Tag: October 2017

The Stars of Beel

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 on sale for £3.95 million or 39% less from the £6.5 million sum it sold for in 2014.

Built for the Duke of Buckingham in the 1600s and extending to 10,743 square foot, Beel House in Little Chalfont, near Amersham in Buckinghamshire stands in 13.5 acres of land. It comprises of a 7 reception room, 8 bedroom, 6 bathroom main house and also comes with an indoor swimming pool complex, a tennis court and garaging for 5 cars.

Home to The Hon. Lady Caroline Cavendish in the 1830s and Colonel Abram ‘Arthur’ Lyle of the Tate & Lyle dynasty from 1909 to 1920, Beel House was bought by the actor Sir Dirk Bogarde in a “dilapidated state” in 1954. Of discovering it, Bogarde, who had been renting a cottage in the close vicinity on the Bendrose Estate, stated:

“[The actress Kay Kendall and I] walked across muddy fields from my rented home to look at Beel House. It was a horror. Bleak and empty, few of its twenty-six rooms caught the sun, and the garden surrounding it was a tangle of overgrown rosebeds. Inside it seemed a labyrinth of corridors and stone passages. It was painted throughout in dejected yellow and brown and each room had a rusty gas fire in it.”

Bogarde made significant changes to the building and pulled down a wing of 11 rooms. In their place, he built a swimming pool and a 30-foot long conservatory in the grounds – which Kay Kendall later described as looking like “an out patients’ department” – and it seems he spent several happy years there. He moved to another property nearby named Drummer’s Yard in 1960 and sold Beel House to Basil Dearden, the director of The Assassination Bureau, Khartoum and The Man Who Haunted Himself.

An aerial photo of Beel House, Little Chalfont, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP7 9QP, United Kingdom

Images of the exterior of Beel House in the 1950s

Actor Anthony Forwood, Sir Dirk Bogarde’s eventual “life partner,” at Beel House with his dogs Sinuhe and Bogie; Sir Dirk Bogarde in his study at the house

Sir Dirk Bogarde outside Beel House with one of many Rolls-Royces he owned and inside on the house’s main staircase

Film director Basil Dearden, owner of Beel House between 1960 and 1966, worked with Sir Dirk Bogarde on the controversial film ‘Victim’ in 1961; it was the first English language film to use the word “homosexual” and of it one Italian critic remarked: “At last the British have stopped being hypocrites”

Dearden sold up in 1966 and the next famous owners were Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne in the early 1980s. It was whilst here that Mr Osbourne “decided to murder his wife” and of the ensuing incident on 3^rd September 1989, the Amersham Museum’s website reports:

“Ozzy Osbourne put the house up for sale after he had been arrested for the attempted murder of his wife whilst living at Beel House. After taking a cocktail of drugs and drinking heavily during a family meal at the Chinese restaurant at Nightingales Corner he attacked his wife and was subsequently arrested. He had no memory of the attack but the conditions of his bail were that he entered a rehab centre, did not contact his wife and did not return to Beel House.”

Marketed for £1.75 million in 1991, unsurprisingly Sharon Osbourne, herself, did not have much positive to say about her time at Beel House either. In her 2006 autobiography, Extreme, she remarked:

“I decided I wanted to go back to England. By this time we had already sold Beel House. I had enough bad memories not to be too sorry to see it go. Also it had reached what the builder called the domino point: mending one thing only triggered something else that needed to be done.”

Ozzy Osbourne, photographed by Conrad Rickenbacker, sitting on his four poster bed at Beel House in the 1980s

Images of Beel House during the ownership of Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne (photographs by Conrad Rickenbacker)

Robert Kilroy-Silk at Beel House prior to his appearance on ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here’ in November 2008

The house as furnished by Robert Kilroy-Silk and his wife Jan Beech, circa 2014

Matt Aitken, the composer of chart toppers for Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley and Bananarama, supposedly lived at Beel House for a period subsequently and in the 1990s, the property was sold to the “exotically handsome man, with a very un-English facial glow and ice blue eyes” Robert Kilroy-Silk and his wife, Jan Beech.

Controversial television personality Mr Kilroy-Silk, an MP from 1974 to 1986 and an MEP from 2004 to 2009, brought with him a herd of fallow deer as well as Vietnamese pheasants and bantams to Beel House. He lived between there and his home in Spain and then sold up for the staggering sum of £6.5 million in 2014 to an “international buyer” who, according to Country Life’s Penny Churchill, immediately found “it ‘surplus to requirements’ and put it straight back on the market” through Savills.

Of the estate, which by then had been for sale for three years, in October 2017, then selling agent Hugh Maconochie told the Bucks Free Press:

“In many respects Beel House is the archetypal country residence: a Grade II* listed home in the heart of the Chilterns, beautiful grounds and easy access to London by both rail and road. Yet, while it was completely refurbished in the 1980s – new garaging, games block and swimming pool complex included – its current state necessitates a complete restoration project.”

“For those seeking a country residence to move straight into, Beel House is not the home for them. Instead it would appeal to a buyer looking to restore and revive a Georgian gem. A reduction in price over the years reflects the refurbishment that’s required.”

Empty and plainly somewhat neglected, Edward Welton of Knight Frank’s Baker Street office is now marketing the property. His firm describes Beel House as: “An exciting opportunity for a full restoration project, giving someone the chance to create their own style on a private estate, so close to London.”

Beel House – The Names and Numbers

November 2017 – Further reduced to just £3.95 million ($5.29 million, €4.47 million or درهم19.44 million) through Knight Frank.

January 2017 – Reduced to £4.95 million ($6.63 million, €5.61 million or درهم24.37 million) through Savills.

November 2015 – For sale again for £6.5 million ($8.7 million, €7.4 million or درهم32 million) through Savills.

2014 – Sold to “an international buyer” by Robert Kilroy-Silk for “close to” the £6.5 million ($8.7 million, €7.4 million or درهم32 million) asking price.

June 1991 – For sale for £1.75 million (the equivalent of £3.45 million, $4.62 million, €3.91 million or درهم16.98 million today).

October 1989 – Placed for sale by media personalities Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne.

1966 – Placed on the market by Basil Dearden for £66,000 (the equivalent of £1.1 million, $1.5 million, €1.2 million or درهم5.4 million today).

Circa 1960 – Sold to film director Basil Dearden (1911 – 1971).

January 1954 – Sold to actor Sir Dirk Bogarde (1921 – 1999) for £4,000 (the equivalent of £101,000, $135,000, €114,000 or درهم497,000 today).

1836 to 1954 – Part of the estate of the Lowndes family, largescale landowners in the Chesham, Buckinghamshire area. During this time tenants included The Hon. Lady Caroline Cavendish and from 1909 to 1920 by Colonel Abram Lyle (of the Tate & Lyle dynasty).

1730 – Valued at £500 (the equivalent of £99,000, $133,000, €112,000 or درهم487,000 today) by Sun Insurance whilst home to Thomas White of Middle Temple.

1672 to 1682 – Home to Mary Pennington, the mother-in-law of the Quaker founder of the State of Pennsylvania, William Penn.

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November 29, 2017
Adam Marchment (AKA ‘Man on the Run’ and ‘The Marchment Man’)

Vile paedophile and rapist Adam Marchment is a scumbag with no remorse for the crimes he committed but one also of the belief that he is “getting ripped off” over the food he has to buy in jail. Sentenced to ten years in 2016 for attacks on a 14 and a 15 year old, this extra virgin olive loving jailbird wrote in prisoners’ magazine Inside Time in November 2017: “I’m really starting to get frustrated by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service… Prisoners have access to the outside world and will question the utter rubbish they try to feed us.” Let this tattooed monster – who named himself ‘Man on the Run’ whilst breaching his license conditions for over 37 days in October 2014 – eat porridge!

November 12, 2017
The Accolades of Abuse

Top-drawer politicians again sweep serious incidents of historic abuse under the carpet; focusing on film star abusers instead is not the solution

Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and Theresa May’s thirty-six apparently ropey sex pest MPs are undoubtedly – if all or indeed any of the allegations against them are proven true – repugnant specimens but what about the existing and conveniently forgotten victims of historic abuse by equally powerful individuals including politicians, religious figures and police officers?

Just because a few well-known personalities – and admittedly long after the crimes against them, in some cases, have past the statute of limitation – have leapt up now, the media and politicians have joined a bandwagon of #MeToo. In the much older case, however, of the VIP abuse at the Elm Guest House in Richmond – a place of which only one decent MP, Zac Goldsmith, has bothered to speak out – all remains sadly silent and all allegations remain headed for being swept under the carpet.

For Theresa May, it suits to allow Christian abusers with a penchant for hanging out with gangsters to remain free as it does to continue to claim that Sir Edward Heath was a decent man also. We remain in a world where Sir Cyril Smith – a vile paedo (but one like Sir Edward never tried in any court of law) is described as a paedophile without hesitation – whilst other plainly apparent living monsters walk the streets scot-free. The late Lord Janner, a nasty bastard if ever there were one, is condemned yet nobody dare talk of a living MP with a predilection for a bit of groping (male or female, it does not matter) in his office.

Shame on Britain and yet again shame on Theresa May. Our useless Prime Minister has done nothing to solve this situation and frankly the hectoring vicar’s daughter didn’t exactly set a great example by accepting the hand of her “pussy grabbing” mate Donald Trump.

A 2014 ‘Daily Mail’ article about what allegedly went on at the Elm Guest House

The late Sir Cyril Smith (pictured with Jeremy Thorpe) is widely cited as one of British politics’ worst abusers

Paedo politician Lord Boothby had a curious relationship with the gangster Ronnie Kray; the pair supposedly got up to all sorts of things with innocent youngsters

Jonathan King is to be tried concerning allegations of historic abuse against young boys in January; allegations against the late Sir Edward Heath remain unproven in spite of a costly investigation

Serial abuser Jimmy Savile liked to hang out with everyone from Cardinal Keith O’Brien (pictured) to Prince Charles and Margaret Thatcher; widespread knowledge of the abuse he committed was swept under the carpet during his lifetime

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvMsyiNXWsw

October 31, 2017
A Silo in SoHo

Penthouse in SoHo, New York for sale for 48% more than it was marketed for in 2007; it comes come complete with structures resembling a barn and a silo on its roof

This week the popular New York real estate blog 6sqft reported that a 1,250 square foot condo loft had gone on sale for £2.018 million ($2.649 million, €2.282 million or درهم9.726 million). What makes it unusual is that it comes with structures resembling a silo and a barn on its roof deck.

Described as being “in need of updating” but featuring ceiling heights of upto 20-foot, the propery includes living and dining spaces along with an open plan “sleeping nook”, walk-in closet, an office area and a bathroom on one of its two levels. Above, one finds an 800 square foot outdoor space with a built-in bar and pergola. The apartment was previously offered for sale in 2007 for £1.367 million ($1.795 million, €1.546 million or درهم6.590 million).

The penthouse at 118 Wooster Street is within a 6-storey, 13 unit building and is offered to the market by City Realty. Of it, the firm comments: “You won’t be able to duplicate this unit anywhere in Manhattan. This quiet space can be configured to your exact needs [and the roof deck offers] potential for a second-level addition.”

October 29, 2017
Pleading for Police

London set to see number of police stations reduced from 149 in 2010 to just 32 by 2020; we urge readers to support a petition to stop this

In 2010, London had 149 police stations; there are now just 73 and if Conservative plans go ahead there’ll be just 32 – or one per borough, except for Westminster – by 2020.

Theresa May as Home Secretary focused on flogging off places where the public could report crime and now as Prime Minister, her government is determined to remove community assets in favour of encouraging people to report crime online, to the 101 telephone number and in cafés and retail shops.

Finding a bobby on the beat, another suggested alternative, is nigh on impossible in many areas and here we urge readers to sign the Kensington Society’s petition to save Notting Hill Police Station. Their ‘Police Campaign’ is a revelation and makes for utterly shocking reading. Shame on our government for not providing the resources to properly protect its citizens.

October 29, 2017
Shoeing Out Theresa

Why did the BBC waste fifteen minutes discussing Theresa May’s footwear? The nation would be a better place if she was simply shoed out

This morning on BBC One’s breakfast show, the hosts spent twenty minutes discussing the inane matter of another programme showing a shot of Theresa May’s shoes.

Given the ‘Imelda Marcos of politics’, as the ‘Wheat Field Wanderer’ was once branded, prides herself on wearing everything from leopard-print kitten heels to bling gold hologram wellies and red and pink lips shoes, why on earth did these presenters even think it worthy for discussion?

Mrs May, it transpires, was also given three pairs of shoes by Russell & Bromley and discount cards for LK Bennett, Amanda Wakeley and Hobbs whilst Home Secretary. Perhaps, since she’s so utterly hopeless at representing Britain in Brexit negotiations and given she’s so keen to shop, she could stand down and take a job at her hand holding mate Donald Trump’s daughter’s fashion brand.

Of the hectoring vicar’s daughter, another fashion loving chum, Lady Meyer, once told The Sun: “Theresa is a serious woman [but] she talks about holidays, clothes… She’s quite a girl in that sense.” Shoe her out!

October 28, 2017
A Bigoted Bash

Marie-Claire, Baroness von Alvensleben starts (yet another) racist tirade at a party in London and launches a website where she brands herself ‘Incredible Marie-Claire’

Last night, at a party in London, a bigoted baroness launched into a racist tirade about immigration and the European Union.

At the event in St James’s, Marie-Claire von Alvensleben – a woman previously sentenced to a six week suspended jail sentence for amongst other things stating “brown people are ruining London” in 2014 – waved her fingers wildly whilst ranting about Gina Miller and told guests that she thought Brexit to be “a wonderful thing.”

Elsewhere, this unhinged madwoman has now created her own website. On it she shares information about her “glamour and sophistication” and claims to have “learnt English” in Cambridge. She bizarrely expresses (given her sheer lack of such qualities) that she wished to have become a diplomat and adds: “I was very spoilt indeed.”

Immodest to her core, von Alvensleben also reports on her attempts to launch a Swiss version of Vogue – “despite her resilient efforts… [it] did not bear any fruit and folded” – and concludes:

“Marie-Claire has her own ‘Coat of Arms’. Her ex-husband, Baron Bodo von Alvensleben used to call her IMC ‘Incredible Marie-Claire’. Maybe because she believes nothing is impossible … She can arrange “almost” everything… It can all be arranged.”

Marie-Claire, Baroness von Alvensleben rolling around on the floor at another party with the equally awful former entertainer Michael Barrymore.

October 27, 2017
A Messed-Up Mansion

Dilapidated Grade II* listed South Yorkshire Georgian mansion Hickleton Hall 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 likely be either further decline or conversion into flats.

A neglected and boarded-up Hickleton Hall, Hickleton, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN5 7BB in 2016

Offered for sale in 2015 for £2 million (at that time complete with its since separated stable block), this Grade II* listed Georgian stately home was built between 1745 and 1748 of limestone ashlar for a banker named Godfrey Wentworth. It was subsequently home to the Whig politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Wood, 1^st Viscount Halifax from 1846 to 1885 and then used by the army during the Second World War.

Converted first to a girls’ school in the 1940s, Hickleton Hall became a Sue Ryder Home in the 1960s. That closed in 2012 and in the years since fate has been anything but kind to the building. Described on a dedicated website as “eye-catching” but affected by subsidence and fissures caused by coal mining, the “asbestos riddled” structure has been targeted by vandals and thieves.

The 34,000 square foot building was valued at a sum of between £525,000 and £825,000 in 2016 but is now for sale for £1.5 million through agents Fisher German. Their marketing brochure – which uses images of the mansion in better times – lists it as now coming with just 14.72 acres of land and planning permission for conversion into 20 apartments.

Hickleton Hall – The Numbers

October 2017 – For sale for £1.5 million ($2 million, €1.7 million or درهم7.3 million) through Fisher German.

February 2016 – Valued at £525,000 to £825,000 ($693,000 to $1.1 million, €589,000 to €926,000 or درهم2.5 million to درهم4 million) by Christie & Co. Remedial work to restore the hall estimated at least £1.75 million ($2.3 million, €2 million or درهم8.5 million).

April 2014 – For sale for £2 million ($2.6 million, €2.2 million or درهم9.7 million) through Hamptons.

October 24, 2017
Wealthy Wilton

Six-storey Belgravia residence with controversial business connections goes on sale for 22% less than it was marketed for in 2015 and 3,497% more than it sold for in 1997

A 6,961 square foot freehold terraced townhouse in Belgravia has gone on sale for £25 million or 3,497% more than it was sold for in 1997.

4 Wilton Crescent – which sold in 1997 for what now seems like the paltry sum of just £695,000 – was marketed two years ago for £32 million and provides 5 reception rooms, 9 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms and 2 garages in an adjoining mews house.

Featuring traditional interior design by Robert Kime – decorator to the Prince of Wales – the property featured in court papers in December 2015 in the context of a dispute between a lawyer turned secretive property speculator named Glenn Maud and his former associate Robert Tchenguiz. Said to be at one-time worth £4.5 billion at the height of his success and originally from Sheffield, this businessman and his wife reportedly spent some £6 million renovating the house but was ordered to live on £500 per week in 2012 by a Guernsey court.

4 Wilton Crescent is now offered by Knight Frank.

4 Wilton Crescent – The Numbers

October 2017 – On the market for £25 million ($32.8 million, €27.9 million or درهم120.5 million) through Knight Frank.

March 2016 – On the market for £30 million ($39.4 million, €33.5 million or درهم144.6 million) through Beauchamp Estates.

December 2015 – On the market for £32 million ($42 million, €35.7 million or درهم154.2 million) according to court documents. Owner Glenn Maud reportedly spent £6 million ($7.9 million, €6.7 million or درهم28.9 million) on “improvements” to the property.

September 1997 – Sold for £695,000 ($912,000, €775,000 or درهم3.3 million).

October 24, 2017
Bloomberg on Brexit

Billionaire and former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg condemns Brexit as “the single stupidest thing any country has ever done” apart from America electing Donald Trump

As Michael Bloomberg opened a vast new European headquarters in London on Tuesday, The Guardian revealed a series of comments he’d made two weeks ago about Brexit.

In a speech to the HUBweek conference in Boston, Bloomberg condemned the election of Donald Trump but also suggested: “It is really hard to understand why a country [Britain] that was doing so well wanted to ruin it” by voting for Brexit.

Separately, on a previous occasion, this wise man also pointed out: “[Britain] didn’t have an immigration problem and they didn’t need control of their borders. They have the English Channel – that gave them control of their borders.” We join those saluting him.

Mr Bloomberg’s comments in Boston follow:

We are opening a brand new European headquarters in London – two big, expensive buildings. Would I have done it if I knew they were going to drop out? I’ve had some thoughts that maybe I wouldn’t have, but we are there, we are going to be very happy.

My former wife was a Brit, my daughters have British passports, so we love England – it’s the father of our country, I suppose. But what they are doing is not good and there is no easy way to get out of it because if they don’t pay a penalty, everyone else would drop out. So they can’t get as good of a deal as they had before.

I did say that I thought [Brexit] was the single stupidest thing any country has ever done but then we Trumped it.

One of the things that is hurting us both in the United States and in the UK is that we have employees, not a lot but some, who are starting to say: ‘I don’t want to work here – can we transfer to some place else? This country doesn’t like immigrants.’

All this talk in Washington – words have consequences. Whether we change the immigration laws or not, there is general feeling around the world that America is no longer an open, welcoming place and a lot of people don’t want to go there, and the same thing is happening in the UK because of Brexit.

It is really hard to understand why a country that was doing so well wanted to ruin it. It was not a smart thing to do and getting out of it is going to be very difficult and is going to be very painful. It will hurt industries. People are already taking space in other cities over there [Europe], us included.

October 24, 2017