Tag: for sale

Anything Can Happen

5,000 acre Irish estate where “anything can happen” for sale for £24.1 million; its current owner would prefer a buyer who’ll allow him to use it for three months a year

Michael Jackson hid out at Luggala in County Wicklow, Ireland in 2006 for three months after being cleared of child molestation charges and other guests at this magical estate have included Francis Bacon, Orlando Bloom, Bono, John Paul Getty II, Mel Gibson, John Hurt, Mick Jagger, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Paul McCartney and Anita Pallenberg.

Encompassing a plot of some 5,000 acres, Luggala (meaning: “a hollow in a ridge”) is also known as ‘Fancy Mountain’ and has been used in films including Zardoz, Braveheart and Excalibur. It is located 28 miles south-west of Dublin, was described by the singer Marianne Faithfull as “the most beautiful place in the world” and the main house there has gradually morphed into what has been called “the most decorative honeypot in Ireland”.

Architecturally significant, Luggala Lodge (also known as Luggala Castle), was built in 1787 and is lauded as having “that special brand of 18^th century Gothick that rejoices in little battlements, crochets, trefoil and quatrefoil windows and ogee mantelpieces, Indeed, quite like the Gothick of pastry cooks and Rockingham china”. It “boasts all the appurtenances of a grand castle but on a miniature scale” and though standing on a modest footprint, extends to some 7,438 square foot in total.

In 1937, the estate was bought by the Hon. Ernest Guinness (1876 – 1949) and given to his daughter, Oonagh, on her marriage to Lord Oranmore and Browne – a peer with the rare distinction of managing to sit in the House of Lords without ever saying a single thing. It subsequently became a place where “nobody could stay away: Dublin intelligentsia, literati, painters, actors, scholars, hangers-on, toffs, punters, poets and social hang-gliders” and was even immortalised in poetry by Seamus Heaney.

Current owner of Luggala, the decidedly eccentric the Hon. Dr. Garech Browne (born 1939)

Luggala Lodge, Roundwood, Leinster, County Wicklow, Ireland

Luggala Lodge after a fire in 1956

Oonagh Guinness, Oonagh, Lady Oranmore and Browne (1910 – 1995)

On Oonagh, Lady Oranmore and Browne’s death in 1970, the estate passed into the “custody” of her son, the Hon. Dr. Garech Browne. He has spent considerable sums restoring the house and made it a “cultural hub for Irish music, art and literature”. A co-founder of the record label Claddagh Records and instrumental in the formation of the traditional Irish folk group, The Chieftans, Browne and his Indian princess wife, Purna Devi of Morvi, added an indoor swimming pool to Luggala Lodge as well as a Gothic library for his collection of 8,000 books.

Now for sale due to 77-year old Garlech Browne and his wife primarily choosing to be based in Singapore, it has been suggested that the Irish State should purchase the estate. Thus far no offer has been forthcoming and this week Jennifer O’Connell of The Irish Times even penned an article that suggested: “Opening the national chequebook is not the way to secure [Luggala’s] future”.

Luggala – which comes with 7 estate lodges and cottages – is offered jointly by Sotheby’s International Realty and Crawford’s with a guide price of £24.1 million ($30.1 million, €28 million or درهم110.7 million). The Guernsey based Guinness Trust that currently controls the actual ownership of the property has indicated that it “seeks a freehold sale and will entertain offers with both vacant possession and non-vacant possession”. Though such a deal seems as unlikely as that that Christian de Guigné IV proposed of his £81 million ($100 million, €94 million or درهم367 million) estate at Hillsborough in California, at the mythical delight that is Luggala, anything could indeed happen.

February 4, 2017
Trumping Wildenstein

‘Catwoman’ Jocelyn Wildenstein puts her Trump World Tower apartment on the market after recent court appearance for “clawing” her boyfriend’s face

“No showings before 12pm” shouts the listing on realtor Douglas Elliman’s homepage and given how the owner of the property they’re currently selling no doubt looks of a morning, one need not wonder why. Welcome to the 8-bedroom, £10.36 million ($12.95 million, €12.08 million or درهم47.56 million) home of billionaire divorcee Jocelyn Wildenstein (AKA ‘Catwoman’ or ‘Bride of Wildenstein’).

Situated towards the top of the 72 floor, 376 apartment Trump World Tower residential skyscraper at 845 United Nations Paza in Midtown Manhattan, Wildenstein reportedly bought and combined the three apartments offered for $6 million in 2001 (the equivalent of £6.51 million, ($8.14 million, €7.59 million or درهم29.90 million today). She is said to have “spent millions more on lavish renovations and an opulent Art Deco interior” to create a look that featured “shark-skin gaming tables, chairs made from ostrich leather and zebra-skin couches” but now, the 5,160-square foot space is being marketed as “ready to be created to the buyer’s specifications”.

Feline-like Wildenstein, a seriously wealthy woman thanks to her 1999 divorce from art dealer Alec Wildenstein, was arrested on 6^th December for digging her finger nails into the face of her now ex-boyfriend, fashion designer Lloyd Klein, during a “cat fight” in the apartment. She is reportedly selling up as “she just doesn’t feel comfortable there after what happened”.

Jocelyn Wildenstein and Lloyd Klein in happier times

The entrance to The Trump World Tower

Lloyd Klein in the gaudy apartment that is now for sale

Jocelyn Wildenstein poses with a cat

A dining area illustrates Mrs Wildenstein’s curious taste in decor

Mrs Wildenstein is said to be a collector of all manner of curiosities

The current floor plan of the apartment offered

The original floor plan of the apartment offered

The proposed floor plan of the apartment offered

Jocelyn Wildenstein’s face

Lloyd Klein’s face after he was “clawed” by Jocelyn Wildenstein

January 25, 2017
A Happy House

Berkshire country house named “Gays” for sale

Not connected with the LGBT community in any way, but in fact named after a man named John Gays, “Gays” at Holyport, near Maidenhead in Berkshire dates to around 1456 and is currently for sale for £5.95 million ($7.36 million, €6.88 million or درهم27.05 million).

Gays or John Gays House, Langworthy Lane, Holyport, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 2HN, England, United Kingdom

Also referred to as “John Gays House” and offered to the market by Christie’s Real Estate, this 12,482 square foot “bijou old world residence” stands in 20.75 acres and is predominantly built of red brick elevations with attractive sash fenestration, under a tile roof. It is Grade II listed, dates to the Tudor period and also includes later Queen Anne, Georgian, Victorian and 20^th century additions.

Less than 30 miles from central London, Gays has been owned by a Swiss family for 20 years according to Country Life and includes 6 reception rooms, a conservatory, a master bedroom suite with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and 2 dressing rooms, 6 further bedrooms and 5 further bathrooms. In addition, the property also comes with a 2-bedroom lodge cottage, a 2-bedroom staff cottage, an indoor swimming pool, wine store and 4-car garage.

Aside from a large lawned garden with an irrigation system, a lake adjoins the house and there is also an orchard with apple and pear trees. A stable block, a manège and paddocks stand beyond whilst a 1-kilometre long sand and rubber chip horse exercise track circles it. The Duke of York, it transpires, borrowed these facilities in the late 1990s for his own horses.

January 22, 2017
A Serpentine Summer House

Serpentine Galleries summerhouse originally installed in Kensington Gardens for sale – it’ll cost you a bit more than what you might find down at B&Q

Each summer, since the year 2000, the Serpentine Galleries have commissioned what they term a ‘pavilion’ to stand alongside their original gallery in Kensington Gardens. These have varied from the sublime to the ridiculous but whilst most have been thought provoking, in 2016 the project was extended to include four summer houses next to the nearby 18^th century Queen Caroline’s Temple.

One of these creations, designed by a Nigerian architect named Kunlé Adeyemi, is now for sale and available for delivery to a new location. It is described as a “one-off piece of art-meets-architecture” by selling agents The Modern House and by its designers as “an inverse replica [and] tribute to [Queen Caroline’s Temple’s] robust form, space and material, recomposed into a new architectural language”.

Constructed from prefabricated building blocks assembled from rough sandstone, Adeyemi’s design was conceived as a tea house that “might have grown out of the ground”. It is all about “eating, resting and playing” but at £95,000 ($116,000, €110,000 or درهم427,000) plus VAT at 20% it is quite the polar opposite of the kind of summer house most people might purchase down at B&Q.

January 12, 2017
A Village Ideal

Unlisted 18^th century Georgian residence near Badminton for sale; ideal for those looking to quit the rat race

City dwellers and commuters regularly dream of quitting the rat race for a life in the country and when they watch programmes like Escape to the Country and Downton Abbey, they see an idealised vision of rural life. Such people could do worse than take a look at Dauncey House at Tormarton, near Badminton in South Gloucestershire, a property that is currently for sale through Hamptons International.

Reduced in price from £1.3 million ($1.6 million, €1.5 million or درهم5.8 million) to £1.2 million ($1.5 million, €1.4 million or درهم5.4 million), this attractive Cotswold stone village house was also marketed for £1.3 million in 2009 according to Country Life magazine. It is situated within a village where you’ll count the ‘King of Hoovers’ Sir James Dyson and the Duke of Beaufort as neighbours and it is believed that “humans have been active in the area for more than 6,000 years”.

Surprisingly unlisted and providing 3,368 square foot of accommodation, Dauncey House includes 3 reception rooms, 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. It stands in 2.5 acres of gardens and orchards and though perhaps a little blandly decorated currently, provides what the selling agents call “flexibility for the growing family”.

Situated just 10 miles north of Bath and 1 mile north-east of Junction 18 of the M4 motorway, this handsome 18^th century Georgian residence would make an ideal home for a commuter. Chippenham, just 12 miles away, provides a direct service to London Paddington.

January 11, 2017
Panic Over The Price

Vast New York triplex with three bullet-proof panic rooms at The Heritage at Trump Place reduced in price by 47%; Is the Trump connection a factor?

In 2012, a Saudi royal placed a fifth, sixth and seventh triplex he “rarely uses” on the market for £61.7 million ($75 million, €71 million or درهم275.5 million). It didn’t sell and now it’s back for sale for just £32.9 million ($40 million, €37.9 million or درهم147 million) through Elizabeth Mercedes Berk of Mercedes/Berk.

Featuring three bullet-proof panic rooms and extending to a total of 10,500 square foot over three levels, #6A at 240 Riverside Boulevard – alternatively known as The Heritage at Trump Place – is a combination of six units in what is described as “one of New York’s finest full-service condominiums”. It is currently configured to provide 3 bedrooms but comes with plans to turn it into a 5-bedroom home.

Enjoying 120 foot of “contiguous, unobstructed park and Hudson River views”, the Upper West Side property – which is within a building that was completed in 2005 – features three private terraces, a restaurant quality kitchen with a sushi bar, a billiards room, a hair salon, a ventilated cigar room, a six-person Jacuzzi and a saltwater aquarium. Two adjacent units that currently provide staff accommodation can be included in the sale for an additional sum.

The current owner, Prince Nawaf bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, is 82 years old and said to be confined to a wheelchair. He was Director General of Saudi Intelligence from 2001 to 2005 and is described as “a close ally of the late King Abdullah”.

One has to ask: “With Donald Trump’s name associated with the building, will panic set in and will the price drop further?” We’re guessing the answer is “yes”.

January 10, 2017
Cupboards by Harrods

Two studio flats near Harrods for sale for extraordinary sums offer ideal homes for pint-sized people

A typical London Underground carriage provides about 464 square foot of space. In Knightsbridge and just seconds from Harrods, a property offering just over half that area has just come on sale on a short lease for £450,000 ($553,000, €525,000, درهم2.03 million).

The 258 square foot raised ground floor ‘cupboard-like’ property in Jefferson House at 11 Basil Street is offered at a price that equates to £1,765 per square foot ($2,170, €2,050 or درهم7,965 per square foot) consists of a single room decorated with Austin Powers-esque wallpaper, a kitchen with, the selling agents boast, the luxury of “an electric hob” and a shower room. Carter Jonas point out that the lease on the studio is extendable but neglect to detail what that will cost.

For pint-sized people with a larger budget, Beauchamp Estates have also just launched a slightly larger third floor studio to the west of Harrods in Beaufort Gardens, SW3.

Priced at a much more punchy £1.65 million ($2.03 million, €1.92 million or درهم7.45 million) or £3,061 per square foot ($3,760, €3,570 or درهم13,815 per square foot), the 539 square foot flat is within a redeveloped building of nine properties and features an open plan sitting, dining and kitchen area with a corridor to a separate sleeping area. It has a full-sized bathroom and lift access.

Pictures and plans of the Basil Street studio:

Pictures and plans of the Beaufort Gardens studio:

January 7, 2017
A Performing Peugeot

Best performing classic car in terms of value gain revealed; you’ll be surprised at the result

We’ve featured several Peugeot 205s that have sold at auctions at prices as high as £156,800 and now the latest Haggerty Classic Index has revealed that the greatest classic car value gain this year has been on the 205 GTi.

This year, Peugeot 205s have risen 28.5% to an average value of £11,275 and with an immaculate yet ordinary one we featured in July having gone for £30,938 at auction, this ‘hot hatch’ is becoming a ‘must have’ for car collectors.

As examples, we select first a red 1993 1.9-litre CTi convertible. It is for sale for £7,250 ($9,100 or €8,600 or درهم‎‎33,500) through MSP Motors in Runcorn, Cheshire and has 69,000 miles on the clock. They term it “a great example of a future classic, a great investment”.

Our second choice is also presented in red and is a 1989 1.6-litre GTi. It has 69,119 miles on the clock, has an electric glass sunroof and is for sale through AMS Vehicles of Stokesley, North Yorkshire. They describe it as “a desirable vehicle at a sensible price” and offer it for £11,000 ($13,800 or €13,100 or درهم‎‎50,800).

Of the survey itself, Angus Forsyth, managing director of Hagerty remarked:

“We’ve seen confidence return to the classic car market in the last few months of 2016 after a summer of uncertainty, and we believe the Q3 results were a reflection on people holding back following the initial uncertainty of the Brexit vote in June”.

“However, now the financial markets have settled, people have bought into the car market albeit a few months later than they might have planned. Whether people still feel classics make good investments, or they just want to put their money into something fun, they are still definitely buying, and the values of the best classics are still on the rise”.

December 10, 2016
A Parson’s Moat

East Sussex country house for sale; it comes complete with an enormous rectangular moat allegedly dug by an eccentric parson in the 1700s

One generally associates moats with castles and manor houses – such as the one we featured last month – but an old rectory currently for sale for £5 million ($6.3 million or €5.9 million or درهم‎‎23.2 million) in East Sussex comes with an especially impressive ground water-fed, rectangular example complete with three timber footbridges.

Chailey Moat, Chailey Green, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN8 4DA

The house in Victorian times with the Reverend Thomas Harry Lee Jellicoe outside with his servants circa 1900

This fireplace is one of the most stunning and historic features internally

It is situated within this reading room

Another view of the main house shows the size of the moat

Previously marketed for £3.5 million ($4.4 million or €4.1 million or درهم‎‎16.2 million) in 2007 but not sold at that time, Grade II listed Chailey Moat at Chailey Green, near Haywards Heath in East Sussex dates to around 1540 and was previously known as ‘The Parsonage’. It blends Tudor, Carolean, Elizabethan and Georgian elements and is centred on an original timber framed medieval structure hidden by later additions. The south-eastern façade is described by selling agents Savills as “most striking” and amongst other unusual features are a Venetian window on the first floor and a brick fireplace in a reading room with an intricately carved overmantel that allegedly came from part of a Charles I bedstead.

Aside from a 6,146 square foot main house with 5 reception rooms and upto 8 bedrooms over three floors, there is a 398 square foot 1 bedroom cottage and a 4 bedroomed, 17^th century barn conversion that extends to 807 square foot and also provides a substantial games room.

Gardens and grounds extend to 43.76 acres and aside from the moat – which was allegedly singlehandedly dug by the Reverend Richard Porter, rector from 1713 to 1753 – there is also a enclosed tennis court, an outdoor swimming pool, a stream fed lake, a productive orchard and rolling pastureland.

Chailey Moat is offered by Savills and was described by Country Life’s Penny Churchill as a “mansion of peace” in June this year. In October, the medieval property’s current owner, businessman Andrew Colin, described its idyllic setting to The Times. “It’s like sitting in the middle of a nature reserve”, he said.

The dining hall

The drawing room

The staircase dates from the 18th century

The kitchen has a four-oven AGA

This barn conversion provides ideal staff or guest accommodation and beyond it is a full-sized tennis court

A lake is situated within the grounds

Whilst extensive lawned gardens extend out across the moat

Another view of the gardens

A floor plan of the main house

Floor plans of the barn conversion, cottage and outbuildings

December 9, 2016
Exciting a Royal

Jaguar E-Type originally owned by Prince Michael of Kent for sale

A 1965 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 4.2-litre FHC originally owned by His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent is for sale with an Essex vintage car specialist.

Described as having “matching numbers, in impeccable order throughout and being close to conours”, Prince Michael first tried out the Jaguar at Goodwood with a then eight year old Lord March before taking it to Germany where he was serving in the army. The royal recalls driving the car at 150 miles per hour on autobahns and in the years since, he has been united with the vehicle on several occasions at Goodwood and Kensington Palace.

His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent with the Earl of March and Kinrara, Charles Gordon-Lennox in the car

Lady Gabriella Windsor, Prince Michael’s daughter, with the vehicle

In 1984, Prince Michael wrote about the opalescent dark green with light tan hide interior and Webasto sunroof car in Road & Car Magazine. He stated:

“This was a beautiful motor car, immensely quick, and probably the most enjoyable car I have ever owned. I believe that every man has a special place in his heart for one woman above all others, and also for one car. In my case I think probably my E-Type Jaguar was the most satisfying and exciting car in my life – so far”.

In December 2015, the sixth owner of the E-Type, James Phillips, 67, from Newbury, Berkshire, told The Times:

“I am nearing retirement and it has been our pension fund for many years. We’ve done everything in it and we don’t go out in the rain and snow any more. We just want to pass it on to someone who is going to look after it”.

Vintage & Prestige Classic Cars seek £245,000 ($309,000 or €288,000 or درهم‎‎1.1 million) for the car complete with a whole raft of accompanying correspondence and photographs.

December 7, 2016