Described as “architecturally unsurpassed and with a lavish interior” and an “ambassadorial style Smallbone kitchen” by selling agents Jackson-Stops, this vast English attempt at a ‘McMansion’ is quite frankly one of the most ludicrously laughable houses we’ve ever featured.
Standing on a plot of just under 11 acres where a probably perfectly charming yet subsequently bastardised residence was constructed in 1864, the ‘hall’ itself extends to about 20,000 square foot. It includes 5 reception rooms, a cinema room, a games room, a music room, an orangery and 8 en-suite bedrooms.
In addition, there is a ‘leisure suite’ with an indoor swimming pool and gym, a staff flat, a 3-bedroom lodge, a 620 square foot ‘entertaining pavilion,’ garaging for 28 cars, a helicopter hangar, kenneling and stabling.
Plainly desperate to offload this gargantuan white elephant, Jackson-Stops declare: “Our clients are looking to downsize and would consider part exchange with either another residential property or commercial property, or possibly another asset class (for instance, prestige and collectible cars, art, etc.).”
An English McMansion Monstrosity – Amateur golf champion, BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year 1980 and tax fraudster Duncan Evans owned Deansgreen Hall from 2002 to 2003.The entrance hall to Deansgreen Hall harks back to the past and currently features coats of armour and a model of an old sailing ship.The dining room of the McMansion is equally “historic” in its inspiration, yet the white gloss paint scheme simply just doesn’t work.Plainly aimed at a sale to a footballer, the cinema room – complete with its naff sparkling light ceiling and purple panels – could have been designed by the “prosecco gagging” disaster that is Dawn Ward.
The Names & Numbers – Deansgreen Hall, Crouchley Lane, Lymm, Cheshire, WA13 0TL, United Kingdom
March 2021 – For sale for £6 million ($8.4 million, €7 million or درهم8 million) with Jackson-Stops. Listed first with the firm circa December 2019.
June 2018 – A former policeman named Roderick Bond, whose current correspondence address for his active company Ravenstone UK Ltd., was jailed for 2 years and 8 months as a result of his involvement in a “Formula 1 film tax scam” in June 2018.
2006 – Purchased by the current owner and “remodeled and presented in its current condition.”
2002 – Sold to BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year 1980 Duncan Evans for £1.2 million ($1.7 million, €1.4 million or درهم2 million) having reverted to private ownership in the 1990s.
1970s – Used as “commercial offices” by Fairclough Homes.
1864 – Original house built on the site. What remains of that, God only knows.
In November 2020, we featured what we termed “the world’s worst McMansion,” a £1.65 million horror in New Jersey. In Deansgreen Hall, we’ve definitely found something that could actually come a very close second.The insipid white theme continues in this vaulted sitting room of the English McMansion.A spokesperson for selling agents Jackson-Stops remarked of the McMansion’s kitchen: “The centre of the house has an ambassadorial-sized Smallbone fitted kitchen/breakfast room with large central island (with seating for 10) with sofas at one end.” Any serious chef would respond: “What a bloody impractical layout.” The McMansion’s indoor swimming pool, surprisingly, seems relatively tame in its decorative styling.A games room in “regal red.”It’s back to the medieval mixed up with nautical heritage theme on the McMansion’s landing – complete with a chess board that looks like it came from Dungeons & Dragons.The ‘master bedroom’ has an especially ghastly fireplace surround and it’s got some shagpile carpets that Jimmy Savile would have loved to have rolled around on.The nautical touch continues in this bathroom area where also included is a tub where Prince Andrew might feel at home.The rear elevation of the McMansion is frankly nothing but a hotchpotch and a design disaster. How many styles did the architect wish to combine?A set of flags stands patriotically at the front of the building along with a very necessary pair of dragon statues.Looking outwards, there’s a hint of classicism to enjoy.The garage block and ‘lodge house’ of the McMansion resemble something found on a Barratt housing estate.Yet more patriotism on display at England’s naffest McMansion. Nigel Farage and Ann Widdecombe would go potty. There are two lakes that are supposedly “stuffed” with carp. Watch out, Eddie Grundy of BBC Radio 4’s ‘The Archers’ will be round to do a bit of poaching.The entrance gates to the McMansion complete with a set of cobbles that wouldn’t look out of place on ITV1’s ‘Coronation Street.’
Welsh ‘mock castle’ once occupied by notorious spendaholic Lady Docker for sale for £2.85m; the Dockers were turfed out in 1956 after it was discovered they’d lavished the equivalent of £1.3m today of company money on the place without permission
Alleged inspiration for ‘The Pink Panther’ film, Norah Docker (AKA ‘Naughty Norah’ and ‘Lady Muck’) described herself as “an artificial blonde, among thousands of artificial blondes searching for stardom.”
Of her second husband, Sir William Collins, chairman of Fortnum & Mason, she announced: “He was 69, I married him for his money.”
Lady Docker used her third husband Sir Bernard Docker’s company money to create Daimler cars upholstered in zebra hide – “because mink is too hot to sit on.”
The couple also plundered the company to buy Glandyfi Castle in Wales and spent an equivalent of £1.3 million of today’s money on it.
The Grade II listed, early 19th century ‘mock castle’ became a small hotel and is currently for sale for £2.85 million.
The best known ‘occupants’ of Glandyfi Castle, an early 19th century ‘mock castle’ eleven miles from Aberystwyth in Mid Wales, were Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) managing director and Daimler chairman Sir Bernard Docker and his notoriously decadent wife, ‘Naughty Norah.’
The Dockers, a “spendaholic” pair said to be the inspiration for the 1963 film The Pink Panther, lavished the equivalent of £1.3 million of today’s money buying and altering the castle in 1949 – the very same year they were robbed of £1.9 million of diamonds in today’s money at their Mayfair home also.
Sir Bernard and Lady Docker lived at Glandyfi until 1956 when it was discovered that they’d plundered the company through the presentation of vast expenses. Aside from the castle, Lady Docker had lavishly created five show ‘Docker Daimler’ show cars covered in gold and upholstered with amongst other things zebra hide. When asked why she had done such, she coyly responded: “Because mink is too hot to sit on,” but subsequently after these and the castle had to be returned, the couple bought a Bentley Continental as revenge.
Now, today, Grade II listed Glandyfi (pronounced ‘Glandovey’) is for sale for what seems like a comparatively reasonable sum of £2.85 million, but it now comes minus the “glitzy” additions made by the Dockers. The Regency Gothic style stone and slate main building extends to 8,280 square feet over four floors and provides 5 reception rooms, 10 double bedrooms and 10 bathrooms and in addition comes with a courtyard with guest accommodation, a 1 bedroom lodge and a range of disused barns.
Externally, aside from a mature landscaped garden, the 31.43 acre plot includes a walled former kitchen garden, grazing land and woodland, but what is most impressive is the setting of what James Delingpole termed “not so much an austere, toff’s castle as a theme-park recreation of one” with “undoubtedly the most magnificent view from any house I know in Britain.”
Speaking to Anne Ashworth of The Times last time the allegedly haunted castle was placed for sale in July 2019, current selling agent Belinda Hutchinson-Smith of Strutt & Parker – whom also was involved in marketing the property to the current owners, the Holmes family, back in 2007 when she worked at Savills – stated:
“It was surreal [in 2007]. We were in a time warp. Almost nothing had changed since the Dockers moved out in the 1950s. There were 1950s newspapers strewn across the dining tables and in the bedrooms, books were left open on bedside tables. But, at the same time, the house had a magical feeling.”
In comments to the BBC in September 2014, when the former Docker one-of-one 1954 Daimler ‘Stardust’ was sold at auction for £110,000, Glandyfi’s current owner Maureen Holmes remarked:
“[Sir Bernard and Lady Docker] were clearly living the dream. From the red and white marble fireplaces to a path through the woods made entirely of upturned gin bottles, the castle oozed excess.”
“The older people around here who remember them say they were unbelievable, almost mythical figures. At a time when everyone else was still on rationing, the Dockers were thundering through the lanes in limousines made out of gold and silver.”
“The irony is, that whilst the locals felt the Dockers’ perceived wealth meant that they were utterly removed from the community, in actual fact they probably had no more money than anyone else in the area.”
Lady Docker pictured in one of the opulent ‘Docker Daimler’ show cars she commissioned her husband’s company to create; the most famous of the examples was known as the ‘Golden Zebra’ – this 1955 Daimler two-door coupé based on the DK400 chassis featured metal trim pieces plated in gold instead of chrome, an ivory dashboard and zebra-skin upholstery.Thrice married Lady Docker (1906 – 1983), born Norah Turner and also variously Norah Callingham and Lady Collins, was born in Derby and began her career as a hostess at the Café de Paris in London. In Lancashire, her name is still used as a derogatory substitute for ‘Lady Muck’ and in spite of her once extravagant lifestyle, she died in poverty at the not so chi-chi Great Western Royal Hotel in Praed Street, Paddington, London. In one of her last interviews, Lady Docker remarked: “I have always had the persistence to march on. I will continue to do that, until the day I die.” In spite of her reduced circumstances, she is said to have “retained a remarkable joie-de-vivre, downing glasses of pink champagne to the last.”English poet Thomas Love Peacock got married at Glandyfi Castle in 1820; Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan stayed at the property whilst filming ‘Springwatch’ in 2012.
The Names & Numbers – Glandyfi Castle, Glandyfi, near Machynlleth, Ceredigion, Powys, Mid Wales, SY20 8SS, United Kingdom
October 2020 – Relaunched for sale for £2.85 million ($3.69 million, €3.15 million or درهم15.54 million) through Strutt & Parker.
June 2019 – Listed for sale for £2.85 million ($3.69 million, €3.15 million or درهم15.54 million) through Strutt & Parker with 31.43 acres of land.
2012 – Whilst filming the BBC’s Springwatch, presenters Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan stayed at the castle. Strachan wrote in the guest book: “I couldn’t imagine a nicer, more comfortable place to stay… I felt like a princess in my amazing room.” Packham added: “Staying at the castle has been a total treat. Hospitality, fine food, wonderful environment, views to die for and history.”
May 2007 – Offered for sale for £1.25 million ($1.62 million, €1.38 million or درهم5.94 million) through Savills with 43 acres of land on behalf of the late owner, one Mrs Betty Piper (1914 – 2006).
January 1964 – The building is given a Grade II listing, reference 9874, and is described as “the only example [of a] Georgian country house in picturesque castellated style in the county.”
1956 – Following discovery of the Dockers’ “profligacy” and their removal from BSA, the castle is sold.
1949 – Purchased by Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited for the use of Sir Bernard and Lady Docker for the sum of £12,000 or the equivalent of £427,000 ($552,000, €471,000 or درهم2 million) today. The company then lavished £25,000 or the equivalent of £890,000 ($1.2 million, €983,000 or درهم4.2 million) today on “opulent renovations of the home.”
1906 – Following the death of Charles Jeffreys, the castle and its lands pass out of the hands of that family after 114 years.
1820 – English poet Thomas Love Peacock (1785 – 1866) married Jane Griffith (also known as Jane Gryffydh) at the castle. His fellow poet and friend Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 – 1822) referenced Peacock’s wife “the milk-white Snowdonian Antelope.”
Early 19th century – Built to the designs of an unknown architect for George Jeffreys, High Sheriff of Cardiganshire in 1819 on an estate acquired by his great uncle, Edward, in 1792.
Some of Lady Docker’s Notable Remarks
Of herself, as she moved to London to seek fame and fortune:
“An artificial blonde, among thousands of artificial blondes searching for stardom.”
Of her vision in life:
“[To] bring some happiness back to a world left hollow by the horror of two world wars… We bring glamour and happiness into drab lives. The working class loves everything I do.”
Of her father:
“A self-made man.”
Of her male “targets” and those she viewed to be husband material:
“Through my life, I set both my sights and my price high.”
Of her chairman of Fortnum & Mason second husband, Sir William Collins:
“He was 69, I married him for his money.”
Of her third husband, Sir Bernard Docker:
“I deliberately trapped him.”
When asked to justify why she covered the seats of a 1955 Daimler in zebra skin:
“Zebra, because mink is too hot to sit on.”
On the loss of the ‘Docker Daimlers’ when they were taken away from her and her husband:
“It’s not the loss of the gold cars that makes me feel like this… And weren’t they fun? They were like my children… No, it’s that lovely party I was planning for 25,000 of the company’s workers for my 50th birthday. A tiptop affair – and now it’s all off. How could they do this to [Sir Bernard] after 17 years? Why, he’s such a hard worker that he even had a direct line to the firm from our yacht.”
Of Prince Rainier of Monaco after her son was banned from his son’s christening and she decided to burn the Monacan flag:
“I’m at war with Rainier.”
To the captain of the liner the Queen Elizabeth:
“This ship is being run by a bloody Communist! Don’t you dare touch me, you bloody Communist!”
Of some miners she invited on her yacht:
“The dear boys, I just loved them! It proved conclusively to me that the social barrier only exists in the mind.”
Of a Monaco casino employee she had allegedly assaulted:
“It was a good sock I gave that man, and he deserved it.”
Of the people of Jersey:
“They are the most frightfully boring, dreadful people that have ever been born.”
PICTURED TOP: Glandyfi Castle and the estuary beyond; Sir Bernard and Lady Docker at the castle.
Grand Grade I listed Shropshire mansion Kinlet Hall for sale after coronavirus forced the closure of its wedding venue and summer school
Striking Grade I listed Palladian mansion in Shropshire for sale.
Kinlet Hall is priced at £3.5 million or just £104 per square foot.
The house has until recently been a school and wedding venue, but this usage has been stopped because of the coronavirus lockdown.
A cricket ground included with the property was lauded as one of “Britain’s most scenic” by ‘The Telegraph’ whilst HRH Princess Anne has competed in horse trials in the parkland.
Coinciding with the partial relaxation of the coronavirus lockdown, the ‘trophy country house’ market seems to be revving up with the commencement of marketing of several historically significant residences.
Significantly cheaper at £3.5 million or £104 per square foot and in far better condition than 33,406 square foot Lilford Hall, the 33,609 square foot Grade I listed Kinlet Hall comes with less land – 102 acres as opposed to 321 acres. It is further from London, which may limit its appeal to wealthy city sorts, but given it has been used as both a school and wedding venue until lockdown, it is in actual “working condition” as opposed to the perilously falling down state that Lilford is sadly currently in. That is, indeed, a major plus.
Featuring a seven-bayed central block of three storeys plus cellars, the hall is flanked by two two-storey wings. Presently configured to provide 5 reception rooms and 15 bedrooms, there are classrooms, gyms and flats also. Surprisingly, unlike with many residential to school conversions of mansions in the 1940s where ugly modern extensions were distastefully tacked on, damage to the integrity of the original structure has been minimal.
In addition, to a 5-bedroom detached house named ‘The Old House’ and a range of farm buildings within the grounds, there is a cricket pavilion and a cricket pitch. The Telegraph named its runner-up for “Britain’s most scenic cricket ground” in 2008 and interestingly amongst the many established plant and tree species in the grounds is a Wellingtonia that allegedly came as a seed in a matchbox from the Americas.
Of Kinlet Hall, Tony Morris-Eyton of Savills comments: “[This is] an exquisitely beautiful Palladian country house, formerly a prep school, awaiting its next chapter with enormous potential as either a private home or [for] other uses.”
The village of Kinlet is situated on the northern edge of the Wyre Forest about 18 miles from Telford and 23 miles from Birmingham.
Design Maestros – Villa Pisani, Montagnana (top left) by Andrea Palladio (lower centre) inspired both Francis Smith of Warwick (lower left) in his designs for Kinlet Hall and William Buckland (lower right) in his creation of the Hammond-Harwood House (top right).
The Names & Numbers – Kinlet Hall, Kinlet, Bewdley, Shropshire, DY12 3AY, United Kingdom
June 2020 – Put up for sale for £3.5 million ($4.4 million, €3.9 million or درهم16.3 million) through agents Savills. Orchard Lodge, a 4-bedroom cottage with an acre of paddock, is available by separate negotiation.
July 2017 – Moffats School closes for the final time citing financial pressures. Of the decision, school chairman Julian Engleheart told the Shropshire Star: “We have always been a small school by choice, maintaining the family ethos of our founders. However, the current financial climate is putting enormous pressure on small schools and we have decided that it would be unwise to commit to a new year this September. However, we will continue to run educational activities in our lovely house and grounds, which provide such a wonderful environment for learning.”
1946 – Moffats School (founded in 1934 by the children’s writer Natalie Engleheart in a Hertfordshire house called Moffats) is relocated to Kinlet Hall.
1939 – 1945 – The house was temporarily home to a school for the blind; the parkland became a camp for the US army as part of their preparations for the Normandy Landings.
1827 – Ballroom added to the designs of Sir Jeffrey Wyattville (1766 – 1840) trained architect Edward Haycock (1790 – 1870) for William Baldwyn Childe. He died three years before it was completed and “this is the only significant part of the house not dating from 1729.”
1727 – 1729 – Kinlet Hall is “built in a classic early Georgian style with the symmetry and grand elevations synonymous with [the English master-builder and architect] Francis Smith of Warwick (1672 – 1738)” for Tory politician William Lacon Childe (1700 – 1757) close to the site of an older Tudor manor house.
Other notable works by Smith and his family include Calke Abbey, Fawsley Hall, Kirtlington House, Ombersley Court and Stoneleigh Abbey. His design was said to be inspired by Andrea Palladio’s (1508 – 1580) Villa Pisani at Montagnana – which also reportedly was the influence for the ‘Anglo-Palladian’ Hammond-Harwood House by the English architect William Buckland (1734 – 1774) in Annapolois, Maryland, USA.
During construction, the old village was removed to “improve” the setting. Only the original church, St. John the Baptist, which contains monuments dating to the 1580s, was left as a “remnant.” It was restored subsequently in 1892.
“Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
Designed by Robert Adam’s rival James Wyatt in 1773 and “clothed in the Italiante manner” in 1859 to 1860, “grand and beautifully executed” Abbey Leix in County Laois is considered “one of Ireland’s most important country houses.”
Placed for sale last June for £17.8 million ($22 million, €20 million or درهم81 million), the main house on the 1,120-acre estate, Abbey Leix House – also known as ‘Abbeyleix House’ and’ Abbeyleix Castle’) – is vast and includes 26,910 square foot of accommodation. Aside from 9 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, the classical building has amongst other things 3 major rooms on the park front, a deep hall, a music room with original Wyatt plasterwork, a library and a conservatory.
Sir David Davies (born in Wales in 1940) at Abbey Leix.
Renovated and remodeled since being sold to the Welsh born, twice divorced, father of five Sir David Davies in 1995 by its previous owners of the 250 years, the de Vesci family, Abbey Leix is described by agents Sotheby’s International Realty as a “21st century family home with an appropriate balance between comfort and informality on the one hand and grandeur for entertaining and the display of art on the other.”
As well as Ireland’s oldest oak tree being within the grounds, the property also includes some of the “last surviving remnants of Ireland’s ancient woodland” and frontage to the River Nore. There is also a stud farm with 24 loose boxes, a separate farmyard with many outbuildings and 10 lodges and cottages on the estate. The present owner’s private airstrip was created because he wanted to be able to “fly from wherever in the UK straight into the estate.”
Of why he is selling Abbey Leix, “superstar banker and businessman” Sir David – who has variously held senior posts at Chase Manhattan Bank, Hill Samuel, MEPC, Hardine Matheson, Hong Kong Land, Johnson Matthey and EFG Private Bank – told the Business Post:
“I’m organising my whole estate for the benefit of my children… Although the children all love this place very much, none of them wanted to take it on… The typical refrain is ‘Dad, this is your project,’ and I’m lucky enough to have Killoughter House, the home of my childhood, to return to.”
Though born in Wales, Sir David – whom was knighted “for his work as chairman of the Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment” in 1999 – has maintained a home in Ireland throughout his adulthood. He “proudly” became an Irish citizen after Brexit and described “inept” Theresa May as “going from one catastrophe to that leads to the next catastrophe.” Of her successor, the opera loving son of a South Wales steel mill owner went further and recently remarked: “I have no time for Boris Johnson: he doesn’t do his homework, and can’t be trusted.”
6,000 acre Scottish estate that offers the perfect opportunity to bag a ‘Macnab’ for sale for less than a price of a poky Knightsbridge flat
John Buchan’s 1925 novel John Macnab is a must read and centres on three successful but bored friends – lawyer Sir Edward Leithen, Conservative politician John Palliser-Yeates MP and former adventurer the Earl of Lamancha – who decide to turn to poaching. Under the collective name of ‘John Macnab,’ they set themselves the challenge of within 48 hours they will remove a salmon or stag, undetected, and present it at the door of the three estates they warn.
Revisited more recently by Robert Harris in his recently published second ‘Richard Hannay series’ novel, Castle Macnab, an opportunity for anyone wishing to partake in the The Field magazine’s modern day ‘Macnab Challenge’ has arisen as a result of the 5,885 acre Achnabourin Estate, near Bettyhill in Sutherland coming to the market.
Offered for just £995,000 ($1.3 million, €1.1 million or درهم4.7 million) – the price of a poky 580 square foot one bedroom flat in Knightsbridge – Achnabourin is split between coastal dunes, pastureland, semi-ancient natural woodland and heather clad hills.
As well as five bedroom lodge and a two bedroom housekeeper’s cottage, the estate provides stalking, grouse, woodcock and duck shooting potential and wild brown trout fishing on thirteen lochs. Salmon fishing is possible through a local permit also and selling agents Goldmsith & Co. describe the property as “a wonderfully diverse coastal estate offering mixed sport and fantastic views… A true gem.”
519 acre Gloucestershire estate complete with “challenging” high bird estate goes on sale for £16.5 million in spite of needing a further £1.5 million spent on it
A ringfenced Cotswolds estate has gone on sale for £16.5 million ($21.6 million, €18.8 million or درهم78.9 million) in spite of being centred around an eight bedroom house that is basically nothing other than shell.
Altered and extended in the 1920s when part of the Dent-Brocklehurst family’s Sudeley Castle estate, Sudeley Lodge was supposedly visited by George III in 1788 and needs a further £1.5 million ($1.9 million, €1.7 million or درهم7.1 million) spent completing its renovation.
Offered for sale due to the current owner having fallen ill and thus become able to complete its refurbishment, this 10,781 square foot Grade II listed former hunting lodge is described by selling agents Knight Frank as “an enchanting sporting estate.” It comes with a farmhouse, keeper’s cottage, two cottages and various traditional and modern farmbuildings.
What makes the property most attractive, however, is the estate’s “challenging” high bird pheasant and partridge shoot. Shot for 13 days per season currently, bags average 150 to 300 birds a day and of it, in September 2012, Country Life remarked: “I know of one syndicate in particular that embodies all the qualities one could ask for in a syndicate day… Studeley Lodge… A beautiful high-bird shooting and farming estate.”
Shaped like a seashell and of a style akin to something out of either The Hobbit or Teletubbies, ‘The Seashell’ was built to make the most of the views it enjoys over Loch Sunart and the Morvern Hills beyond.
The wood clad building is primarily formed from natural materials, including honed tree trunks from local forests, and an eco friendly turfed roof dotted with wild flowers. Accommodation consists of an open plan living-sleeping-dining-kitchen with a double spa bath, a separate wet room, cloakroom and utility room.
Aside from 0.2 acres of surrounding land, The Seashell is available either with or without an additional 0.5 acre plot that that comes with full planning permission for an additional dwelling.
A larger adjoining 3-bedroom contemporary house on a 1.19 acre plot, Aspen Lodge, is also for sale. Offers over £450,000 ($596,000, €506,000 or درهم2.2 million) are sought for it and a closing date of Tuesday 21st November at 12 noon has been set for offers for both properties by agents the Galbraith Group.
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Detached Grade II listed Georgian cottage in London, E13 for sale for just £180,000
What could be one of London’s cheapest detached Georgian houses is headed to auction.
Built in 1836 as the gate lodge to a now demolished mansion known as Bedfords and later The Willows, Grade II listed Willow Lodge in Willow Grove, Plaistow, E13 was itself originally thatched but now has a slate roof.
The rendered and whitewashed single storey freehold cottage, which provides one reception room, a kitchen, one bedroom and a bathroom, looks idyllic in close-up pictures but actually, sadly, adjoins a rather grim looking 1950s/1960s housing estate to the rear and a playground named the Valetta Grove open space to the front. It comes with a private rear garden and is described as “in need of modernisation.”
Plaistow London Underground Station is just two minutes away and a guide price of £180,000+ ($237,000+, €198,000+ or درهم871,000+) has been set by auctioneers Savills. They will sell the property on Monday 25th September at the Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, W1.
Classically proportioned Wiltshire village house for sale; it’ll supposedly appeal to “your typical wealthy Briton” (whatever that might mean)
Primarily built between 1620 and 1760, a classically proportioned four-storey house in the Wiltshire village of Seend has been placed on the market this week for £4.5 million ($5.8 million, €5.2 million or درهم21.2 million).
Of ashlar and rendered stone construction and built for Mary, Dowager Duchess of Somerset in 1760, Seend Park (or ‘Seend Green House’ as it was previously known) was owned by the now retired judge Sir Mathew Thorpe from 1971 and since 1990 by its current owners. It has been Grade II listed since 1962 and was somewhat unkindly described by the architectural scholar Sir Nikolaus Pevsner CBE FBA (1902 – 1983) as: “So absolutely plain… that it looks like an institution”.
The main house, which has been modernised in recent years and extends to 11,357 square foot, includes 4 reception rooms, 11 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. It has many original features and in addition there is a 4 bedroom, 1,994 square foot lodge and a 3,630 square foot coach house within the property’s 26.4-acre grounds.
Of the pint-sized mini estate, James Mackenzie of selling agents Strutt & Parker told The Times: “Architecturally, the house will attract your typical wealthy Briton”.
Norfolk manor house owned by anti-Brexit Conservative politician Lord Prior of Brampton for sale for £3 million
David Prior – now The Rt. Hon. The Lord Prior of Brampton – undoubtedly was a decent and able Member of Parliament. Educated at Charterhouse and Cambridge, he became first an investment banker with Lehman Brothers and Lazard and then subsequently represented the Norfolk North constituency between 1997 and 2001.
A Conservative but one with a belief that “the role of the market is hugely limited in health and social care” and that Brexit will be “a terrible mistake”, 62-year old Mr Prior – whose father was the “Tory wet” Jim, later The Rt. Hon. The Lord Prior PC (1927 – 2016) – acquired Swannington Manor, ten miles north of Norwich in 1990 with his wife and has recently put it up for sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.5 million or درهم13.8 million).
Standing in 96.5 acres, Swannington Manor is a Grade II listed red brick built house that dates to around 1700. It retains many period features, extends to 7,519 square foot and includes 5 reception rooms, 8 bedrooms and a self-contained annexe. A 3 bedroom lodge – let on a protected tenancy – stands beside the property’s entrance gates and aside from various outbuildings, barns and stores, there are formal and informal gardens, a kitchen garden, a heated outdoor swimming pool and a hard tennis court.
Primarily to the south and west of the house are grazing meadows, water meadows, a trout stream, a series of ponds and areas of woodland. These have been maintained with conservation and duck flighting in mind and form what the selling agents Savills describe as “a small sporting estate”.
Surprisingly, given his comments about Britain leaving the EU, Lord Prior of Brampton was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 21st December 2016.
