The Steeple Times

Tag: for sale

  • Slashed Seven Sisters

    Slashed Seven Sisters

    Famous  ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards

    Montauk has variously been associated with part-time residents such as the playwright Edward Albee, the world’s largest Ponzi scheme operator Bernie Madoff and the artist Andy Warhol. It was a place that the Algonquian speaking Montaukett Native American tribe called home until one Arthur W. Benson (circa 1798 – 1889), the president of the Brooklyn Gas Light company, came along in 1879 and purchased 10,000 acres there for just $151,000 from the American government.

     

    “Land baron” Benson soon after sold half his acreage to the Long Island Rail Road for $600,000 and then set about turfing out the natives and creating a “playground for the rich.” As part of his plan, he ordered the construction of seven “shingle-style” homes that came to form a 100-acre compound for use as a “private hunting and fishing retreat for him and his friends.” They became known as the ‘Seven Sisters’ and one of them is currently for sale through Sotheby’s International Realty.

     

    Designed by Stanford White (1853 – 1906) – a “lauded architect” whom became more famous for being shot and killed by the deranged railroad heir Harry Thaw (1871 – 1947) – the property offered is said to be known as ‘Andrews House.’ It is more commonly listed, however, as 153 Deforest Road and its date of construction has been put at as early as 1879 and as late as 1888. The ‘cottage’ reportedly first belonged to Benson’s friend, a writer and one of the founders of both the bibliographic Grolier Club in Manhattan and the Society of Iconophiles, William Loring Andrews (1837 – 1920).

     

    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards. William Loring Andrews, architect and murder victim Stanford White and Harry Thaw in a ‘gilded’ jail cell.
    William Loring Andrews, architect and murder victim Stanford White and Harry Thaw in a ‘gilded’ jail cell.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    The Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America – a ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage that has seen its asking price reduced from £14.8 million in 2016 to £10.4 million in 2020.

    Remodeled and expanded in 1992 by the well-known Hamptons architect Francis Fleetwood (1946 – 2015) and updated yet again in the 2010s, 153 Deforest Road today extends to some 3,800 square foot in total. The house stands on a plot of 2.3 acres and accommodation includes a sunken living room, dining room, library, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and a second floor veranda “with mesmerising views that always inspire.”

     

    In 2016, when priced at £14.8 million, Mansion Global remarked: “The property comes with plans for a future expansion by [the renowned classical] architect Allan Greenberg,” but plainly such has made little difference to attracting interest. Four years later, 153 Deforest Road’s asking price has been slashed to ‘just’ £10.4 million and rather strangely its interior colour scheme is entirely in a depressing shade of grey.

     

    The artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel, comedian and talk show host Dick Cavett are amongst others to have lived in ‘Seven Sisters’ houses. One, Tick Hall, was destroyed by a fire in 1997 and then completely rebuilt; what happens to the ‘Andrews House’ remains to be seen.

     

    The Names & Numbers – The Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954

     

    July 2019 – It is further reduced to £10.4 million ($12.995 million, €11.9 million or درهمX47.7 million) through Sotheby’s International Realty.

     

    June 2018 – It is reduced to £12 million ($14.995 million, €13.7 million or درهم55.1 million) through Sotheby’s International Realty.

     

    February 2018 – It is relisted for £13 million ($16.25 million, €14.9 million or درهم60 million) with Sotheby’s International Realty.

     

    August 2016 – The house is listed for sale for £14.8 million ($18.5 million, €17 million or درهم67.9 million) with Douglas Elliman.

     

    2012 – 153 Deforest Road is sold to a limited liability company for £5.6 million ($6.995 million, €6.4 million or درهم25.7 million).

     

    1992 – 153 Deforest Road is renovated and remodeled by the Chilean born architect Francis Fleetwood (1946 – 2015) – a man described as a “popular East Hampton, New York–based architect [of] romantic country houses” by Architectural Digest in April 2015. Fleetwood’s well-known clients numbered Lauren Bacall, Calvin Klein and Paul McCartney and of them, he once told The New York Times: “They’d all love to be born into a grand old house that had been handed down through the generations… [And, he added, surely with a grin]… So would I.”

     

    1976 – The ‘Seven Sisters’ – including 153 Deforest Road – and two other neighbouring properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

     

    Between 1879 and 1888 – 153 Deforest Road was built as a home for the writer and librarian William L. Andrews (1837 – 1920). It formed part of a group of houses known as the ‘Seven Sisters’ and was known as ‘Andrews House.’

     

    1879 – Arthur W. Benson (circa 1798 – 1889) successfully bids $151,000 or the equivalent of £3.2 million today ($4 million, €3.7 million or درهم14.7 million today) for 11,000 acres of land around Montauk in an auction. He then cleverly sold half the land for $600,000 or the equivalent of £12.8 million today ($16 million, €14.7 million or درهم58.8 million today) to the Long Island Rail Road and kept the remainder as his “private playground.” The legitimacy of the ownership of Benson and others of Montauk remains the subject of legal actions by the Montaukett Native Americans to this date.

     

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    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OofTAtdlGzw
  • Fahad Takes Flight

    Fahad Takes Flight

    Blow to British racing as Sheikh Fahad places his Longholes operation in Newmarket, Suffolk up for sale for £6 million to spend more time in California

    The impact of the coronavirus pandemic was always going set to cause havoc for the racing industry, but alongside news this week that prominent racehorse owners the Rooney family are to quit National Hunt racing for good, it has been announced that 30-year-old Sheikh Fahad Bin Abdullah Al Thani has put his Longholes stud, near Newmarket in Suffolk on the market.

     

    Billed as a place for “preparing champions” and run by a “dedicated team” focused on pre-training and rehabilitation, Longholes was founded by the Accrington born “playboy” textile heir and racehorse breeder Sir George Bullough (1870 – 1939) in the 1920s and bought by Sheikh Fahad in 2013.

     

    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Sheikh Fahad Bin Abdullah Al Thani chats with David Redvers in 2016.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Sheikh Fahad wiht his brothers Sheikh Hamad, Sheikh Suhiam and Sheikh Khalifa.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Sheikh Fahad and his wife Sheikha Melissa with the late Roaring Lion.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Sheikh Fahad won the Corinthian Challege at Leopardstown on the Gordon Elliott trained Brutal in October 2017.

    Comprising of 217 acres of paddocks, schooling grounds and a 6-furlong gallop, the “renowned Newmarket stud farm” – which is 16 miles from Cambridge and 70 miles from London – includes not only 88 boxes, but also what has been described as a state-of-the-art “feel good factor” spa with hydro and water treadmill facilities amongst other things. There is a stud manager’s house, a guest cottage, a pair of staff bungalows and a pair of workers’ log cabins also.

     

    Of why the property is now for sale, David Redvers, racing and bloodstock advisor to the Sheikh – whom married an American named Melissa Margolis in 2018 and is choosing to spend more time in California as a result – told the Newmarket Journal on Friday:

     

    “Sheikh Fahad purchased Longholes in 2013 with a view to turning the attractive and historic stud farm into a state-of-the-art pre-training and rehabilitation establishment servicing the requirements of his own Qatar Racing and also the wider training centre of Newmarket. Seven years later and Longholes boasts an incredible array of modern facilities, an outstanding team of committed and highly trained professional staff and a client list that boasts many of the most recognised names in horse racing, eventing and show jumping.”

     

    “Sheikh Fahad is proud of what has been achieved at Longholes but a change in his own personal circumstances means that the farm’s exciting future now needs to be in another’s hands.”

     

    Speaking to Nick Luck of Racing TV in April 2019, Sheikh Fahad remarked:

     

    “We love horses, we’ve grown up with horses, me and my brothers. The idea was always to build something for the future, hopefully the long-term future, for generations to come. I’d like to see my kids grow up into a dynasty of breeding operations, of racing operations that they can take on from there.”

     

    “I watched I think, my early memories… I watched Channel 4 Racing, I think the Cheltenham Festival. It was very different to racing back home. We only had one racetrack and it was flat racing and they go round in the circle. My dad was the leading Arab racehorse owner in the country, so he won everything. It seemed like it was that easy to do and I started watching racing here and I saw all the different racecourses and National Hunt. And we don’t have National Hunt back home, so I was very curious about the whole industry. I wanted to learn as much as possible from every angle of it.”

     

    “I think the quality of racing, as you watch racing around the world, the biggest quality of racing is in England and Ireland in terms of top-class racing… It is good for the breed, it shows the best horses to breed onwards. The classics in Britain always prove to be the best source of that.”

     

    Of the flaws of British racing in general and perhaps hinting at a move to spending more time participating in American racing, the Sheikh continued:

     

    “It needs to up its game. It needs to find ways to attract more people into the sport. At the moment we are very grateful for the Sheikh Mohammeds in the business… Without Sheikh Mohammed [Bin Rashid Al Maktoum], this year would have been a disaster for a lot of people. The thing is that British racing needs to find more ways to attract quality. I think quality is very important.”

     

    “If you look at, for instance, Japanese racing, they have got a two-tier system. They have the JRA and the NRA. The JRA is the elite class of racehorses and horse racing and I think if you don’t break your maiden as a three year-old, then I think, that horse is not allowed to run in the JRA anymore. They have to go down to the NRA. Why can’t that some way be explored in British racing? We can’t be racing, I think you’re asking people to race for two grand or three grand…  whilst in Australia they have Saturday races with a minimum of a hundred grand a race. And in America, maidens are worth a hundred grand. And in California, I’ve got horses, and it seems ridiculous that, if you are taking a business point of view of racing and you open your books, that it would be ridiculous to have horses [in Britain] in comparison to there. The only reason we’re racing here is for the quality and prestige that we have at the moment, but you can’t rest on that. You have to change.”

     

    Later, in September 2019, the Sheikh’s Californian trainer, Simon Callaghan, told The Racing Post:

     

    “Sheikh Fahad is upping his interest in racing in America. He’s spending more time in California, so he wants to go after some of these high-end colts and go down the road of the Derby, we hope… I think his Californian wife has something to do with it.”

     

    Agents Windsor Clive seek £6 million ($7.5 million, €6.8 million or درهم27.4 million) for Longholes and offer it as a whole or in two lots. For the firm, George Windsor Clive remarked: “We’re still bringing Longholes to the market in these strange times [in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic] so that buyers can react quickly once restrictions are lifted.”

     

    For now, the other European racing operations of the Sheikh and his brothers and their Qatar Racing Ltd. company – which includes a presence at the David Redvers owned Tweenhills Farm in Gloucestershire and their own Spring Lodge stud farm in County Limerick – remain unaffected.

     

    Notable Results for Qatar Racing Limited – January 2016 to December 2020

     

    2yo turf: Roaring Lion – 36 wins and 64 placed from 218 runs.

     

    3yo turf: Roaring Lion – 40 wins and 45 placed from 222 runs.

     

    2yo AW: Kameko – 10 wins and 23 placed from 72 runs.

     

    3yo AW: Fierce Impact – 12 wins and 36 placed from 96 runs.

     

    Pictured top: Sheikh Fahad Bin Abdullah Al Thani with his wife Sheikha Melissa Al Fahad.

     

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    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
  • A Cut Cost Château

    A Cut Cost Château

    Vast “fairytale” château in France’s Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £28 million in spite of having had £80 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Madame de Pompadour

    In 2017, a Lebanese-born, Monaco-based property developer named Edmond Baysari placed what selling agents Sotheby’s International Realty describes as the “most beautiful and majestic castle in [the] Loire Valley” on the market. It’s so big and so costly to maintain that it remains for sale still today.

     

    Harvard educated Mr Baysari purchased the 102,257 square foot château for about £4.3 million in 1983 from the Parisian glassmakers Saint-Gorbain. It had been used as their company retreat from 1939 and had earlier belonged to Jeanne Antoinette Poisson – the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to 1751 and a woman better known as ‘Madame de Pompadour’ – in the years prior to her premature death from tuberculosis in 1764 aged just 42.

     

    Providing “regally appointed” accommodation so vast that it is not even described in detail that includes around 50 bedrooms and a wine cellar capable of housing 30,000 bottles amongst other things, Château de Menars – or the ‘Palace Pompadour’ as some have nicknamed it – costs around £800,000 per year to run. In total, some £80 million has been spent renovating it “using the same methods” that the king’s mistress originally employed.

     

    Of why he is selling, the heirless businessman’s lawyer, Jack Anderson, told Reuters in 2017: “[Mr Baysari] realises destiny is going to take him… His goal is to know that it’s in the hands of someone who’s going to continue the beauty of the chateau and maintain it.”

     

    The 104 acres of grounds that surround the château includes vineyards yielding pinot noir grapes, “elegant” geometric grassed lawns and more than a mile of frontage to the River Loire. Classical sculptures and gazebos abound and there is, according to Reuters, “a cobbled courtyard large enough to land a helicopter” also.

     

    During Baysari’s ownership guests at Château de Menars have supposedly numbered Prince Charles, Mikhail Gorbachev, Mick Jagger and President Ronald Reagan. Now, Sotheby’s International Realty point out: “We think this could be perfect for the creation of a luxury hotel complex… Or for the acquisition of an extraordinary and very large private property.”

     

    His “English spoken” [sic] agent, Jean-Pierre Piganiol, seeks £27.6 million and according to Forbes, “several nine-figure offers from Russian and Middle Eastern billionaires looking for a trophy home” have already been turned down.

     

    The Names & Numbers – Château de Menars, Loire Valley, Blois, 41000, France

     

    2015 to date – For sale through Sotheby’s International Realty for sale for £27.6 million ($34.5 million, €31.5 million or درهم126.6 million).

     

    2000 – Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

     

    1983 to 2017 – The sum said to have been spent on restoration of the Château de Menars is said to have been £80.1 million ($100 million, €91.4 million or درهم367.3 million). Annual upkeep costs are said to be £801,000 million ($1 million, €914,000 million or درهم3.7 million).

     

    1983 – Sold to Edmond Baysari for 5 million francs or the equivalent of £4.3 million ($5.4 million, €4.9 million or درهم19.7 million).

     

    1949 – Declared an Historic Monument of France.

     

    1939 – Sold after his death by Mr Allard’s daughters, Blanche Lasserre, Yvonne Arnodin and Jeanne Goirand, to Saint-Gobain, the Parisian glassmakers, for use as their company retreat.

     

    April 1912 – Acquired for 700,050 francs (about £27,400 at that time) by Félix Allard, a “contractor for public works.” He modernised the château and added mains water, hot air heating, gas lighting and electricity and features including a large gallery area.

     

    1760 – Purchased by Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764) for 1 million livres (about £75,000 at that time). She “sold some pearl bracelets to meet the first payment” and commissioned the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel to build two new wings on either side of the two existing pavilions on the property. Sadly for her, she never saw it completed as she died from tuberculosis in 1764.

     

    1728 to 1732 – Stanislas Leszcynski (1677 – 1766), the King of Poland, stayed at Château de Menars whilst in exile as a guest of the Charon family.

     

    1669 – Jean-Jacques Charon (1643 – 1718), son of Jacques Charon, “added two unequal wings to the chateau and considerably enlarged the estate.”

     

    1646 – Commencement of the construction of a castle on the site by one Jacques Charon. It “composed of a main building and two symmetrical pavilions.”

     

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    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
    A Cut Cost Château – £27.6m for Château de Menars, 15 Le Château, Loire Valley, Blois, 4100 Menars, France through Sotheby’s International Realty – Vast French château in the Loire Valley for sale for ‘just’ £27.6 million in spite of having had £80.1 million spent already on its renovation; it was most famously owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721 – 1764).
  • Stunning Stonewall

    Stunning Stonewall

    Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740 acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million; about 65 stake winners and several horses that have competed at the Kentucky Derby have been produced there

    “Murdered grocer’s son from the Bronx” Barry K. Schwartz and his childhood friend Calvin Klein co-founded the now world-famous fashion brand Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968 and sold it for £589 million in 2003.

     

    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Barry K. Schwartz with Calvin Klein.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Barry K. and Sheryl Schwartz.

    Aside from spending his ever-growing fortune on horses – one of which he named ‘Degenerate Jon’ (after his son) and another ‘Killer Diller’ (after his friend the media mogul Barry Diller) – Schwartz and his wife, Sheryl, purchased 673 acres of land to the north of New York City in Westchester County in 1979 for the back then far from insubstantial sum then of £2.6 million.

     

    There, not that far from Belmont Park racetrack in the small residential hamlet of Granite Springs, after adding yet more land to take their “equestrian estate” to a grand total of 18 deeded parcels on 740 contiguous acres, the couple created a world-class equestrian establishment that they filled with thoroughbred racehorses. Facilities at ‘Stonewall Farm’ – as it is now known – have evolved to include a turf racetrack, riding trails, a 40-stall yearling barn, two 24-stall broodmare barns, round pens and 4board fenced paddocks and pastures with run-in sheds.

     

    A year after cashing in alongside Klein, stamp collector Schwartz’s new home was completed on the property. It features 24,000 square foot of accommodation, 8 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms. There is a 2,200-bottle wine cellar, a pub, a two-storey library “that would delight any reader” and living spaces that “invites elegant entertaining, whether intimate or on a grand scale,” according to selling agents Christie’s International Real Estate.

     

    Elsewhere in the grounds, there are 8 staff residences (to house the 30 employees that currently maintain the estate), a guest house and a caretaker’s house. Formal gardens, designed by Edmund D. Hollander in geometric French and Japanese styles, adjoin the house and there is a 60-foot long swimming pool within a 4,000 square foot pavilion also.

     

    Stonewall Farm is situated just one hour from Manhattan, but now that Mr and Mrs Schwartz are spending more time at another of their homes in Santa Barbara, California, they have decided to sell. Of it, realtor Kathleen Coumou told The Journal News:

     

    “It’s on one of the largest pieces of property that one can purchase in the county. It was so convenient for [the Schwartzes] to be on this farm, with all its privacy, and still be close to New York… [It’s] magnificently laid out, with a southern-looking main house and behind it, it’s like you’re in Kentucky. You see the pastures with the horses and lots of woodlands. It’s quite spread out – it feels like you’re somewhere else, not in Westchester County… You have gorgeous views – hills and ponds and horses and paddocks, and different levels of rolling hills… You certainly can’t see anybody else around.”

     

    “[Stonewall Farm will be sold to] a billionaire, who could come from anywhere.”

     

    The Names & Numbers – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America

     

    April 2020 – For sale for £80.7 million ($100 million, €92.1 million or درهم368 million) through Christie’s International Real Estate. Of why, they chose this sum, realtor Kathleen Coumou told The Journal News: “We did a very thorough appraisal of the property – the land and all of the buildings – and came up with a price of $110 million, and then we decided to round it down to $100 million.”

     

    June 2005 – The house is featured in Architectural Digest.

     

    1999 to 2004 – Construction of main house, a “colonial-style manor” with a “white clapboard facade and a slate roof repurposed from the Yale Divinity School,” was completed to the designs of the New York architect Rebecca Rasmussen with an interior by the London based interior designer Kelly Hoppen.

     

    2003 – Calvin Klein and Barry K. Schwartz sell their company to Philips-Van Heusen (now known as PVH Corp.) for £589 million ($730 million, €672 million or درهم2.7 billion).

     

    1979 – Barry K. and Sheryl Schwartz pay £2.6 million ($3.25 million, €3 million or درهم11.9 million) for 673 acres of land. Of buying it, Mr Schwartz later commented: “”It was the easiest negotiation of my life. The seller asked $3.5 million, I offered $3 million and we settled on $3.25 million.” The couple purchased further land shortly thereafter.

     

    1968 – Calvin Klein (born 19th November 1942) co-founds Calvin Klein Inc. with his childhood friend Barry K. Schwartz (born 25th May 1942) with a loan of £8,100 ($10,000, €9,200 or درهم36,700).

     

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    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
    Stunning Stonewall Farm – Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740-acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America is for sale through Christie’s International Real Estate.
  • An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras

    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras

    “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with gadgets galore amongst them a two-seat amphibious flying boat

    Stanford educated private equity investor Richard Kayne manages over £25.3 billion ($31 billion, €28.7 billion or درهم113.8 billion) through his firm Kayne Anderson Capital Advisers. He also “doesn’t like to sit still,” has over 300 employees and is not only pretty “alternative” in the way he invests; he’s also pretty unusual in the style of yacht he favours.

     

    Father of three Kayne took up sailing in order to “get [his] daughters involved in a family experience” around 2002 and then commissioned a 164-foot yacht named JeMaSa – a merger of the names of Jenni, Maggie and Saree, his aforementioned children. His love of “toys” – such as Eurocopter helicopters, sea planes, submarines, tenders, flyboards, jet-skis and inflatable water slides – subsequently resulted in a further purchase, a 170-foot steel hulled crab fishing boat that he intended simply to use as a “supply boat” to house his ever-growing collection of “kit.”

     

    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    Richard Kayne and his wife Suzanne.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    Prior to becoming ‘SuRi,’ the yacht was a crab fishing vessel named ‘Fierce Contender.’
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    Nowadays, the boat is more likely to be found taking wealthy individuals to off-the-beaten track locations.

    Previously known as Fierce Contender (built in Lockport, Louisiana in 1978) and used in the Discovery Channel television series Deadliest Catch, the boat was converted into a “shadow yacht” in Seattle over the winter of 2007. Of the work, in November 2019, Kayne told Boat International:

     

    “Designing the garage was a challenge. In addition to the helicopter we had a hovercraft, one of the world’s noisiest boats, a hand-built mahogany speedboat, a work boat, WaveRunners, Sea-Doos, sailboats, ski and wakesurfing boats and, eventually, an amphibious airplane.”

     

    Renamed SuRi – a combination of his name and that of his wife, Suzanne – the Kayne family then took their fleet to Denarau, Fiji and though together the financier termed them his “hundred-metre articulated yacht,” he later came to realise that “neither yacht was adequate for all the people and all the toys.”

     

    His response came in 2011 and of it, he announced: “I did another silly thing – I decided to sell JeMeSa and jumbo-size SuRi.” The boat was taken to Alameda, California, cut in half and expanded to provide further accommodation and “what is arguably the largest toy garage-cum-aircraft hangar afloat outside the US Navy.” The resulting “amenity-rich explorer yacht” is now 208-foot long and can accommodate 18 guests in 7 cabins with 19 crew.

     

    Capable of a range of 7,400 nautical miles at a maximum speed of 13 knots, SuRi became what its owner termed “the ultimate fun factory” where: “Whatever it is that you want to do – put jet boots on your feet and go flying up in the air, go kitesurfing, take a cruise in a Riva type of boat, or go wakeboarding, wake surfing, waterskiing, fishing or diving, you just go and do it.”

     

    Now, however, Kayne’s enthusiasm has moved on to developing an “American-style golf club” on New Zealand’s North Island. He first put SuRi – which astonishingly has over 3,300 followers on its Instagram account – up for charter through firms such as Cookson Adventures and then tried to sell the yacht for £35.8 million ($43.9 million, €40.7 million or درهم161.2 million) in 2017. That price plainly was not achievable and now, Burgess Yachts are offering the craft for the much-reduced sum of £18.8 million ($23 million, €21.7 million or درهم84.5 million).

     

    Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

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    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
    An Ugly Duckling With All The Extras – Richard Kayne’s yacht SuRi – “Ugly duckling” ex-crab boat converted into “ultimate fun factory” by billionaire equity investor Richard Kayne of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors L.P. for sale for 47% less than in 2017; it comes with a two-seat amphibious flying boat – SuRi for sale for £18.8 million, down from £35.8 million through Burgess Yachts.
  • A Corona Cut Church

    A Corona Cut Church

    Converted church in Knightsbridge has its asking price cut by £11 million during the coronavirus lockdown; its price is still 340% higher than it sold for in 2003

    In December, we featured the launch to the market of a £55 million property in Walton Street, Knightsbridge. Now, in the midst of London’s coronavirus lockdown, just three months later, that price has been cut by the staggering sum of £11 million.

     

    A Corona Cut Church – Knightsbridge church price cut by £11 million – Converted church in Knightsbridge has its asking price cut by £11 million during the coronavirus lockdown; its price is still 340% higher than it sold for in 2003 – St Saviour’s House, Walton Street, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1SA is for sale for £44 million down from £55 million through Knight Frank.
    Yours for £11 million less than in December 2019 – St Saviour’s House, Walton Street, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1SA.

    St Saviour’s House, as it is now known, forms one thirds of a church and its conversion to a 12,102 square foot house did not delight everyone. Of it, back in 2001, The Telegraph’s Anne Atkins went as far to say: “[It is a] ghastly temple to Mammon… It is so awful I hardly know where to begin… Not my idea of a cosy home… Hideous and tacky… I tried to imagine living with this… The monstrosity of it… Vile.”

     

    Knight Frank, who remain the selling agents, plainly still think otherwise and now market what they describe as an “extraordinary seven bedroom home” for £44 million. Referencing the pandemic directly, they add: “Owing to our commitment to keep both our colleagues and clients safe during this period of recommended isolation, we have many self-serve viewing options available to you. These include video walkthroughs, 360 virtual reality viewings and enhanced comprehensive photography.”

     

    To see more pictures of this most curious conversion, click here.

     

    The Numbers – St Saviour’s House, Walton Street, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1SA

     

    April 2020 – Reduced in price to £44 million ($54 million, €50 million or درهم198 million).

     

    December 2019 – For sale for £55 million ($73 million, €66 million or درهم269 million).

     

    April 2014 – Sold to a Saudi businessman for £41 million ($55 million, €49 million or درهم201 million).

     

    2009 – Sold to a Thai businessman for £13.5 million ($18 million, €16 million or درهم66 million). An additional £10 million ($13.3 million, €12 million or درهم49 million) was spent on redevelopment.

     

    2003 – Bought by lyricist Alain Boublil for £10 million ($13.3 million, €12 million or درهم49 million).

     

    1998 – Half the church and the church hall sold by the Diocese of London for about £1.2 million ($1.6 million, €1.4 million or درهم5.9 million) for conversion into two dwellings. The central portion of the building retained as a place of worship.

     

    1837 – Plot on which entirety of St Saviour’s Church now sits sold for £300 or the equivalent of £33,000 today ($44,000, €40,000 or درهم162,000 today) to the Metropolitan Church Fund.

     

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  • A Meterless Cab

    A Meterless Cab

    Black cab (in green) that has never carried a paying passenger to be auctioned in May; it was originally owned by construction giants Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd.

    What do the Duke of Edinburgh, Noel Edmonds, Yvette Fielding, Stephen Fry, Simon Hughes, Stanley Kubrick, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Kate Moss, Sir Laurence Olivier and Arnold Schwarzenegger have in common? All of them, variously, have owned black cabs (also known as ‘Hackney carriages’ and ‘hacks’).

    A Meterless Cab – 2006 London Taxi International TXII Gold to be auctioned by Bonhams at their online Bicester sale on 30th May 2020 with an estimate of £12,000 to £18,000 ($14,700 to $22,000, €13,600 to €20,400 or درهم53,900 to درهم80,900) – Black cab that has never carried a paying passenger to be auctioned; originally owned by construction giants Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd.
    Stephen Fry with the black cab he owns.
    A Meterless Cab – 2006 London Taxi International TXII Gold to be auctioned by Bonhams at their online Bicester sale on 30th May 2020 with an estimate of £12,000 to £18,000 ($14,700 to $22,000, €13,600 to €20,400 or درهم53,900 to درهم80,900) – Black cab that has never carried a paying passenger to be auctioned; originally owned by construction giants Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd.
    The ex-Nubar Gulbenkian 1960 Austin FX4 Brougham Sedanca taxi with coachwork by FLM Panelcraft. It was sold at auction for £31,900 ($39,000, €36,200 or درهم143,600) in 2015 by Bonhams at their Quail Lodge auction in Carmel, California.

    Whilst in the past, the eccentric Armenian business magnate and socialite Nubar Gulbenkian went one stage further and “dolled-up” a 1960 Austin FX4 taxi to his own specifications, a more modern adapted example is to be sold by Bonhams in May.

     

    Lacking a traditional amber light on its roof, the 2006 London Taxi International TXII Gold to be offered has “never carried a fare paying passenger in its life.” This vehicle, instead, was bought new by the construction company Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd. and subsequently given a “bespoke upgrade” costing £12,000 ($14,700, €13,600 or درهم53,900) by LTI dealers KPM Automotive.

     

    Fitted with replacement green velour seating in the passenger section, the 2.4-litre, automatic car has two Motorola telephones, air-conditioning, an intercom and a fold-down wheelchair access ramp. It has covered 18,000 miles from new and is described as being in generally “superb condition” and having a “distinguished air.”

     

    Bonhams will offer the taxi at their online Bicester sale on 30th May. They have set an estimate of £12,000 to £18,000 ($14,700 to $22,000, €13,600 to €20,400 or درهم53,900 to درهم80,900).

     

    As someone named Lou Erickson once said: “Life is like a taxi. The meter keeps a-ticking whether you are getting somewhere or just standing still.”

     

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  • A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc

    A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc

    1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ limousine owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense

    Félix Houphouët-Boigny (whom claimed to be born in 1908, but was more likely born in 1905, and died in 1993) was known variously as ‘Papa Houphouët’ (‘The Old One’), the ‘Sage of Africa,’ the ‘Farmer President’ and the ‘Grand Old Man of Africa.’ Westerners, more simply called him: ‘HB.’

     

    The first President of Ivory Coast and ruler from 1960 to 1963 was considered “politically moderate” and under him the country “prospered economically.” His tenure was referred to as the “Ivorian miracle” and with growth, this larger-than-life leader moved the capital from Abidjan to his hometown, Yamoussoukro, in 1983. There he built not only an international airport, but also, at an extraordinary cost of the equivalent of £629 million ($780 million, €713 million or درهم2.9 billion) today, the largest church in the world, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro.

     

    A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc – President Félix Houphouët-Boigny – 1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense – 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Six-Door Pullman to be sold by RM Sotheby’s at their 24th to 27th June 2020 sale in Essen, Germany on behalf of current owner Dr Urich Speicher. An estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.
    “Well-loved first President of Ivory Coast” Félix Houphouët-Boigny (1905 or 1908 – 1993).
    A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc – President Félix Houphouët-Boigny – 1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense – 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Six-Door Pullman to be sold by RM Sotheby’s at their 24th to 27th June 2020 sale in Essen, Germany on behalf of current owner Dr Urich Speicher. An estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.
    Félix Houphouët-Boigny travelling in one of his Mercedes-Benz ‘Dictator Cars’.

    Aside from the usual ‘perks’ purchased by leaders of his time – including homes in France, Italy and Switzerland – Houphouët-Boigny was known for his love of shiny metals. In 1983, he declared: “People are surprised that I like gold. It’s just that I was born in it.” With his ‘Françafrique-style’ of diplomacy, Houphouët-Boigny liked to travel in style also and now one of his fleet of cars is to be sold at auction in June.

     

    The car to be offered by RM Sotheby’s is a 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman with six-doors. It is one of five delivered to Ivory Coast at that time, unusually has no door handles on its middle doors and is fitted with air conditioning and an intercom also. Presented in its original colour combination of black lacquer with a natural coloured leather interior and brown carpets, the car left Africa after the death of Houphouët-Boigny in 1993. It was then exported to Germany and in the time since has been subject to restorative work costing some £88,000 ($109,000, €100,000 or درهم401,000) in 1994 and between 2013 and 2014 also. The auctioneers note that “the car is equipped with a replacement engine of the right type and that a second engine of the right type comes with the purchase.”

     

    Twice married Houphouët-Boigny was said to be worth somewhere between the staggering sums of £5.7 billion and £8.9 billion ($7 billion and $11 billion, €6.4 billion and €10 billion or درهم25.7 billion and درهم40.4 billion) on his death. His funeral was attended by 7,000 people and subsequently Ivory Coast’s economy declined rapidly. A religiously grounded civil war followed and still today, what was previously a prosperous land remains “severely damaged.”

     

    RM Sotheby’s will sell the ex-Félix Houphouët-Boigny Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman at their Essen sale on behalf of its current owner, Dr Urich Speicher. The event runs from 24th to 27th June and an estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.

     

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    A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc – President Félix Houphouët-Boigny – 1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense – 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Six-Door Pullman to be sold by RM Sotheby’s at their 24th to 27th June 2020 sale in Essen, Germany on behalf of current owner Dr Urich Speicher. An estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.
    A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc – President Félix Houphouët-Boigny – 1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense – 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Six-Door Pullman to be sold by RM Sotheby’s at their 24th to 27th June 2020 sale in Essen, Germany on behalf of current owner Dr Urich Speicher. An estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.
    A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc – President Félix Houphouët-Boigny – 1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense – 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Six-Door Pullman to be sold by RM Sotheby’s at their 24th to 27th June 2020 sale in Essen, Germany on behalf of current owner Dr Urich Speicher. An estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.
    A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc – President Félix Houphouët-Boigny – 1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense – 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Six-Door Pullman to be sold by RM Sotheby’s at their 24th to 27th June 2020 sale in Essen, Germany on behalf of current owner Dr Urich Speicher. An estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.
    A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc – President Félix Houphouët-Boigny – 1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense – 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Six-Door Pullman to be sold by RM Sotheby’s at their 24th to 27th June 2020 sale in Essen, Germany on behalf of current owner Dr Urich Speicher. An estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.
    A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc – President Félix Houphouët-Boigny – 1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense – 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Six-Door Pullman to be sold by RM Sotheby’s at their 24th to 27th June 2020 sale in Essen, Germany on behalf of current owner Dr Urich Speicher. An estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.
    A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc – President Félix Houphouët-Boigny – 1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense – 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Six-Door Pullman to be sold by RM Sotheby’s at their 24th to 27th June 2020 sale in Essen, Germany on behalf of current owner Dr Urich Speicher. An estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.
    A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc – President Félix Houphouët-Boigny – 1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense – 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Six-Door Pullman to be sold by RM Sotheby’s at their 24th to 27th June 2020 sale in Essen, Germany on behalf of current owner Dr Urich Speicher. An estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.
    A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc – President Félix Houphouët-Boigny – 1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense – 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Six-Door Pullman to be sold by RM Sotheby’s at their 24th to 27th June 2020 sale in Essen, Germany on behalf of current owner Dr Urich Speicher. An estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.
    A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc – President Félix Houphouët-Boigny – 1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense – 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Six-Door Pullman to be sold by RM Sotheby’s at their 24th to 27th June 2020 sale in Essen, Germany on behalf of current owner Dr Urich Speicher. An estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.
  • A Costly Coupé

    A Costly Coupé

    Coachbuilt 2018 Range Rover ‘Adventum Coupé’ for sale for an eye-watering sum; it comes with two umbrellas with handles made of the same leather as the interior

    Niels van Roij is a Dutchman who has set about reviving the craft of the coachbuilders of the early 20th century. Aside from having the work of his award-winning eponymous automative studio exhibited at the London Transport Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum, this autodidact car adapter has developed shooting brakes based on the Tesla Model S and the Range Rover.

     

    A Costly Coupé – Range Rover Adventum Coupé for sale for £256k through Classic Youngtimers – Coachbuilt 2018 Range Rover Adventum Coupé by Dutch designer Niels van Roij for sale for an eye-watering sum; it comes with two umbrellas with handles made of the same leather as the interior.
    Niels van Roij.
    A Costly Coupé – Range Rover Adventum Coupé for sale for £256k through Classic Youngtimers – Coachbuilt 2018 Range Rover Adventum Coupé by Dutch designer Niels van Roij for sale for an eye-watering sum; it comes with two umbrellas with handles made of the same leather as the interior.
    An electric Tesla S shooting brake coachbuilt by Niels van Roij.

    Now, the very first example of this talented designer’s Land Rover adaptations – named the Adventum Coupé – has become available for sale. The vehicle in question, converted from a 2018 5.0-litre supercharged V8 Range Rover to a “two door model based on the world’s best SUV,” is priced at £256,300 ($318,000, €290,400 or درهم1.2 million) including VAT and available through the Classic Youngtimers Consultancy based in Uden in Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. It has covered about 8,000 miles.

     

    Presented with its hand-beaten aluminum body panels in Arctic white with a Nappa red leather interior and black piano lacquer dashboard, the car features flooring of handmade teak from the front seats to the trunk. Two hand-stitched black and red umbrellas can be found in the boot complete with handles made of the same leather as the interior.

     

    Speaking generally of the Adventum Coupé range he intends to craft – the build run of which will be limited to 100 vehicles only – van Roji commented:

     

    “The bespoke Adventum Coupé is a real design statement with a distinctive, custom-made aluminum bodywork, built by coachbuilder Bas van Roomen. Unique personal ideas can also be added to the hand-produced exterior, such as subtle ventilation openings in the fender and the bonnet. The interior can be equipped with the finest materials. In a co-design process with the future owner, we shape exterior and interior. We process the finest materials, such as tweed, teak and lambswool. We make it so personal that even the favourite pinstripe from the owner’s suit can be incorporated into the interior.”

     

    “If desired, each Adventum Coupé can have striking materials and colour schemes for both interior and exterior: Everything is possible: from unique fuel filler caps, duotone exterior paints, highly polished wood on the dashboard, personalised tread plates to colour-matched leather in chic patterns. Even refined embroidery is a possibility.”

     

    “Because: form follows function. This new look visually extends the car. The shutlines of the door actively contribute to a more elegant side view. The interior has also been largely redesigned due to the major changes to the exterior.”

     

    Whilst we’d never urge anyone to buy a Range Rover in white (unless you were planning to use it in a country such as Kuwait), here is a future classic and a car that’ll most certainly stand out from the many other Rangies parked outside the pubs of the Cotswolds on a Sunday afternoon.

     

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    A Costly Coupé – Range Rover Adventum Coupé for sale for £256k through Classic Youngtimers – Coachbuilt 2018 Range Rover Adventum Coupé by Dutch designer Niels van Roij for sale for an eye-watering sum; it comes with two umbrellas with handles made of the same leather as the interior.
    A Costly Coupé – Range Rover Adventum Coupé for sale for £256k through Classic Youngtimers – Coachbuilt 2018 Range Rover Adventum Coupé by Dutch designer Niels van Roij for sale for an eye-watering sum; it comes with two umbrellas with handles made of the same leather as the interior.
    A Costly Coupé – Range Rover Adventum Coupé for sale for £256k through Classic Youngtimers – Coachbuilt 2018 Range Rover Adventum Coupé by Dutch designer Niels van Roij for sale for an eye-watering sum; it comes with two umbrellas with handles made of the same leather as the interior.
    A Costly Coupé – Range Rover Adventum Coupé for sale for £256k through Classic Youngtimers – Coachbuilt 2018 Range Rover Adventum Coupé by Dutch designer Niels van Roij for sale for an eye-watering sum; it comes with two umbrellas with handles made of the same leather as the interior.
    A Costly Coupé – Range Rover Adventum Coupé for sale for £256k through Classic Youngtimers – Coachbuilt 2018 Range Rover Adventum Coupé by Dutch designer Niels van Roij for sale for an eye-watering sum; it comes with two umbrellas with handles made of the same leather as the interior.
    A Costly Coupé – Range Rover Adventum Coupé for sale for £256k through Classic Youngtimers – Coachbuilt 2018 Range Rover Adventum Coupé by Dutch designer Niels van Roij for sale for an eye-watering sum; it comes with two umbrellas with handles made of the same leather as the interior.
    A Costly Coupé – Range Rover Adventum Coupé for sale for £256k through Classic Youngtimers – Coachbuilt 2018 Range Rover Adventum Coupé by Dutch designer Niels van Roij for sale for an eye-watering sum; it comes with two umbrellas with handles made of the same leather as the interior.
    A Costly Coupé – Range Rover Adventum Coupé for sale for £256k through Classic Youngtimers – Coachbuilt 2018 Range Rover Adventum Coupé by Dutch designer Niels van Roij for sale for an eye-watering sum; it comes with two umbrellas with handles made of the same leather as the interior.
    A Costly Coupé – Range Rover Adventum Coupé for sale for £256k through Classic Youngtimers – Coachbuilt 2018 Range Rover Adventum Coupé by Dutch designer Niels van Roij for sale for an eye-watering sum; it comes with two umbrellas with handles made of the same leather as the interior.
  • An Exceptional Estate

    An Exceptional Estate

    One-of-one 2005 Ferrari 612 shooting brake by Vanderbrink to be auctioned in Monte Carlo; unlike other Ferrari estates, it’s not from the ownership of Brunei royalty

    One wouldn’t normally associate Ferrari with shooting brakes – combinations of coupés and estate cars – but now, one that symbolises the reverse of Enzo Ferrari’s mantra of “I build engines and attach wheels to them” is going to auction.

     

    As rare as hen’s teeth, with the exceptions being the seven or so built for the Sultan of Brueni and his brother Prince Jefri Bolkiah, the vehicle to be offered by Bonhams will be sold at their ‘Les Grandes Marques à Monaco’ sale in Monte Carlo on 8th May.

     

    Whilst little information is supplied on the firm’s website other than to list the 2005 Ferrari 612 shooting brake with an estimate of £130,000 to £220,000 ($161,000 to $273,000, €146,000 to €247,000 or درهم592,000 to درهم1 million), much more has been written about it elsewhere online.

     

    The car, it transpires, is the brainchild of Amsterdam based Vandenbrink Design. The firm took a 2005 Ferrari 612 and reconfigured it to include what is described by Take to the Road as the “low roof and sleek lines of a coupé.” The magazine argue that it “thus [retains] sporting appeal, whilst adding the practicality of a wagon.”

     

    They enthusiastically continue: “The extended roof line isn’t exaggerated and preserves the distinctive sporting look of the 612 Scaglietti. Plus the addition of the wonderfully sculpted twin roof glass provides rear passengers with enough light to ensure they are not completely cocooned in darkness. The real talking point however is the boot which is cavernous, when compared to traditional Ferrari standards. It is a true all-round practical Ferrari with enough luggage room for extended trips well beyond just ‘weekend bags.’”

     

    Previously listed for sale on Classic Driver, the grey with beige leather interior, left-hand-drive car has covered about 18,000 miles and seats 2+2. In spite of having a “cavernous” boot lined with vast expanses of hide, one won’t likely see this shooting brake on a pheasant shoot or grouse moor any day soon. Instead, it’ll more likely be found in the future parked outside the smartest spots on the Côte d’Azur.

     

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    An Exceptional Estate – £130,000 to £220,000 ($161,000 to $273,000, €146,000 to €247,000 or درهم592,000 to درهم1 million) estimate for 2005 Ferrari 612 shooting brake at the Bonhams ‘Les Grandes Marques à Monaco’ sale in Monte Carlo on 8th May 2020 – One-of-one 2005 Ferrari 612 shooting brake by Vanderbrink to be auctioned in Monte Carlo; unlike other Ferrari estates, it’s not from the ownership of Brunei royalty.
    An Exceptional Estate – £130,000 to £220,000 ($161,000 to $273,000, €146,000 to €247,000 or درهم592,000 to درهم1 million) estimate for 2005 Ferrari 612 shooting brake at the Bonhams ‘Les Grandes Marques à Monaco’ sale in Monte Carlo on 8th May 2020 – One-of-one 2005 Ferrari 612 shooting brake by Vanderbrink to be auctioned in Monte Carlo; unlike other Ferrari estates, it’s not from the ownership of Brunei royalty.
    An Exceptional Estate – £130,000 to £220,000 ($161,000 to $273,000, €146,000 to €247,000 or درهم592,000 to درهم1 million) estimate for 2005 Ferrari 612 shooting brake at the Bonhams ‘Les Grandes Marques à Monaco’ sale in Monte Carlo on 8th May 2020 – One-of-one 2005 Ferrari 612 shooting brake by Vanderbrink to be auctioned in Monte Carlo; unlike other Ferrari estates, it’s not from the ownership of Brunei royalty.
    An Exceptional Estate – £130,000 to £220,000 ($161,000 to $273,000, €146,000 to €247,000 or درهم592,000 to درهم1 million) estimate for 2005 Ferrari 612 shooting brake at the Bonhams ‘Les Grandes Marques à Monaco’ sale in Monte Carlo on 8th May 2020 – One-of-one 2005 Ferrari 612 shooting brake by Vanderbrink to be auctioned in Monte Carlo; unlike other Ferrari estates, it’s not from the ownership of Brunei royalty.
    An Exceptional Estate – £130,000 to £220,000 ($161,000 to $273,000, €146,000 to €247,000 or درهم592,000 to درهم1 million) estimate for 2005 Ferrari 612 shooting brake at the Bonhams ‘Les Grandes Marques à Monaco’ sale in Monte Carlo on 8th May 2020 – One-of-one 2005 Ferrari 612 shooting brake by Vanderbrink to be auctioned in Monte Carlo; unlike other Ferrari estates, it’s not from the ownership of Brunei royalty.