sale for £3.25 million ($4.16 million, €3.51 million or درهم15.28 million) through Jackson-Stops.

Originally called ‘Oakleigh,’ this “striking Gothic Victorian villa” subsequently became known as ‘The House of Horror’ but has now been renamed ‘Devisdale House’ in an attempt to relieve it of a position in the ranks of undesirable homes.

In March 2005, Christopher Lumsden, a partner in the international law firm Pinsent Masons, killed his former Sotheby’s auctioneer wife Alison in the house in a “frenzied domestic attack in the master bedroom” according to The Sun. He stabbed her 30 times after she announced she was leaving him for another man and was amazingly jailed for just five years “after he was found guilty of manslaughter on the ground of diminished responsibility, claiming he had a depressive illness.”

‘Oakleigh’ subsequently “fell into rack and ruin” in spite of reports suggesting Lumsden may have inherited his wife’s fortune, but more recently it was purchased by a property developer. They have added an especially ghastly underground swimming pool, sauna, cinema room and triple garage and now pompous selling agents Jackson-Stops pretentiously laud the property as “incredible,” “striking” and “meticulously remodelled.” Christopher Lumsden, meanwhile, was released from prison after serving just two years of his jail sentence.

A Killer Castle – Pencoed Castle, Pencoed Lane, Llanmartin, Newport, Gwent, Wales, NP18 2ED, UK

For sale with a guide price of £950,000 ($1.2 million, €1 million or درهم1.7 million) by auction on 17^th September 2020 through Allsop.

Pencoed Castle dates to the 13^th century and in the time since one can imagine all sorts has gone on there. Most recently, in 2016, a then 56-year-old businessman Peter Morgan strangled his girlfriend of three years, a 25-year-old personal escort named Georgina Symonds, in a bungalow in the castle grounds. The married multi-millionaire was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 25 years in prison and with that the estate found itself joining the ranks of undesirable homes.

Wales Online report that “it is not known if Mr Morgan still owns the property,” but for less than a million pounds, a buyer could get themselves not only the castle (which could be turned into 12 dwellings and offices also), but also a former farmhouse, two bungalows and 64.8 acres of land. Previous plans to turn the site into a Disneyland-style theme park called Legend Court came to nothing and of the property a local cryptically remarked: “This place’s recent history is very dark.”

Axing a Ghost – Maplecroft, 306 French Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, MA 02720, USA

For sale for £696,000 ($890,000, €751,000 or درهم1.2 million) through Century 21 The Seyboth Team.

Sold last for £469,000 in February 2018 and £386,000 in November 2014, Maplecroft is described by realtor Suzanne St. John as “a Queen Anne Victorian Mansion,” but many would consider it fitting instead of a listing on a roster of undesirable homes. It was built in 1887, extends to 3,935 square foot and includes 7 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.

The allegedly haunted residence, which stands on a plot of 0.31 acres, is notable as the post-prison home of one Lizzie Borden (1860 – 1927) – a woman who was the main suspect in the 1892 axe murders of her father and step-mother. Accused, tried and acquitted, Miss Borden inherited a fortune, bought Maplecroft and when she died of pneumonia her wake was held in the parlour.

The current owner also owns the house where the murders were committed and runs it as a ‘murder house B&B.’ He had intended to convert Maplecroft into something similar, but COVID-19 (and perhaps the spirit of Lizzie Borden) got in the way.

A Nine Year Sleep – Sleepy Cottage, 1 School Lane, Turville, Henley-On-Thames, Buckinghamshire, RG9 6QX, UK

For sale for £750,000 ($960,000, €810,000 or درهم1.3 million) through Savills.

Strictly speaking, our final choice in our roster of undesirable homes, has had only a gruesome past in a fictional sense given that it sits in a village used in Midsomer Murders. Nobody in their right minds – if such a place did really exist – would want to reside in any of Midsomer’s locations given the risk of ending up brown bread would be so high, but the innocent sounding name of this cottage makes it worthy of mention.

Used also in the perfectly harmless series Goodnight Uncle Tom and the BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom Sleepy Cottage is also noteworthy as it was most famously home to ‘The Sleeping Girl of Turville.’

Of this enigma, selling agents Savills remark:

“Ellen Sadler, who lived in the cottage with her family when in 1871, aged eleven she purportedly fell into a deep sleep from which she could not be roused for nine years. The case attracted international attention from newspapers, medical professionals and the public. She became a tourist attraction for the village, and her family made considerable money from visitors’ donations.”

“Rumours exist that among the elder Turville residents that Royalty even took an interest in her. The Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, visited her and laid his hands on her which people in those days believed would cure the sick.”

“As the years went on and with no sign of Ellen waking, speculation grew that her illness was caused by her mother, an issue that was never resolved. In late 1880, soon after her mother’s death, Ellen awoke. She later married and had at least five children.”

Undesirable Homes Currently For Sale – Pictured top: Jeffrey Epstein’s initials were prominently displayed at the entrance to 9 East 71^st Street whilst the entrance hallway beyond aimed to impress with its classical grandeur. Goodness knows how many unfortunates passed through this space on their way on their way to be abused by the late Mr Epstein and his mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell.

September 12, 2020
Stoning the Mucky Madam

As filmmaker Sean Stone suggests Ghislaine Maxwell could expose unpleasant truths for Hollywood, Virginia Giuffre scores another blow against the mucky madam

Asked during an interview last week: “What is up with Hollywood? Can it come back? Can it survive COVID-19?” by Russia Today America’s Rick Sanchez, Oliver Stone’s son and fellow filmmaker, Sean, responded: “Can it survive Ghislaine Maxwell is the question, actually.”

He continued: “I still think there is a lot more that is going to come out here with this Ghislaine trial because remember who, all, has been on Jeffrey Epstein island. And there’s been more in terms of the private jets and there’s been more than Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey and the Clintons. I think you are going to see other Hollywood icons involved… More than we imagine.”

“I don’t think it’s even about her spilling the beans. I think there is case and evidence that is being drawn up that is in conjunction with the investigation into her. A lot more will be exposed about Epstein and Epstein island. I am 100% positive on that. And the question is who will be involved, who will be implicated, who will talk.”

“Look, we haven’t seen the end of it. ‘Me Too’ was the beginning of this, we haven’t seen the end of it. So, COVID is a wonderful opportunity for everything to shut down and restructure, but I think there is a lot of concern in Hollywood across the board from the exposure on the Epstein thing.”

Elsewhere yesterday, Virginia Giuffre told the 2^nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that “Ghislaine Maxwell’s desire for privacy failed to justify the continued sealing of a deposition that the British socialite has fought to keep out of the public eye” according to Byline.

Giuffre’s lawyers, Sigrid McCawley and David Boies, remarked: “Maxwell’s vague argument about privacy interests cannot justify total closure of the deposition materials [and overcome] the public’s presumption of access.”

Going further, of moaning Maxwell’s attempts to suggest she was getting “unfair pretrial publicity” and her belief that she will be place before “a tainted jury pool, especially in large metropolitan areas such as New York,” the lawyers added:

“The size and heterogeneity of such communities make it unlikely that even the most sensational case will become ‘a cause célèbre’ where the whole community becomes interested in all the morbid details.”

Still very much in their early stages, the unravelling of Miss Maxwell’s grubby activities has barely begun and now, as Sean Stone has rightly observed, there will be a lot of well-known people who’ll be resorting to the Donald Trump school of “good wishes.” It’ll be fascinating to watch them fall like dominoes.

Pictured top: Mendacious mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell with the catty catwalk calamity Naomi Campbell at a party in New York in 2002.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GotN-Bu8S-0

Stoning the Mucky Madam – Oliver Stone’s son Sean has suggested Ghislaine Maxwell could do a lot of damage to the Hollywood elite as further details about her activities with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein are revealed.

Stoning the Mucky Madam – Ghislaine Maxwell even sat on thrones in Buckingham Palace with the Hollywood horror Kevin Spacey. Yesterday in Manhattan, actor Anthony Rapp and another man filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages against Spacey, accusing him of sexual assaults in the 1980s when they were teenagers.

Ghislaine Maxwell’s Hollywood connections numbered the likes of the now jailed producer Harvey Weinstein. Here, she is pictured at a party for one of Prince Andrew’s daughters with that particular paedophile and her ex-lover and now deceased paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

No wonder she had an interest in the oceans – Miss Maxwell’s octopus-like tentacles have stretched far and wide and her address book included everyone from media moguls such as Rupert Murdoch (pictured) to aristocrats and actors.

Prince Andrew – accused of abuse by the at-the-time underage Virginia Giuffre – is another associate who has much to fear from his long-time friend. Will she do the right thing and finally tell the truth about what he got upto on 10th March 2001 in her house at 44 Kinnerton Street, Belgravia, London SW1X 8ES? Somehow, that seems unlikely, but stranger things have indeed happened.

September 10, 2020
The Death of the High Street

Matthew Steeples laments the death of the high street, but sees some hope in a shift to a new way of retailing

Remember when Mary Portas was banging on about saving the high street? Appointed in May 2011 by David Cameron and Nick Clegg to “breathe life back” into shopping hubs, this “retail consultant’s” well-meant attempt ended up sadly achieving little in reality.

Now, partly due to the impact of coronavirus and in many cases actually due to longer standing systemic problems with largescale companies, Britain’s towns and cities need to fast adapt if their central business districts are to survive.

Firstly, the high street’s customer base has altered and businesses must come to understand this. With those who’d worked in offices previously having used sandwich shops and retailers at lunchtime gone, many operations such as Pret are seeing footfall collapse and opting to cut staff hours and close stores.

Secondly, the likes of Marks & Spencer – which announced 7,000 job cuts yesterday – will find itself forced into doing more business online. People have adapted to having their food and clothing delivered and a shift to more of that kind of business seems the only way forward for the big household names.

Thirdly, as both retail and office space empties as a result of these changes, town planners must look at new ways of drawing in life and use for this accommodation. Whilst some such spaces are suitable for conversion to housing, another idea could be to make more locations centres of specialisation. Hay-on-Wye, for example, has prospered as a book town whilst Margate has gone from a shabby resort to a vastly successful centre for the arts. Another example is Leeds – which took advantage of the .com boom in the 1990s and became a major location for financial services businesses and call centres.

In spite of a future that looks bleak right now – with Pizza Express axing 1,000 of its workers also as they close numerous locations – if our currently completely haphazard government help it adapt, there could be a future for the high street. It must, however, be one that will have to involve more reasonable landlords and a firm goodbye to greedy robber barons asset strippers like Sir Philip Green also.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes and @M_Steeples

August 19, 2020
Ghastly Ghislaine

Ghastly mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell is not doing herself any favours in moaning about her new living arrangements in prison

Ghislaine Maxwell has plainly always been a spoilt brat. Her evil conman father treated her far better than his other children and indication of his preferential treatment of this ghastly wench was provided by the fact he renamed a yacht he bought in 1987 in her honour.

Now quite rightly incarcerated as she awaits trial for sex-trafficking underage girls, the mucky madam has been moaning about her prison conditions according to a report in The Indian Express.

In comments yesterday, Jeffrey Epstein’s procurer’s lawyer, Christian Everdell, complained about ‘Bouncing Bob’s’ daughter having been “forced to wear special clothing” and remarked:

“Ms. Maxwell is being treated worse than other similarly situated pretrial detainees, which significantly impacts her ability to prepare a defense [sic].”

“[She] continues to be surveilled 24 hours a day by security cameras and by multiple prison guards. These prison guards constantly observe Ms. Maxwell and take notes on her every activity, including her phone conversations with defense [sic] counsel.”

No longer able to join in with such events as the Cash & Rocket rally – which ironically was all about “[uniting] us all through female empowerment and solidarity” – Maxwell’s fall from grace is deservedly complete. What is now more important, however, is whether she’ll finally do the decent thing and turn up the heat on Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump amongst others.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

Ghastly Ghislaine – Robert Maxwell purchased the boat he named in his daughter’s honour from Emad Khashoggi. He fell off the back of the ‘Lady Ghislaine’ and drowned – if standard reporting is to be believed – on 5th November 1991. The gin palace is now named the ‘Dancing Hare’ and sleeps upto 12 guests with a crew of 13.

August 11, 2020
A Right Royal Read

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea waste a fortune sending a glossy ‘magazine’ to 92,000 people about a survey with a 0.32% response rate; the rag also contains patronising snippets about barbecues, black people and businesses

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council is renowned for its stupidity and it is often exposed quite rightly by the crusading blog From The Hornets Nest for such.

Now, during the middle of a pandemic and at a time when its populous face pressures of health and financial insecurity, this blundering bag of bilge decided to produce a 16 page ‘magazine’ titled Our Borough.

In the rag, the Conservative led council not only shared propaganda promoting that councillors Catherine Faulks and Gerard Hargreaves had deemed themselves able to “visit a range of businesses in the borough,” but also lauded a survey that concluded something that anyone with half a brain would already know: “It is vital that [businesses] have the community’s support.”

Elsewhere in the so-called ‘publication,’ the council “issued warnings” that the populous will “face enforcement action” if they use a barbecue on their balcony and also announced a “funding pot” of £2.9 million is going to be given out to “projects and initiatives” that councillors “will make the final decision” on.

Whilst that may stink to high heaven given the shameful reputation of this rotten borough for waste and ineptitude when it comes to planning decisions, Elizabeth Campbell, leader of the council, then turned to the death of George Floyd. She patronisingly announced: “We support each and every resident regardless of the colour of their skin.”

When approached for comment by The Steeple Times, a representative of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s media department laughably remarked: “The magazine goes to 92,000 households, but I’ve no idea what it costs to produce and I don’t know who I could ask who would know.”

Pictured top: Elizabeth Campbell, leader of Kensington and Chelsea council.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

July 22, 2020
Mackintosh Icebergs

Iceberg home formed in part from the former Chelsea studios of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife for sale for sum 1,178% higher than in 2012

The grand location used as Uncle Monty’s London home in Withnail & I – the 1987 classic dark comedy starring Richard E. Grant – was West House at 35 Glebe Place in Chelsea. That building was sold to François Pinault, the owner of amongst other things Christie’s, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, for £20 million in 2011, whilst last month we featured an equally fabled residence in a street once home to artists, but now the preserve of billionaires – the £6.95 million former residence of the now in exile oligarch Sergei Pugachev at 53 and 54 Glebe Place.

Yesterday, the Daily Mail reported that Pugachev’s publicity craving ex-partner and mother of three of his children, ‘Karen-esque’ Countess Alexandra Tolstoy, had finally been evicted from that property. “It’s not our choice to leave, it’s painful and oh so sad” blubbed this batshit bonkers woman on Instagram, but now there’s another house for sale in the street that will make headlines and this time because of its connections to an esteemed art nouveau architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868 – 1928).

Glasgow born Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his Black Country born wife Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh (top) and a replacement plaque commemorating their association with the building that is located on the garage door at 43 Glebe Place. A plaque was first erected to mark the centenary of the Glasgow School of Art in 2009, but was “removed at some point between 2009 and 2015.”

Bizarrely sold in November 2012 for a sum £55,000 lower than in February that year, 43 Glebe Place has just come to the market for £14.95 million through agent Johnny Turnbull of The London Broker – a sum 1,178% higher than eight years ago.

Now vastly larger due to the fact that it has been ‘iceberged’ with the addition of an entirely new ‘mega-basement’ level (of similar concept to that created under the five houses opposite during their controversial merger by Monsoon and Accessorize owner Peter Simon in 2015), 43 Glebe Place is formed from the merger of a simple cottage and two artists’ studios. It now extends to 3,871 square foot in total over three levels.

One section of the property formed from the artists’ studios – known at that time as 43a Hans Studio – was used by Mackintosh from August 1915 to circa 1923 whilst his wife, Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh (1864 – 1933), occupied the adjoining space.

The studios were entered through “a small high walled courtyard” which now forms the garden of the newly created house and during this period, the couple lived nearby in Oakley Street, SW3 also. They had been forced to move to London after being banned from Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, where they had previously lived, as Mackintosh had been suspected of being a German spy due to his “affinity with Austria.”

Of their time there, writing in 2016, Mackintosh expert Sheila Harris remarked:

“As with most studios the ceilings were high, in order, most probably, to capture as much as light as possible and although they were fairly austere, with the furniture, artefacts and decorative panels originally housed in their Glasgow home, the place would soon have become an extension of their artistic lives.”

“Let’s not forget that whilst Mackintosh was working quietly in his studio another, completely different, scenario was unfolding outside his studio door. A resident of Glebe Place wrote: ‘Never shall I forget how suddenly Chelsea seemed to become an armed camp… Army motor lorries were rattling noisily along the normally quiet Embankment, and those hot nights we lay awake listening to the heavy rumble of laden troop-trains, all night long… It was a heart-rending sight to see the young men of all ranks going up the steps of Chelsea Town Hall to enlist.’”

“Clearly Mackintosh and Margaret embraced life in Chelsea and made the very best of their new-found circumstances. They adopted their new surroundings, making their studios an inviting, hospitable place to spend their days, often in the company of like-minded people. They certainly faced up to the challenges of living in the capital city which was the target of so many bombing raids.”

“Whilst little evidence can be found on the daily routine of the Mackintoshes’ life in London, we know that they… spent their days in the adjoining studios in Glebe Place, and many evenings were enjoyed at the Blue Cockatoo [a long since gone local hostelry in Oakley Street that was popular also with Augustus John and other “artistic Chelsea denizens”] meeting friends and colleagues for dinner… We do know that Margaret held parties, including children’s parties, at the studios.”

Given what the estate agent Turnbull terms a “three year, multi-million pound rebuild by the current owners, creating an exquisite and self-indulgent London home for themselves,” it is doubtful that the Mackintoshes would now recognise their former home. It now provides a 21-foot by 16-foot reception room with a ceiling heght of 14-feet and a study area with a mezzanine beyond, a 30-foot long dining kitchen, 3 bedroom suites, a wine cellar and a gym with a steam room. There is a somewhat narrow garage, off-street parking for an additional car, a 24-foot by 23-foot garden and a 22-foot long roof terrace also.

In their marketing literature, The London Broker interestingly point out also of the freehold house: “This property currently has mixed use. The buyer should speak to their solicitor and seek advice to confirm that this could significantly reduce SDLT.” Who said the rich don’t like a bargain?

The Numbers – 43 Glebe Place, Chelsea, London, SW3 5JE, United Kingdom

July 2020 – For sale for £14.95 million ($18.90 million, €16.67 million or درهم69.40 million) through agents The London Broker.

November 2012 – Sold for £1.17 million ($1.48 million, €1.30 million or درهم5.43 million)

February 2012 – Sold for £1.225 million ($1.548 million, €1.366 million or درهم5.687 million).

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

A large entrance hall is formed out of the majority of the ground floor of the original, surprisingly unlisted cottage.

Out of one of the studio spaces, a vast dining kitchen with doors to the courtyard garden has been created. It is bright and airy as a result of its ceiling lights.

Beyond is a reception space, again with studio windows above.

Another view of the room.

A dividing glass partition leads to a space intended as a study. It has a mezzanine above.

The master bedroom suite is to be found in the original cottage. It has its own terrace.

The bathroom of the master bedroom also has a door onto the terrace.

In the newly recreated ‘iceberg mega-basement’ daylight is brought in courtesy of a lightwell. A most useful wine cellar can be seen at the end of this corridor.

The other two bedroom suites are located on the lower level.

Also below ground is a large gym. It seems an ideal space for health conscious super-rich yummy mummy types to work out their frustrations in.

The courtyard garden (looking towards the original house and garage) is quite charming and restful.

The courtyard garden (looking towards the studio conversion section).

A floor plan of the very much enlarged property.

A BBC video briefly mentioning Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s time at 43 Glebe Place. Video courtesy of The 78 Derngate Northampton Trust.

Flamboyant Uncle Monty plied Withnail and Marwood with booze in his drawing room at 35 Glebe Place in the film. His intentions were less than decent. In 2011, the house was sold for £20 million to the billionaire businessman François Pinault – reportedly the 27^th richest man in the world as of October 2019.

July 9, 2020
Firing Up A 20th Century Limo

‘Stretched’ 1994 Toyota Century for sale for less than the price of a brand new Ford Fiesta; the rammed full of gadgets limousine comes with a food heating compartment and privacy curtains favoured by notoriously shy Japanese people even

Whilst a 1967 Mercedes-Benz ‘Dictator Car we featured in April eventually sold for £237,000 ($298,000, €264,000 or درهم1.1 million), a lover of limousines with far shallower pockets might care to bid on a Japanese example that is headed to auction this month.

Though the word “limousine” originally derived from the “type of carriage hood that physically resembled the cloak worn by shepherds in the Limousin region of France,” this automotive category is now sadly more generally associated with that especially ghastly, much over-used adjective “luxury.”

Limousines are not only considered the preserve of the aforementioned despots, but they’re also the favoured modes of conveyance of business titans, young Arabic and Russian showoffs and rappers now even. A well-known reader of ours even once stated she’d like to have several herself. This friend of royalty added that a collection of security guards running alongside with torches also would complete her ideal spectacle.

Coming in the form of a four-seat, stretched saloon car, the 1994 Toyota Century to be offered was imported to the UK by Mohamad Issa in 2019. It is longer than a Rolls-Royce Phantom, but slightly shorter than a Maybach at 19-feet in length, is presented in black with a black leather interior and was fully serviced in Japan prior to being shipped. The odometer reads 34,500 miles.

Historics Auctioneers will sell the 1994 Toyota Century limousine at their Windsorview Lakes sale on 18^th July. They have set an estimate of just £13,000 to £17,000 ($16,300 to $21,300, €14,500 to €18,900 or درهم59,900 to درهم78,300) and describe the car as being: “A stunning example of a rare car even in Japan, this is a real collector’s car that is a sign of wealth and power for the price of a new Ford Fiesta!”

Featured earlier this year in a 19-minute video by two vloggers named Ben and Alfie of a YouTube channel named The Department of Motoring Affairs, of this particular Century they surmised: “People are surprised that this is a Toyota… If you don’t get it by now you don’t belong in the club anyway… If you know, you know” and indeed they’re right: Here is a quirky limousine that you could only originally have had if the Japanese ‘powers that be’ allowed you.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

The passenger “compartment” is described as “richly appointed” and includes not only “soft and supple” heated power, leather seats with variable speed massage functions, but also gadgets galore. Most importantly for the notoriously shy Japanese market, the compartment has all-round curtains as well as an electric privacy partition to separate it from the driver’s compartment (with an intercom communications system).

There is a cordless 1990s mobile telephone, a television (described as “working but TV to Japanese specification”) with a VHS player, as well as a tape deck built into the rear centre armrest that even has an in-built recording device. A mini fridge also has a heating function for hot food and there is a cabinet containing crystal glasses and a decanter even.

A desk can fold out for a mogul who wishes to work whilst on-the-road inside their Toyota Century limousine. It is made of mahogany and for those that wish to ‘drink-and-ride’ there are mahogany glass holders as well.

The chauffeur also gets to sit in luxury (unlike in many other limousines). Whilst in original limousines, the chauffeur’s compartment was open, here they get not only a roof, but a leather seat also.

Technology is the order of the day given this Toyota Century limousine was manufactured in Japan. The car has automatic transmission, cruise control and a fully functional digital dash.

The soft-closing boot contains the original tyre and jacking equipment.

The engine is a Lexus 4-litre 5V-EU V8. Of it, Historics Auctioneers remark: “We are informed by the vendor that [it] starts well and pulls strong with the temperature gauge reading a little below half and the automatic transmission shifts are firm and smooth.”

From the front; this Toyota Century stretched saloon is described as “clean and straight, the chrome trim and bumpers are all intact and gleaming.”

And from the rear; here is a car that Historics Auctioneers laud as having a look “denoting conservative success.”

Historics Auctioneers have produced a video tour of the vehicle to market it to potential purchasers during the coronavirus lockdown.

The 1994 Toyota Century limousine to be auctioned featured in an amusing 19-minute long YouTube video in March this year by vlogger Alfred Munkenbeck and his co-host Ben (surname unknown). They plainly loved the vehicle.

July 8, 2020
Remembering Jeffrey Epstein Albuquerque Style

Statue of late billionaire sex beast Jeffrey Epstein mysteriously appears outside City Hall in Albuquerque, New Mexico (and is promptly removed by officials)

A ‘statue’ of the dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein somewhat bizarrely briefly put in an appearance in Albuquerque, New Mexico yesterday. God only knows why.

Positioned downtown in front of the city’s municipal hall, what turned out to be a gold paint covered mannequin was accompanied by a plaque. It read:

“Jeffrey Epstein (January 20, 1953 – August 10, 2019) was an American Financier who started as a teacher and worked his way up from a low level assistant to be one of the top financial advisers in the USA. He had a home in New Meixco, Zorro Ranch. He was also a rapist who died in prison.”

Speaking (with an “altered voice”) to Rebecca Atkins of KRQE News 13 on Wednesday, an “anonymous member of Antlion Entertainment ‘Art’ Collective remarked:

“We think we need an Epstein statue in every school ‘cos how are students going to learn he even existed? You know, those that don’t remember history tend to repeat it and so, if we don’t have statues of Epstein, how can we prevent the predatory behaviour?”

“A statue is just a statue,” the spokesperson added, whilst the local mayor, Tim Keller, responded with bemusement and commented: “I personally didn’t see it… I was like: ‘That doesn’t make any actual sense.’ So, that’s where I’m at right now.”

Whatever next? An erection of non-sweating, Pizza Express loving Prince Andrew embracing In-N-Out burger munching procurer Ghislaine Maxwell? Meanwhile, though the fate of the now removed statue is unknown, one witty sort quipped: “That statue will not hang itself!”

Pictured top: Left – The briefly installed Jeffrey Epstein statue; Top Right – Jeffrey Epstein with Donald and Melania Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell; Bottom Right – The paedophile with fellow sex offender Harvey Weinstein and Miss Maxwell at a party in Prince Andrew’s garden.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

The ‘statue’ was briefly positioned outside Albuquerque’s City Hall; a member of the Antlion Entertainment ‘Art’ Collective that ‘installed’ the mannequin posed for a photograph with it. ‘Newsweek’ later reported that their online searches “found no websites or accounts connected to the aforementioned art collective.”

In November 2019, the First Church of God Marseilles in Illinois were condemned for their “joke” sign that suggested Jeffrey Epstein “didn’t kill himself.” Though the church’s pastor explained: “It gave us a chance to expose people to Jesus and who he is, getting people to ask questions,” most simply condemned the move as being “in pretty poor taste.”

July 2, 2020
E-Scooter-ing a Shameless Minister For Rent
As the government disgracefully announces they’ll be allowing rentable e-scooters on Britain’s roads, Matthew Steeples asks: “Who gave ‘a Robert Jenrick’?” to get this multi-million market going

‘Doing a Bernie’ became the stock description of a political bung of £1 million in the Blair years and now, in ‘Bosie The Clown’ Britain, it seems ‘a Robert Jenrick’ should be the description for a much cheaper option: A £12,000 donation that allegedly could have “handed Tory donor [Richard Desmond an] extra £106 million.”

Now, at a time when coronavirus deaths look set to once again spike with what is sadly going on in Leicester being our starter-for-ten, our government has decided to put lives at risk in another totally avoidable way. Last night, in announcing that the ban on rentable e-scooters will be lifted on Britain’s roads for 12 months, Tory transport minister Rachel Maclean did just such and now this moronic woman also leaves herself open to questions of sleaze as well.

Under Maclean’s new rules, set to come into play from Saturday, rental scooters will be allowed on roads, but not pavements. Privately owned e-scooters, for now, however, will continue to be illegal.

Opening up a line for substantial profits for those set to own and manage rental e-scooter operations, Maclean is endangering the public quite unnecessarily. Whilst she argues that her scheme will “ease the burden on the transport network… and allow for social distancing,” she neglects to mention that in July last year, YouTuber Emily Hartridge died after being struck by a lorry in Battersea whilst riding an e-scooter on the road. There have been many injuries as a result of accidents caused by these ridiculous contraptions in addition on both roads and pavements.

Last night, in response to the news, registered blind disability awareness campaigner Deborah Farley-Persaud told the BBC: “[E-scooters] are frightening because you can’t hear them and you can’t see them.” Mrs Farley-Pesaud was “injured last year following a collision with an e-scooter” in Old Street and now “does not feel safe to go out.” She added: “They clearly haven’t got any regard for the rules of the road,” whilst previously Colin Wingrove of the Metropolitan Police stated: “Electric scooters should not be on the pavement or the road.”

As was pointed out by Inc. in their winter 2018/2019 edition, one e-scooter rental operator in America, Bird, was alone valued at £1.6 billion. The numbers involved in this new market are potentially colossal and now, in the UK, the questions that need to be answered are:
- “What donations have those who’ll be operating e-scooter rental businesses in Britain given to the Conservative Party to date?”
- And: “Who’s been Robert Jenrick-ed?”
Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes and @M_Steeples

Rachel Maclean took to Twitter on Tuesday to boast about having “accelerated [e-scooter] trials to provide a safe, fun and zero emission way to travel!” One is left asking: “What really motivated her actions?”

Many Twitter users reacted with fury at the decision. One suggested: “A&E is going to be rammed” whilst another argued the “trouble with e-scooters… is the people who ride them.” They added: “Unfortunately there will be deaths because they don’t stick to road rules.”

Another tweeted: “This coincides with half the population hitting the pubs with a thirst like a kangaroo’s jockstrap. Excellent.” Another quite rightly pointed out: “They are really dangerous for pedestrians.”

In July 2019, ‘The Steeple Times’ reported on a twerp named Ambar Zohra bashing into a pensioner on a scooter in Walton Street, Chelsea. At the time, this foul-mouthed horror was rightly asked by Jane Morris of Percy Bass: “Where do you think you are from? The five floors of whores?”

In August 2019, ‘The Steeple Times’ highlighted an example of a danger on the road on an e-scooter. Of this particular terror, a taxi driver rightly observed: “If I’d hit him, I’d have blood on my hands but he isn’t meant to be there. He is breaking the law purely by his presence. He should be prosecuted and that thing should be confiscated.”

Emily Hartridge tragically died after being hit by a lorry whilst on her e-scooter in Battersea in July 2019. After such an occurrence, you’d think the government would ban these dangerous contraptions; Conservative minister Rachel Maclean has shamefully gone and done to the contrary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilNc6WeqCHc
E-scooters are deservedly disliked contraptions. They are, after all, dangerous and generally operated by irresponsible idiots.

Vile porn star and alleged sex offender Ron Jeremy “nearly died” on an e-scooter in October 2017.
July 1, 2020
A Demon Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce owned by “maverick” Demon Internet dot-com millionaire Cliff Stanford to be auctioned; an au pair he employed was tragically murdered by a British serial sex offender in Spain; he was convicted of “email spying” in a scandal featuring gerrymanderer Dame Shirley Porter
- Cliff Stanford is best-known for having established the early dot-com success story Demon Internet in 1992. He had a (boom, boom) “demon touch” and sold the company for £66 million in 1998.
- After pocketing £30 million personally, one of Stanford’s first moves was to buy a private plane and “one of the most lavish Rolls-Royces then available.”
- He paid the equivalent (with a discount) of £265,000 today for the opulent Rolls-Royce and declared it: “My favourite present to myself.”
- The 1998 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur is now to be auctioned for less than a tenth of that price with a lower estimate of just £18,000.
- Stanford’s Spanish au pair was tragically murdered in 1999 and subsequently in a totally unconnected series of events, he was convicted of “email spying” on notorious Conservative politician and gerrymanderer Dame Shirley Porter and her son.
- According to his personal Twitter account, Stanford is now based in Tallinn, Estonia; he recently tweeted in support of Dominic Cummings, but neglected to mention if he would have loaned his motor for the spinner’s infamous Barnard Castle drive.
In 1998, “flamboyant” Internet pioneer Cliff Stanford paid the equivalent of £265,000 in today’s money for a brand-new motor. He did not opt for the eco-friendly kind-of-car that today’s tech titans drift around in, but instead slam dunked and went for the ultimate symbol of flash – a Rolls-Royce Silver Spur with every conceivable extra.

Stanford’s long wheel base ride – a vehicle that would have been the envy even of Charles Frere, the business tycoon bounder of Howards’ Way, in terms of its lavishness – personified excess and reflected the persona of a man whom “laughingly” considered getting the numbers ‘666’ incorporated into the dial-up for his Demon Internet company’s software.

The Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit and the longer wheelbase Silver Spur (and their Bentley equivalents) were the favoured mode of conveyance of business moguls in the 1980s and 1990s. Charles Frere (played by the late Tony Anholt, died 2002), a stereotypical example of such a character, was regularly seen in such motors in the BBC classic ‘Howards’ Way’ also.

Born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, Clifford Stanford started his career as an accountant, but “found his way to the Internet via a love of computers.” He hit the jackpot with Demon Internet in 1992 and after selling that company to Scottish Telecom for £66 million, claimed his empire would be “bigger than Branson’s” according to the Guardian.

Speaking to the paper in December 2001, he continued: “I always wanted to be wealthy. Money doesn’t buy happiness but lack of it can lead to misery. Now I really enjoy my life, I do whatever I like and no-one tells me otherwise” and next he set up another venture, Redbus Investments, with Dame Shirley Porter’s son, John, as chairman. It listed on the stock exchange in March 2000 and the company’s activities included not only Internet hosting, but also a landmine disposal system and forays into football and popular music.

Redbus, according to ZDNet in Sept2005, was where “Stanford’s trouble seemed to start.” Kiss-and-tell scandals involving a “champagne fueled romp” at Claridge’s and his being banned from the hotel ensued, whilst in 1999 his Spanish au pair was murdered by a serial British sex offender named Tony King – who was only jailed in 2006 after a previous wrongly convicted suspect was cleared in 2002.

In 2001, the Guardian reported on the tycoon’s associations with Max Clifford – with a plainly hoodwinked Stanford remarking: “Max always has loads of really interesting people at his events” of the long since disgraced and now thankfully dead paedophile – and mentioned an unsuccessful investment of £1 million in a “badly managed” girl band called Girls@play. It had The Apprentice’s Alan Sugar’s niece as its lead singer, but ultimately was “a complete disaster really,” the businessman lamented.

By 2005, Redbus had unraveled spectacularly and in September that year, Sandford was convicted of intercepting emails belonging to his former friend John Porter. He tried to claim his actions were legal, but after being given a suspended sentence and ordered to pay a fine of £20,000 and £7,000 in prosecution costs, a later appeal was denied.

Divorced, a father of two and reinvented as an “innovation strategist” according to his LinkedIn.com page, Stanford is now is based in Tallinn, Estonia with his American-German science fiction writer partner Sylvia Spruck Wrigley. Aside from a website named May.be that lists their many projects, the tech expert is an enthusiastic chess player and user of Twitter.

As well as tweeting enthusiastically about a “clean break Brexit” and complaining about Amazon, Turkish Airlines and the Estonian take on fish and chips on the social media site, he recently came out in support of Dominic Cummings. Of Boris Johnson’s puppet master’s recent problems, Stanford surmised: “Witch hunt.”

Historics Classic and Sportscar Auctioneers will sell Cliff Stanford’s Rolls-Royce Silver Spur on the 18^th July and have set an estimate of just £18,000 to £22,000. They describe the vehicle as “one of the highest specified cars we have seen and presents well in black with black leather seats, carpets and headlining,” but neglect to detail any of the high jinxes that this larger-than-life character no doubt conducted from its rear seating area.

Cliff Martin Stanford (born 1954) – The Names & Numbers

18^th July 2020 – Cliff Stanford’s one-owner-from new 1998 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur – registration S110 NGN – to be auctioned by Historics Classic and Sportscar Auctioneers with an estimate of £18,000 to £22,000 ($22,200 to $27,100, €19,800 to €24,200 or درهم81,600 to درهم99,700) at their Windsorview Lakes sale.

June 2009 – Co-founded Power Ethernet. He describes this firm as bringing “disruptive technology to fruition.”

September 2005 – Convicted and given a suspended sentence of 6 months and a fine of £20,000 ($24,700, €22,000 or درهم90,600). A later hearing denied leave to appeal in February 2006.

2003 – Charged under the Computer Misuse Act and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 with the interception of emails between Jonathan Porter, one-time chairman of Redbus Interhouse, and his disgraced mother, Dame Shirley Porter – a woman best known for the “homes for votes” scandal in Westminster.

March 2000 – Floated Redbus Interhouse on the stock market.

October 1999 – Stanford’s Dutch-Spanish au pair, Rocío Wanninkhof (1979 – 1999), is abducted and stabbed to death. He offered a £50,000 ($61,000, €54,000 or درهم224,000) reward immediately and then doubled the sum in September 2003 “to anyone who could provide information” according to The Independent. After the estranged female lover of Wanninkhof’s mother was wrongly convicted for the murder in 2001 and subsequently cleared, a British sex offender, Tony King, was jailed for the killing in 2006 for 19 years.

1998 – Cliff Stanford paid £150,000 ($185,000, €165,000 or درهم680,000) for a 1998 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur, the “last production chassis number for UK sale.” He supposedly secured a discount of £20,000 ($24,700, €22,000 or درهم90,600) on the list price from dealers Jack Barclay and added extras including “a wine cooler to rear armrest, centenary door panels, picnic tables with separate stowage compartment, TV monitor/video to rear compartment and electrically adjustable lumbar support.”

1998 – Founded Redbus Investments four days after the sale of Demon Internet.

1998 – Sold Demon Internet to Scottish Telecom for £66 million ($81 million, €73 million or درهم299 million) with 172,000 subscribers. Stanford became an early dot-com multi-millionaire, personally netted £30 million ($37 million, €33 million or درهم136 million) and moved to Brussels “to avoid capital gains tax” according to the Guardian.

June 1992 – Cliff Stanford founded Demon Internet with 200 subscribers. He had been brought up in Southend-on-Sea, Essex by his single-parent mother and began his career in accountancy.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

The turbo-charged long wheelbase Rolls-Royce Silver Spur is described as a “classic machine.”

The interior is in as new condition.

The black leather seats have been well-cared for.

The model was the first Rolls-Royce to feature a retractable Spirit of Ecstasy mascot on its bonnet.

Rolls-Royce gave the car a 6.75-litre V8 engine.
June 29, 2020