The Steeple Times

Tag: Japanese

  • Ten of the Priciest – 2025’s Most Expensive Food & Drink Products

    Ten of the Priciest – 2025’s Most Expensive Food & Drink Products

    Anthony Smart explores the background to ten of the world’s most expensive food and drink products

    Whilst Aldo Gucci once said that “quality is remembered long after price is forgotten,” some of the most expensive food and drinks products out there are very, very expensive with good reason.

    Topping the list of steeply priced foods and drinks are items that are made with scarcely available ingredients or produced in peculiar ways that might be labour or time intense, or indeed both.

     

    If you can stomach the outlay involved, here are ten of the most expensive food and drink products you might wish to add to your shopping list:

     

    Almas caviar (as much as £40,000 per kilogram)

    The world’s highest value caviar is known as Almas and harvested from albino beluga sturgeon eggs taken from the South Caspian Sea. It is so highly priced mainly because it is considered the “rarest of the rare” caviars and the process of harvesting it is laborious.

     

    Alba white truffle (approximately £8,800 per kilogram)

    Another pricey treasure is the Alba white truffle, which originates from Piedmont in Italy. Valued for the depth of flavour it provides; it is in high demand, but very difficult to grow due to its unique climate and soil needs.

     

    Matsutake mushrooms (approximately £1,760 per kilogram)

    The Japanese value matsutake mushrooms (pine mushrooms) for their distinctive aroma and flavour. This especially hard-to-find fungus, which can go for £800 a pound (around £1,760 a kilo), are wild foraged, not farmed, and require very particular growth conditions. In 2020, they were added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of threatened species for the first time.

     

    Kobe beef (approximately £352 per kilogram)

    Kobe beef is raised in Hyōgo prefecture in Japan, using a particular breed of Wagyu cattle. This beef can be sold for £160 per pound (around £352 per kilogram) because of its fat marbling and tenderness, according to Lottoland’s guide. One factor that adds to its high price is the strict regulation of its production and its limited supply.

     

    Elvish honey
    Elvish honey is also known as ‘Fairy Honey’ and considered “the densest, highest and most magical honey harvested in the north-east Black Sea. It is cultivated “high in the untouched mountains of Arhavi and produced by a colony of Caucasian wild bees that pollinate from medicinal, endemic herbs and plants.”
    Alamas caviar
    Almas caviar is lauded as “boasting the rich buttery notes of fresh beluga, enhanced by a natural aroma that is entirely its own.” The albino beluga sturgeon must reach the age of 100 years before its eggs can finally be harvested and the result is said to be a “caviar of breathtaking beauty, with a brilliant ethereal white hue that sparkles like diamonds.”
    Matsutake mushrooms
    Matsutake mushrooms are prized in Japanese cuisine for their distinct, spicy aroma. Whilst abundant in the country until the 1940s, the annual harvest of matsutake in Japan itself is now less than 1,000 tonnes per year – which has resulted in their price rocketing.
    Saffron
    Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of crocus sativus. It is used as a seasoning and colouring agent in food and is the world’s costliest spice by weight.

    Saffron (approximately £8,800 per kilogram)

    Often referred to as ‘red gold,’ saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, going for roughly £4,000 a pound (£8,800 a kilogram). It has a premium price because harvesting saffron is very labour-intensive, needing thousands of crocus flowers for a small number of saffron threads.

     

    Bluefin tuna sushi (as much as £250,000 per fish)

    At the top end of sushi cuisine, particularly in Japan, is bluefin tuna. This beautiful fish can touch six feet in length and weigh hundreds of pounds. With individual fish going for upwards of £250,000 at auction, the prices have rocketed because of overfishing and endangered species status. Seafood lovers will appreciate the deep flavour and texture.

     

    Kopi luwak coffee (approximately £1,100 per kilogram)

    Kopi luwak is the priciest coffee in the world, costing approximately £500 per pound (£1,100 per kilogram). Made from coffee beans that are consumed and then excreted by civets, this speciality coffee is fermented in the digestive system of these animals, which adds to its flavour.

     

    Ibérico ham (between £400 to £5,500 per leg)

    Ibérico ham is Spanish cured ham made from free-range Ibérico pigs fed on acorns during the ‘montanero’ period (October to February). Prices can range from £400 to more than £5,500 depending on grade and quality and the process of ageing can take a number of years. Its umami taste is rich and is in demand for gourmet goods.

     

    Elvish honey (around £4,500 per kilogram)

    This ‘elixir’ is harvested under challenging conditions in Turkey and can reach a price of around £4,500 per kilogram. The steep cost is largely due to the specialised environment in which this ‘precious nectar’ is produced on the north-east Black Sea and the laborious process of harvesting it; honey hunters need to work extremely hard to access the hives and walk for eight hours to reach the ‘safeguard tree’ once per year.

     

    Densuke watermelon (upto £5,000 each)

    The Densuke watermelon, prized for its unique black skin, is only cultivated on Hokkaido Island in Japan. As there are only about 10,000 harvested each year, these watermelons can fetch as much as £5,000 each at auction.

     

    Anthony Smart is a food writer who has spent his life sampling delicious delights and whose grandfather was Field Marshal Montgomery’s personal chef. Follow him on Twitter / X at @A_Smart_Writes.

     

  • Firing Up A 20th Century Limo

    Firing Up A 20th Century Limo

    ‘Stretched’ 1994 Toyota Century for sale for less than the price of a brand new Ford Fiesta; the rammed full of gadgets limousine comes with a food heating compartment and privacy curtains favoured by notoriously shy Japanese people even

    Whilst a 1967 Mercedes-Benz ‘Dictator Car we featured in April eventually sold for £237,000 ($298,000, €264,000 or درهم1.1 million), a lover of limousines with far shallower pockets might care to bid on a Japanese example that is headed to auction this month.

     

    Though the word “limousine” originally derived from the “type of carriage hood that physically resembled the cloak worn by shepherds in the Limousin region of France,” this automotive category is now sadly more generally associated with that especially ghastly, much over-used adjective “luxury.”

     

    Limousines are not only considered the preserve of the aforementioned despots, but they’re also the favoured modes of conveyance of business titans, young Arabic and Russian showoffs and rappers now even. A well-known reader of ours even once stated she’d like to have several herself. This friend of royalty added that a collection of security guards running alongside with torches also would complete her ideal spectacle.

     

    Coming in the form of a four-seat, stretched saloon car, the 1994 Toyota Century to be offered was imported to the UK by Mohamad Issa in 2019. It is longer than a Rolls-Royce Phantom, but slightly shorter than a Maybach at 19-feet in length, is presented in black with a black leather interior and was fully serviced in Japan prior to being shipped. The odometer reads 34,500 miles.

     

    Historics Auctioneers will sell the 1994 Toyota Century limousine at their Windsorview Lakes sale on 18th July. They have set an estimate of just £13,000 to £17,000 ($16,300 to $21,300, €14,500 to €18,900 or درهم59,900 to درهم78,300) and describe the car as being: “A stunning example of a rare car even in Japan, this is a real collector’s car that is a sign of wealth and power for the price of a new Ford Fiesta!”

     

    Featured earlier this year in a 19-minute video by two vloggers named Ben and Alfie of a YouTube channel named The Department of Motoring Affairs, of this particular Century they surmised: “People are surprised that this is a Toyota… If you don’t get it by now you don’t belong in the club anyway… If you know, you know” and indeed they’re right: Here is a quirky limousine that you could only originally have had if the Japanese ‘powers that be’ allowed you.

     

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    A 20th Century Limo – £13,000 to £17,000 ($16,300 to $21,300, €14,500 to €18,900 or درهم59,900 to درهم78,300) for 1994 Toyota Century limousine at Historics Auctioneers Windsorview Lakes sale on 18th July 2020 – ‘Stretched’ 1994 Toyota Century for sale for less than the price of a brand new Ford Fiesta; the limousine comes with a food heating compartment and privacy curtains favoured by notoriously shy Japanese people even.
    The passenger “compartment” is described as “richly appointed” and includes not only “soft and supple” heated power, leather seats with variable speed massage functions, but also gadgets galore. Most importantly for the notoriously shy Japanese market, the compartment has all-round curtains as well as an electric privacy partition to separate it from the driver’s compartment (with an intercom communications system).
    A 20th Century Limo – £13,000 to £17,000 ($16,300 to $21,300, €14,500 to €18,900 or درهم59,900 to درهم78,300) for 1994 Toyota Century limousine at Historics Auctioneers Windsorview Lakes sale on 18th July 2020 – ‘Stretched’ 1994 Toyota Century for sale for less than the price of a brand new Ford Fiesta; the limousine comes with a food heating compartment and privacy curtains favoured by notoriously shy Japanese people even.
    There is a cordless 1990s mobile telephone, a television (described as “working but TV to Japanese specification”) with a VHS player, as well as a tape deck built into the rear centre armrest that even has an in-built recording device. A mini fridge also has a heating function for hot food and there is a cabinet containing crystal glasses and a decanter even.
    A 20th Century Limo – £13,000 to £17,000 ($16,300 to $21,300, €14,500 to €18,900 or درهم59,900 to درهم78,300) for 1994 Toyota Century limousine at Historics Auctioneers Windsorview Lakes sale on 18th July 2020 – ‘Stretched’ 1994 Toyota Century for sale for less than the price of a brand new Ford Fiesta; the limousine comes with a food heating compartment and privacy curtains favoured by notoriously shy Japanese people even.
    A desk can fold out for a mogul who wishes to work whilst on-the-road inside their Toyota Century limousine. It is made of mahogany and for those that wish to ‘drink-and-ride’ there are mahogany glass holders as well.
    A 20th Century Limo – £13,000 to £17,000 ($16,300 to $21,300, €14,500 to €18,900 or درهم59,900 to درهم78,300) for 1994 Toyota Century limousine at Historics Auctioneers Windsorview Lakes sale on 18th July 2020 – ‘Stretched’ 1994 Toyota Century for sale for less than the price of a brand new Ford Fiesta; the limousine comes with a food heating compartment and privacy curtains favoured by notoriously shy Japanese people even.
    The chauffeur also gets to sit in luxury (unlike in many other limousines). Whilst in original limousines, the chauffeur’s compartment was open, here they get not only a roof, but a leather seat also.
    A 20th Century Limo – £13,000 to £17,000 ($16,300 to $21,300, €14,500 to €18,900 or درهم59,900 to درهم78,300) for 1994 Toyota Century limousine at Historics Auctioneers Windsorview Lakes sale on 18th July 2020 – ‘Stretched’ 1994 Toyota Century for sale for less than the price of a brand new Ford Fiesta; the limousine comes with a food heating compartment and privacy curtains favoured by notoriously shy Japanese people even.
    Technology is the order of the day given this Toyota Century limousine was manufactured in Japan. The car has automatic transmission, cruise control and a fully functional digital dash.
    A 20th Century Limo – £13,000 to £17,000 ($16,300 to $21,300, €14,500 to €18,900 or درهم59,900 to درهم78,300) for 1994 Toyota Century limousine at Historics Auctioneers Windsorview Lakes sale on 18th July 2020 – ‘Stretched’ 1994 Toyota Century for sale for less than the price of a brand new Ford Fiesta; the limousine comes with a food heating compartment and privacy curtains favoured by notoriously shy Japanese people even.
    The soft-closing boot contains the original tyre and jacking equipment.
    A 20th Century Limo – £13,000 to £17,000 ($16,300 to $21,300, €14,500 to €18,900 or درهم59,900 to درهم78,300) for 1994 Toyota Century limousine at Historics Auctioneers Windsorview Lakes sale on 18th July 2020 – ‘Stretched’ 1994 Toyota Century for sale for less than the price of a brand new Ford Fiesta; the limousine comes with a food heating compartment and privacy curtains favoured by notoriously shy Japanese people even.
    The engine is a Lexus 4-litre 5V-EU V8. Of it, Historics Auctioneers remark: “We are informed by the vendor that [it] starts well and pulls strong with the temperature gauge reading a little below half and the automatic transmission shifts are firm and smooth.”
    A 20th Century Limo – £13,000 to £17,000 ($16,300 to $21,300, €14,500 to €18,900 or درهم59,900 to درهم78,300) for 1994 Toyota Century limousine at Historics Auctioneers Windsorview Lakes sale on 18th July 2020 – ‘Stretched’ 1994 Toyota Century for sale for less than the price of a brand new Ford Fiesta; the limousine comes with a food heating compartment and privacy curtains favoured by notoriously shy Japanese people even.
    From the front; this Toyota Century stretched saloon is described as “clean and straight, the chrome trim and bumpers are all intact and gleaming.”
    A 20th Century Limo – £13,000 to £17,000 ($16,300 to $21,300, €14,500 to €18,900 or درهم59,900 to درهم78,300) for 1994 Toyota Century limousine at Historics Auctioneers Windsorview Lakes sale on 18th July 2020 – ‘Stretched’ 1994 Toyota Century for sale for less than the price of a brand new Ford Fiesta; the limousine comes with a food heating compartment and privacy curtains favoured by notoriously shy Japanese people even.
    And from the rear; here is a car that Historics Auctioneers laud as having a look “denoting conservative success.”
    Historics Auctioneers have produced a video tour of the vehicle to market it to potential purchasers during the coronavirus lockdown.
    The 1994 Toyota Century limousine to be auctioned featured in an amusing 19-minute long YouTube video in March this year by vlogger Alfred Munkenbeck and his co-host Ben (surname unknown). They plainly loved the vehicle.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • A Seriously Slow Subaru

    A Seriously Slow Subaru

    Quirky 1970 Subaru 360 police car to be sold at auction; unlike anything Colin McRae drove it’s as slow as a snail

    Advertised quite accurately in the United States as “cheap and ugly” by its importer Malcolm Bricklin, the Subaru 360 was the first car produced by the Japanese transport conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries.

     

    Exempt from normal safety standards because it weighed less than 1,000 pounds, the car was branded “not acceptable” because of safety concerns and lack of power, but now one of the few left – many were “tossed overboard” off boats or “shredded to pieces” due to their unpopularity – is now headed to auction via RM Sotheby’s in May.

     

    A Seriously Slow Subaru – 1970 Subaru 360 police car to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s on 1st to 2nd May 2020 as part of the Elkhart Collection in Elkhart, Indiana – Quirky Subaru police car to be sold at auction; unlike anything Colin McRae drove it’s as slow as a snail.
    The car to be offered by RM Sotheby’s is nothing like the vehicles that Subaru later created in terms of their abilities to drive at speed; in the 1990s the company became renowned for its wins at the World Rally Championships courtesy of the likes of the late Colin McRae MBE – the Subaru 360 would not have even have got off the starting block in such rallies.

    The fibreglass monocque construction car to be sold, an example from 1970, comes in the form of a police car complete with the livery of the New Zealand Ministry of Transport. It has a siren, light bar and included also are bobby hats according to the auctioneers.

     

    They will offer the vehicle as part of their single owner Elkhart Collection sale on 1st and 2nd of May in Elkhart, Indiana and remark: “[It’s] unlikely to catch any speeders.” Like most of the 230 cars to be auctioned, no reserve set.

     

    Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

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    A Seriously Slow Subaru – 1970 Subaru 360 police car to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s on 1st to 2nd May 2020 as part of the Elkhart Collection in Elkhart, Indiana – Quirky Subaru police car to be sold at auction; unlike anything Colin McRae drove it’s as slow as a snail.
    A Seriously Slow Subaru – 1970 Subaru 360 police car to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s on 1st to 2nd May 2020 as part of the Elkhart Collection in Elkhart, Indiana – Quirky Subaru police car to be sold at auction; unlike anything Colin McRae drove it’s as slow as a snail.
    A Seriously Slow Subaru – 1970 Subaru 360 police car to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s on 1st to 2nd May 2020 as part of the Elkhart Collection in Elkhart, Indiana – Quirky Subaru police car to be sold at auction; unlike anything Colin McRae drove it’s as slow as a snail.
    A Seriously Slow Subaru – 1970 Subaru 360 police car to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s on 1st to 2nd May 2020 as part of the Elkhart Collection in Elkhart, Indiana – Quirky Subaru police car to be sold at auction; unlike anything Colin McRae drove it’s as slow as a snail.
    A Seriously Slow Subaru – 1970 Subaru 360 police car to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s on 1st to 2nd May 2020 as part of the Elkhart Collection in Elkhart, Indiana – Quirky Subaru police car to be sold at auction; unlike anything Colin McRae drove it’s as slow as a snail.
    A Seriously Slow Subaru – 1970 Subaru 360 police car to be auctioned by RM Sotheby’s on 1st to 2nd May 2020 as part of the Elkhart Collection in Elkhart, Indiana – Quirky Subaru police car to be sold at auction; unlike anything Colin McRae drove it’s as slow as a snail.
  • Flying a White Elephant

    Flying a White Elephant

    Orange County mega-estate sold last for £14 million on an original asking price of £67 million offered for sale again for £43 million after death of owner

     

    The largest residential estate on the Newport Coast of California is back on the market. One Pelican Hill Road North in Newport Beach – alternatively known as ‘Villa Del Lago’ or ‘Villa of the Lake’ – is a property with an extraordinary past and though listed on construction for £67 million in 2009, eventually sold at a fire auction in 2012 for just £14 million. Its subsequent owner, a Japanese industrialist and publisher, death has now resulted in it being placed for sale again and this time £43 million is sought.

     

    Situated on a plot of 12.47 acres and comprising 17,706 square foot of ‘Italianate-style’ accommodation, One Pelican Hill Road North was last marketed as having 8 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms. On a new, dedicated marketing page for it, it is now being promoted as having, amongst other things, 2 screening rooms, a china/silver room, an “indoor lap pool with fibre optic twinkling star ceiling”, a 14-car garage and a “wine cave”. Outside, there is a “cascading private lake”, stabling, a riding ring, a putting green, an “organic edible garden” and potential for a vineyard.

     

    Jeffrey Janger and Linda Janger of Pace Properties have the listing currently but given another agent, Michael Gosselin of Surterre Properties, previously commented: “Newport Coast has yet to see any homes sell for more than $20 million (£15.5 million)”, it’ll be likely there’ll be a few price cuts yet.

     

    One Pelican Hill Road North – The Extraordinary Numbers

     

    2003 – Land purchased for $3.2 million by Monarch Estates. Subsequent construction loans total $27.3 million.

     

    February 2009 – Completed house placed for sale for sale for $87 million by a realtor named John McMonigle, the managing member of a partnership developing the project.

     

    May 2010 – Price reduced to $57 million.

     

    January 2011 – Three offers received, all were below $37 million and not accepted.

     

    April 2012 – Offered at a court-sanctioned auction with “no opening bid sought”. Sold for $18.5 million to Toshiaki Ogasawara, an industrialist and publisher of the Japan Times.

     

    January 2017 – Placed on the market after Ogasawara’s death in December 2016 for $55 million.

     

    Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties. Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties. Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties. Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties. Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties. Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties. Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties. Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.Flying a White Elephant – One Pelican Hill Road North, Newport Coast, Newport Beach, Orange County, California, CA 92657 – Once listed at £67 million and sold for £14 million. Now for sale again for £43 million after death of owner Toshiaki Ogasawara – Offered by Pace Properties.

  • Dining without Toto

    Dining without Toto

    Former Toto’s site in Lennox Gardens Mews, Knightsbridge to become a “contemporary Japanese” restaurant named Dinings

     

    In April 2014, just off Walton Street in Knightsbridge’s Lennox Gardens Mews, Toto’s prepared to reopen after a £3 million makeover at the behest of a new Indian owner. In spite of serving the most delicious Italian food, its slightly off-piste location proved difficult and it again closed in early 2016. Now, after remaining empty for some time, this former artist’s studio is set to become a “contemporary Japanese restaurant”.

     

    First mentioned by the lifestyle app Urbanologie earlier this week, Dinings, the Japanese tapas and sushi restaurant that has taken the site, already has an outpost in Marylebone and describes its offering as “a new style of Izakaya; Japanese tapas which combines traditional Japanese with modern European cuisine”.

     

    The restaurant is due to open on 16th May and will feature two dining bars and a ten cover sushi counter. Its interior has been designed by David d’Almada of Sagrada – a man whose previous commissions include The Arts Club on Dover Street and Sartoria on Savile Row – and, in spite of many recent closures in the area due to soaring rates and rents, we wish the new operators all the best in their venture.

     

    Image depicts the restaurant and garden as it was in 2014.

     

  • Prince Naseem’s Subaru from Hell

    Prince Naseem’s Subaru from Hell

    Rare 1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi once owned by boxer Prince Naseem Hamed goes to auction (more…)

  • Lord Mostyn

    Lord Mostyn

    Lord Mostyn, Greg Mostyn, 7th Baron MostynThe 7th Baron Mostyn was born in 1984 and was said to be worth some £50 million ($85 million) by The Sunday Times in 2014. (more…)

  • Picture of the Week: A taxi for Kermit

    Picture of the Week: A taxi for Kermit

    Image of a frog hitching a lift on the back of a snail is a reminder that sometimes it isn’t a bad thing to take things easy (more…)