Tag: Essex

Boujis in the basement?

Matthew Steeples explores the story of an empty Kensington mansion

A multi-million pound 8-bedroomed house in Kensington isn’t anything unusual. In fact, rather, they’re ten a penny. In this, one of the wealthiest boroughs in the land, large, expensive homes are just the norm.

An image of the existing exterior of No. 1 Campden Hill, London, W8 7AD

A rendered image of how the exterior of the renovated property might look

The plans show a vast subterranean development that will vastly increase the size of No. 1 Campden Hill

No. 1 Campden Hill, which is being marketed for an undisclosed eight-figure sum, is in a quite different league. Here is a detached Edwardian house in an acre of grounds just to the north of Kensington High Street. It’s an unrenovated property but it attracted much press attention in October 2011 because it was place on the market in October 2011 at a price of £75,000,000. Yes, you heard it right: £75 million for a fixer-upper. Last week, Radio 4 made a hell of a fuss about a derelict semi-detached house in Newcastle selling for just £14,000 so this truly must be something special.

Architect Edward P. Warren (1856 – 1937), far right, in the offices of Bodley & Garner, 14 South Square, Gray’s Inn, London

The architect of the house Edward Prioleau Warren (1856 – 1937), a Bristol born architect and archaeologist, was best known for “Oxford colleges and minor country houses” but also designed the War Cemetery at Basra. He was a friend and adviser to the American novelist Henry James and in addition to building No. 1 Campden Hill in 1915, he also designed a house at 5 Palace Green in 1906 and another, Estcort House in Kensington Palace Gardens, in 1904. Warren’s guiding style is described as having been to recreate an “understated revival of English late 17th century” architecture and at No. 1 Campden Hill he created just that.

Colonel Edmond Grove-Hills (1864 – 1922), born Edmond Hills, and his wife, Juliet Spencer-Bell, were the architect’s clients. A plaque on the building bares their names and the following dedication:

This House I built for Me & Mine

May it be of Peace A Shrine

And no Enmity or Sin

Ever find its way therein

AD 1915

Sadly for the Grove-Hills, the following year, their son, Second Lieutenant Charles Herbert-Hills (1895 – 1916) was killed on the Somme aged just 21. His father, meanwhile, was awarded a CBE in 1918 after having served as the Assistant Chief Engineer of Eastern Command during the war.

Aside from his military exploits, Edmond Grove-Hills is best known for his role as president of the Royal Astronomical Society. He took part in observations of eclipse of the sun in Japan in 1896, India in 1898 and Russia in 1914 and contributed papers analysing both this and the causes of the irregular movements of the earth’s axis of rotation.

In 1951, No. 1 Campden Hill was purchased by the government of Uruguay and it became the residence of their ambassador to the United Kingdom. For the next fifty years the building was barely altered but when the lease from the Phillimore Kensington Estate came to an end, there were legal problems as the 1951 transfer had never been stamped. Of this, Sharon Mulroney of Forsters, the legal representatives of Phillimore, commented:

“It is highly unusual to be faced with complications of this kind when dealing with a registered London title, but this made the transaction all the more fascinating. Even the decision to allow ambassadorial staff to return to the property for security purposes after completion was fraught with potential problems about security of tenure, employment and tax.”

The proposed site plan shows the addition of a garden pavilion, staff/security cottage and a tennis court

Eventually, without issue, the Phillimore Estate sold on the house in 2001 for a price of approximately £17,000,000. In the years since, the property was effectively mothballed as all the purchasers have done is to have obtained planning permission to redevelop the building into a mammoth mansion of epic proportions.

A computer rendered image of how the drawing room might look

The “leisure area” is reminiscent of the entrance to The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel

The private home cinema would be the envy of any movie buff

The swimming pool

The wine cellar is rather like a contemporary take on Berry Bros. & Rudd’s flagship store in St. James’s Street

And to complete it all… The plans include your own version of Boujis in the basement

The approved plans show designs for something quite remarkable. Warren’s “understated” residence will be replaced with 8 vast bedroom suites, grand entertaining spaces, a lift and even bedrooms for 5 staff. In addition to a full-scale renovation of the original freehold house, there is scope to provide a total of 30,000 square feet of accommodation by adding a huge subterranean complex that will include a 25-metre swimming pool, court, squash court, gym, sauna, steam room, function room, entertainment room, home cinema, wine tasting room and even a nightclub to rival any of Kensington’s trendiest haunts.

On that basis alone, No. 1 Campden Hill is surely the ideal residence for Prince Harry: “Who needs Boujis?” we hear him cry.

No. 1 Campden Hill, London, W8 7AD is for sale through Knight Frank. For more details contact Roddy Craggs on +44 (0) 20 7938 4311 or go to: http://search.knightfrank.com/ken100161 to download a brochure.

For more information about The Phillimore Estate, go to: http://www.phillimore-kensington-estate.co.uk

November 5, 2012
Windows on the WAGs

A £15 million mansion fit for a self-made tycoon or an upwardly mobile WAG

While the youth of the Kings Road and Loughton have featured in the reality shows Made in Chelsea and The Only Way is Essex, their counterparts in Cheshire have yet to undergo the same social experiment. Having come across a fair few of their number though, I can only imagine their antics would result in television of comparable car crash proportions.

Wayne and Coleen Rooney and their home on Collar House Drive in Prestbury, East Cheshire

Warrington born Kerry Katona isn’t considered one of the “Cheshire set’s” finest exports

Cheshire itself is a county of contrasts: there’s the farming and hunting set and then there’s the new money. From the 1950s onwards an invasion of nouveau riche footballers and self-made business people came to Alderley Edge and Wilmslow and it is said that there are more Rolls-Royces per square mile here than anywhere else in the UK.

Though today’s Coronation Street actresses and Man United players generally favour brand new homes in Prestbury, the new wealth have not just consigned themselves to such. The likes of Take That’s Gary Barlow, for a time, owned Delamere Manor at Cuddington but sold it in 2005 due to his ever-growing commitments elsewhere. Equally, Neil Hamilton, whilst MP for Tatton, lived at The Old Rectory at Nether Alderley with his formidable wife Christine but when their days in politics came to an end, they too moved on. For a time, David and Victoria Beckham were the undoubted glitterati of this manor, but of those footballers still resident Wayne and Coleen Rooney are definitely now the best known.

Swettenham Hall, Swettenham, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 2JZ

Double glazing tycoon Brian Kennedy

In a “grey area between old and new” sits Swettenham Hall at Swettenham near Congleton. This 12,590 square foot Georgian mansion dates to 1795 but since it was acquired by Brian Kennedy, a double glazing, home improvements and mobile telephone entrepreneur, the house has been given a total makeover. The colourful style he’s given the house can best be described as being akin to: “Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen meets Austin Powers.”

Swettenham Hall’s drawing room is decorated and furnished in a cacophony of colours

The kitchen is painted in an equally vivid shade of lime green

A bedroom boasts a carpet that would make Austin Powers shout: “Yeah, baby, yeah!”

The same carpeting continues into the wood paneled “gentleman’s study”

At Swettenham Hall, bathrooms, equally, are far from neutral in their styling

Mr Kennedy and his wife Christine employed Julian Bicknell Associates to design an impressive leisure wing in 2004

Swettenham Hall is most definitely a party palace and along with the addition of a leisure wing consisting of a swimming pool, Jacuzzi®, plunge pool, steam room and gymnasium in 2004, Kennedy has also constructed a 47ft by 44ft helicopter hangar complete with a retractable helicopter pad.

Standing in 100 acres of grounds, the house does seem a tad expensive at £15 million especially since that the adjoining former farm buildings were sold off and converted into eight homes in 1999. The driveway is partly shared with these homes and for those seeking the ultimate in privacy, this could indeed be an issue. It is perhaps why Swettenham Hall has yet to sell.

The former farm buildings next to Swettenham Hall were sold off and converted into eight homes by Egerton Estates and Watts Developments in 1999

The proximity of Swettenham Hall to the neighbouring barn conversions is illustrated in this Google Earth map

Brian Kennedy is someone I hadn’t heard of until I came across Swettenham Hall but here is a fascinating man whose meteoric rise is frankly very clearly linked to windows. The son of a window cleaner from Edinburgh, this self-made tycoon started his career as a trainee manager at the Royal Bank of Scotland. He subsequently briefly worked as a trainee accountant but left when offered the chance to become youngest branch manager of Moben Kitchens at the age of 20.

At around this time, Kennedy acquired a stake in Farouche Kitchens and with a Rochdale born property entrepreneur named David Russell, he was transformed from a door-to-door salesman to a pioneer in direct sales. In 1988, when Farouche was sold, Kennedy netted circa £1 million. From here, this entrepreneur returned to his family’s roots by venturing into double glazing with Weatherseal Windows and then home improvements with Space Kitchens & Bedrooms.

In 1999, with the help of funds raised by private equity investors 3i, Kennedy paid £42 million for the well known brand Everest but sold part of his stake to the management for £63 million in 2003. In due course he added to his shareholding and then sold 21.5% of the company to Hutton Collins in a deal which valued the company at £150 million in 2007.

Ever the empire builder, Kennedy paid £29 million for a conservatory manufacturer named Ultrafame in 2006 and then also added another double glazing brand, Zenith Staybrite, to his portfolio in 2008. Many other business ventures followed but not being afraid to diversify, Kennedy formed Patrick Properties, whose portfolio is now valued in excess of £100 million, in 2002 and Kennedy Renewables, which specialises in wind energy, in 2009.

In the technology sector, a chance conversation in a Knutsford wine bar in 1995 led to him venturing into the mobile telephone market with a company named Genesis Communications. The business was sold to Dixons in 2002 for £31 million.

In January 2012, Kennedy merged his main Latium Holdings business with Jim Rawson’s Epwin Group to form Epwin Holdings. The merger resulted in a company with more than 2,500 employees and brands numbering Spectus, Swish, CET and Kestrel.

Of his success, Kennedy states:

“Business is common sense [and] dealing with people is common sense. I don’t think I have any particular flair. I think it is about common sense, taking the opportunity when it comes and hard work.”

Brian Kennedy’s wealth has allowed him to indulge many of his passions. A period of semi-retirement “drove [him] and [his] kids nuts,” but this Scotsman’s love of rugby resulted in him acquiring the Sale Sharks Rugby Club in 1999. He is said to have set the “club on a sound financial footing” and turned it into “one of the leading rugby clubs in Britain.”

Philanthropy is something that Kennedy, a Jehovah’s Witness, has also dedicated his wealth to. Through his Brian Kennedy Trust, he has supported a number of charities and organisations but it is for his role as the main backer of Find Madeleine Fund that he has come to public attention. Of his reasoning for backing the missing child’s parents financially, he stated:

“In light of the quite literally incredible accusations against Gerry and Kate McCann, which are clearly exacerbating their emotional torture, I felt compelled to offer, along with other like-minded businessmen, financial support and the full logistical support of the Latium team. That support is principally our in-house lawyer Ed Smethurst and [official spokesman] Clarence Mitchell.”

Brian Kennedy was involved in the funding of a team that included Clarence Mitchell for the Find Madeleine Fund until 2009. Here Mitchell (standing) is pictured with Gerry and Kate McCann.

An ex-lawyer and campaigner Anthony “Tony” Bennett is the former secretary of The Madeleine Foundation who has been involved in various legal disputes with Brian Kennedy and Gerry and Kate McCann

Kennedy’s donation attracted much press attention in 2007 in the weeks following Madeleine McCann’s disappearance and he continues to support them to this day. A very public spat involving him, Gerry and Kate McCann and a campaigner named Tony Bennett, who also was involved in The Madeleine Foundation, has been the subject of various legal actions. In October 2011, Mr Bennett was forced to publicly apologise to Mr Kennedy and separately an August 2009 Evening Standard article by Mark Hollingsworth “investigat[ing] the investigators,” was pulled because for “legal and editorial reasons.” In it, “someone who worked closely with [Kennedy]” was quoted as saying:

“He was appalled by the Portuguese police, but he also had visions of flying in by helicopter to rescue Madeleine.”

Angelina Jolie, another avid aviator, once commented: “Wherever I am I find myself looking out of the window wishing I was somewhere else.” We do not know why Brian Kennedy is selling Swettenham Hall, but Jolie is indeed one of the few with the resources to take these particular windows off his hands.

For more information about Swettenham Hall, Swettenham, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 2JZ, contact Edward Welton of Knight Frank on +44 (0) 20 7861 1114.

For more details about Brian Kennedy, go to: http://www.brian-kennedy.co.uk

For more details about the Find Madeleine Fund go to: http://www.findmadeleine.com and for information on The Madeleine Foundation: http://www.madeleinefoundation.org.uk/

November 2, 2012
Charmian Brent (better known as Charmian Biggs)

In the autumn of 2012, an ITV1 series, Mrs Biggs, dramatised the life story of this headmaster’s daughter from Reigate, Surrey. In it, Sheridan Smith (pictured here with the real Mrs Biggs) portrayed a lady of steely reserve who is intelligent, articulate and courageous. The former wife of the Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs has now built a new life for herself in Melbourne, Australia as an editor, publisher and journalist and on crime, her views are simple: “[It] doesn’t pay in any way, shape or form.”

November 1, 2012
Robin Sheppard: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

The Steeple Times asks hotelier and chairman of Bespoke Hotels Robin Sheppard: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

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

Hunger.

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

“While I breath, I hope.”

Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2012?

Piers Morgan.

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

The ability to fit into non-elasticated trousers.

What might you swap all your wealth for?

I might swap it for anything. However, I would swap it for nothing.

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?

I think it’s a great shame that people no longer consider their bank manager to be a friend. We’ve lost the trust. It’s very different now to how it once was.

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

“At this moment in time”: What a waste of words.

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

I am affiliated with the Guillan-Barre Syndrome Support Group.

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

Turn them off when you’re on the loo. Or at least try not to use them.

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

Are we murdering or sightseeing? Either way, the answer’s probably family.

Hotelier Robin Sheppard

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

Presumably I’d have to eat it in the prison I doubt they’d let me go on a picnic. I think I’d have spaghetti bolognaise with a robust Chianti.

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

Immediately after you finish work. Whichever time that may be.

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

Cup of tea.

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

If I remembered them, they can’t have been that much fun, can they?

Who is the most positive person you know?

My golf instructor. He’s always laughing whenever I take a shot.

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

Pork scratchings.

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

That festival in Edinburgh.

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

A monster truck.

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

I’m an only child.

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

A handful of birthday cards.

Robin Sheppard is a classically trained hotelier and chairman of Bespoke Hotels. He is also managing director of Alfresco, designed the iconic bottle for Ty-Nant mineral water and is the author of A Solitary Confinement (2007).

To purchase a copy of Sheppard’s book, A Solitary Confinement, go to: http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Solitary-Confinement-Robin-Sheppard/dp/1905823258. Watch a video interview with him about Guillan-Barre Syndrome at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9SQKayEQEo

For more information about Bespoke Hotels, go to: http://www.bespokehotels.com and for information on Alfresco: http://www.alfresco.co.uk

October 31, 2012
Do you “chitter-chatter”?

The phrase “chit-chat”

This morning, as I walked through the streets of Chelsea, I heard a lady blabbering into her mobile telephone about how she’d had a “chit-chat” with her friend. I cringed. I don’t know why, but I do truly hate this phrase.

To “chit-chat” or “not to chit-chat”: that is the question

My first encounter with “chit-chat” was in the early 2000s when I knew a certain rival of the especially lowbrow glamour model Jordan (AKA Katie Price). This individual, since married off to an equally esteemed chap from Essex, used to call me and say: “ ‘Allo, I’m just giving ya a tinkle-tankle for a bit of a chit-chat.” Her words stuck in my mind and now every time I hear those words, I sadly think of her.

A Google search on the origins of “chit-chat” produces two separate citations from 1710. The first comes in Samuel Palmer’s Moral essays on some of the most curious English, Scotch, and foreign proverbs:

“ ‘Tis the custom of foolish people … in their chit chat to be always biting people’s reputation behind their back.”

A second mention comes in a piece by Sir Richard Steele in edition 197 of The Tatler:

“If Ralph had Learning added to the common Chit-Chat of the Town.”

Is this a phrase to embrace or one that should be consigned to the dustbin of history? I think you know my view.

September 3, 2012
Lord Alton: What's on your mantelpiece?

“The Steeple Times” quizzes Lord Alton about what’s on his mantelpiece

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

“The still small voice of calm” (from the Quaker poet, John Greenleaf Whittier).

“Never regret, never explain, never apologise” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

Pretty much the opposite.

Kerry Katona was unacceptable in 2007. Who is unacceptable in 2012? 

No one is ever unacceptable – although their behaviour may be.

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

Being away from family and friends while I’m working.

What might you swap all your wealth for?

To save a life – the Rabbi was right when he said that the man who saves a single life saves the world.

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

“My right to choose.”

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

Charity does begin at home but it doesn’t end there so I support a variety of causes at home and overseas.

Have you ever been arrested and if so, for what?

Yes, for obstruction of the Highway (1835 Highways Act), as a young City Councillor, for objecting to the harassment of some teenage constituents. The case was dismissed by Liverpool’s Stipendiary Magistrate.

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

Past and present world political leaders and half a dozen articulate champions of neglected causes; then use the journey to try and change some minds and priorities.

David Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool

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

Liverpool’s Yuet Ben Restaurant – with my family and friends – recapturing many happy memories accompanied by perfect meals.

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

Depends. Usually lunch time.

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

Tea during the day. Negroni sounds good for early evening.

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

I’m happy when I’m in good company – but need to be able to hear the conversation. In every sense, dinner parties are preferable to political parties.

Who is the most positive person you know?

Baroness Masham of Ilton. As a young woman Sue Masham broke her back in a riding accident and has spent her life confined to a wheelchair. Not once have I heard her complain and every adversity is met by gutsy good humour totally devoid of self pity.

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

That would be telling. Probably best kept between me and my confessor!

What was the first bone that you broke?

Ankle.

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

The Christogram IHS.

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

I like the characteristics of the Land Rover but I guess the qualities represented by the Robin Reliant shouldn’t be sniffed at either.

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

Not being easily deterred.

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

An icon from Turkana and a bust of Mr Gladstone.

For more information about Lord Alton, go to: http://davidalton.net

July 17, 2012
Terry Venables

“El Tel” is best known as a footballer manager but he’s a man of many talents. Few know that this national team manager of England (1994 to 1996) also co-authored four novels with Gordon Williams and was the co-creator of the ITV detective series Hazell. A Chelsea resident, he’s often to be found at Motcomb’s, the Rib Room Bar & Restaurant and Sette in Sydney Street.

May 11, 2012
Nadine Milroy-Sloan (AKA "Emily Checksfield", née Nadine Checksfield)

A fantasist of the first order, Nadine Milroy-Sloan invented a tale of being raped by Neil and Christine Hamilton and sold her story to a national newspaper with the help of the since convicted sexual abuser Max Clifford. She went to jail in 2003 and then thankfully faded into obscurity. In September 2014, this lunatic sadly reappeared in the media when she was jailed for four years for telling police that her boyfriend had attacked her with a samuari sword. Her story should be a lesson to those who tell lies: eventually you get caught.

April 28, 2012
Katie Price (AKA Katie Hayler, Katie Reid, Katie Andre, Katie Infield and Jordan)

This glamour model is to be commended for having made a fortune. Her taste in men and cars however is utterly lacking. Her pink Range Rover is perhaps symbolic of all that is wrong about her.

April 27, 2012