Cadogan Square flat for sale for a sum that, if achieved, could make it the most expensive subterranean home in London; it is offered at a price that equates to £2,130 per square foot
Created from the merger of two flats, one of which was marketed for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.5 million or درهم14.1 million) in 2013, a basement apartment in Cadogan Square, Knightsbridge has gone on sale for the staggering sum of £6.25 million ($8.01 million, €7.35 million or درهم29.42 million).
Possibly one of the most expensive subterranean homes in London, if not the world, the 2,933 square foot remodeled apartment comes with a Moroccan themed courtyard garden and includes not only 2 reception rooms, 4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, but also a coffee bar, a television room and a steam room. It is described as providing a “flexible living” space.
1996 Subaru Impreza – chassis 001 – to be auctioned with an estimate of £175,000 to £200,000; it was driven by amongst others the late Colin McRae
“One of the most important rally cars ever made” – according to Octane magazine – is to be sold at auction this June.
The Subaru Impreza – chassis number PR0WRC97001 – offered was the rally car that won at Rali Vinho da Madeira, Rally Cyprus and Aviano Rally in 1999. It was driven by amongst others Colin McRae MBE (1968 – 2007) and Valentino Rossi and was renovated using original parts in a project overseen by Subaru’s Prodrive sales manager, Steve Smith.
Of the car, its current owner commented:
“It’s a truly exhilarating car to drive with levels of grip and handling that would still embarrass many a modern supercar. Plus it runs on high octane pump fuel. It’s doubtful that there will ever be another Subaru rally car from the same period restored like this one if only because the correct SRT parts are so difficult to locate. Pattern parts might be produced in time but chassis 001 is the real thing”.
The left hand drive car – which comes with the registration ‘P18 WRC’ – will be sold on 6th June at the Royal Automobile Club at Woodcote Park in Surrey by H&H Auctioneers. An estimate of £175,000 to £200,000 ($224,000 to $256,000, €206,000 to €235,000 or درهم824,000 to درهم942,000) has been set – the same figure as it was guided at in October 2015. It was previously marketed for £85,000 ($109,000, €100,000 or درهم400,000) in 2009.
South Kensington flat with ‘summer house’ shed for sale for £3.25 million
An apartment in Malvern Court, SW7 has gone on the market for £3.25 million ($4.2 million, €3.9 million or درهم15.3 million). It comes with an extra one wouldn’t expect to find with a pre-war mansion block flat just by South Kensington Underground Station – a rather snazzy14’ wide shed described as a “summer house or office”.
Offered by Knight Frank, the 1,571 square foot 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom lateral ground floor apartment has a good sized reception room, a dining kitchen and a utility room and is directly adjoined by a private landscaped garden with a water feature. It is held on a lease with approximately 99 years remaining and is subject to a service charge of £8,000 per annum ($10,300, €9,400 or درهم37,700 per annum).
Residents of this portered block also have the right to apply for access to the communal gardens of Onslow Square.
New Jersey mansion, complete with 58 rooms, for sale for equivalent sum to what it cost to build in 1909; the £37 million house’s original owner was a man whose extravagance knew absolutely no bounds
George Crocker (1856 – 1909) makes F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby seem like an amateur. Born in Sacramento and the son of a railway magnate worth some $30 million on his death (the equivalent of £634 million or $812 million today), Crocker was willed a significant $6 million (the equivalent of £127 million or $163 million today) on the condition that “after the space of five years continuously he shall abstain from the use of spirituous, vinous, and malt liquors to the extent that he shall not during this period have been intoxicated”.
Crocker decided to ignore the terms of his father’s behest and from 1888 to 1891 lived in San Francisco as “one of the most reckless young men about town when reckless young men thereabouts were common” but then admitted himself to a sanatorium, put himself on the straight and narrow and finally collected the sum of $6 million in 1898.
With wealth and a glamorous wife, Emma Rutherford, a widow from California, Crocker set himself up as the toast of New York society. Though he owned a townhouse at 1 East 64th Street and a villa in Newport, it was on paying $96,500 (the equivalent of £2.2 million or $2.8 million today) for the 1,100 acre Darling estate in Bergen County, Mahwah, New Jersey in 1901 that he truly became someone noticeable.
Choosing what he called “the finest site for a residence in the country”, Crocker commissioned an architect named James Brite (died 1942) to build him a mansion “sparing no expense”. Modeled on a Jacobean prodigy house, Bramshill House in Hampshire, England and built from Indiana limestone and Harvard brick, the “Crocker Mansion” or “Darlington” – as it is more widely known – cost $2 million to build (the equivalent of £38.2 million or $49 million today) and included 75 rooms and around 50,000 square foot of accommodation. Its features included steam heating, elevators, ice cream freezers, integrated vacuum systems and a switchboard and in its grounds a racetrack and 16 greenhouses were constructed whilst a pond was stocked with 4,000 trout.
George Crocker and Emerson McMillin
The design of Darlington was based on “one of the most haunted houses in England”, Bramshill in Hampshire; that building itself was also eventually separated from much of its estate and after being used as the European Police College was sold to developers City & Country for £25 million ($19.5 million) in 2014
Commentators wowed at the resulting creation and noted details such as a library painted after the style of the Italian Renaissance by Tiffany Studios, elaborate wood carving by Italian craftsmen and Tiffany silver chandeliers and a 1906 Aeolian player pipe organ in the building’s 30-foot high Great Hall. In 1912, Architectural Record, chose even to swoon over the basement. They remarked:
“Where Bramshill’s cellar housed for centuries lanterns, tallow dips, forest faggots, wooden vessels for the distribution of light, heat and water through personal service of human slaveys, its American reincarnation is a storehouse of miracle workers in the comfort and luxury of modern domestic life”.
Unfortunately, Mr and Mrs Crocker did not truly get to enjoy the fruits of their extravagant spending. Emma Crocker died in 1904 of cancer and George Crocker also succumbed to the disease in 1909. His estate was valued at $20 million (the equivalent of £422 million or $541 million today) and amongst items found at his mansion were 60,000 personally monogrammed, custom-made cigars valued at $30,000 (the equivalent of £635,000 or $813,000 today).
Sold subsequently to a “self-made” banker, industrialist and astronomy enthusiast named Emerson McMillin (1844 – 1922) in 1909 for $1 million (the equivalent of £21.1 million or $27.1 million), Darlington was next used to display a fine collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain whilst a herd of Jerseys were kept in the grounds.
After McMillin’s death, his widow sold the estate in 1924 for $685,000 (the equivalent of £7.6 million or $9.8 million) to the Darlington Development Company, which in turn made it available to the Darling Golf and Country Club. They converted the building to a hotel and club that “promised to offer a new dimension to life in Mahwah” but “the development corporation and the club were soon in financial difficulties” and the McMillin estate foreclosed and regained possession.
A new buyer came forward in the form of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Newark. They paid $478,000 for the property in 1926 (the equivalent of £5.2 million or $6.6 million today) and used Darlington as a theological seminary. The surrounding land was gradually sold off and in 1986, the Immaculate Conception Seminary also departed.
Darlington today – The 30-foot high Great Hall is still dominated by a 1906 Aeolian player pipe organDarlington today – Ilija Pavlovic expanded the mansion by some 12,000 square foot and amongst other things added a large home cinemaDarlington today – Another addition comes in the form of a vast wine cellar; George Crocker’s father would not have approved
Subsequently restored and modernised with, according to Forbes, plumbing, heating, air conditioning and communications systems being installed, Darlington was placed on the market with just 12.1 acres in 2005 by Darlington Associates, a firm who’d built “multiple residential communities surrounding the mansion”. An ambitious figure of $25 million (the equivalent of £24.4 million or $31.3 million today) was sought for the now classified historic site but it was not until 2008 that a buyer came forth in the form of a local businessman named Ilija Pavlovic. He paid just $8.875 million (the equivalent of £8 million or $10.2 million today) and then embarked on the “challenge” of “both preserving the historic home while also restoring it to meet 21st-century standards”. The resulting creation spans four floors and includes amongst many other things a tea room, 3 libraries, 2 game rooms, 2 kitchens, a “his and her master bedroom wing”, 12 further guest bedrooms and 5 staff bedrooms.
The biggest issue with the house, it transpired, was that its 476 leaded windows needed to be replaced. This reportedly cost $2 million alone (the equivalent of £1.8 million or $2.3 million today) and in addition, Pavlovic renewed all the mechanical systems, redid all 19 bathrooms, replaced the slate roof and added amongst other things a spa with an indoor lap pool, a gym, a massage room, a beauty salon and a home cinema. There is also a gatehouse, a professional kitchen that can serve 250 meals at a time, a wine cellar, a poker room, a cigar room, a billiards room, an 8-car garage, a tennis court and an outdoor swimming pool.
Property blog 6sqft – which claimed Friday that the current owners do not live at Darlington full-time and simply use it to host events – reported that this still massive mansion minus its formerly equally gigantic estate is now for sale now for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through a firm Mr Pavlovic chairs, Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate. Any buyer will undoubtedly be a vastly wealthy figure, but one can guarantee one thing: They’ll never live as lavishly as the barmy boozer George Crocker.
New Jersey mansion Darlington, complete with 58 rooms, for sale for equivalent sum to what it cost to build in 1909; the £37 million house’s original owner was a man whose extravagance knew absolutely no bounds
George Crocker (1856 – 1909) makes F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby seem like an amateur. Born in Sacramento and the son of a railway magnate worth some $30 million on his death (the equivalent of £634 million or $812 million today), Crocker was willed a significant $6 million (the equivalent of £127 million or $163 million today) on the condition that “after the space of five years continuously he shall abstain from the use of spirituous, vinous, and malt liquors to the extent that he shall not during this period have been intoxicated”.
Crocker decided to ignore the terms of his father’s behest and from 1888 to 1891 lived in San Francisco as “one of the most reckless young men about town when reckless young men thereabouts were common” but then admitted himself to a sanatorium, put himself on the straight and narrow and finally collected the sum of $6 million in 1898.
With wealth and a glamorous wife, Emma Rutherford, a widow from California, Crocker set himself up as the toast of New York society. Though he owned a townhouse at 1 East 64th Street and a villa in Newport, it was on paying $96,500 (the equivalent of £2.2 million or $2.8 million today) for the 1,100 acre Darling estate in Bergen County, Mahwah, New Jersey in 1901 that he truly became someone noticeable.
Choosing what he called “the finest site for a residence in the country”, Crocker commissioned an architect named James Brite (died 1942) to build him a mansion “sparing no expense”. Modeled on a Jacobean prodigy house, Bramshill House in Hampshire, England and built from Indiana limestone and Harvard brick, the “Crocker Mansion” or “Darlington” – as it is more widely known – cost $2 million to build (the equivalent of £38.2 million or $49 million today) and included 75 rooms and around 50,000 square foot of accommodation. Its features included steam heating, elevators, ice cream freezers, integrated vacuum systems and a switchboard and in its grounds a racetrack and 16 greenhouses were constructed whilst a pond was stocked with 4,000 trout.
George Crocker and Emerson McMillin
The design of Darlington was based on “one of the most haunted houses in England”, Bramshill in Hampshire; that building itself was also eventually separated from much of its estate and after being used as the European Police College was sold to developers City & Country for £25 million ($19.5 million) in 2014
Commentators wowed at the resulting creation and noted details such as a library painted after the style of the Italian Renaissance by Tiffany Studios, elaborate wood carving by Italian craftsmen and Tiffany silver chandeliers and a 1906 Aeolian player pipe organ in the building’s 30-foot high Great Hall. In 1912, Architectural Record, chose even to swoon over the basement. They remarked:
“Where Bramshill’s cellar housed for centuries lanterns, tallow dips, forest faggots, wooden vessels for the distribution of light, heat and water through personal service of human slaveys, its American reincarnation is a storehouse of miracle workers in the comfort and luxury of modern domestic life”.
Unfortunately, Mr and Mrs Crocker did not truly get to enjoy the fruits of their extravagant spending. Emma Crocker died in 1904 of cancer and George Crocker also succumbed to the disease in 1909. His estate was valued at $20 million (the equivalent of £422 million or $541 million today) and amongst items found at his mansion were 60,000 personally monogrammed, custom-made cigars valued at $30,000 (the equivalent of £635,000 or $813,000 today).
Sold subsequently to a “self-made” banker, industrialist and astronomy enthusiast named Emerson McMillin (1844 – 1922) in 1909 for $1 million (the equivalent of £21.1 million or $27.1 million), Darlington was next used to display a fine collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain whilst a herd of Jerseys were kept in the grounds.
After McMillin’s death, his widow sold the estate in 1924 for $685,000 (the equivalent of £7.6 million or $9.8 million) to the Darlington Development Company, which in turn made it available to the Darling Golf and Country Club. They converted the building to a hotel and club that “promised to offer a new dimension to life in Mahwah” but “the development corporation and the club were soon in financial difficulties” and the McMillin estate foreclosed and regained possession.
A new buyer came forward in the form of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Newark. They paid $478,000 for the property in 1926 (the equivalent of £5.2 million or $6.6 million today) and used Darlington as a theological seminary. The surrounding land was gradually sold off and in 1986, the Immaculate Conception Seminary also departed.
Darlington today – The 30-foot high Great Hall is still dominated by a 1906 Aeolian player pipe organ
Darlington today – Ilija Pavlovic expanded the mansion by some 12,000 square foot and amongst other things added a large home cinema
Darlington today – Another addition comes in the form of a vast wine cellar; George Crocker’s father would not have approved
Subsequently restored and modernised with, according to Forbes, plumbing, heating, air conditioning and communications systems being installed, Darlington was placed on the market with just 12.1 acres in 2005 by Darlington Associates, a firm who’d built “multiple residential communities surrounding the mansion”.
An ambitious figure of $25 million (the equivalent of £24.4 million or $31.3 million today) was sought for the now classified historic site but it was not until 2008 that a buyer came forth in the form of a local businessman named Ilija Pavlovic. He paid just $8.875 million (the equivalent of £8 million or $10.2 million today) and then embarked on the “challenge” of “both preserving the historic home while also restoring it to meet 21st-century standards”. The resulting creation spans four floors and includes amongst many other things a tea room, 3 libraries, 2 game rooms, 2 kitchens, a “his and her master bedroom wing”, 12 further guest bedrooms and 5 staff bedrooms.
The biggest issue with the house, it transpired, was that its 476 leaded windows needed to be replaced. This reportedly cost $2 million alone (the equivalent of £1.8 million or $2.3 million today) and in addition, Pavlovic renewed all the mechanical systems, redid all 19 bathrooms, replaced the slate roof and added amongst other things a spa with an indoor lap pool, a gym, a massage room, a beauty salon and a home cinema. There is also a gatehouse, a professional kitchen that can serve 250 meals at a time, a wine cellar, a poker room, a cigar room, a billiards room, an 8-car garage, a tennis court and an outdoor swimming pool.
Property blog 6sqft – which claimed Friday that the current owners do not live at Darlington full-time and simply use it to host events – reported that this still massive mansion minus its formerly equally gigantic estate is now for sale now for £37.4 million ($48 million, €44.7 million or درهم176.3 million) through a firm Mr Pavlovic chairs, Special Properties Real Estate Services – an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate. Any buyer will undoubtedly be a vastly wealthy figure, but one can guarantee one thing: They’ll never live as lavishly as the barmy boozer George Crocker.
1996 Aston Martin shooting brake complete with humidor to be sold at auction
One of just three 1996 Aston Martin V8 coupé shooting brake conversions is to be offered for sale at auction by Bonhams in May.
The car’s most unusual extra is this humidor
The left hand drive, automatic 1996 Aston Martin V8 Sportsman estate offered is presented in British Racing Green with matching interior trim and “plentiful walnut embellishment”. Ordered as one of a pair by two Swiss brothers, the car was rebuilt by the factory in 1999 and then sold to a French art collector based in Monaco.
Upgraded with a satellite navigation system, the vehicle has covered just 13,000 miles from new and is described as being “a very clean car”. Auctioneers Bonhams have set an estimate of £300,000 to £350,000 ($384,000 to $449,000, €358,000 to €418,000 or درهم1.4 million to درهم1.6 million) and will offer the vehicle at their 13th May sale at Aston Martin’s Newport Pagnell Works Service.
Hidden house in Knightsbridge for sale for £1.595 million; it might suit those with an aspiration to live like Julian Assange
A cleverly refurbished ‘hidden house’ behind 163 Pavilion Road in Knightsbridge has been brought to the market by Savills.
699 square foot Hans Cottage has its own private front door, a patio garden and features an open plan reception-kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a utility room. It is available on a leasehold basis with approximately 99 years remaining.
£1.595 million ($2.044 million, €1.906 million or درهم7.507 million) is sought for the property – which is just a few hundred metres from the hideout of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. It was previously marketed for £1.25 million ($1.60 million, €1.49 million or درهم5.88 million) in an unrenovated state in May 2012.
Herefordshire fruit farm for sale for £2.25 million
A 47.6 acre organic Herefordshire fruit farm is for sale for £2.25 million ($2.88 million, €2.69 million or درهم10.58 million).
Situated in the Malvern Hills, Hermitage Court at Canon Pyon, near Hereford has fruit orchards and a walnut grove and also comes with grazing land, hay meadows and a 4,155 square foot barn with a temperature controlled store.
What, however, sets the property apart is the charming 6,268 square foot residence included in the asking price. Created from a period farmhouse and buildings dating to 1820, Hermitage Court consists of consists of 3 reception rooms, a 40’ long kitchen, 6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a tower with a viewing platform. A “well appointed” cottage adjoins the main house and provides 2 reception rooms, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
Britain’s smallest castle is for sale; it comes with 10 acres, a 44 million gallon moat and a narrow boat
Last marketed in 2003 for £1 million (the equivalent of £1.45 million, $1.86 million, €1.73 million or درهم6.83 million today), what is allegedly Britain’s smallest castle is back for sale for the slightly higher sum of £1.75 million ($2.24 million, €2.09 million or درهم8.24 million).
Offered by Belgravia based Henry & James, Starborough Castle is situated on the border of Kent and Surrey and stands in 10 acres of moated gardens and grounds. It is listed Grade II* and also as a scheduled ancient monument.
Dating to around 1754 and constructed on the site of a medieval house built circa 1341, the current dressed stone Neo-Gothic building on the site was restored by a farmer in the 1980s. He sold it to a purveyor of antique maps named Warwick Leadlay (1929 – 2013) in 1995 and in the years since, the grounds were landscaped and outbuildings and a cottage added.
Used by the Leadley family to host a “Glyndebourne of jazz-style” festival and more recently available for both short and long-term lets, Starborough Castle itself currently provides a total of 1,959 square foot of accommodation. There is a mini great hall, minstrel gallery kitchen, two double bedrooms and a bathroom in the main house and a detached one bedroom cottage offers further space for guests.
Of the pint-sized property, James Bailey of Henry & James told the Mail Online:
“It’s an amazing property, a complete one off, and a house of historical importance. The first recorded settlement was there in AD490. The moat was created around the medieval castle that occupied the entire island in the 1300s. That was torn down under Cromwell’s orders in the 1600s”.
“What is there now takes up just a small part of the island, it was built as a summerhouse and you could argue over whether it’s a folly or a castle”.
“It would be a perfect weekend destination place for a professional couple or an individual looking for something unique. The current owners have had it about 20 years and that’s what they have used it for, but they are based in London again now so don’t get to use it much”.
“They also put a barge on the moat to provide extra guest space. It’s a bit of fun, obviously you could only drive it in a circle round the moat, you can’t go anywhere”.
Dating to the late 17th century and originally a farmhouse and barn, this 4,490 square foot Grade II listed property stands in 1.5 acres of gardens, 2.5 acres of woodland and 4 acres of paddocks. It has 4 reception rooms, 2 kitchens, 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms and comes with a number of follies, a hot tub and a giant chessboard.
Reduced in price from £1.79 million ($2.24 million, €2.11 million or درهم7.78 million) to £1.69 million ($2.12 million, €1.99 million or درهم8.24 million), Low House is just seven miles from Lancaster.
