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.
March 29, 2020
by Matthew Steeples
Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum In March 2015, The Steeple Times featured a Texan mansion described by some as “more iconic than Southfork.” Back then this “replica of George Washington’s Virginia estate” had been for … Continue reading “A Bowled Down Price”
by Matthew Steeples
New Haven, Connecticut born Sarah Winchester became one of the wealthiest women in the world after the death of her Winchester Repeating Arms Company heir husband, William Wirt Winchester, in 1882. With a 50% holding in the rifle making manufacturer plus a legacy equivalent to £426 million ($529 million) in 2020, this true eccentric – … Continue reading “Sarah Winchester (née Pardee, 1839 – 1922)”
March 23, 2020
by Matthew Steeples
Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum Featured as the main article in Country Life just 15 days after the start of the Second World War on 16th September 1939, Hamstone House … Continue reading “A Poirot Curve”
February 14, 2020
by Matthew Steeples
Self-entitled drug flogging billionaires Mortimer and Jacqueline Sackler were rightly roasted by ‘Guest of a Guest’ for their (latest) bleating email Mortimer D. A. Sackler is a spoilt berk from a family who have galleries named after them. This drip and his ghastly oik of a wife, Jacqueline, hang out with royalty and are part … Continue reading “Morons of the Moment – Mortimer and Jacqueline Sackler”
February 7, 2020
by Matthew Steeples
Michael Barrymore’s bizarre rant prior to Channel 4’s documentary about the death of Stuart Lubbock proves him a lying maniac; the crazed nutjob has now also blocked ‘The Steeple Times’ During the screening of Barrymore: The Body in the Pool, the television personality India Willoughby announced to her 38,000 followers on Twitter: “I find Michael … Continue reading “The Baloney of Barrymore”
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”
January 7, 2019
by Matthew Steeples
Lady ‘Call Me Victoria’ Borwick makes a fool of herself on the BBC’s ‘Big Question’ as it is revealed that the MP who managed to lose the safe seat of Kensington is ludicrously seeking a comeback Yesterday morning, Lady ‘Call Me Victoria’ Borwick nodded her head on the BBC’s The Big Questions as another … Continue reading “Blessed Borwick’s Back”
August 16, 2018
by Matthew Steeples
Highest asking price ever for a property on Lake Tahoe is sought for a compound complete with two glass funiculars; it could be yours for £60 million Situated on 5.14 acres and having 525-foot of frontage to Lake Tahoe in Nevada, a 16,232 square foot mansion complete has gone on sale. Built between … Continue reading “A Funicular Feat”
August 7, 2018
by Matthew Steeples
Grade I listed Jacobean prodigy house in Hampshire for sale for £10 million; it allegedly is haunted by 14 ghosts and comes with planning permission to create a mammoth 57,000 square foot single residential home In April 2017, The Steeple Times featured the sale of a vast New Jersey mansion named Darlington. Offered for … Continue reading “A Magnificent Mammoth Mansion”
February 25, 2018
by Matthew Steeples
Image of Theresa May’s ‘Brexit war cabinet’ illustrates how divided her government truly is Thursday’s ‘Brexit war cabinet’ was supposedly a bit of a bloodbath but now – in a picture published in the Mail Online late on Saturday –the frostiness between those in her pathetic orbit was made truly clear. Photographed in … Continue reading “Picture of the Week – A Frosty Cabinet”
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 19, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Former Wiltshire home of ‘Lord of the Flies’ author Sir William Golding for sale for 562% more than he sold it for in 1985 The one-time home of the author and Nobel Prize in Literature and Booker Prize winner Sir William Golding, CBE (1911 – 1993) has gone on sale for £795,000 ($1.1 million, … Continue reading “Lord of the Thatch”
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”
November 11, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
“One of Britain’s finest 20th-century country houses” has been placed for sale for £20 million; it comes with 530 acres and was built by the late businessman Sebastian de Ferranti in the 1980s One could imagine being in the early 18th century or in Italy even on first taking a look at the Palladian … Continue reading “A Modern Beauty”
October 24, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Dilapidated Grade II* listed South Yorkshire Georgian mansion for sale for a sum 25% lower than it was marketed for in 2014 but 185% more than it was valued at in 2016 Empty country houses become liabilities and in the case of Hickleton Hall in South Yorkshire, the result of years of neglect will … Continue reading “A Messed-Up Mansion”
September 25, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Knightsbridge townhouse for sale for sum 11% lower than it sold for in 2011; it comes with a rather large hole in the garden that has been described as “almost as deep as the Führerbunker” To the poet and wit Henry Luttrell (1765 – 1861) “eating pâté de foie gras to the sound of trumpets” … Continue reading “A Bastard of a Basement”
September 17, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Former San Francisco home of actor Nicolas Cage for sale for £11.4 million or 660% more than it sold for in 1996 Thrice married and an Academy Award winning actor Nicolas Cage is also known for lavish spending. Aside from once buying twenty-two cars in one hit – including a “squadron” of nine Rolls-Royce … Continue reading “A Caged Crib”
September 11, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
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 … Continue reading “A Cheap Cottage”
by Matthew Steeples
Part refurbished Irish Georgian stately home for sale for just £136,000; it was originally built by the Fry family What could be one of the cheapest Georgian stately homes ever has been placed on the market for just £136,000 ($179,000, €150,000 or درهم658,000). Three storey, five bay, mid-18th century Frybrook House in the … Continue reading “A Cheap Mansion”
September 9, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Kitsch San Francisco mansion turned private museum that houses everything from Hitler memorabilia to a portrait turned down by Prince Philip for sale for £9.5 million The collection of a former advertising executive turned San Francisco based bon viveur named Robert C. Pritikin – better known as ‘Bob’ to his friends – includes everything … Continue reading “Pritikin’s Folly”
August 27, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Long Island mansion with links to ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘The Big Short’ for sale for £13.1 million (or 152% more than it sold for in 2011) F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896 – 1940) set his ‘Roaring Twenties’ classic The Great Gatsby in the fictional locations of East Egg and West Egg on Long Island … Continue reading “Big Shorting Gatsby”
August 21, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Grade I listed house in Richmond Old Deer Park, Surrey that is owned by the Crown Estate and was originally a royal observatory to rent for £450,000 per year A Grade I listed house set on 6.6 acres of World Heritage Site and Grade I listed land in the middle of the Royal Mid-Surrey … Continue reading “Rent Like A Royal”
August 18, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
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 … Continue reading “Flying a White Elephant”
August 17, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Scottish castle on sale for just £130,000; it comes without a roof and is located near the Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire A castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland is for sale for £130,000 ($168,000, €143,000 or درهم616,000) in spite of being nothing other than a roofless shell. Reduced in price from £150,000 ($193,000, … Continue reading “A Castle for £130k”
July 30, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Billionaire founder of Netscape has failed to sell his Palm Beach mansion in a year; it remains on the market for £105 million (or 754% more than he paid for it in 1999) Four times married, a father of four and a collector of rather large gin palaces, Texan James H. Clark founded Netscape … Continue reading “Palming Off Il Palmetto”
July 26, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Designer Reed Krakoff slashes the price of his Hamptons mansion; Jackie Kennedy Onassis spent her childhood summers there A Hamptons mansion named Lasata – meaning: “Place of Peace” in Native American – where Jacqueline Bouvier (later Kennedy and later Kennedy Onassis) spent her childhood summers has recently been reduced in price from £41.5 million … Continue reading “A Peaceful Reduction”
July 18, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
San Francisco landmark mock Tudor house with stunning ‘Great Room’ for sale for £12.2 million – in spite of no longer having its garden Built in 1909 as a wedding gift from Morris Meyerfeld, a partner in San Francisco’s Orepheum Theatre, to his then 19-year old daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband Leon Roos – … Continue reading “Great Minus Garden”
July 6, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Small country house in Derbyshire that has been in the same family since it was built for sale for £2.5 million Owned by the same family since it was built in 1840 and occupied by them since the 1930s, Nether Hall at Hathersage in Derbyshire is to be sold for the first time ever … Continue reading “One Owner From 1840”
July 4, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Former Liberal Democrats headquarters for sale for somewhat reduced but still anything but liberal sum of £36 million (to include a Rodin) A building that was originally the London office of the North Eastern Railway Company and the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party and then their successors, the Liberal Democrats, between 1982 and … Continue reading “Anything But Liberal”
June 26, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Unrestored Virginia estate owned by the same family since 1740 for sale for the first time ever A 410.18-acre estate in Virginia that has been owned by the same family since 1740 has gone on sale for £1.53 million ($1.95 million, €1.75 million or درهم7.16 million). Completely unaltered and on the National Register … Continue reading “Virgin Virginia”
June 23, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
130 acre Surrey estate with gardens by Arabella Lennox Boyd for sale for £28 million (or £13 million more than it was marketed for in 2013) A Surrey estate has gone on sale for 87% more than in was offered for four years ago. Featured in Country Life in 2013 whilst for sale … Continue reading “Pricey Pickhurst”
June 8, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Gargantuan Mayfair aprtment goes on sale for £30 million; it has eighteen windows facing Hyde Park and is in a building designed by the architect of Broadcasting House A vast maisonette, described as a “villa in the sky”, on London’s Park Lane has gone on sale for £30 million ($38.8 million, €34.6 million or … Continue reading “A Villa In The Sky”
June 5, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Vast “Italian style” oceanfront mansion in Orange County, CA relaunched for sale for £42.7 million; it has failed to sell at prices as high as £53 million An 18,000 square foot barn of a residence described as “the finest oceanfront home in SoCal” has been relaunched to the market this month at a price … Continue reading “Not So Little Italy”
May 29, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
EXCLUSIVE – “Nationally important” Grade II* listed Berkshire mansion in 130 acres for sale for £26 million; its interior is yet to be renovated A Grade II* listed building capable of being reinstated as one of Britain’s finest country houses has just been placed on the market for £26 million. Benham Park – … Continue reading “Best in Britain”
by Matthew Steeples
Kensington and Chelsea – The land of the ‘have-a-lots’ and the ‘have-nothing-at-alls’; an example of a contrast too far The mere mention of the area of Kensington and Chelsea brings all sorts of connotations: One thinks of the Albert Hall and Hyde Park, Harrods and Harvey Nicks and one imagines affluence and culture. Here … Continue reading “A Land of Contrasts”
May 27, 2017
by General
With such a name, this suave gent just had to design landmarks. University of Westminster educated and Hampshire based Robert Adam (born 1948) followed his more famous namesake (1728 – 1792) and became a designer of “progressive neo-classical style buildings” in 1975. He won “the richest prize in architecture” in January 2017 and counts the … Continue reading “Robert Adam”
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 20, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Former Algerian Embassy in Holland Park for sale for £30 million; the detached stucco house needs complete renovation and counts David and Victoria Beckham as neighbours The former Embassy of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria in Holland Park, W11 has just been placed for sale for the sum of £30 million ($39.1 million, … Continue reading “Basement It Like Beckham”
May 19, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Queen Anne house in South Yorkshire for sale for punchy sum of £1.2 million An architecturally striking four-storey Queen Anne house in South Yorkshire is for sale for £1.2 million ($1.6 million, €1.4 million or درهم5.7 million) in spite of standing on a small plot that is overlooked by its now converted former outbuildings. … Continue reading “A Highly Priced Hall”
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”
by Matthew Steeples
Prominent banker attempts to sell San Francisco mansion for a sum 205% higher than it achieved in 1993; it comes with an outdoor theatre Built in 1904 of brick on a wood frame and subject to a seismic upgrade in 1994, 3444 Washington Street in Presidio Heights, San Francisco was sold for $15.2 million … Continue reading “Staging the Dollars”
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 10, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Trophy house with a “dictator interior” in The Boltons has nearly £10 million sliced off its asking price; iceberg home behind reduced by £5 million A house in London’s second most expensive street has returned to the market at the much reduced price of £30 million ($38.8 million, €35.5 million or درهم142.6 million) in … Continue reading “Rich Pickings”
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 7, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
12th century castle and romantic ruin in Herefordshire for sale for £1.495 million; a title to go with it is available also A part restored castle on the English-Welsh border is back on the market after its buyer pulled out at the end of last year. Wilton Castle-on-the-Wye at at Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire’s story … Continue reading “I Capture the Castle”
May 6, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Grade I listed Georgian mansion in Worcestershire for sale for the first time since the 1720s Few houses remain in the ownership of the same family for three hundred years, but an example of such, Ombersley Court at Ombersley in Worcestershire, has just been placed on the market for £3.5 million ($4.5 million, €4.1 … Continue reading “A Georgian Gem”
April 28, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
New York’s “last intact Gilded Age mansion” for sale for £38.75 million; it comes with a room that cannot be wiretapped An Upper East Side “Beaux Arts palace on a small scale” described as “Manhattan’s last intact Gilded Age mansion” has gone on sale for £38.75 million ($50 million, €45.96 million or درهم183.65 million) … Continue reading “Gilded Glory”
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 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”
March 14, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Georgian mansion, where Admiral Lord Nelson lived with his lover and her husband, for sale for £4.25 million; it was renovated by a former Nintendo executive One would expect a senior executive of a tech company to live in a slick, modern home in Silicon Valley, but since 2004, Matthew Hill, for many years … Continue reading “Nelson & Nintendo”
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”
December 5, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Former home of Jacqueline Kennedy in Georgetown, Washington reduced in price by £600,000; she lived there in 1964 before moving to Manhattan Reduced from £7.677 million ($9.750 million or €9.109 million or درهم35.811 million) to £7.075 million ($8.995 million or €8.403 million or درهم33.038 million) and the first home of Jacqueline Kennedy post the … Continue reading “Reducing a Kennedy”
August 23, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Replica of the White House in Texas for sale for a record sum – it’d be the perfect plaything for ‘bored of the race for president’ Donald Trump Last week, Michael Moore suggested Donald Trump doesn’t really want to end up in The White House. For the media loving mogul it’s all about ‘the … Continue reading “A house for Trump”
August 15, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Unlucky mansion in Yorkshire with 13 bedrooms for sale for a lower sum than it was marketed for in 2007 – despite having been renovated internally in the time since Offered for sale for less than it was last marketed in a “dilapidated condition” in 2007, Whinburn Hall in the gritty West Yorkshire mill … Continue reading “An unlucky mansion”
May 15, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Grade I listed Sir John Soane designed country house Tyringham Hall reduced in price by 30%
May 6, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Grade I listed 40,000 square foot Oxfordshire stately home on the market for just £3.6 million – but inevitably there’s a catch
May 3, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Modern Georgian style country house for sale for £19.5 million – complete with bowling alley and ‘Indian room’ with LED ‘night sky’ ceiling
May 1, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
House in The Boltons goes on the market for £27.5 million more than it was marketed for in 2012 complete with an extra four levels of accommodation
April 8, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
After the sale of Conrad Black’s mansion provided indication of interest in Toronto’s real estate market, The Steeple Times features a similarly spectacular property in nearby Etobicoke
April 3, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Georgian house in Lancashire will appeal to George Osborne’s new northern wealth
March 14, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Derbyshire castle known as ‘Smedley’s Folly’ for sale for £9 million (despite requiring a further investment of at least £8 million)
February 8, 2016
February 6, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Washington’s oldest house – which was originally located in Massachusetts – for sale
January 30, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
One of America’s naffest houses returns to the market at a much reduced price of £11.9 million (down from £17.6 million) and with the neighbouring £5.6 million house thrown in as an extra
September 1, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
£45.7 million Virginia estate of the late Paul and Bunny Mellon complete with its own private one-mile long airstrip now available in lots
July 28, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
Michael Bloomberg offers £2 million above the £15 million asking price to see off three other bidders and buys George Eliot’s house by the River Thames
