The Steeple Times

Tag: estate agent

  • A Rental Ruin

    A Rental Ruin

    Chelsea estate agent optimistically markets an £850 per week house with unpainted walls and an exposed gas meter by announcing: “It does have a new boiler”

     

    Other than the legendary Roy Brooks, the only honest man in his game, estate agents will be optimistic about just about anything. A bit of damp: “no problem”; a nuclear power station next door: “positively charming” but John D. Wood & Co. truly take the biscuit with the marketing material for a property they are currently trying to let in chi-chi Christchurch Street, Chelsea, London.

     

    Sent to us by an eagle eyed reader, the £850 per week ($1,108, €955 or درهم4,070 per week), 867 square foot three floor aforementioned house has conventional features such as a reception room, kitchen, three bedrooms and a bathroom. It also, rather unconventionally, has walls that haven’t even been painted and are just bare plaster. Pictures show also scruffily made-up beds propped up on wooden blocks, wiring and ageing televisions discarded on the floors and a garden littered with leaves.

     

    Of this strange offering, our reader remarked: “I saw this listing and thought it was a half-finished project and up for sale, but no, it’s a rental. Buy-to-let plainly says can’t afford to finish it, says sod it and tries to rent it out in a half-finished state and describe it as a ‘unique house packed with character and charm.’ I particularly like the exposed gas meter!”

     

    When he telephoned, a member of staff at John D. Wood told our reader: “The landlord would prefer to rent the property ‘as is’ and not do further work. It would be at least £1,000 per week if it were finished. He is happy for any tenant to paint and make further improvements.”

     

    In typical estate agent fashion, she optimistically added: “It does have a new boiler.”

     

    Roy Brooks – “A painfully honest estate agent”

    “Beyond any doubt the best copywriter for property advertising in the history of the British press,” Roy Brooks (died 1971) took a “puckish delight in telling the truth” about the houses he was asked to sell.

     
    A Rental Ruin – Chelsea estate agent optimistically markets an £850 per week house with unpainted walls and an exposed gas meter by announcing: “It does have a new boiler” – 62 Christchurch Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 4AR, United Kingdom – To rent through John D. Wood & Co. for £850 per week ($1,108, €955 or درهم4,070 per week).

    An example of this Kings Road based eccentric’s advertisements read:

     

    “Do not be misled by the trim exterior of this modest period res with its dirty broken windows; all is not well with the inside. The décor of the nine rooms, some of which hangs inelegantly from the walls, is revolting. Not entirely devoid of plumbing, there is a pathetic kitchen and one cold tap. No bathroom, of course, but Chelsea has excellent public baths. Rain sadly drips through the ceiling on to the oilcloth. The pock-marked basement floor indicates a thriving community of woodworm, otherwise there is not much wrong with the property… Sacrifice £6,750.”

     

    Another announced:

     

    “Wanted: Someone with taste, means and a stomach strong enough to buy this erstwhile house of ill-repute in Pimlico. It is untouched by the 20th century as far as conveniences for even the basic human decencies are concerned. Although it reeks of damp or worse, the plaster is coming off the walls and daylight peeps through a hole in the roof, it is still habitable judging by the bed of rags, fag ends and empty bottles in one corner. Plenty of scope for the socially aspiring to express their decorative taste and get their abode in The Glossy, and nothing to stop them putting Westminster on their notepaper. Comprises 10 rather unpleasant rooms with slimy back yard, £4,650 Freehold. Tarted up, these houses make £15,000.”

     

    Justifying his reasoning for driving his Rolls-Royce from London to Russia loaded up with 1,000 pairs of shoes, Brooks – author of Brothel in Pimlico and Mud, Straw and Insults: Confessions of an Honest Estate Agent – glibly explained: “I take these for old times’ sake – Stalingrad and the defeat of the German hordes. Perhaps I could bring back in return some of their women engineers whose factories I saw prefabricating good homes by the thousands.”

     

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    A Rental Ruin – Chelsea estate agent optimistically markets an £850 per week house with unpainted walls and an exposed gas meter by announcing: “It does have a new boiler” – 62 Christchurch Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 4AR, United Kingdom – To rent through John D. Wood & Co. for £850 per week ($1,108, €955 or درهم4,070 per week). A Rental Ruin – Chelsea estate agent optimistically markets an £850 per week house with unpainted walls and an exposed gas meter by announcing: “It does have a new boiler” – 62 Christchurch Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 4AR, United Kingdom – To rent through John D. Wood & Co. for £850 per week ($1,108, €955 or درهم4,070 per week).A Rental Ruin – Chelsea estate agent optimistically markets an £850 per week house with unpainted walls and an exposed gas meter by announcing: “It does have a new boiler” – 62 Christchurch Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 4AR, United Kingdom – To rent through John D. Wood & Co. for £850 per week ($1,108, €955 or درهم4,070 per week). A Rental Ruin – Chelsea estate agent optimistically markets an £850 per week house with unpainted walls and an exposed gas meter by announcing: “It does have a new boiler” – 62 Christchurch Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 4AR, United Kingdom – To rent through John D. Wood & Co. for £850 per week ($1,108, €955 or درهم4,070 per week). A Rental Ruin – Chelsea estate agent optimistically markets an £850 per week house with unpainted walls and an exposed gas meter by announcing: “It does have a new boiler” – 62 Christchurch Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 4AR, United Kingdom – To rent through John D. Wood & Co. for £850 per week ($1,108, €955 or درهم4,070 per week). A Rental Ruin – Chelsea estate agent optimistically markets an £850 per week house with unpainted walls and an exposed gas meter by announcing: “It does have a new boiler” – 62 Christchurch Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 4AR, United Kingdom – To rent through John D. Wood & Co. for £850 per week ($1,108, €955 or درهم4,070 per week). A Rental Ruin – Chelsea estate agent optimistically markets an £850 per week house with unpainted walls and an exposed gas meter by announcing: “It does have a new boiler” – 62 Christchurch Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 4AR, United Kingdom – To rent through John D. Wood & Co. for £850 per week ($1,108, €955 or درهم4,070 per week). A Rental Ruin – Chelsea estate agent optimistically markets an £850 per week house with unpainted walls and an exposed gas meter by announcing: “It does have a new boiler” – 62 Christchurch Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 4AR, United Kingdom – To rent through John D. Wood & Co. for £850 per week ($1,108, €955 or درهم4,070 per week).

  • Tales of The Tube

    Tales of The Tube

    South Kensington house for sale for £4 million in spite of being literally right next to a noisy London Underground line

     

    Estate agents are not known for honesty but Strutt & Parker certainly neglected a key detail when preparing particulars for a £3.95 million ($5.13 million, €4.38 million or درهم18.83 million) property in Pelham Street, SW7.

     

    In a brochure for what is termed a “fabulous five bedroom freehold house situated within a charming terrace of stucco fronted houses, set back behind a private paved garden,” the firm neglect to mention that exactly to the rear of the building is the busy District and Circle line.

     

    The renovated 2,523 square foot terraced house offered spans four floors – and presumably the top floors rattle less than the lower ones – and includes a drawing room, dining kitchen, a cinema room, 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. It has a garden to the front, a roof terrace and the London Underground directly next to it. How charming.

     

    Tales of The Tube – Pelham Street, London, SW7 – House directly next to District and Circle London Underground line for sale for £3.95 million ($5.13 million, €4.38 million or درهم18.83 million) through Strutt & Parker Tales of The Tube – Pelham Street, London, SW7 – House directly next to District and Circle London Underground line for sale for £3.95 million ($5.13 million, €4.38 million or درهم18.83 million) through Strutt & Parker Tales of The Tube – Pelham Street, London, SW7 – House directly next to District and Circle London Underground line for sale for £3.95 million ($5.13 million, €4.38 million or درهم18.83 million) through Strutt & Parker Tales of The Tube – Pelham Street, London, SW7 – House directly next to District and Circle London Underground line for sale for £3.95 million ($5.13 million, €4.38 million or درهم18.83 million) through Strutt & ParkerTales of The Tube – Pelham Street, London, SW7 – House directly next to District and Circle London Underground line for sale for £3.95 million ($5.13 million, €4.38 million or درهم18.83 million) through Strutt & ParkerTales of The Tube – Pelham Street, London, SW7 – House directly next to District and Circle London Underground line for sale for £3.95 million ($5.13 million, €4.38 million or درهم18.83 million) through Strutt & Parker

  • Flop or Fly?

    Flop or Fly?

    London estate agents launch three properties priced over £25 million each on General Election day

     

    Pundits may be referencing worrying times ahead in Britain’s post-Brexit economy, but London’s top tier estate agents have come out all guns blazing on General Election day and launched a series of jaw droppingly priced properties.

     

    In Knightsbridge’s Lennox Gardens, SW1X – where a similar, though situated on the much more sought after first-floor, apartment was promoted for what then seemed an ambitious £27.5 million ($35.6 million, €31.7 million or درهم130.9 million) in 2015 – Savills showcased a 6,392 square foot second floor flat with a basement annex priced at an even more punchy price of £35 million ($45.4 million, €40.3 million or درهم166.6 million). Aside from 2 vast reception rooms, 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, it comes with not only a fingerprint recognition security system but also 2 gymnasiums, a sauna, a steam room, a treatment room, a wine cellar and even a juice bar.

     

    Elsewhere, this morning, on the UK’s top property portal, OnTheMarket.com, agents Knight Frank listed an apartment in Eaton Square, SW1W for £25 million ($32.4 million, €28.8 million or درهم119 million) whilst Aylesford announced the sale of a house in The Boltons, SW10 for £57.5 million ($74.5 million, €66.2 million or درهم273.8 million). Whether we get Corbyn or May, one is left with just one question: Will these super-prime properities flop or will they fly?

     

    Flop or Fly? London estate agents launch three properties priced over £25 million each on General Election day 2017.
    The main reception room of the £25 million Lennox Gardens apartment on the first floor of ‘The Lennox’, 31-33 Lennox Gardens, Knightsbridge, SW1x
    Flop or Fly? London estate agents launch three properties priced over £25 million each on General Election day 2017.
    The garden of the 2,188 square foot ground and basement apartment at 20 Eaton Square, Belgravia, SW1W
    Flop or Fly? London estate agents launch three properties priced over £25 million each on General Election day 2017.
    The drawing room of the 9,989 square foot 22 The Boltons, Chelsea, SW10
  • A House of Hide

    A House of Hide

    Grade II* listed Kent townhouse for sale for just £166 per square foot; a similarly sized property in Knightsbridge would set you back £2,000 per square foot

     

    A freehold 2,500 square foot detached 15th century timber framed house just 23 miles south of London has gone on sale for the lowly sum of £166 per square foot ($214, €191 or درهم787 per square foot).

     

    92 High Street in the market town of Edenbridge, Kent – better known locally as both ‘Tanyard House’ and ‘Leather House’ – has been Grade II* listed since 1954 and is known to have been the site of a tannery from the 1660s until the 1960s. It was originally an open hall house, includes accommodation over three floors and comes with a garden to the front and a small courtyard to the rear.

     

    Currently used as three office suites, planning permission was granted in February to convert the building into to semi-detached houses. This attracted much controversy at the time, but a buyer could, equally, look at creating a much grander single-family residence. The catch? The property is adjoined by a vast and rather ugly car park.

     

    Tanyard House will be auctioned by Savills on 19th June 2017 at the Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, W1. An estimate of just £415,000 ($536,000, €477,000 or درهم1.97 million) has been set.

     

  • A Land of Contrasts

    A Land of Contrasts

    Kensington and Chelsea – The land of the ‘have-a-lots’ and the ‘have-nothing-at-alls’; an example of a contrast too far

     

    The mere mention of the area of Kensington and Chelsea brings all sorts of connotations: One thinks of the Albert Hall and Hyde Park, Harrods and Harvey Nicks and one imagines affluence and culture. Here is an area that one associates with a certain kind of genteel elegance and one where both dowager duchesses and an educated, international community has long lived in harmony. Sadly, however, the apple cart has tipped and the area has descended to become a place where homeless people shiver on the streets whilst multi-million pound mansions lay rotting. This is an area that has had its soul ripped from its very being and this is an area that has fast become nothing but a money park with a hidden edge.

     

    The cause of this undoubtedly unwelcome change chiefly can be laid at the door of foreign ‘High Net Worth’ (HNW) investors – individuals and corporations who’ve brought ‘Home-aggedon’ to the Royal Borough by snapping up buildings that were once filled with families for crazy sums – and greedy landlords focused on kicking out local businesses in favour of high-paying, trophy tenants. Where once prosperous operations, such as La Brasserie on Brompton Cross, traded for nearly fifty years, are now empty units and outside them sit homeless people begging for scraps.

     

    Yes, there are ‘fake homeless’, but the problem is real and beneath the surface one also finds what can be termed the ‘hidden homeless’. These ‘have-nots’ and ‘have-nothing-at-alls’ sit in Pret stores and mind their own business. They cause no trouble but have been let down by the system. You’d be surprised how many such people there are in the Royal Borough and you should realise one thing: Us mere non-HNW mortals are just one pay cheque away from joining them.

     

    Pictured top: A homeless man in Pelham Street; he ‘lives’ just across the road from the £105 million home of billionaire Professor ‘Muck’ Flick.

     

    A Land of Contrasts – Kensington and Chelsea – The land of the ‘have-a-lots’ and the ‘have-nothing-at-alls’; an example of a contrast too far.
    A Land of Contrasts – Meanwhile, in Knightsbridge, ‘homes’ (not that anyone lives in them) in One Hyde Park sell for up to £140 million
    A Land of Contrasts – Kensington and Chelsea – The land of the ‘have-a-lots’ and the ‘have-nothing-at-alls’; an example of a contrast too far.
    A Land of Contrasts – Now, in Fulham Road, even “trendy” cafes such as L’Eto are unable to afford their rents and are so desperate to get out of their tenancies that they display ‘to let’ signs whilst still trading
    A Land of Contrasts – Kensington and Chelsea – The land of the ‘have-a-lots’ and the ‘have-nothing-at-alls’; an example of a contrast too far.
    A Land of Contrasts – The area’s new wealth, meanwhile, flaunts its money in the most ostentatious fashion possible and has not a care for the community
  • Fergus and Judith Wilson

    Fergus and Judith Wilson

    Fat former boxer and Toad of Toad Hall-like figure of fun Fergus Wilson and his equally badly dressed Hyacinth Bucket-like wife, a former maths teacher named Judith, banned “coloured people” from renting the 1,000 properties they own in Kent “because of the curry smell at the end of the tenancy”. They were also revealed to refuse to let housing to “battered wives”, single parents and zero-hours workers in March 2017 and of them, the advocacy group Hope Not Hate remarked: “It’s almost as if [they have] taken a tick box to offend every vulnerable group in Britain”.

     

    When taken to trial for using a mobile phone whilst driving, racehorse owning Mr Wilson – who also has a conviction for assaulting an estate agent – was fined £565 after ridiculously trying to claim he “was singing into a drinks carton that he was holding to the side of his head”.

     

    The name of one of their horses – ‘Gone Too Far’ – sums up the most recent actions of this widely disliked duo perfectly.

     

    Badly dressed bigoted property tycoons Fergus and Judith Wilson – Fat former boxer Fergus Wilson and his badly dressed Hyacinth Bucket-like wife banned “coloured people” from renting from them in Kent

  • I Capture the Castle

    I Capture the Castle

    12th century castle and romantic ruin in Herefordshire for sale for £1.495 million; a title to go with it is available also

     

    A part restored castle on the English-Welsh border is back on the market after its buyer pulled out at the end of last year. Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye at at Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire’s story somewhat echoes that of the fictional castle in the 1949 novel I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith – adapted to a film starring Bill Nighy and Henry Cavill in 2003 – and now, it presents an opportunity for someone wanting to own either a truly unique private home or somewhere to create a most romantic boutique hotel and events venue.

     

    Now offered for £1.495 million ($1.94 million, €1.77 million or درهم7.12 million) and providing a total of 4,036 square foot of internal accommodation, Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye dates to the 12th century but was largely destroyed in the English Civil War (1642 – 1651).

     

    I Capture the Castle – Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye, Wilton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6AD, United Kingdom – For sale for £1.495 million ($1.94 million, €1.77 million or درهم7.12 million) through Jackson-Stops & Staff.
    An aerial view of Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye, Wilton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6AD, United Kingdom with the River Wye beyond
    I Capture the Castle – Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye, Wilton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6AD, United Kingdom – For sale for £1.495 million ($1.94 million, €1.77 million or درهم7.12 million) through Jackson-Stops & Staff.
    The castle as a ruin
    I Capture the Castle – Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye, Wilton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6AD, United Kingdom – For sale for £1.495 million ($1.94 million, €1.77 million or درهم7.12 million) through Jackson-Stops & Staff.
    Kestrels are amongst those that make Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye their home

     

    Subsequently abandoned until 1731, when bought by the trustees of Guy’s Hospital, the castle was bought by the legendary retail and property magnate Sir Charles Clore (1904 – 1979) in 1961 and then restored from 2002 onwards. It includes elements of architecture from the Norman, Tudor, Elizabethan, Georgian and Victorian periods and is Grade I listed Scheduled Ancient Monument.

     

    Standing in 2 acres of gardens, primarily within the rampart walls themselves, the castle house comprises of 4 reception rooms, a galleried former chapel, 2 kitchens, 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. There are three original towers (out of the five originally built inside a now dry moat) and whilst two are already back in use, the third, ‘The Great Tower’ could potentially be converted to provide 3 bedroom suites, a new glass entrance and a drawbridge.

     

    In March, of his eccentric home, current owner Alan Parslow told the Evening Standard: “It was a bit of a wreck when we bought it, but after ten years of restorations it’s a lovely family home. We’ve loved living here. It’s a delight to wake up to, surrounded by history”.

     

    Of the future, Parslow added: “We haven’t enough money or time to do The Great Tower up so we’d like to pass it on to someone else”.

     

    Previously, his wife, Sue, was interviewed by The Ross Gazette about the sale. She remarked: “It is quite different from other ruined castles as it is really a garden around a castle”.

     

    Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye is on the market through Jackson-Stops & Staff. The title ‘Lord of Wilton Castle’ is available by separate negotiation.

     

    I Capture the Castle – Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye, Wilton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6AD, United Kingdom – For sale for £1.495 million ($1.94 million, €1.77 million or درهم7.12 million) through Jackson-Stops & Staff.
    Namesake Wilton Castle, Bree, Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland has similarities in that it is also part-home, part-ruin

     

    Curiously, an unconnected Irish castle of the same name, Wilton Castle in County Wexford has had a similarly chequered history. Built first in 1247, expanded into a mansion in 1847 and burnt to the ground in 1923, this vast landmark has, like its Ross-on-Wye namesake been subject of a major renovation project since 2004 by its owners, farmers Seán and Antoinette Windsor.

     

    I Capture the Castle – Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye, Wilton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6AD, United Kingdom – For sale for £1.495 million ($1.94 million, €1.77 million or درهم7.12 million) through Jackson-Stops & Staff.I Capture the Castle – Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye, Wilton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6AD, United Kingdom – For sale for £1.495 million ($1.94 million, €1.77 million or درهم7.12 million) through Jackson-Stops & Staff.I Capture the Castle – Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye, Wilton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6AD, United Kingdom – For sale for £1.495 million ($1.94 million, €1.77 million or درهم7.12 million) through Jackson-Stops & Staff.I Capture the Castle – Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye, Wilton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6AD, United Kingdom – For sale for £1.495 million ($1.94 million, €1.77 million or درهم7.12 million) through Jackson-Stops & Staff.I Capture the Castle – Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye, Wilton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6AD, United Kingdom – For sale for £1.495 million ($1.94 million, €1.77 million or درهم7.12 million) through Jackson-Stops & Staff.I Capture the Castle – Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye, Wilton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6AD, United Kingdom – For sale for £1.495 million ($1.94 million, €1.77 million or درهم7.12 million) through Jackson-Stops & Staff.I Capture the Castle – Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye, Wilton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6AD, United Kingdom – For sale for £1.495 million ($1.94 million, €1.77 million or درهم7.12 million) through Jackson-Stops & Staff.I Capture the Castle – Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye, Wilton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6AD, United Kingdom – For sale for £1.495 million ($1.94 million, €1.77 million or درهم7.12 million) through Jackson-Stops & Staff.I Capture the Castle – Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye, Wilton, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, HR9 6AD, United Kingdom – For sale for £1.495 million ($1.94 million, €1.77 million or درهم7.12 million) through Jackson-Stops & Staff.

  • Over-Engineered

    Over-Engineered

    Essex “neo Georgian Palladian” residence created from an ordinary detached house marketed for £5.4 million; it is a bit of a mish-mash and described as “over-engineered”

     

    Estate agents normally wax lyrical about properties they are marketing but in the case of £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) Threshers House at Threshers Bush, near Harlow in Essex, Beresfords bizarrely go as far as to describe it as “over-engineered”.

     

    Situated on a plot of 11.5 acres and redeveloped and extended since 2010 by an “award winning builder” named Paul Pickering, the 7,409 square foot main residence offered is described as being “neo Georgian Palladian” in style. Given such an architectural period doesn’t exist as a sole entity, it is a bit of a mish-mash but given the new building is an improvement on the plain house that it has been created from, one can be forgiving of the result.

     

    Over-Engineered – Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Matching, Threshers Bush, Magdalen Laver, Harlow, Hastingwood, Essex, CM17 0NP – For sale for £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) through Beresfords
    The old Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Threshers Bush, Harlow, Essex, CM17 0NP
    Over-Engineered – Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Matching, Threshers Bush, Magdalen Laver, Harlow, Hastingwood, Essex, CM17 0NP – For sale for £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) through Beresfords
    The new Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Threshers Bush, Harlow, Essex, CM17 0NP
    Over-Engineered – Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Matching, Threshers Bush, Magdalen Laver, Harlow, Hastingwood, Essex, CM17 0NP – For sale for £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) through Beresfords
    The old interior of the building and the new interior
    Over-Engineered – Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Matching, Threshers Bush, Magdalen Laver, Harlow, Hastingwood, Essex, CM17 0NP – For sale for £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) through Beresfords
    A proposed design that was ultimately rejected by planning officials at Epping Forest District Council

     

    Aside from a somewhat ostentatious South Fork-esque portico entrance, Threshers House is presented without kitchens and bathrooms so as to allow “incoming purchasers to design to their own requirements”. It includes 5 reception rooms, 5 bedrooms and a 2-bedroom first floor flat and comes with planning permission for a 1,400 square foot orangery and underground leisure facility. Within the grounds is a completed 1,988 square foot 3 bedroom cottage, a 886 square foot bungalow, a 768 square foot bungalow and a 1,386 square foot six car garage.

     

    Elsewhere and benefitting from separate access, a tiled stable and thatched barn complex provides accommodation for 14 horses and was previously run as a business named Threshers Equestrian. It comes with a horse walker, floodlit manège, lunging room and hard standing as well as a number of paddocks.

     

    Threshers House – which is situated about 40 minutes drive from Canary Wharf – is also available for £3.25 million ($4.06 million, €3.81 million or درهم14.92 million) with just 5 acres of land and minus the ancillary accommodation.

     

    Over-Engineered – Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Matching, Threshers Bush, Magdalen Laver, Harlow, Hastingwood, Essex, CM17 0NP – For sale for £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) through BeresfordsOver-Engineered – Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Matching, Threshers Bush, Magdalen Laver, Harlow, Hastingwood, Essex, CM17 0NP – For sale for £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) through BeresfordsOver-Engineered – Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Matching, Threshers Bush, Magdalen Laver, Harlow, Hastingwood, Essex, CM17 0NP – For sale for £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) through BeresfordsOver-Engineered – Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Matching, Threshers Bush, Magdalen Laver, Harlow, Hastingwood, Essex, CM17 0NP – For sale for £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) through Beresfords Over-Engineered – Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Matching, Threshers Bush, Magdalen Laver, Harlow, Hastingwood, Essex, CM17 0NP – For sale for £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) through BeresfordsOver-Engineered – Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Matching, Threshers Bush, Magdalen Laver, Harlow, Hastingwood, Essex, CM17 0NP – For sale for £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) through BeresfordsOver-Engineered – Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Matching, Threshers Bush, Magdalen Laver, Harlow, Hastingwood, Essex, CM17 0NP – For sale for £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) through BeresfordsOver-Engineered – Threshers House, Hobbs Cross Road, Matching, Threshers Bush, Magdalen Laver, Harlow, Hastingwood, Essex, CM17 0NP – For sale for £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) through Beresfords

  • A Blank Canvas

    A Blank Canvas

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

     

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

     

    A Blank Canvas – 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6DU – To rent for £9,500 per week ($11,800, €11,100 or درهم43,500 per week) through Aylesford – Built for artist Augustus John (1878 – 1961) and later home to Dame Gracie Fields OBE (1898 – 1979)
    This vast studio room is the most impressive feature of 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6U

     

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

     

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

     

    A Blank Canvas – 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6DU – To rent for £9,500 per week ($11,800, €11,100 or درهم43,500 per week) through Aylesford – Built for artist Augustus John (1878 – 1961) and later home to Dame Gracie Fields OBE (1898 – 1979)
    Augustus John OM, RA was celebrated for brilliant figure drawings, and for a new technique of oil sketching; his work was often favourably compared with Gauguin and Matisse
    A Blank Canvas – 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6DU – To rent for £9,500 per week ($11,800, €11,100 or درهم43,500 per week) through Aylesford – Built for artist Augustus John (1878 – 1961) and later home to Dame Gracie Fields OBE (1898 – 1979)
    A Blue Plaque commemorating the artist was installed on the building in 1981
    A Blank Canvas – 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6DU – To rent for £9,500 per week ($11,800, €11,100 or درهم43,500 per week) through Aylesford – Built for artist Augustus John (1878 – 1961) and later home to Dame Gracie Fields OBE (1898 – 1979)
    28 Mallord Street in 1981
    A Blank Canvas – 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6DU – To rent for £9,500 per week ($11,800, €11,100 or درهم43,500 per week) through Aylesford – Built for artist Augustus John (1878 – 1961) and later home to Dame Gracie Fields OBE (1898 – 1979)
    Actress and singer Dame Gracie Fields OBE took up occupancy of the building soon after Augustus John sold it

     

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

     

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

     

    A Blank Canvas – 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6DU – To rent for £9,500 per week ($11,800, €11,100 or درهم43,500 per week) through Aylesford – Built for artist Augustus John (1878 – 1961) and later home to Dame Gracie Fields OBE (1898 – 1979)A Blank Canvas – 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6DU – To rent for £9,500 per week ($11,800, €11,100 or درهم43,500 per week) through Aylesford – Built for artist Augustus John (1878 – 1961) and later home to Dame Gracie Fields OBE (1898 – 1979)A Blank Canvas – 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6DU – To rent for £9,500 per week ($11,800, €11,100 or درهم43,500 per week) through Aylesford – Built for artist Augustus John (1878 – 1961) and later home to Dame Gracie Fields OBE (1898 – 1979)A Blank Canvas – 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6DU – To rent for £9,500 per week ($11,800, €11,100 or درهم43,500 per week) through Aylesford – Built for artist Augustus John (1878 – 1961) and later home to Dame Gracie Fields OBE (1898 – 1979)A Blank Canvas – 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6DU – To rent for £9,500 per week ($11,800, €11,100 or درهم43,500 per week) through Aylesford – Built for artist Augustus John (1878 – 1961) and later home to Dame Gracie Fields OBE (1898 – 1979)A Blank Canvas – 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6DU – To rent for £9,500 per week ($11,800, €11,100 or درهم43,500 per week) through Aylesford – Built for artist Augustus John (1878 – 1961) and later home to Dame Gracie Fields OBE (1898 – 1979)A Blank Canvas – 28 Mallord Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 6DU – To rent for £9,500 per week ($11,800, €11,100 or درهم43,500 per week) through Aylesford – Built for artist Augustus John (1878 – 1961) and later home to Dame Gracie Fields OBE (1898 – 1979)

  • Barbed Manors

    Barbed Manors

    Grade II* listed Kent manor house for sale for £3.95 million; the purchaser will get a controversial £107.9 million EuroMillions jackpot winner as their neighbour

     

    Sold last in 2009 for £1.9 million (the equivalent of £2.3 million, $2.8 million, €2.2 million or درهم 10.3 million today), Waystrode Manor at Cowden, near Edenbridge in Kent is a Grade II* listed manor house.

     

    For sale currently for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills, the main 4,435 square foot house dates back as far, perhaps, as 1208. The present Tudor residence includes 4 reception rooms, 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, but aside from that there is a 3 bedroom cottage, a converted oast house providing a recreation space, a Grade II listed double vaulted timber frame barn, an orangery and a coach house.

     

    Within the 7.8 acres of formal and informal gardens and grounds of this attractive, restored property – which has been offered as a film and photo shoot location through the JJ Media agency – there is also an outdoor swimming pool, a hard tennis court, three ponds and an orchard.

     

    Though the eventual purchaser of Waystrode Manor will of course be a multi-millionaire, they will most likely not be nearly as rich as their controversial neighbours, Neil Trotter and his partner Nikki Ottaway. Mr Trotter won £107.9 million ($131.4million, €124.6 million or درهم 482.4 million) on the EuroMillions lottery in 2014 and subsequently bought the adjoining 423-acre estate, Leighton Manor, for £5 million ($6.1 million, €5.8 million or درهم 22.4 million). In 2016, Trotter and Ottaway were “slammed” in the national press by locals after installing what was termed an “unsightly” barbed wire fence.

     

    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    Neil Trotter was a garage mechanic before he won a EuroMillions jackpot
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    A sitting room in the main house
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    A drawing room with an equally imposing fireplace
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    This hallway is used as a dining space
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    Whilst this is described as a breakfast room
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    The kitchen is one of the few “modern” rooms in the main building
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    The master bedroom has its own bathroom
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    This barn is Grade II listed
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    It features a double height, vaulted interior
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    An oast house stands in the grounds also
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    The interior of the building
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    A view of the gardens
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    This orangery is quite impressive from the outside
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    As is its interior
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    There is a tennis court
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    And a swimming pool
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    A further outbuilding
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    The setting
    Barbed Manors – Waystrode Manor, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7HW – For sale for £3.95 million ($4.81 million, €4.56 million or درهم 17.65 million) through Savills – Neighboring estate to Leighton Manor, owned by EuroMillions winners Neil Trotter and Nikki Ottaway
    Another view of the main house