Tag: elegant

An Airhead’s Tardis – Hidden House In Knightsbridge Once Home To Donna Air For Sale For £14.5 Million

Tardis-like hidden house in Knightsbridge once home to ‘airhead’ Donna Air – who once amusingly asked The Corrs: “Where did you all meet?” – for sale for £14.5 million (or 383% more than it was ‘worth’ in 2003)

Update, Thursday 4^th April 2024 – Internal images removed at insistence of Annabel Edney, associate PR, Savills.

The ‘cheap wing’ of one of Knightsbridge’s landmark churches, St Saviour’s, has gone on sale for a not-insubstantial sum of £14.5 million after the more ‘expensive wing’ was marketed for the very punchy sum of £55 million in 2019 and the still somewhat punchy sum of £44 million in 2020.

The deceptively Tardis-like Hastings House in Walton Street is a ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ home from the pavement. It is entered through a small door to the side of a church that was reduced in size to accommodate the vast 12,102 square foot St Saviour’s House and the new-build in 1999 property of 5,261 square foot now offered by agents Savills.

Actress and presenter Donna Air – who once hilariously asked the siblings that formed The Corrs: “Where did you all meet?” during an interview – numbers amongst the well-known ‘names’ to have lived in the house. This likeable lady shared the property with her wealthy conservationist then partner Damian Aspinall and even operated her even more hilariously named company (since dissolved) Airhead And Money Limited from the address.

Occupied also variously by a fast-living, Bugatti driving oil trader named Pierre Andurand and the controversial Italian sports manager Pierandrea Semeraro, the three-storey residence is centred around a “serene” private courtyard and includes 2 reception rooms, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a rather impressive roof terrace.

Savills describe the freehold house as “opulent” and laud “one of the crowning jewels of the residence,” its underground pool, as a “hidden gem” in the basement; perhaps Sharon Corr and her siblings could hold a reunion there.

Editor’s note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples and watch his current nightly show on YouTube at 8.30pm daily.

A message from our editorial team – Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by supporting our work via Patreon.

Actress and presenter Donna Air and conservationist Damian Aspinall with James Middleton – Air’s partner between 2013 and 2018 – and Victoria Fisher – whom Aspinall married in 2016. Aspinall and Air were an item between 2000 and 2007. Donna Air’s most famous moment on the telly box was summed up in an interview with Sharon Corr of the Celtic pop band The Corrs. Of the encounter, Corr stated: “We did a live television interview with Donna Air. Her opening question was: ‘So, where did you all meet?’ I looked at my brother and sisters and our hearts sank. If that was the opening question, it could only go downhill from there. It was clear that she knew absolutely nothing about us.”

Oil trading tycoon Pierre Andurand and sports tycoon Pierandrea Semeraro have also both been listed at the address in Companies House records. How long each of the men lived at the property is unknown.

The Names & Numbers – Hastings House, Walton Place, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1SA, United Kingdom

March 2024 – Offered for sale as an “ultra-cool freehold house” by William Duckworth-Chad and Alex Christian of Savills for £14.5 million ($18.3 million, €17 million or درهم67.2 million) – an asking price 123% higher than the asking price 20 years ago in March 2004 and 383% higher than the quoted worth in May 2003 – and described by Robb Report’s Abigail Montanez as a “stately London home hiding in plain sight… in the affluent Knightsbridge neighbourhood.”

April 2012 – Richard Compton Miller for The Standard bizarrely contradicts previous evidence and suggests Damian Aspinall and Donna Air “recently moved into [the] converted church.” It can only be assumed he was regurgitating somewhat outdated parish news.

April 2010 – Listed as the address of French “entrepreneur” Pierre Andurand on his appointment as a director of Andurand Events Limited company. The company ultimately was dissolved on 28^th June 2011 after a compulsory strike-off.

Aixe-en-Provence born Mr Andurand is listed on Wikipedia as a “businessman and hedge fund manager” who was educated at the University of Oxford. This twice married “leader” of Andurand Capital has variously been listed as a “star trader,” an “oil trading wildcard” and someone who operates with “no set risk limits.” World Top Investors list this kickboxing enthusiast as “the comeback kid, the hotshot trader living the jock-bro dream, driving a Bugatti supercar, a Knightsbridge townhouse, and a trophy wife Russian model.”

23^rd January 2007 – A planning application submitted by the Italian sports manager Pierandrea Semeraro concerning the property is approved.

Mr Semeraro is listed on Wikipedia as having been the president of the Sports Union Lecce from 2006 to 2010. He was subsequently banned and disqualified after an investigation into a football betting scandal.

November 2006 – Planning application submitted to make various alterations to Hastings House by a firm named Stanhope Gate including the addition of skylights.

April 2004 – Described by the Daily Mail’s Adam Helliker as being the “weekday… converted church” home where “daughter of a bus mechanic from Newcastle” who “has, by all accounts, rather taken to the life of luxury” Donna Air “busies herself with acting lessons, acupuncture, shiatsu and stints with her personal trainer.”

March 2004 – Featured once again by The Observer’s Ben Flanagan after going on sale for the far higher than he’d previously mentioned sum of £6.5 million ($8.2 million, €7.6 million or درهم30.1 million) through the rather ritzy realtors Aylesford.

Of it, Flanagan enthused:

“Behind a discreet doorway on an exclusive Knightsbridge street lies this 5,250 sq ft home, which the estate agent describes as ‘one of London’s hidden gems.’”

“You’d never guess the house was built in the 1990s as you wander through its elegant Italianate central courtyard to the neo-classical cloisters and drawing room. One clue, however, is the basement swimming pool and bar, which has a more modern – if a little Footballers’ Wives – look… ‘There’s an amazing ‘party pad’ feel to it,’ says a spokesman.”

May 2003 – Described by The Observer’s Ben Flanagan as worth £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.5 million or درهم13.9 million) in a feature that mentions it being the home of actress Donna Air and zoo owning tycoon Damian Aspinall.

28^th July 2000 – Listed as the correspondence address of “presenter” Donna Air’s amusingly named “radio and television activities” company, Airhead And Money Limited. The company ultimately was dissolved on 1^st March 2011 after a compulsory strike-off.

1999 – Completion of Hastings House and St Saviour’s House by developers The Raven Group Limited.

4^th September 1998 – Full planning permission granted for the construction of Hastings House by the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Of the planning history of the unlisted property then to be constructed, the council noted separately: “The subject site was formerly included within the ground of the St Saviour’s Church, which is a listed building, however following planning permission which was granted in August 1997 for the erection of the subject building, the subject site has been formally renumbered in 2001 as Hastings House and is considered as a separate planning unit to St Saviours Church.”

March 30, 2024
Five of the Best – Characterful Cottages; From £300,000 to £1.75 million

Matthew Steeples selects five characterful English cottages currently for sale priced from £300,000 to £1.75 million

In the past we’ve featured all manner of cottages for sale – from a 14^th century one offered for just £1 to a detached one in East London for just £180,000.

Today, including one being sold by one of our most enthusiastic subscribers Clare Leakey, we feature five of the best currently on offer:

West End Cottage, Wedmore, Somerset – Offers in excess of £326,000 ($409,800, €375,400 or درهم1.5 million)

Situated in a Somerset village that has produced five first-class cricketers including Lancashire and England wicketkeeper Jos Butler (born 1990), this detached house is marketed by SmoothSale as “a beautiful two bedroom ‘chocolate box’ country cottage.”

Compact yet cosy, the main attraction here is a 22-foot length sitting room with an inglenook fireplace and bread oven at one end and a natural stone fireplace at the other. It also includes a kitchen with a Rangemaster oven, a study and would make an ideal Airbnb given its proximity to Glastonbury and its annual festival.

Court Cottage, Shimpling, Suffolk – £600,000 ($754,000, €691,000 or درهم2.8 million)

Another ‘chocolate box’ cottage comes in the form of Court Cottage – an 18^th century detached property in a “highly regarded south Suffolk village” near Bury St Edmunds where one of Margaret Thatcher’s most trusted political advisers, David Hart, “lived-in-style” prior to his death in 2011.

Offered by Jackson-Stops, this 1,615 square foot thatched building includes 2 reception rooms, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It also has a “fabulous” dining kitchen, a garage with a room above, an electric car charging point and a lawned garden.

Court Cottage last sold for £495,000 in May 2021, for £340,000 in October 2010, for £380,000 in October 2007 and for just £176,000 in October 1998.

1 Bird in Hand Street, Old Groombridge, East Sussex – £695,000 ($873,300, €800,500 or درهم3.2 million)

Sold previously for £540,000 in July 2015 and £495,000 in June 2010, this Grade II listed semi-detached cottage dates to the 17^th century and overlooks a village green. It has 2 reception rooms, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and is described by agents Knight Frank as offering “characterful family accommodation over three floors.”

Curiously, the property has a “flying freehold” since the neighbour’s bathroom overhangs the property’s ground floor utility room and a “creeping freehold” since its cellar lies beneath the adjoining property’s living area.

Llangain, Dorstone, Herefordshire – £695,000 ($873,300, €800,500 or درهم3.2 million)

For the same sum, just 3.5 miles from the market town of Hay-on-Wye – famed as “the town of books” – this 18^th century restored cottage on ½ acre is available freehold. It is situated close to the Golden Valley village of Dorstone – a settlement best known for its annual sloe gin competition where each year the winner is crowned the ‘Grand Master of the Sloes.’

Llangain, a farmhouse that was derelict from the First World War until 1995, itself has 4 bedrooms and in addition there is a 1-bedroom barn conversion. Agents Knight Frank laud the property as being in a “picturesque setting” and having “amazing views.”

Willow Cottage, Bethersden, Kent – £1.75 million ($2.20 million, €2.01 million or درهم8.07 million)

Situated in a village best known for producing rather ritzy rocking horses for everyone from the late Queen Elizabeth II to Sir Paul McCartney, Willow Cottage is being marketed by Strutt & Parker as having “evolved from the picturesque period cottage at its heart, and from which it derives its somewhat understated name” into an “elegant 4,800 square foot family house.”

Situated on a plot of 16.5 acres and last sold for £400,000 in July 1998, this 5-bedroomed residence comes with a separate 2-bedroomed ‘guest barn’ and also has a tennis court, a swimming pool, stabling, garaging, gardens and paddocks. A “picturesque pond” currently provides opportunity for Wind in the Willows-esque Messing About in a Boat, as our main photograph suggests.

Editor’s note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples and watch his current nightly show on YouTube at 8.30pm daily.

A message from our editorial team – Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by supporting our work via Patreon.

November 25, 2023
Kingly Kinlet
Grand Grade I listed Shropshire mansion Kinlet Hall for sale after coronavirus forced the closure of its wedding venue and summer school
- Striking Grade I listed Palladian mansion in Shropshire for sale.
- Kinlet Hall is priced at £3.5 million or just £104 per square foot.
- The house has until recently been a school and wedding venue, but this usage has been stopped because of the coronavirus lockdown.
- A cricket ground included with the property was lauded as one of “Britain’s most scenic” by ‘The Telegraph’ whilst HRH Princess Anne has competed in horse trials in the parkland.
Coinciding with the partial relaxation of the coronavirus lockdown, the ‘trophy country house’ market seems to be revving up with the commencement of marketing of several historically significant residences.

Now, following on from our feature on Saturday on the £10 million crumbling Jacobean gem Lilford Hall Estate in Northamptonshire, the same agents, Savills, have now introduced the sale of another treasure – the utterly stunning Palladian architectural treasure that is Kinlet Hall in Shropshire.

Significantly cheaper at £3.5 million or £104 per square foot and in far better condition than 33,406 square foot Lilford Hall, the 33,609 square foot Grade I listed Kinlet Hall comes with less land – 102 acres as opposed to 321 acres. It is further from London, which may limit its appeal to wealthy city sorts, but given it has been used as both a school and wedding venue until lockdown, it is in actual “working condition” as opposed to the perilously falling down state that Lilford is sadly currently in. That is, indeed, a major plus.

Featuring a seven-bayed central block of three storeys plus cellars, the hall is flanked by two two-storey wings. Presently configured to provide 5 reception rooms and 15 bedrooms, there are classrooms, gyms and flats also. Surprisingly, unlike with many residential to school conversions of mansions in the 1940s where ugly modern extensions were distastefully tacked on, damage to the integrity of the original structure has been minimal.

In addition, to a 5-bedroom detached house named ‘The Old House’ and a range of farm buildings within the grounds, there is a cricket pavilion and a cricket pitch. The Telegraph named its runner-up for “Britain’s most scenic cricket ground” in 2008 and interestingly amongst the many established plant and tree species in the grounds is a Wellingtonia that allegedly came as a seed in a matchbox from the Americas.

Of Kinlet Hall, Tony Morris-Eyton of Savills comments: “[This is] an exquisitely beautiful Palladian country house, formerly a prep school, awaiting its next chapter with enormous potential as either a private home or [for] other uses.”

The village of Kinlet is situated on the northern edge of the Wyre Forest about 18 miles from Telford and 23 miles from Birmingham.

Design Maestros – Villa Pisani, Montagnana (top left) by Andrea Palladio (lower centre) inspired both Francis Smith of Warwick (lower left) in his designs for Kinlet Hall and William Buckland (lower right) in his creation of the Hammond-Harwood House (top right).

The Names & Numbers – Kinlet Hall, Kinlet, Bewdley, Shropshire, DY12 3AY, United Kingdom

June 2020 – Put up for sale for £3.5 million ($4.4 million, €3.9 million or درهم16.3 million) through agents Savills. Orchard Lodge, a 4-bedroom cottage with an acre of paddock, is available by separate negotiation.

July 2017 – Moffats School closes for the final time citing financial pressures. Of the decision, school chairman Julian Engleheart told the Shropshire Star: “We have always been a small school by choice, maintaining the family ethos of our founders. However, the current financial climate is putting enormous pressure on small schools and we have decided that it would be unwise to commit to a new year this September. However, we will continue to run educational activities in our lovely house and grounds, which provide such a wonderful environment for learning.”

1946 – Moffats School (founded in 1934 by the children’s writer Natalie Engleheart in a Hertfordshire house called Moffats) is relocated to Kinlet Hall.

1939 – 1945 – The house was temporarily home to a school for the blind; the parkland became a camp for the US army as part of their preparations for the Normandy Landings.

1827 – Ballroom added to the designs of Sir Jeffrey Wyattville (1766 – 1840) trained architect Edward Haycock (1790 – 1870) for William Baldwyn Childe. He died three years before it was completed and “this is the only significant part of the house not dating from 1729.”

1727 – 1729 – Kinlet Hall is “built in a classic early Georgian style with the symmetry and grand elevations synonymous with [the English master-builder and architect] Francis Smith of Warwick (1672 – 1738)” for Tory politician William Lacon Childe (1700 – 1757) close to the site of an older Tudor manor house.

Other notable works by Smith and his family include Calke Abbey, Fawsley Hall, Kirtlington House, Ombersley Court and Stoneleigh Abbey. His design was said to be inspired by Andrea Palladio’s (1508 – 1580) Villa Pisani at Montagnana – which also reportedly was the influence for the ‘Anglo-Palladian’ Hammond-Harwood House by the English architect William Buckland (1734 – 1774) in Annapolois, Maryland, USA.

During construction, the old village was removed to “improve” the setting. Only the original church, St. John the Baptist, which contains monuments dating to the 1580s, was left as a “remnant.” It was restored subsequently in 1892.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes
June 17, 2020
A Set fit for a Peacock

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 18^th 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.

“The arbiter of bohemian style” – Mitchell Owens of Architectural Digest Pro, July 2018.

“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.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

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.

April 19, 2020
Evelyn McHale (1923 – 1947)

Little is known about what drove Evelyn McHale to jump from the Empire State Building and be captured in the “most beautiful suicide [photograph] ever” on 1^st May 1947.

Berkeley, California born bookkeeper McHale was one of nine children of a divorced bank examiner. The 23-year-old worked at the Kitab Engraving Company in Pearl Street, Manhattan and was engaged to a college student discharged from the United States Army Air Force named Barry Rhodes. She seemed to have had it all, but chose to end her life from atop one of the most famous buildings in the world.

“Elegantly attired and wearing a silk scarf, white gloves and a pearl necklace… [she is said to have] carefully removed her coat and neatly folded it, next she placed her black pocketbook on top of her coat [along with her makeup compact filled with family pictures and a handbag]. At 10:40am: Patrolman John Morrisey of Traffic C, directing traffic at 34^th and 35^th Avenue, reported seeing a white scarf floating lazily down from the heavens. Moments later this peaceful, dreamy scene was brutally interrupted by a heart rendering boom” as McHale had jumped 1,050-feet to her death and a crowd had converged.

Photography student Robert Wiles is said to have run over and captured a “poignant and surreal photo.” It was the only image of his ever published and Life Magazine captioned it: “At the bottom of the Empire State Building the body of Evelyn McHale reposes in grotesque bier, her falling body punched into the top of a [United Nations Assembly Cadillac limousine].” The driver was “in a nearby drug store, thereby escaping death or serious injury” other reports added.

A note found in her pocketbook announced: “I don’t want anyone in or out of my family to see any part of me. Could you destroy my body by cremation? I beg of you and my family – don’t have any service for me or remembrance for me.” She had crossed out the following: “My fiancé asked me to marry him in June. I don’t think I would make a good wife for anybody. He is much better off without me” and then ended: “Tell my father, I have too many of my mother’s tendencies.”

Of the image, one commentator later remarked: “Evelyn’s gloved hand appears to be serenely touching her pearl necklace, and her legs crossed as if taking a nap,” whilst another added: “Evelyn McHale will go down in history as something akin to a fallen angel, as poignant and iconic as Marilyn Monroe.”

She was cremated with no service, grave or memorial and her fiancé reportedly said of her: “When I kissed her goodbye, she was happy and as normal as any girl about to be married.” He remained single for the rest of his life and died in Melbourne, Florida in 2007.

Many ‘sightings’ of Evelyn McHale wearing bright red lipstick and “looking distressed” on the 86^th floor observation deck have been reported and in the years since her death, she has been recalled in the works of Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Pearl Jam and Taylor Swift amongst others.

The United Nations Assembly Cadillac limousine that the body of Evelyn McHale landed upon after falling 86 floors from the observatory deck of the Empire State Building in New York City and the original image (unedited) taken by Robert Wiles. It has been has been compared to the photograph by Malcolm Wilde Browne of the self-immolation of Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức who burned himself alive at a busy Saigon road intersection on 11th June 1963.

An image clearly showing the damage to the car from above.

Joséphine Wister Faure created a ‘mixed media sculpture’ of the car that the body of Evelyn McHale hit on 1st May 1947. Her sculpture is described as: “An interpretation of the photo, revisiting the impact of the image and the trace this woman left, both literally and physically. Also being true to her last wishes in which she specifically asked not to be seen. Inside the car the radio is playing 1947 NYC broadcast.” It was exhibited at the Boite Noire Gallery in the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles in 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXhxfOzkq5w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQyHyJa2tSs

April 11, 2020
Brash Beatrice

Has ‘Tatler’ magazine lost the plot? They’ve named Princess Beatrice one of their “best dressed of the year”

Princess Beatrice is well-known for her fashion fails. From hideous hats to dowdy dresses, the daughter of ‘Randy Andy’ and the Duchess of York rarely fails to deliver a ‘look’ that nobody would want to imitate but now, in their wisdom, Tatler magazine have decided otherwise.

In putting the royal alongside the ever elegant Cate Blanchett and the luscious Lily James, the society magazine’s Chandler Tregaskes has only revealed one thing: She must be as blind as a bat.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

December 29, 2018
Wealthy Wilton

Six-storey Belgravia residence with controversial business connections goes on sale for 22% less than it was marketed for in 2015 and 3,497% more than it sold for in 1997

A 6,961 square foot freehold terraced townhouse in Belgravia has gone on sale for £25 million or 3,497% more than it was sold for in 1997.

4 Wilton Crescent – which sold in 1997 for what now seems like the paltry sum of just £695,000 – was marketed two years ago for £32 million and provides 5 reception rooms, 9 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms and 2 garages in an adjoining mews house.

Featuring traditional interior design by Robert Kime – decorator to the Prince of Wales – the property featured in court papers in December 2015 in the context of a dispute between a lawyer turned secretive property speculator named Glenn Maud and his former associate Robert Tchenguiz. Said to be at one-time worth £4.5 billion at the height of his success and originally from Sheffield, this businessman and his wife reportedly spent some £6 million renovating the house but was ordered to live on £500 per week in 2012 by a Guernsey court.

4 Wilton Crescent is now offered by Knight Frank.

4 Wilton Crescent – The Numbers

October 2017 – On the market for £25 million ($32.8 million, €27.9 million or درهم120.5 million) through Knight Frank.

March 2016 – On the market for £30 million ($39.4 million, €33.5 million or درهم144.6 million) through Beauchamp Estates.

December 2015 – On the market for £32 million ($42 million, €35.7 million or درهم154.2 million) according to court documents. Owner Glenn Maud reportedly spent £6 million ($7.9 million, €6.7 million or درهم28.9 million) on “improvements” to the property.

September 1997 – Sold for £695,000 ($912,000, €775,000 or درهم3.3 million).

October 24, 2017
Take Me To The Titanic

Apartment in mansion block in Sloane Square for sale for £6.2 million in spite of needing updating; it is within the building from which a Mayor of Chelsea lived and departed to his death on RMS Titanic

A third floor flat in a portered mansion block on Sloane Square has gone on sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons in spite of being decorated like a relic from the 1980s. It is situated above Hugo Boss’ flagship store and within Grade II listed Wyndham House, the building from which a former Mayor of Chelsea went to his untimely death aboard the RMS Titanic in 1912.

Previously priced at £6.5 million ($8.4 million, €7.7 million or درهم30.9 million) when marketed by Russell & Simpson in February 2016, the 2,684 square foot lateral apartment includes a 30-foot long reception room, 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and features such details as ornate ceiling friezes and plasterwork and working fireplaces. A larger 5 bedroom flat within Wyndham House sold for the staggering sum of £12 million ($15.5 million, €14.2 million or درهم57 million) in July 2015 according to Land Registry records.

Wyndham House resident and Mayor of Chelsea from 1909 to 1911 Charles Head (1869 – 1912) perished aboard RMS Titanic, his body was never recovered but a sundial was erected in his memory in nearby Cadogan Place Gardens

Aside from being one of Chelsea’s grandest residential blocks, Wyndham House was at home to one of the victims of the Titanic maritime disaster in the early 1900s and it was from here that Charles Head, Mayor of Chelsea between 1909 and 1911, went to his death in April 1912. Head, a Cambridge educated barrister turned director of Head & Co. insurance brokers and underwriters at Lloyds of London, was a well known supporter of the arts, a councilor from 1906 and had only married 18 months earlier. He travelled alone on a £42 first class ticket (the equivalent of £4,400, $5,700, €5,200 or درهم20,900 today) on the Titanic’s maiden voyage and bizarrely had taken out a £25,000 insurance policy “against ocean accidents”. His precaution left his widow very well provided for given such a sum was the equivalent of £2.6 million today ($3.4 million, €3.1 million or درهم12.4 million).

May 8, 2017
Nicola Radano – What’s on your mantelpiece?

A 20-question interview with Nicola Radano, an Italian fashion blogger and founder of tie producers Spacca Neapolis

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

Determination and loyalty.

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

“One can get rich at any moment, but if one has no class, one is always a beggar” – paraphrased from philosopher and connoisseur of Neapolitan culture Luciano De Crescenzo.

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

A lot of people.

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

I miss being able to sail.

What might you swap all your wealth for?

Living in a world populated by principled people.

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 banking crisis?

The banking crisis was born to the low value given to the Euro. I have no words to say on that.

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

“I can’t do it”.

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

For me, it’s absolutely right to support both domestic and international charities. Helping someone who has little is the most gallant gesture that anyone can do.

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?

Smartphones are now improperly used by young children. This is harmful because many of them prefer using them to reading a good book.

Nicola Radano

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

Only elegant men.

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

A plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce by the sea.

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

In the afternoon.

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

A cup of Neapolitan coffee please.

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

I like afternoon appetizers in the summer time. I find them most relaxing.

Who is the most positive person you know?

My mum.

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

Sleeping in late without being interrupted.

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

A rudder.

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

A Porsche.

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

That I’ve been able to create unexpected things from nothing.

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

Family photos, antique ashtrays and a clock.

Nicola Radano declares his passion to be classical fashion and Neapolitan tailoring. He established a blog about the subject titled ‘Me, Myself & I’ in 2013 and launched his own firm of hand sewn tie producers, Spacca Neapolis, in 2016.

Follow him on Instagram at @nicolaradano and on Facebook by clicking here.

Subscribe to our free once daily email newsletter here:[wysija_form id=”2″]

August 30, 2016
Sods, bitches and gin

Raising a toast to World Gin Day with VII Hills gin at La Brasserie (more…)

June 12, 2015