Combining a mix of society's last word and both wit and wisdom, The Steeple Times covers food, drink and fine dining as well as luxury, travel, the arts, individuals of influence and current affairs in the United Kingdom, America and elsewhere. We are best described as being akin to "a cross between The Huffington Post and Private Eye".
The magazine's following is affluent, engaged and international. With 41% of readers coming from the UK and 38% from America, The Steeple Times also has strong presence within Canadian, Italian, German and Australian territories.
January 23, 2019
by Matthew Steeples
Grade II* listed Cumbrian mansion built by opium dealer and once marketed for £1.5 million for sale for just £460,000; it was also the scene of the UK’s biggest ever cannabis raid in 2012 A 23,000 square foot, 52 room, mid-19th century Palladian mansion in the Westmorland Dales National Park is to be sold … Continue reading “Falling Down Flass”
November 29, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Neglected Georgian mansion that has been home to Sir Dirk Bogarde, Basil Dearden, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Matt Aitken and Robert Kilroy-Silk for sale for 39% less than it sold for in 2014 A dilapidated Grade II* listed country house whose extensive roster of owners numbers aristocrats, rock and film stars and politicians is … Continue reading “The Stars of Beel”
November 18, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Holmby Hills estate owned variously by Sonny and Cher and Tony Curtis for sale for double what it sold for in 2016 A 12,201 square foot mansion on 10.1 acres in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles is on sale for £136 million or double the sum it sold for just a year ago. Featuring … Continue reading “Double Cher”
September 26, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Tower house on Isle of Man that was home to the Romantic artist John Martin for sale for £3.95 million Described as “the most sublime and extraordinary pictures in the world” by critic Simon Wilson and “the most popular painter of his day” by fellow artist Sir Thomas Lawrence, English Romantic painter John Martin … Continue reading “A Romantic’s Tower”
September 19, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Vast Georgian village house in Oxfordshire for sale for £4.25 million A Grade II* listed, mid-18th century village house in Adderbury, Oxfordshire has just gone on sale for £4.25 million ($5.74 million, €4.79 million or درهم21.10 million) after fifty years in the same family. Providing a total of 11,290 square foot of accommodation … Continue reading “A Big House”
July 19, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Oxford’s only Strawberry Hill Gothic house for £2.15 million in spite of needing complete renovation A house built in the Strawberry Hill Gothic style in Oxford has gone on sale for £2.15 million ($2.80 million, €2.43 million or درهم10.29 million) in spite of needing complete renovation. Constructed circa 1840 – 1850 on the … Continue reading “Gothic Grandeur”
May 30, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
“Grand” Grade II* listed Midlands manor for sale for just £350,000; it comes with a 49-seat cinema and several unexpected catches Where there’s muck, there’s money and a late 18th century Midlands manor house currently for sale for just £350,000 ($451,000, €402,000 or درهم1.65 million) provides an example of the tale of the progress … Continue reading “Mucking Up A Manor”
May 25, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Scottish sporting estate, once home to Sir Walter Scott, for sale; it comes with nearly two miles of fishing on the River Tweed, 863 acres of land and seven houses The Scottish estate where Sir Walter Scott, Bt. (1771 – 1732) wrote his narrative poems Lay of the Minstrel and The Lady of the … Continue reading “An Epic Estate”
May 22, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Refurbished Surrey manor house with connections to Detmar Blow and Gertrude Jekyll for sale for £2.55 million Reduced in price by £200,000 since when it was previously on the market in June 2015, a Surrey manor house is again for sale – but this time for £2.55 million ($3.32 million, €2.96 million or درهم12.20 … Continue reading “Making a Manor”
May 13, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
£39 million summer house on Lake Geneva that was designed by one of the architects of the Eiffel Tower to be sold at auction without reserve Built in the Belle Époque style on the north shore of Lake Geneva, Château de Promenthoux is a 13,988 square foot house on a plot of 9 acres. … Continue reading “A Fashionable Bargain”
May 12, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
£144,000 per year sought for Oxfordshire mansion that was the scene of a most curious ménage-a-trois; it is owned by the writer Sofka Zinovieff “Tall and willowy” writer Sofka Zinovieff inherited Faringdon House in Oxfordshire at the age of 25 from her eccentric, bisexual uncle, Robert ‘The Mad Boy’ Heber-Percy, partner of the owner … Continue reading “Fun at Faringdon”
May 8, 2017
by General
Winslow Hall Opera’s ‘Un ballo in maschera’ by Verdi to be performed in Buckinghamshire in July Between 7th and 16th July, a production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera will be performed in the grounds of Winslow Hall in Buckinghamshire. The opera in three acts will be conducted by Oliver Gilmour, Winslow … Continue reading “Reader Offer – ‘Un Ballo in Maschera’ by Verdi at Winslow Hall”
May 4, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
17th century Buckinghamshire farmstead requiring complete renovation for sale for £5 million A 17th century farmhouse just 28 miles from Central London has gone on sale for £5 million ($6.5 million, €5.9 million or درهم23.7 million) in spite of being “in need of updating” through agents The Frost Partnership. Dean Farm at Jordans, … Continue reading “A £5 Million Fixer-Upper”
April 23, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
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 … Continue reading “Living Large”
April 20, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
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 … Continue reading “A Homely Castle”
April 13, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Converted Hampshire coach house for sale; it extends to 6,222 square foot but has just two bedrooms A 6,222 square foot Hampshire coach house that was converted to a residential dwelling in 1987 is for sale for £2.5 million ($3.1 million, €2.9 million or درهم11.4 million). Hildon House at Broughton is Grade II … Continue reading “Balancing Bedrooms”
April 6, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Historic Battersea mansion for sale for the same sum it was marketed for in 2011; it has been mostly empty throughout the intervening period and was renovated by the late billionaire Malcolm Forbes Billionaire publisher Malcolm Forbes was a man who liked to live large. He had a huge yacht named The Highlander, threw … Continue reading “Billionaire Battersea”
April 3, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Essex “neo Georgian Palladian” residence created from an ordinary detached house marketed for £5.4 million; it is a bit of a mish-mash and described as “over-engineered” Estate agents normally wax lyrical about properties they are marketing but in the case of £5.4 million ($6.7 million, €6.3 million or درهم24.8million) Threshers House at Threshers Bush, … Continue reading “Over-Engineered”
March 9, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Grade II* listed Kent manor house for sale for £3.95 million; the purchaser will get a controversial £107.9 million EuroMillions jackpot winner as their neighbour Sold last in 2009 for £1.9 million (the equivalent of £2.3 million, $2.8 million, €2.2 million or درهم 10.3 million today), Waystrode Manor at Cowden, near Edenbridge in Kent … Continue reading “Barbed Manors”
December 9, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
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 … Continue reading “A Parson’s Moat”
June 24, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
Vivien Leigh’s retreat and final resting place for sale for £3.25 million
September 30, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
A home worthy of any ‘Downton’ devotee is marketed for £6,500,000 less than it was previously promoted for in 2008 With Downton Abbey back on our screens, Brits are waxing lyrical about life in country houses whilst our American cousins are already bemoaning that they won’t get to see the latest series until January. … Continue reading “Downturning”
July 28, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
The former home of renowned Kendalian architect George Webster comes to the market Eller How House, the home where one of the North of England’s finest architects of the 19th century, George Webster (1797 – 1864), lived and died, has recently come to the market at a price of £1,450,000.
June 16, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
Robbie Williams’ Wiltshire estate for sale again for £2.6 million less than he paid for it Singer Robbie Williams paid £8,100,000 for Compton Bassett House, near Calne in Wiltshire in 2008. In the years since he’s tried to sell it several times but even now that it has been relaunched for just £5,500,000, will … Continue reading “Blighted Bassett”
March 27, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
The sale of a historic £22 million residence on London’s Cheyne Walk Cheyne Walk in Chelsea is amongst the addresses that an estate agent would describe as “the most sought after in London”. Up there in the company of the Bishops Avenue, Grosvenor Square and Cadogan Square, it has moved from having been home … Continue reading “Taking a view”
November 20, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
A marine residence with a history tied to the Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy, the Special Operations Executive and Babycham The House on the Shore on Thorns Beach at Beaulieu in Hampshire is a home that wouldn’t look out of place in the Hamptons or Rhode Island. Dramatically situated next to the Solent waters to … Continue reading “Ecstasy and Babycham”
November 17, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
The sale of the The Manor House, Stoke Poges In the blog that preceded “The Steeple Times,” Matthew Steeples took a look at The Manor House at Stoke Poges in March 2012. It’s still on the market at £13,500,000 and though the price has yet to be cut, there has been uproar about revelations … Continue reading “A Monarch Carries On”
November 11, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
Could the number 13 be the reason Halcyon Hall has failed to sell? Several over the top Californian residences we’ve featured on The Steeple Times, namely the $40,000,000 Chateau d’Or in Bel Air and the $87,000,000 Villa del Lago on the Newport coast, were properties that have seen huge price reductions. Though $15,000,000 has … Continue reading “Which bear will take the 13th seat?”
November 1, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
This Swiss born son of a printer has spent over £85 million buying up properties in the Henley-on-Thames area of Oxfordshire. Schwarzenbach also owns 123,000 acres in Australia, 26,000 acres in Scotland and has his own polo team, the Black Bears. This financier’s foreign exchange dealership, Interexchange, is the biggest in Switzerland and betting against … Continue reading “Urs Schwarzenbach”
October 27, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
The sale of the £20 million Bletchingdon Park, Oxfordshire Bletchingdon Park House in Oxfordshire is one of those classic Palladian villas that would make the perfect setting for a period drama. Unlike vast Jacobean mansions like Highclere Castle, better known as Julian Fellowes’ Downton Abbey, however, Bletchingdon is of a far more manageable size. … Continue reading “A manageable mansion”
October 20, 2012
by steepleadmin
Charles Mitford Cust tells of the breakdancing stoats at Bears Rock Apparently the 2012 “Braun Battle of the Year” breakdance championship is underway and the coolest movers are strutting their stuff right now down in Montpelier, France. “B-boying” or “breakdancing” as we recognise it today is a relatively new dance style which can … Continue reading “Breakdancing stoats”
October 7, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
A most curious tale of playboys, socialites, lawyers and real estate moguls This week the mystery buyer of Clarendon Court, the former marital home of Claus and Martha “Sunny” Von Bülow (1932 – 2008), was revealed as a restaurateur and real estate mogul named Paul Roiff. Separately, the New York Post reported that Mr … Continue reading “Reversing Fortunes: Tales of former home of Claus von Bulow”
October 4, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
Living life to the full Donald G. Abbey style “Why pay less when you can pay more?” is a mantra that some strangely choose to live by. In my time, I have encountered a couple with a different Ferrari for each day of the week, someone who proudly declared their home had a window … Continue reading “Why pay less?”
September 30, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
The sale of Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell’s Malibu beach house Goldie Hawn’s performance in the 1992 romantic comedy Housesitter with Steve Martin was described by the noted film critic Roger Ebert as “one of her best performances.” In the film, Martin’s character builds a dream home for himself and his girlfriend but is … Continue reading “Hawn’s Housesitter”
August 20, 2012
by steepleadmin
Sarah Tucker gives an update on goings on at the resort where Madeleine McCann vanished Four hundred and thirty euros, one bedroom apartment, one week at the height of season at a luxury family resort in Portugal. And oh yes, it’s the Ocean Club at Praia da Luz. There’s availability with two and three … Continue reading “Winging it”
June 10, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
The sale of the former home of Dame Rebecca West Ibstone House at Ibstone in Buckinghamshire has recently come to the market at a price of offers in excess of £15 million. Now owned by Ariadne “Ari” Getty Williams, the daughter of Paul Getty and Abigail Harris, Ibstone has also been home to Sun … Continue reading “Written in the sun”
June 2, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
Their daughter Madeleine disappeared on the evening 3rd May 2007 from a holiday apartment whilst they sat enjoying tapas with a bunch of friends. Some believe the poor child was kidnapped. Others have alternative theories. A public fund to find “Maddie” raised hundreds of thousands of pounds but Mrs McCann’s book, Madeleine, contains so many … Continue reading “Gerry & Kate McCann”
