“Waste expert” Henley-on-Thames deputy mayor resigns over ding-dong about a decision over 22 new ‘heritage’ bins; two of the bins are remarkably solar powered and in total are set to cost a staggering £19,000
Last October, we featured a ritzy Christie’s auction where five secondhand waste bins sold for the astounding sum of £33,900. God knows who the rubbish loving buyer was, but if they’re looking to contribute to a local community, Henley-on-Thames has been having a bit of a ding-dong over its bins since October 2020.
Featured this week on the Facebook group ‘Angry People in Local Newspapers’ and in the Henley Standard and Henley Herald newspapers also, the now widely told tale of “Henley’s 9/11” meets “Bingate” (as it has been branded) provides illustration of how small-minded busybodies can cost a community a fortune and divide its occupants.
Concerning the plainly much discussed matter of what to replace 22 ‘heritage’ litter bins in the town with, “The Great Henley Bin Scandal” descended into chaos last week when councillors argued over whether to buy new, larger bins or refurbish existing old ones. The first costly proposal, which was ultimately accepted by five votes to three, was set to cost £19,000 whilst the alternative would have come in at just £6,000.
Of this dirty and somewhat dastardly saga, self-declared “expert about waste in Henley” councillor and deputy mayor David Eggleton – a gobby grandad who runs a house clearance and removals business as well as having “been in many popular soaps” as an actor – whimsically whined to the Henley Herald:
“I think the report was misleading and taking out the option of refurbishing is not democracy. I have the knowledge and expertise around waste and they are not listening to me.”
“I think a proper survey over 6 months should be carried out on which bins are overflowing and where we need bigger ones. This can be easily done by asking the bin collector to do this, but after we are out of this pandemic.”
“I don’t think it’s the right time to do any trial as there is much more takeaway rubbish at the moment. The other thing we need to address is residents fly tipping their household rubbish in the town’s public bins. I’ve caught people on lots of occasions doing this.”
Concluding about why he’d thrown his toys out of the pram and left the Henley Residents Group (or ‘HRG’ to its few friends), Eggleton “stormed away from his camera” after pathetically blubbing:
“I’ve resigned because a few of the HRG councillors are making me uncomfortable to work with them.”
“I don’t think councillors Miller and Gawrysiak have got the expertise to put those bins where they’ve located them – end of story, leaving the meeting goodbye… And I can tell you something else as well. Just before I leave, I’m resigning from HRG. Okay, goodbye.”
Responding as to why refurbishment was vetoed, another councilor, Sarah Miller, less than optimistically opined: “I believe that the bins have come to end of their life. We could be talking about this again in a year’s time.”
God help the people of Henley-on-Thames if that ludicrously proves to be the conversational case. Instead, we suggest, a complete clear out of councillors might henceforth be the least rubbish solution.
Pictured top: An example of a bin in Henley-on-Thames and rubbish obsessed councilor David Eggleton (right).
The good folk of Henley-on-Thames illustrated their obsession with litter previously in April 2018, in letters to the ‘Henley Standard.’ Headed: “Disgusted by detritus.” one Maureen Dougall angrily wrote: “There should be some supervision of Mill Meadows during the summer in order to prevent this kind of detritus. Charges should be made for this amount of litter collection and people should be made to realise that someone has to pay for all this extra work. It is fine to enjoy everything that Henley has to offer and visitors are to be welcomed, but this should not incur extra work for our public services which are under great financial pressures, notwithstanding the dangers of pollution.”Reaction to the story on Facebook’s ‘Angry People in Local Newspapers’ group was predictable in rubbishing councillor David Eggleton’s enthusiasm for bins. Group member Will Paddy Paterson remarked: “In years to come your grandchild will be on your knee and might turn to ask you… ‘Grandpa where were YOU during Henley’s 9/11?’ Make sure you stand up for what’s right now, or otherwise you will feel the shame of inaction. Hashtag prayers.”“The Great Henley Bin Scandal” was much discussed in the group and one Jason Mitchell observed: “Bins seem to arouse very strong feelings among the English.”
As two associates of Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew get snared, the money of Ghislaine Maxwell (and her supposed “boss”) starts to be clawed back for victims
Just as the monstrous molesting model boss Jean-Luc Brunel (famed for supposedly supplying Jeffrey Epstein with two 8-year-old girls as a birthday gift) and the dirty designer Peter Nygard (best known for having an “orgy pit” on his private jet and holidaying with ‘Randy Andy’ and his family) deservedly got themselves arrested this week, the shit also hit the fan of the finances of Ghislaine Maxwell and the estate of her late paedophile “boss.”
Whilst many justifiably believe Maxwell was actually the mistress of the money rather than the ex-school teacher Epstein himself – given some £500 million of her father’s ill-gotten gains vanished prior to her move to New York in the wake of him “falling” off the back of his yacht – the ability of Scott Borgerson, the 58-year-old mucky madam’s 44-year-old husband, to find the £23 million of wonga he’s using to try to get her bail should also be examined. “Where is this cash coming from?” should be the question the authorities should be shouting out.
Elsewhere, in the wake of Artnet News revealing that “prosecutors are issuing subpoenas to Sotheby’s and Christie’s” demanding they “turn over documents relating to Epstein’s art purchases,” the Mirror exclusively revealed this morning that the first two “victims” of the croaked criminal “have now agreed [thus far undisclosed] cash settlements with the billionaire financier’s estate.”
It is now time that justice was done for all who’ve suffered at the hands of this elite excrement and it is especially time that non-sweating, horse allergic Prince Andrew came forward and told the truth to the FBI about what he really knows. Of course, sadly, he won’t.
Author Kirby Sommers shared the supposed first photograph of Ghislaine Maxwell with her now husband Scott Borgerson on her Twitter feed yesterday, whilst the ’New York Post’ reported that it was taken in 2013 at the Arctic Circle assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland in October 2013. Speakers at the event included Hillary Clinton and Google chairman Eric Schmidt.
Nobody has ever managed to convincingly managed to explain where Jeffrey Epstein’s billions came from. Nobody has ever convincingly explained where his ex-lover Ghislaine Maxwell’s deceased daddy’s missing millions went either.
1950s Cold War espionage device disguised as a watch to be auctioned for a surprisingly low sum; someone could end up spying a bargain and something akin to what Jack Ruby even once owned
FBI informant and ‘assassin’s assassin’ Jack Ruby – the man whom fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of John F. Kennedy in November 1963 – supposedly owned a Protona microphone wrist watch, but these German devices were primarily used in Europe during the Cold War by police and intelligence organisations.
Now, an opportunity to buy a Protona in an online auction has arisen for what seems a surprisingly low price. The item concerned appears to the eye as a 40mm chronograph stainless steel wrist watch, but it also has an insert where a wire can be attached and hidden under the sleeve of the clothing of the person wearing it. That wire would then connect to a portable recording device concealed over their shoulder that could pick up audio for upto one hour.
Remarking of the quirky item her firm is set to sell, Laura Bishop, watch manager at Fellows auction house, commented:
“This is the perfect opportunity to own a fascinating piece of espionage and an intriguing watch combined. I can only imagine some of the conversations that this device might have recorded. We have been unable to gain access to the movement of the watch to find out its exact condition, however the dial is intact with no visible marks. History and watch enthusiasts alike won’t want to miss this one. I’m sure it will fly above its estimate.”
Fellows have set an estimate of £140 to £200 ($187 to $267, €157 to €224 or درهم687 to درهم982) and will sell it online on 8th December whilst elsewhere on eBay, another example is for sale along with a case full of extras for a far more punchy £897.50 ($1,199, €1,007 or درهم4,406).
The watch to be sold on someone’s wrist.The watch has a brown leather strap and a gold plated pin buckle.Items associated with espionage and those linked to JFK’s assassination sell for ludicrous sums. In June 2013, we featured the sale of two pieces of bloodstained leather from the back from the back seat of the Lincoln Continental in which President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. They sold for £9,785 ($13,045, €10,963 or درهم47,908) whilst in the same year Lee Harvey Oswald’s widow sold his wedding ring for £68,000 ($90,600, €76,200 or درهم332,900).In January 2015, we featured an Aston Martin DB10 used in the film ‘Spectre’ that was sold at auction by Christie’s for the staggering sum of £2.785 million ($3.711 million, €3.118 million or درهم13.629 million). A fan of the ultimate spy James Bond plainly truly fell under the spell as the car was simply just an undriveable show item.
Auctioneers Christie’s sought to sell five waste bins for £230; they ultimately went for the astounding sum of just under £34,000
Whilst most people would rubbish around a few pounds for a waste bin to put the junk mail we mentioned on Friday, a set of five sold for £33,900 ($43,750, €37,300 or درهم160,700) in a Christie’s auction last week.
Offered with an estimate of £230 to £390 ($300 to $500, €260 to €430 or درهم1,100 to درهم1,800) to reflect that they had been supplied by the late French interior designer Henri Samuel – a man “hailed by Architectural Digest as a ‘supreme master of progressive historicism’” – the 20th century faux wood grain and cream painted bins were supplied with Italian marbelised paper linings.
Plainly another deciding factor for the purchaser of these very expensive rubbish containers was their past ownership. The bins had previously been owned by the late American socialite and philanthropist Jayne Wrightsman.
The collection of Jayne Wrightsman (1919 – 2019) sold for a total of £930,000 ($1.2 million, €1 million or درهم4.4 million) at Christie’s. Her waste baskets were the top performing lot in the sale.
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).
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 27th richest man in the world as of October 2019.
Handbag created by Louis Vuitton to “celebrate” the marriage of Meghan Markle to Prince Harry to be auctioned for a crazy sum
Handbags with connections to famous women often sell for crazy sums and in December 2015, The Steeple Times featured one used by Margaret Thatcher on her last visit to Downing Street. It sold for a staggering £47,500 ($60,000, €53,200 or درهم220,000) against a low estimate of just £1,000 ($1,260, €1,121 or درهم4,629) at Christie’s and now another made to “celebrate” the wedding of the then Meghan Markle to the then Prince Harry is being auctioned.
Offered with an estimate of £12,000 to £18,000 ($15,100 to $22,700, €13,500 to €20,200 or درهم55,500 to درهم83,300) in spite of not even being in perfect condition, the 2018 Louis Vuitton ‘Petite Malle’ handbag is number 13 of 21 made. It features a Union Jack flag, has a blue and black leather lined interior and comes with a dust bag and box.
Of the item, Sophie Higgs, designer collection specialist at Fellows Auctioneers, remarked: “We are delighted to announce the auction of this extremely rare handbag… In keeping with the wedding itself, the handbag has been shaped by the wealth of history that feeds all Louis Vuitton trunks, yet it flies a path of its own.”
Given the supposed frostiness with her sister-in-law, one thing’s for sure: The Duchess of Cambridge most certainly won’t be putting in a bid. ‘MeGain’ fans (if there are any left), fastest fingers at the ready – The online sale is open and closes on Monday 8th June.
The bag is described as being “in a very good condition, like new, with only one minor scuff to the top left and lower corners.”It comes with a strap and its original box.
Duplex penthouse in The Ritz-Carlton New York Central Park for sale for £39.7 million or a sum 48% lower than in 2012; it’s currently home to an Argentine tango dancer whom moonlights as a financier and has a ‘ballroom’ in a colour scheme that would make Katie Price blush
Built in 1930 to 1931 to the designs of the Hungarian-Jewish architect Emery Roth (1871 – 1948), 50 Central Park South – a building formerly known as the St. Moritz Hotel – has been variously owned by Harry Helmsley, Donald Trump, Alan Bond and Ian Schrager. In 2002, as part of a remodelling, the building reopened as The Ritz Carlton New York, Central Park and now one of the ten apartments that subsequently were created in the upper part of the building is again for sale.
Occupying the 34th and 35th floors, a “horseshoe-shaped” unit described as ‘Penthouse 34/35’ totals 6,405 square foot including roof terraces. It was first configured as a 4 bedroom and 4.5-bathroom unit, but was reconfigured after being purchased by the Harvard educated founder of Gamechange Solar and CEO of Barron Group Holdings, Andrew Barron Worden, in 2006 into a 3 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom property with a 40-foot long ‘great room’ that has been used for “very, very frequent entertaining” and a 49-foot ‘solarium’ above.
Andrew Barron Worden and the exterior of The Ritz-Carlton New York Central Park, 50 Central Park South at the south-east corner of Sixth Avenue, Midtown West, New York, NY 10019.The main reception room of Mr. Worden’s apartment is lauded as a “grand ballroom” and measures 42” in length and 24’7” in width. If it were a person it’d be a “cross between Katie Price and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen” and is adjoined by a library.Guests at parties in the space are said to have included Russell Simmons – the businessman and music executive now in exile in Bali (after being accused of multiple sexual assaults).
Worden, described as “a ballroom dancer – Argentine tango, to be precise” in an article in The New York Times in August 2012, supposedly spent £5.7 million transforming the space and then tried to sell it for the very ambitious sum of £77 million that year. He did not succeed and again placed it on the market for £39.7 million last August.
Other owners of the ‘residences’ at 50 Central Park South have variously included the hedge fund tycoon Scott Bommer, the financier Howard Marks and the casino mogul Steve Wynn.
Agents Christie’s International Real Estate are currently marketing the “fully soundproofed” penthouse and describe it as an “heirloom unit” that could be “easily converted back as per the approved architectural plans.”
The Numbers – Penthouse 34/35, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, 50 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019, United States of America
August 2012 – Listed for sale for £77 million ($95 million, €88.1 million or درهم349 million) by Dianne Weston of Halstead Property. At the time, she claimed the owner “understands the metrics of the market.”
“Late 2000s” – Supposedly underwent a “renovation” costing £5.7 million ($7 million, €6.5 million or درهم25.7 million). Of this, The New York Times remarked: “[The apartment was subject to a] complete renovation, designed by the architectural firm Gustavson/Dundes, which gave the space a very contemporary look, including a sleek steel and glass staircase with treads that can be lighted from below.”
2006 – Sold to Andrew Barron Worden for £16.2 million ($19.95 million, €18.5 million or درهم73.4 million).
The dining room is said to have “magnificent views.”There is a chef’s kitchen also.The 35th floor ‘solarium’ leads onto a vast 700-square-foot terrace beyond.A view of the ‘residences’ at 50 Central Park South from Central Park.The floor plan “as is.”The floor plan of the 34th floor “as could be.”
Unmodernised ‘set’ in “rule-ridden” Albany, Piccadilly that was the London home of eccentric antiques dealer and ‘King of Chelsea’ Christopher Gibbs for sale; tour the home of the man who got Princess Margaret high on hash
Expelled from Eton “for being generally totally impossible,” antiques dealer Christopher Gibbs (1938 – 2018) was not a man one would have imagined would have liked the idea of living in a place with archaic rules. This “peacock pied piper to society in the Swinging Sixties” whose “drug consumption awed even Keith Richards,” however, surprisingly chose as his London base Albany in Mayfair and now his former residence is for sale.
“A hermitage; quiet as a lagoon, secluded from the roar of Piccadilly” according to the author Sheila, Countess of Birkenhead in her 1958 tome Peace in Piccadilly, Albany – which is only ever referred to as ‘The Albany’ by the extremely ill-advised – quintessential dandy Gibbs lived in the building for “more than half [his] life.” Whilst also owning properties including Davington Priory in Kent – which he later sold to Bob Geldoff – and a “mystic hangover” home in Tangier, it was here that this ‘King’ of “distressed bohemian” style found a place that offered him: “Perfection for a singleton, an oasis of serenity in the frenetic heart of West London.”
This curious “cloistered world” has numbered Sir Isaiah Berlin, Alan Clark, Lord Byron, William Gladstone, J. B. Priestley, W. Somerset Maugham and Terence Stamp amongst those who have passed its vetting committee of trustees and Gibbs – a man who legendarily got Princess Margaret so high on marijuana that she had to go to hospital – even embraced its “no pets, no children, no whistling, no noise and absolutely no publicity” policy.
Antiques dealer Christopher Henry Gibbs, (29th July 1938 to 28th July 2018), son of The Hon. Sir Geoffrey Gibbs KCMG and Lady (Helen) Gibbs CBE, was called the ‘King of Chelsea’ due to his ability as the ultimate connector. He put the Rolling Stones together with Prince Rupert Loewenstein (whom became their business manager) and he persuaded his friend John Paul Getty, Jr. to donate £50 million to the British National Gallery in 1985.Christopher Gibbs by Robert Mapplethorpe and with Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull.Christopher Gibbs pictured in his bathroom at L6 Albany, Albany Courtyard, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 0AZ; the bathroom as it is today is in need of “some updating” according to agents GreenHunt.‘Set L6’ circa 2013, as furnished then by Christopher Gibbs.
Photographed there by the curmudgeonly Victor Watts on a daybed that allegedly belonged to Lord Tennyson, described the home he created in an article for The New York Times’ ‘Style Magazine’ in April 2013:
“I had the place to myself and proceeded to make it my own in the accustomed style: sober mahogany, Oriental rugs, family pictures. I’ve continually reordered these rooms, distilling, paring, pruning, as chaste as my voluptuous nature allows.”
“So enraptured with my Albany life did I become that, reason deserting me (not for the first or last time) I gave up a spacious Bond Street gallery where I had my antiques shop and took one at the back of Albany, a small if elegant space with an entrance into the building, another onto the street and best of all a door into the underground passage – a quiet, invisible stroll home.”
“I love returning from Morocco, where I now spend much of my time, seeing the friendly porters at the door, hearing the clip-clop of feet on the Rope Walk, seeing the old-timers sitting in the little ivy-lined garden, sunning themselves by the little bronze statue of Antinous and the fountain, regularly invaded by the ducks from St. James’s Park – and enjoying sudden glimpses into other people’s lives through uncurtained windows, the hours marked only by the clock chimes of St. James’s Church, accompanied by the more uptempo tinkling of the clock at Fortnum & Mason, our local grocers.”
“At this point, when I am in London, I can’t imagine staying anywhere but Albany – all the more reason, perhaps, to clam up, maintain the longstanding omertà (or I should say discretion) that has held sway for centuries now, and count my blessings.”
Gibbs’ former home, ‘Set L6,’ is situated on the second floor in Albany’s Courtyard. It extends to some 1,178 square foot and includes a hall, reception room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. On the third floor, a separately accessed studio space has a shower room and kitchenette and of the property, the selling agents remark: “Whilst capable of immediate occupation, [it] does require the bathrooms being upgraded.”
Sold for just £60,000 ($75,000, €69,000 or درهم275,000) leasehold in March 2019 (presumably the term must have been very much towards its end), agents GreenHunt listed ‘Set L6 Albany’ on Zoopla first in May that year. Now, in April 2020, it remains for sale, but is instead listed on Primelocation. They seek £925,000 ($1.2 million, €1.1 million or درهم4.2 million) and offer it on a new 20-year leasehold with an upfront premium and a peppercorn ground rent.
Living in the building is not just the preserve of those with deep pockets. Peviously, in 2014, we featured ‘Set A5 Attic Albany’ – which was just £395 per week ($494, €454 or درهم1,800 per week) – whilst for those looking for something grander currently, a second and third floor freehold set is currently available through Sotheby’s International Realty for £4.95 million ($6.19 million, €5.69 million or درهم22.73 million). It extends to 1,890 square feet, is described as “meticulously refurbished” and includes an especially impressive drawing room.
Christopher Gibbs quoted:
“[I’ve always attracted] the grand and the raffish and the fast and the chic.”
“[I am] monumentally narcissistic.”
“I am a bit snooty… I do make exceptions, but very few.”
“We are here to learn, and my goodness I have a lot to learn.”
“[I was expelled from Eton for] Rabelaisian antics – illicit drinking, pantry raids of other boys’ rooms – that sort of thing.”
“Taste is something you catch – like measles or religion.”
“I like things in their natural state – people especially. As life goes by, that’s what I admire: objects and people that are unmonkeyed with, that are themselves, not trying to be something else.”
“I’m not interested in creating a dazzling impression of richness. We can make do with surprisingly little in life. It is best to have a few things which are really nice. I don’t approve of the mean look, but I do approve of the spare look, where every little bit is telling.”
“Being a shopkeeper, I used to sell things, sometimes.”
“I definitely suffer from the blown-mind syndrome… The only thing I’ll say in my favour, is that I was practically the only person I knew who actually went to work at nine o’clock in the morning, whether I’d been up to eight o’clock or not, because I had a job, my own business, and I realised that, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have any of those things.”
“[I] help people make nice cosy homes where they are going to live happy, beautiful lives.”
“[I] encourage friends to dig into their heirlooms, to wear old clothes, to turn their backs on ugliness and conformism.”
“Collectors today want a good car, a good sound system, and a huge pink heart painted by Damien Hirst with dying butterflies on it which costs £400,000. Yet for much less you could buy something completely fascinating made 300 years ago.”
Quotes about Christopher Gibbs:
“Taste is difficult to define, but his is absolute perfection” – Min Hogg, founding editor of World of Interiors.
“[He was] like an 18th century English parson who knew more about Etruscan vases than anyone at the British Museum” – Sir John Richardson, July 2018.
“I’m here to learn how to be a gentleman” – Mick Jagger of his then neighbour Christopher Gibbs whilst at a dinner party at his house.
“He was very flash… Sometimes he just wore tight jeans or fancy dress, like the others; but mostly his tastes were elaborate; suits with double-breasted waistcoats and cloth-covered buttons, and velvet ties, and striped Turkish shirts with stiff white collars, and cravats. Above all, he had a passion for carnations and was forever buying new strains, pink-and-yellow, or green-ink, or purple with red flecks” – Nik Cohn, author of Today There Are No Gentlemen, January 1971.
“Part Montesquieu, part Beau Brummel, and part Baudelaire… [Christopher Gibbs was a] well-born Renaissance man with an unmatched eye for aesthetics and a talent for friendship and the mot juste” – Hamish Bowles, international editor at large for Vogue, July 2018.
“Christopher was almost single-handedly responsible for making English antiques, and English heritage, look ‘cool’ again” – James Reginato of Vanity Fair, July 2018.
“A connoisseur of the weird and the wonderful” – Christopher Mason of The New York Times, September 2000.
“[He was an] acid-tripping ex-roué once known as the King of Chelsea” – Bitter words from the ex-Daily Mail ‘journalist’ and poison pen James Delingpole, executive editor of Breitbart.
“[The] avatar of Swinging London” – A more kind description from Sam Roberts of The New York Times.
“Christopher Gibbs: the man who brokered £50 million Getty grant to the National Gallery – and fed Princess Margaret hash brownies” – Huon Mallalieu of The Art Newspaper, July 2018.
The entrance hallway of ‘Set L6’ has a fireplace.The master bedroom of ‘Looking into the reception room.The somewhat basic kitchen is definitely in need of an upgrade.The view from the set.Albany’s famous ‘Rope Walk’ – Of it, Gibbs commented: “So ingrained is the sense of decorum that even to utter a friendly hello to a neighbor as we pass on the stone stairs or the covered outdoor canopy, known as the Rope Walk, might be violating a taboo, as if a few words of small talk could break the spell of privacy we Albanians prize so deeply. (A nod suffices, a hat raised to a lady.)”Residents have access to the most peaceful outside spaces.The third floor space included in the sale is arranged as a long, thin studio room.It has a small kitchenette.And a somewhat dated shower room.A plan indicating how ‘Set L6’ is currently arranged.A plan of the third floor studio space.
Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740 acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million; about 65 stake winners and several horses that have competed at the Kentucky Derby have been produced there
“Murdered grocer’s son from the Bronx” Barry K. Schwartz and his childhood friend Calvin Klein co-founded the now world-famous fashion brand Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968 and sold it for £589 million in 2003.
Barry K. Schwartz with Calvin Klein.Barry K. and Sheryl Schwartz.
Aside from spending his ever-growing fortune on horses – one of which he named ‘Degenerate Jon’ (after his son) and another ‘Killer Diller’ (after his friend the media mogul Barry Diller) – Schwartz and his wife, Sheryl, purchased 673 acres of land to the north of New York City in Westchester County in 1979 for the back then far from insubstantial sum then of £2.6 million.
There, not that far from Belmont Park racetrack in the small residential hamlet of Granite Springs, after adding yet more land to take their “equestrian estate” to a grand total of 18 deeded parcels on 740 contiguous acres, the couple created a world-class equestrian establishment that they filled with thoroughbred racehorses. Facilities at ‘Stonewall Farm’ – as it is now known – have evolved to include a turf racetrack, riding trails, a 40-stall yearling barn, two 24-stall broodmare barns, round pens and 4board fenced paddocks and pastures with run-in sheds.
A year after cashing in alongside Klein, stamp collector Schwartz’s new home was completed on the property. It features 24,000 square foot of accommodation, 8 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms. There is a 2,200-bottle wine cellar, a pub, a two-storey library “that would delight any reader” and living spaces that “invites elegant entertaining, whether intimate or on a grand scale,” according to selling agents Christie’s International Real Estate.
Elsewhere in the grounds, there are 8 staff residences (to house the 30 employees that currently maintain the estate), a guest house and a caretaker’s house. Formal gardens, designed by Edmund D. Hollander in geometric French and Japanese styles, adjoin the house and there is a 60-foot long swimming pool within a 4,000 square foot pavilion also.
Stonewall Farm is situated just one hour from Manhattan, but now that Mr and Mrs Schwartz are spending more time at another of their homes in Santa Barbara, California, they have decided to sell. Of it, realtor Kathleen Coumou told The Journal News:
“It’s on one of the largest pieces of property that one can purchase in the county. It was so convenient for [the Schwartzes] to be on this farm, with all its privacy, and still be close to New York… [It’s] magnificently laid out, with a southern-looking main house and behind it, it’s like you’re in Kentucky. You see the pastures with the horses and lots of woodlands. It’s quite spread out – it feels like you’re somewhere else, not in Westchester County… You have gorgeous views – hills and ponds and horses and paddocks, and different levels of rolling hills… You certainly can’t see anybody else around.”
“[Stonewall Farm will be sold to] a billionaire, who could come from anywhere.”
The Names & Numbers – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America
April 2020 – For sale for £80.7 million ($100 million, €92.1 million or درهم368 million) through Christie’s International Real Estate. Of why, they chose this sum, realtor Kathleen Coumou told The Journal News: “We did a very thorough appraisal of the property – the land and all of the buildings – and came up with a price of $110 million, and then we decided to round it down to $100 million.”
1999 to 2004 – Construction of main house, a “colonial-style manor” with a “white clapboard facade and a slate roof repurposed from the Yale Divinity School,” was completed to the designs of the New York architect Rebecca Rasmussen with an interior by the London based interior designer Kelly Hoppen.
2003 – Calvin Klein and Barry K. Schwartz sell their company to Philips-Van Heusen (now known as PVH Corp.) for £589 million ($730 million, €672 million or درهم2.7 billion).
1979 – Barry K. and Sheryl Schwartz pay £2.6 million ($3.25 million, €3 million or درهم11.9 million) for 673 acres of land. Of buying it, Mr Schwartz later commented: “”It was the easiest negotiation of my life. The seller asked $3.5 million, I offered $3 million and we settled on $3.25 million.” The couple purchased further land shortly thereafter.
1968 – Calvin Klein (born 19th November 1942) co-founds Calvin Klein Inc. with his childhood friend Barry K. Schwartz (born 25th May 1942) with a loan of £8,100 ($10,000, €9,200 or درهم36,700).
Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum
In March 2015, The Steeple Times featured a Texan mansion described by some as “more iconic than Southfork.” Back then this “replica of George Washington’s Virginia estate” had been for sale for four years already and now, in March 2020, it’s still on the market.
Offered at prices as high as £26.1 million and as low as £12 million, Mount Vernon overlooks White Rock Lake in Dallas and was built between 1928 and 1930. It was sold in 1938 to one of the world’s largest oil baron’s, H. L. Hunt (1889 – 1974) – a man “reputed to have the highest net worth of any individual in the world” at the time of his death.
John Amend with Laura Bush at the bowling alley at Mount Vernon and with his wife Teresa.One of the entrances to Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America.
Passing on to a commercial real estate tycoon and fellow supporter of the Bush political dynasty named John Amend in 1999, the 10,511 square foot house was subsequently renovated and aside from creating spaces including a prayer room, a 10,000 bottle wine cellar, a 1950s style diner and a car museum, what is considered to be the finest private bowling centre in America was added. It comes complete with a digital jukebox that has over 500,000 songs on its concert hall quality sound system
Whilst Mr Amend and his wife Teresa hosted guests including Glenn Close and President George W. Bush at Mount Vernon, in 2011 they decided to “simplify their lives” and placed it for sale. In the time since, its yoyo-ed on and off the market but speaking about the property to the Dallas News in February this year, realtor Allie Beth Allman claimed the Amends have now “made it a goal to sell the property this year.” She went further and stated:
“Many interested buyers have made offers, but the family has been reluctant to sell… The kids are just now at the age that they really enjoy it, and they spend a lot of time over there. It’s hard to give that up when your grandkids are saying, ‘Oh, don’t sell.’”
The Names & Numbers – Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America
March 2020 – Relisted at £14.9 million ($18.5 million, €16.6 million or درهم67.9 million) and still for sale through Allie Beth Allman & Associates.
May 2019 – Relisted at a price of £12 million ($14.9 million, €13.4 million or درهم54.7 million).
May 2016 – Relisted at a price of £14.1 million ($17.5 million, €15.7 million or درهم64.3 million).
March 2015 – Featured in The Steeple Times whilst listed with Allie Beth Allman & Associates and Christie’s Real Estate at a price of £15.3 million ($19 million, €17 million or درهم68 million).
September 2013 – Reduced in price to £15.3 million ($19 million, €17 million or درهم68 million).
November 2012 – Reduced in price to £23.7 million ($29.5 million, €26.5 million or درهم108.3 million).
2011 – Placed for sale for £26.1 million ($32.5 million, €29.2 million or درهم119.4 million).
2004 – Hosted its first event as “the nation’s finest professionally equipped bowling centre.” The alley reportedly cost £1.16 million ($1.45 million, €1.3 million or درهم5.33 million) to construct.
2002 – Renovated and expanded.
1999 – Sold to the self-declared real estate “pioneer and innovator” John T. Amend and his wife Teresa for an undisclosed sum.
1938 – Sold by Thomas Y. Pickett to Harold Lafayette Hunt, Jr. for $69,000 or the equivalent of £740,000 today ($922,000, €826,000 or درهم3.4 million today).
