The sale of a $125 million penthouse on the top three floors of The Pierre
In London this week, the Evening Standard announced that a 50,000 square foot Grade I listed Regency house, 18 Carlton House Terrace, SW1 has gone on the market at £250,000,000. If it achieves this figure, it will become the most expensive single home to be sold in the UK ever.
Her Evening Standard editor father was known as “Chilly Charlie” and she’s become “Nuclear Wintour”. This New York based Brit states that she’s “lost count” of the number of times she’s been attacked by activists and once retaliated by sending anti-fur campaigners a plate of roast beef when they picketed her Condé Nast offices. In her youth, Wintour went to parties with the Daily Mail’s Nigel Dempster, dated older men and set her stall out clearly in the remark: “You either know fashion, or you don’t”. Now, this divorced trendsetter has morphed into a grande dame and hidden behind her sunglasses and a pageboy bob, this powerhouse of fashion truly does deserve the title: “Unofficial Mayoress of New York”. The Devil Wears Prada may have indeed been based on her, but the reality is far more salacious.
This dynamic American television personality and author was one of the first women to work in “hard news” and is best known for having hosted the Today show, the ABC Evening News, The View and 20/20. She grew up “in awe” of the famous people her father, a Broadway producer and nightclub owner, introduced her to, has been married four times to three different men and got chicken pox after ‘kissing’ actor Frank Langella at a New Year’s Eve party in Miami in 2012. Walters has interviewed everyone from Fidel Castro to Michael Jackson, but her March 1999 feature on Monica Lewinsky, watched by a record 74 million viewers, is indeed one for the history books. When she asked her subject: “What will you tell your children when you have them?”, Lewinsky replied: “Mommy made a big mistake”. At that point, Walters ended the show by stating: “And that is the understatement of the year”.
Some say he died in 2009, others, including the Serious Fraud Office, suspect he’s hiding out in the rainforests of Borneo. This bankrupted businessman was best known for drinking red wine from a teapot at breakfast and for his public spats with Egon Ronay, Richard Desmond, Lord Rothschild and Ernest Saunders. He met his wife, Nicola, in a nightclub. When asked what she’d require to move in with him, she asked for £5,000 a month. He organised it that very night and though most of his assets have been seized, she continues to drive a top of the range Mercedes and lives in comparative luxury on the island of Labuan, Malaysia. The investigators are still watching.
Matthew Steeples reacts to the BBC quietly dropping the “Sir”
This morning when I turned on Radio 4’s Today programme, as has become customary in the last weeks, the first item on the news was about a man who will forever be associated with abuse and paedophilia, Jimmy Savile.
In recent days, as more and more allegations have surfaced against the Jim’ll Fix It presenter, politicians like David Cameron have looked to make hay by calling for Savile to posthumously lose his knighthood. They talk twaddle as such a title cannot be taken from you once you are dead as that very title actually dies with you. To actually “remove” the title would involve a costly change in the law and frankly, as disgusting as this pervert now appears to have plainly been, is it really worth the expense and parliamentary time during these times of austerity?
When Jeffrey Archer was jailed, calls were made to strip him of his seat in the Lords. In, my humble opinion, rightly, nothing was done. Since leaving prison, Lord Archer has righted his wrongs by doing much good. Archer’s situation and crimes, I admit, were different to those of Savile but his and that of Lord Lucan should be a guide.
If Jimmy Savile were to lose his title now, should the hereditary title of Lord Lucan also be removed? Should his son lose a title because, even though never convicted, his presumed deceased father stands accused of the murder of his children’s nanny? This area of law could indeed become very complex and frankly the exploration of it is pointless.
The Today programme, however, have found a far simpler and cheaper solution. This morning, they did what we should all do. They now simply refer to this revolting individual as plain old “Jimmy Savile.” Let’s all follow this lead, drop the “Sir” and leave it at that.
Matthew Steeples discovers a penthouse that even the most ambitious estate agent may struggle to flog
Estate agents are a tough breed and there are very few properties that they might admit could verge on being impossible to sell. We believe, however, that we might have found one that could be in the same league as, perhaps, the homes of Myra Hindley, Harold Shipman or John Christie. In fact, this Leeds penthouse could be even more difficult to sell given how many photographs the last owner had taken there during his lifetime.
On first inspection, this 3-bedroomed £325,000 top floor flat in Lake View Court at Roundhay in Leeds sounds like it could be a bargain. It includes a 33ft by 13ft split-level living room, a large balcony, a fitted kitchen (that bizarrely features tiling prominently displaying the name of the kitchen’s manufacturer, Callerton Kitchens), 2 bathrooms, a single garage and a double parking space in an underground garage.
Though the agents, Alan Cooke, give a hint that it needs a complete makeover when they state that the apartment is “now ripe for improvement,” it has a “security entry phone system, an automatic lift giving private access, gas central heating system and double glazing.” They also add that it features a “magnificent outlook” across Roundhay Park and the Waterloo Lake and is on a lease of 125 years from 1971. The ground rent is just £60 per annum and a maintenance charge of £2,000 per annum doesn’t seem to be too bad either.
Now what could be wrong with this pad and why has it languished on the market since the summer? Well, it turns out that this is the former main home of the late Jimmy Savile. Though his possessions were removed and auctioned some months ago, the disgraced television presenter’s tawdry style of décor remains as a legacy of his occupation of the flat. One simply would not want to think of what the Jim’ll Fix It presenter got upto in this place and frankly, who’d want to move into this poisoned chalice?
Equally, we don’t think Loyd Grossman will be calling round at any point in the near future to ask: “Now, who’d want to live in a house like this?”
For more information on The Penthouse, Lake View Court, Roundhay, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS8 2TX, contact agents Alan Cooke Moortown, Moortown, Leeds, LS17 6PY on +44 (0) 113 288 8666.
See full details of the property at: http://www.alancooke.co.uk/property_details.php?id=116111
The Steeple Times asks Rex Leyland: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom.” What’s your guiding force?
My guiding force is fairness and loyalty.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
Get even.
Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2012?
Stadiums instead of Stadia.
Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?
Not running my former restaurant, Foxtrot Oscar.
What might you swap all your wealth for?
Health.
Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank.” What’s your view on the banking crisis?
If leaches were introduced as a remedy then perhaps we have synonymity.
What phrase or word do you most loathe?
“Free gift.”
In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home.” What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?
Having a daughter with epilepsy, my charity certainly begins at home and that will therefore always be my charity of choice.
The judge in “Law Abiding Citizen” states: “I can pretty do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?
As I still use a brick from the eighties, I find the current use of modern devices whilst dining abhorrent.
If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?
Boris Johnson and Her Majesty The Queen. I would like to appreciate their motivation and presence.
If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?
As I will never eat again I will have the ‘menu degustation’ at The French Laundry in Napa Valley, as 19 courses are a torture and therefore I could be dead before the end, and of course accompanied by only Californian wines.
What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?
1pm., unless you are travelling then there is no time.
A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?
A martini anytime.
Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?
I loathe parties because you never get to talk to anyone.
Who is the most positive person you know?
My daughter, Chelsea.
What’s your most guilty pleasure?
A couple of puffs.
If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?
A glass of Calvados.
If you were a car, what marquee would you be?
The Java concept drophead Bentley.
Cilla Black presented “Surprise, Surprise.” Tell us the most surprising thing about you.
That I am a S.A.G. (Still.Above.Ground).
What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?
As I live on a boat, I don’t have a mantel, but if I did, it would not be a permanent display of Her Majesty’s invitation to Ascot.
Once described by the Evening Standard as “an excitable bearded man,” Leyland lives on a houseboat near Kew Bridge and was one of the duo behind the immensely successful Foxtrot Oscar. Here is a gent with a passion for all things culinary that is nothing other than utterly infectious. Now a Restaurant Doctor, he divides his time between London and Spain and is also a bit of an aviation fanatic.
Jeffrey’s invented a lot of tales but is rightly renowned for spinning them brilliantly. This former politician wrote some brilliant diaries whilst in prison and now is mostly likely to be found doing charitable deeds. His shepherd’s pie and Krug parties are still the stuff of legends.
Started a property empire with a loan of £6,000 from their grandmother in 1995. Now said to be worth anything upto £13 billion, this pair are most famous for their One Hyde Park development next to The Mandarin Oriental. London based Nick is married to the Australian singer and former Neighbours actress Holly Valance whilst Monaco based Christian is married to a former “It-girl” named Emily Crompton. In one interview Nick was quoted as saying: “We’ve probably got about 10 cars”. With this much wealth, what’s a car between friends?