The Steeple Times

Tag: potential

  • Flipping Randy Andy’s Bathtub Bonk Pad

    Flipping Randy Andy’s Bathtub Bonk Pad

    WORLD EXCLUSIVE – Ghislaine Maxwell’s Belgravia bonk pad – where Prince Andrew allegedly shockingly had it off with Virginia Roberts in the bath in 2001 – is relisted for £2.6 million just months after it sold for £1.75 million in April 2021; we share the first ever seen photos of that famous tub and ask: “Does its presence add value?”

    Everybody in the world has now seen the infamous snapshot of Prince Andrew with his chubby fingers wrapped around the waist of his alleged victim Virginia Roberts at the Belgravia home of Ghislaine Maxwell in 2001. Nobody has ever discredited that photograph and nobody has proven that the bathtub in the bathroom that adjoined the first floor landing where they were snapped was anything other than a full-sized 5-foot-6-inches long.

     

    Everyone in the world has also seen the floorplan of the first floor of Miss Maxwell’s former London home, but now, today, The Steeple Times can exclusively share an image of that very bathtub in which the lady now known as Virginia Giuffre claims the Duke of York supposedly had sexual relations with her on 10th March 2001. That still unrenovated home, 44 Kinnerton Street, is now on the market for the sum of £2.6 million – a sum £850,000 higher than it sold for less than a year ago.

     

    Whilst everybody in the world now knows that the now convicted mucky madam daughter of the pension pot plunderer Robert Maxwell faked a photo of herself at an In-N-Out burger joint in August 2019, photographs of the now somewhat tired bathroom in London, SW1 prove it to be a space where two people could easily have cavorted. In sharing them, they show Prince Andrew’s porky pies for exactly what they are. Two people could very easily have fitted into that rotten tub.

     

    Offered by an exotically named firm of real estate hawkers who go by the name of Wellbelove Quested, the 1,573 square foot, three-storey former home of the mucky madam Miss Maxwell is marketed as “charming” and having “plenty of potential.” It is described as “requiring updating,” but unsurprisingly no mention is made as to its tawdry past. A photograph of the very bath where ‘Randy Andy’ allegedly bonked on that fateful night bizarrely features in the marketing material, but somewhat more carefully imagery of the landing area has been left out.

     

    Asked by The Steeple Times for comment, a leading local estate agent – whom wished to remain off the record – remarked:

     

    “Any previous sale at either £1.45 million or £1.75 million seems suspiciously low. At £1,653 per square foot today, it sounds about right in terms of an asking price, although some buyers might be deterred by The Nags Head being so close.”

     

    “As for the activity that may have gone on inside there, I am of the view it adds a bit of interest to the marketing, but neither adds to nor detracts from the value.”

     

    “Equally, now I see these pictures, it looks to me that Prince Andrew, Ghislaine Maxwell and Virginia Roberts were all standing in the doorway of the front bedroom of the first floor that day. It begs the question: ‘Why?’”

     

    Contacted earlier in the day by a reader of The Steeple Times who alerted us to the sale subsequently, Andrew Quested of Wellbelove Quested somewhat lackadaisically opined in response via email:

     

    “My clients made a good purchase. I think you will find a lot of properties have a past resident that is not always good… I do understand your thoughts [about the links to Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein and the Duke of York], but these things pass.”

     

    Occasional contributor to The Steeple Times Jack Hine, however, took a different view. When approached Friday, the Hove, Sussex and Belgravia, London based dealer in vintage memorabilia stated:

     

    “That bath, whatever it’s murky heritage, has royal pedigree and it’s got a grimy, unrestored appearance. ‘Where there’s muck, there’s bloody brass,’ I say.”

     

    “There’s always going to be ghouls out there with a desire for such, so I advise whoever buys 44 Kinnerton Street to most certainly not to put what could become one of the most costly bathtubs in history ever in the skip.”

     

    “Prince Andrew’s antics in this tub may well cost him well north of £10 million and I’d suggest that the new owner of this house will get tens of thousands for that tawdry tub. I’d definitely put in a bid.”

     

    Ghislaine Maxwell Kinnerton Street bathroom
    This photograph of the first floor bathroom at 44 Kinnerton Street, Belgravia proves one thing – those that said that the tub is too small for two are nothing but loopy liars.
    Ghislaine Maxwell bathtub statement
    When asked about what occured on the night of 10th March 2001 in the first floor bathroom at her Kinnerton Street mews house, Ghislaine Maxwell responded: “[Virginia Roberts] then characterized [sic] things took place in my bathroom in the bathtub itself. The tub is too small for any kind of activity whatsoever.” The picture of that very same tub used in marketing material by Wellbelove Quested proves exactly to the contrary.
    Ghislaine Maxwell Kinnerton Street floor plan first floor
    The floor plan shared by the likes ‘The Daily Mail’ and ‘The Sun suggested the first floor bathroom at the house to be 7-foot, 4 inches by 7-foot, 2-inches. Floor plans shared by Wellboved Quested suggest that the room is actually 8-foot, 4-inches by 8-foot, 2-inches. There was most definitely plenty of room for two…
    Ghislaine Maxwell Prince Andrew Virginia Roberts first floor Kinnerton Street
    Why did they stand on the first floor landing when the only entertaining areas were downstairs? Were they progressing upwards? Was Ghislaine Maxwell leading her friend Prince Andrew and a concubine to a bedroom? Who took the photograph? Many questions remain unanswered, but it’s now clear that the bathtub could easily have fitted two.
    Floorplan 44 Kinnerton Street Belgavia Ghislaine Maxwell
    A floorplan of 44 Kinnerton Street, Belgravia. In it, mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell’s home is clearly shown to be a place where ‘public’ entertaining took place on the ground floor, whilst ‘extracurricular’ activities took place on the upper two floors.
    44 Kinnerton Street bannister Ghislaine Maxwell
    These photographs of 44 Kinnerton Street, taken in July 2021, provide proof that the bannisters seen in the March 2001 photographs remain inside said property. The setting in which Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts were captured was indeed most definitely genuine. In the same month, the new owners of the property displayed a poster at 44 Kinnerton Street for a festival that was to be held in East Anglia from 31st July 2021 to 1st August 2021. The event, the EA Festival, was hosted at Hedingham Castle – home to Jason and Demetra Lindsay – in Essex and had a line-up that included model and advocate Arizona Muse, film director Mike Figgis, ‘Countdown’s’ Susie Dent, sex commentator Rowan Pelling and comedian Josh Berry. The same open doorway also showed something else… The very same bannister that was shown in the photograph Prince Andrew, Virginia Robert and Ghislaine Maxwell appeared in.
    Prince Andrew nonce bathmat
    In November 2020, ‘The Steeple Times’ featured bathtub mats featuring Prince Andrew’s face and the caption “nonce” that were available for sale through Redbubble.com. Priced then at £23.61 ($32.30, €28.29 or درهم118.61), these 61cm by 43cm polyester microfiber items clearly proved very popular as they are no longer on the site. Clearly, there is a market for bathtub memorabilia that references the Queen’s supposed favourite son.

    The Names & Numbers – ‘Mucky Madam Ghislaine Maxwell’s Bathtub Bonk Pad’ – 44 Kinnerton Street, Belgravia, London, SW1X 8ES, United Kingdom

    • 14th January 2022 – Property website TheMoveMarket.com values the house at £2.11 million ($2.88 million, €2.53 million or درهم59 million), a sum 19% lower than the current asking price for the unrenovated property.

     

    • January 2022 – Estate agents Wellbelove Quested offer the mews house for £2.6 million ($3.6 million, €3.1 million or درهم1 million), an extraordinary increase of 49% on the sale price just 270 days earlier. The house is offered on a lease of 127 years that commenced on 24th June 2014 and previously on their website Wellbelove Quested had marketed the house for a higher price of £2.75 million ($3.738 million, €3.283 million or درهم13.731 million).

     

    • July 2021 – The Steeple Times reports on repainting work to the outside of the house being underway. An open door reveals the infamous staircase bannister to still be in-situ.

     

    • 19th April 2021 – Records confirm the house to have been sold for £1.75 million ($2.39 million, €2.09 million or درهم79 million).

     

    • March 2021 – Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer offered cash from the “pending sale of her £1.45 million ($2 million, €1.74 million or درهم28 million)” home as part of a package when they sought bail for the mucky madam for a third time, the Daily Mail reported. This sum was 44% lower than the September 2020 asking price and 400% higher than the January 1997 purchase price.

     

    • March 2021 – A Knightsbridge estate agent told The Steeple Times: “Knowing the street as I do, 44 is one of the smaller houses which I assume it to be a little over 1,000 square foot in size. Depending on the condition, I estimate the freehold value to be circa £1.8 million to £2 million ($2.5 million to $2.7 million, €2.2 million to €2.4 million or 9درهم million to درهم10 million).”

     

    • December 2020 – Members of the Maxwell family attempted to raise finance on the property but are not successful, The Steeple Times learns from a financier with connections to the Maxwell family and their representatives. They were rejected, were rejected on the basis of the “toxicity” of their familial name.

     

    • September 2020 – Estate agents Aylesford list 44 Kinnerton Street for sale for £2.6 million ($3.6 million, €3.1 million or درهم1 million) on (it was claimed) a freehold basis, a sum 797% than the January 1997 purchase price. They subsequently later reduce the asking price to £2.1 million ($2.9 million, €2.5 million or درهم10.5 million) “according to a leading property expert.”

     

    • August 2019 – According to Insider, a woman with “long hair [who] appeared to be in her 60s” was seen entering the property. She “denied that the socialite owns or lived in the house, claiming instead that the elusive socialite lived elsewhere down the street.”

     

    • 10th March 2001 – Prince Andrew allegedly had sexual relations with 17-year-old Virginia Roberts in a bathroom in the property. He continues to deny this occurred whilst claiming that a photograph of himself with Miss Roberts and Ghislaine Maxwell on the first floor of building is a fake also.

     

    • 22nd January 1997 – Ghislaine Maxwell paid £290,000 ($396,000, €347,000 or درهم5 million) for the three-storey leasehold mews house. It is situated at the heart of the Duke of Westminster’s Grosvenor Estate.

     

    • 1989 to 1995 – Ghislaine Maxwell is known to have resided at 69 Stanhope Mews East, South Kensington, London, SW7 5QT. Her father bought it for her two years before his mysterious death and she reportedly “groomed and befriended Minor Victim 3 in London, England, between approximately 1994 and 1995… Maxwell introduced Minor Victim 3 to Epstein and during those interactions, Maxwell encouraged Minor Victim 3 to massage Epstein, knowing that Epstein would engage in sex acts with Minor Victim 3. During those massages, Epstein sexually abused Minor Victim 3” at that very property. It was sold for £267,000 ($365,000, €320,000 or درهم3 million) on 15th March 1995 and then again for £1.75 million ($2.39 million, €2.10 million or درهم8.77 million) on 30th August 2019.

     

    And finally… Some other images of the ‘Mucky Madam’s’ crib

    1 44 Kinnerton Street Ghislaine Maxwell
    The ground floor sitting room has a somewhat sadistic quality about it. Rather like a doctor or dentist’s waiting room in its styling, here is a room where the mucky madam no doubt just prepped her victims for their prey upstairs. How many chairs does one need for such a purpose?
    2 44 Kinnerton Street Ghislaine Maxwell
    This place is anything but homely. It is, in fact, scary.
    3 44 Kinnerton Street Ghislaine Maxwell
    A kitchen that wasn’t for a coffee and a chat; a kitchen where saintly types like Delia Smith and Mary Berry most definitely don’t belong. Ghislaine Maxwell is personified as a woman as clinical to her core.
    4 44 Kinnerton Street Ghislaine Maxwell
    The mucky mistresses’ master bedroom. God only f$%king knows went on in this creepy crib.
    5 44 Kinnerton Street Ghislaine Maxwell
    Another supposedly innocent looking room that was likely a torture chamber.
    6 44 Kinnerton Street Ghislaine Maxwell
    The bedroom Andrew, Ghislaine and Virginia posed next to. It is currently set up as an extra sitting room rather conveniently, but doesn’t look like a place anyone has bothered or would even to sit.
    7 44 Kinnerton Street Ghislaine Maxwell
    The house even has a roof terrace. It looks f$%ing rotten, just like its former owner, mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of murdering pension pot plunderer Robert Maxwell.
    8 44 Kinnerton Street Ghislaine Maxwell
    And finally, back to that bloody bathroom… It even has double shower. It’s hardly small, is it? It’s perfectly feasible that Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts could have very easily fitted in there also.
  • Peckham Springs Hits The Big Apple – Turn £373,000 into £75 million

    Peckham Springs Hits The Big Apple – Turn £373,000 into £75 million

    Fifteen-bedroom house outside New York with supposed potential to make £75 million for sale for just £373,000; could this be America’s answer to Del Boy’s ‘Peckham Springs’?

    In October 2014, The Steeple Times featured the £8 million ($10.7 million, €9.5 million or درهم39.4 million) sale of a 26-acre Cotswolds estate complete with its own “high in calcium, low in sodium,” natural spring water producing facility.

     

    Now, for a hell of a lot less in terms of initial outlay, an aspiring Del Boy could produce an estimated return of £75 million ($100 million, €88 million or درهم367 million) in ‘Peckham Springs-esque’ style if they bought a 13.74-acre property in Richfield Springs, New York that comes complete with the potential to make what an estate agent claims to be upto £75 million ($100 million, €88 million or درهم367 million) from a “mineral water aquifer with millions of gallons of water.”

     

    In ‘Mother Nature’s Son’ – first broadcast on the BBC on the 25th December 1992 – the Trotters attempt to sell tap water as spring water. They con a local organic health shop owner into authenticating their ‘product’ and get a trial at a major supermarket even. Sales are subsequently boosted by drought warnings from the local water board, but eventually their venture is ruined by the fact that they themselves had contaminated the local reservoir by dumping barrels containing an unknown yellow substance there.
    Only Fools and Horses
    The Trotters believed they’d get rich from their venture and for a time they didn’t do too badly… Whoever purchases ‘The Bella Vista’ could do well, but, equally, who knows, their ‘project’ might just end up being another white elephant.
    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 1
    An image of the house circa 1905 when it was the residence of someone named R. F. Wescott.
    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 2
    One part of the “mineral baths” in the basement of the property – complete with a rather oddly located radiator and some dodgy looking pipes and cables.
    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 3
    Further imagery showing the “mineral baths” in their current state. They clearly are in need of some renovation.
    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 4
    The property is in the village of Richfield Springs in Ortsego County, new York. According to Wikipedia: “The area of Richfield Springs was called Ga-no-wan-ges by the Oneida Indians which translated to ‘stinking water’ … [and its] name is derived from local sulfur springs.”

    Offered for just £373,000 ($500,000, €441,000 or درهم1.8 million) or £33 per square foot ($44 per square foot, €39 per square foot or درهم162 per square foot), 15-bedroom, 20-bathroom 241 E. Main Street is described as a “single family residence” built in 1900.

     

    Named ‘The Bella Vista’ and lauded as an “iconic Queen Anne style mansion,” the 4-storey building has been used previously as a nursing home and features two “huge mineral spa pools in the basement” as well as a commercial kitchen.

     

    Marketed by Delbert Ball of Keller Williams Mowhawk Valley, the property is described as “in need of some deferred maintenance [and] sold as is,” but having “enormous opportunity potential.”

     

    Water minded entrepreneurs with pound signs flashing in their skulls at the prospect of money flowing like water, however, should be reminded of the December 1992 episode of the BBC’s Only Fools and Horses titled ‘Mother Nature’s Son.’

     

    In it, Derek Trotter (AKA ‘Del Boy’) and his brother Rodney bottle tap water and sells it as ‘Peckham Spring Water.’ Whilst their scam is successful at first, their product becomes contaminated by barrels of an unknown yellow substance they’d dumped in a local reservoir and that becomes the end of that.

     

     

    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 5
    The entrance hallway of the house.
    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 6
    A grand staircase connects the floors of the building.
    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 7
    In terms of entertaining spaces, the ‘mansion’ includes “two grand parlours with pocket doors, all-natural wood flooring and spacious windows” as well as its two Sulphur spas with “large lounge areas.”
    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 8
    The building is perpetuated by wooden paneling throughout.
    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 9
    A commercial kitchen from when the property was used as a nursing home remains in-situ. Its condition is unknown, but it likely needs to be and will be ripped out by any purchaser.
    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 10
    One of 15 bedrooms in a vast building that has the potential to be turned back into a very large family home or a small hotel even.
    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 11
    Another bedroom complete with an original fireplace.
    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 12
    An aerial views showing the plot and the circular driveway that wraps around ‘The Bella Vista.’
    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 13
    The building is clearly in need of considerable renovation and the hideous extension to the rear would be best be demolished.
    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 14
    The Bella Vista, 241 E. Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 is situated in a village at the northern end of Canadargo Lake and at the border of Herkimer County.
    241 E Main Street, Richfield Springs, Richfield, Otsego County, New York, NY 13439 Image 15
    The plot and views from the property are idyllic.
  • Far From The Madding Crowd (But Well-Near The Whisky)

    Far From The Madding Crowd (But Well-Near The Whisky)

    Detached cottage in nearly an acre of land, far from the madding crowd and 5 miles from the nearest village in Sutherland, Scotland for sale for just £95,000; it’s perfect for an isolationist whisky lover

    ‘Achastaile’ is said to mean ‘field of the whisky still’ and now someone looking for somewhere truly far from the madding crowd, could purchase a truly remote house of that name at the heart of the Highlands in the true wilderness that is Sutherland in Scotland.

     

    Situated a mile up an access track described by its selling agents as “rough” and 5 miles from the small village of Rogart, the “semi-derelict” cottage offered sits on a plot of ¾ of an acre and currently includes a hall, a sitting room with cast iron fireplace, a kitchen with “basic” fittings and a stone inglenook fireplace, a “spacious” bedroom, a bathroom and an attic room.

     

    Serviced by mains electricity in spite of its isolation, ‘Achastaile’ has a private water supply, a UV water treatment system and drainage is to a septic tank.

     

    Described as an “ultimate hideaway” in the Sutherland Hills that offers “complete peace and tranquility,” the property “requires complete refurbishment and renovation.” Prior planning permission for such has now lapsed, but “the existing plans can be made available to prospective purchasers on request.”

     

    Arthur & Carmichael estate agents market ‘Achastaile’ – also known more simply as ‘188 Muie’ – at a price of offers over £95,000 ($131,000, €110,000 or درهم483,000). They advise viewers that they will not “accept any liability for damage or injury caused as a result of visiting the property” and provide detailed directions for access that read:

     

    “Take the A9 north over Dornoch Bridge and follow the road until you reach ‘The Mound’. Turn left at the sign for Rogart. Go through the village and after 2.2 miles from the last ‘30 mile’ sign at the end of the village, turn right into Blarich estate. Please close the gate.”

     

    “Follow the driveway and bear to the right and you will see a fence line where the drive continues to a large farm building. Park at the fence line (please take care to not obstruct the lane) and walk up the hill following the track to the left for approximately 1 mile. There are 2 gates on the way up the track – please make sure that these are closed behind you.”

     

    Far From The Madding Crowd (But Well-Near The Whisky) – £95,000 cottage Achastaile, 188 Muie, Rogart, Sutherland, Highland, IV28 3UB, Scotland – Detached cottage in nearly an acre of land, far from the madding crowd and 5 miles from the nearest village in Sutherland, Scotland for sale for just £95,000 ($131,000, €110,000 or درهم483,000); it’s perfect for an isolationist whisky lover through estate agents Arthur & Carmichael.
    Far From The Madding Crowd (But Well-Near The Whisky) – Whilst ‘Achastaile’ at 188 Muie, Rogart, Sutherland, Highland, IV28 3UB might seem a bargain at just £95,000, a 41,433 square foot castle in Sutherland we featured in April 2016 could be considered even more of a steal. Carbisdale Castle was offered at a price of just £900,000 or £21.70 per square foot.
    Far From The Madding Crowd (But Well-Near The Whisky) – £95,000 cottage Achastaile, 188 Muie, Rogart, Sutherland, Highland, IV28 3UB, Scotland – Detached cottage in nearly an acre of land, far from the madding crowd and 5 miles from the nearest village in Sutherland, Scotland for sale for just £95,000 ($131,000, €110,000 or درهم483,000); it’s perfect for an isolationist whisky lover through estate agents Arthur & Carmichael.
    Far From The Madding Crowd (But Well-Near The Whisky) – The cottage is situated at the heart of Britain’s “last true wilderness.”
    Far From The Madding Crowd (But Well-Near The Whisky) – £95,000 cottage Achastaile, 188 Muie, Rogart, Sutherland, Highland, IV28 3UB, Scotland – Detached cottage in nearly an acre of land, far from the madding crowd and 5 miles from the nearest village in Sutherland, Scotland for sale for just £95,000 ($131,000, €110,000 or درهم483,000); it’s perfect for an isolationist whisky lover through estate agents Arthur & Carmichael.
    Far From The Madding Crowd (But Well-Near The Whisky) – A stone-building outbuilding without a roof currently within the grounds is described as “offering further potential.”
    Far From The Madding Crowd (But Well-Near The Whisky) – £95,000 cottage Achastaile, 188 Muie, Rogart, Sutherland, Highland, IV28 3UB, Scotland – Detached cottage in nearly an acre of land, far from the madding crowd and 5 miles from the nearest village in Sutherland, Scotland for sale for just £95,000 ($131,000, €110,000 or درهم483,000); it’s perfect for an isolationist whisky lover through estate agents Arthur & Carmichael.
    Far From The Madding Crowd (But Well-Near The Whisky) – The cottage is situated at the heart of Britain’s “last true wilderness.”
    Far From The Madding Crowd (But Well-Near The Whisky) – £95,000 cottage Achastaile, 188 Muie, Rogart, Sutherland, Highland, IV28 3UB, Scotland – Detached cottage in nearly an acre of land, far from the madding crowd and 5 miles from the nearest village in Sutherland, Scotland for sale for just £95,000 ($131,000, €110,000 or درهم483,000); it’s perfect for an isolationist whisky lover through estate agents Arthur & Carmichael.
    Far From The Madding Crowd (But Well-Near The Whisky) – The existing accommodation could be easily expanded.
    Far From The Madding Crowd (But Well-Near The Whisky) – £95,000 cottage Achastaile, 188 Muie, Rogart, Sutherland, Highland, IV28 3UB, Scotland – Detached cottage in nearly an acre of land, far from the madding crowd and 5 miles from the nearest village in Sutherland, Scotland for sale for just £95,000 ($131,000, €110,000 or درهم483,000); it’s perfect for an isolationist whisky lover through estate agents Arthur & Carmichael.
    The Clynelish Distillery is situated in Brora, a small industrial village on Sutherland’s east coast.

    Distilleries in Sutherland

    Whilst ‘Achastaile’ itself is terribly isolated, its eventual purchaser will find not only nature as solace. In nearby Ross-Shire, there are well known distilleries such as Balbair, Glenmorangie and Glen Ord and in Sutherland itself, the “water of life” flows at amongst others:

     

    Clynelish, Brora

    Originally built in 1819, the Clynelish Distillery is now owned by Diageo. Around 95% of the spirit made there is used in Johnnie Walker blends, primarily for the Gold Label Reserve.

     

    Thompson Bros. at Dornoch Distillery, Dornoch

    Founded in 2016 by Phil and Simon Thompson, this micro-distillery located in a ‘Fire House’ in the grounds of the Dornoch Castle Hotel produces “whisky styles of the 1960s” and gin also.

     

  • Kingly Kinlet

    Kingly Kinlet

    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.

    Now, following on from our feature on Saturday on the £10 million crumbling Jacobean gem Lilford Hall Estate in Northamptonshire, the same agents, Savills, have now introduced the sale of another treasure – the utterly stunning Palladian architectural treasure that is Kinlet Hall in Shropshire.

    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.

    Kingly Kinlet – £3.5 million ($4.4 million, €3.9 million or درهم16.3 million) for Kinlet Hall, Kinlet, Bewdley, Shropshire, DY12 3AY, United Kingdom through agents Savills – Grand Grade I listed Shropshire mansion Kinlet Hall for sale after coronavirus forced the closure of its wedding venue and summer school. HRH Prince Anne has competed at horse trials in its parkland.
    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.

     

    Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

    Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

    Twitter: @SteepleTimes

     

  • A £5 Million Party Wreck

    A £5 Million Party Wreck

    Ruined Moroccan fortress fit for the most lavish of bashes for sale for £5.3 million; it may be “spectacular” but it most certainly doesn’t have Wi-Fi

    Billionaires like Morocco. The late Malcolm Forbes (1919 – 1990) lavished the equivalent of £4.1 million today ($5.1 million, €4.7 million or درهم18.7 million today) holding his 70th birthday at his property, Palais Mendoub, there in 1989. Guests – many of whom arrived by Concorde even – numbered Gianni Agnelli, Mario Buatta, Betsy Bloomingdale, King Constantine of Greece, Walter Cronkite, Diane von Furstenberg, Sir James Goldsmith, Calvin Klein, Dr Henry Kissinger, John and Patricia Kluge, Robert and Dr Betty Maxwell, Lucky Roosevelt, Elizabeth Taylor and Barbara Walters and boy did the food and drink flow. Of the fat bash, the New York Social Diary gushed: “It was a party festooning in ballyhoo, in glitter and glamour and illusion, comparable to Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball twenty-three years before in New York.”

     

    A £5 Million Wreck – Kasbah Tagountaft, Morocco for sale Ruined Moroccan fortress fit for the most lavish of bashes for sale for £5.3 million through Kensington Properties; Kasbah Tagountaft may be “spectacular” but it most certainly doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
    Gone are the days of lavish bashes on the scale given by Malcolm Forbes (and gone are all those pictured) – Malcolm Forbes with his ‘date’ Elizabeth Taylor and the since exposed for what he truly was ‘media monster’ (and father of the equally repugnant paedophile procurer Ghislaine Maxwell), ‘Bouncing Bob’ Robert Maxwell and his long-suffering wife Dr Betty Maxwell.
    A £5 Million Wreck – Kasbah Tagountaft, Morocco for sale Ruined Moroccan fortress fit for the most lavish of bashes for sale for £5.3 million through Kensington Properties; Kasbah Tagountaft may be “spectacular” but it most certainly doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
    The Concorde used to transport guests to Tangier has also passed on – a technological step backwards if ever there was.

    Now, someone looking to throw an equivalently extravagant party once lockdown is over (and once they’ve lavished a small fortune renovating it) in Morocco, could acquire a 32,292 square foot space in what agents Kensington Properties call a “high up… striking position overlooking the River Nfis.”

     

    Going further of the £5.3 million ($6.5 million, €6 million or درهم23.8 million) fortress, they add of Kasbah Tagountaft: “[It] is considered one of the most memorable sites of historical significance in Morocco” and was “once the home of the powerful Caid of the Goundafa tribe who vied for control of the Atlas Mountains at the end of the 19th century.”

     

    Whilst little else is described in the marketing material for this “absolutely stunning property, full of potential,” one thing’s for sure: Anyone with a requirement for working Wi-Fi when they arrive on site, need not apply.

     

    Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

    Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

    Twitter: @SteepleTimes

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSyktSKw4_k&feature=emb_logo
    A £5 Million Party Wreck – Kasbah Tagountaft, Morocco for sale Ruined Moroccan fortress fit for the most lavish of bashes for sale for £5.3 million through Kensington Properties; Kasbah Tagountaft may be “spectacular” but it most certainly doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
    A £5 Million Party Wreck – Kasbah Tagountaft, Morocco for sale Ruined Moroccan fortress fit for the most lavish of bashes for sale for £5.3 million through Kensington Properties; Kasbah Tagountaft may be “spectacular” but it most certainly doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
    A £5 Million Party Wreck – Kasbah Tagountaft, Morocco for sale Ruined Moroccan fortress fit for the most lavish of bashes for sale for £5.3 million through Kensington Properties; Kasbah Tagountaft may be “spectacular” but it most certainly doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
    A £5 Million Party Wreck – Kasbah Tagountaft, Morocco for sale Ruined Moroccan fortress fit for the most lavish of bashes for sale for £5.3 million through Kensington Properties; Kasbah Tagountaft may be “spectacular” but it most certainly doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
    A £5 Million Party Wreck – Kasbah Tagountaft, Morocco for sale Ruined Moroccan fortress fit for the most lavish of bashes for sale for £5.3 million through Kensington Properties; Kasbah Tagountaft may be “spectacular” but it most certainly doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
    A £5 Million Party Wreck – Kasbah Tagountaft, Morocco for sale Ruined Moroccan fortress fit for the most lavish of bashes for sale for £5.3 million through Kensington Properties; Kasbah Tagountaft may be “spectacular” but it most certainly doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
    A £5 Million Party Wreck – Kasbah Tagountaft, Morocco for sale Ruined Moroccan fortress fit for the most lavish of bashes for sale for £5.3 million through Kensington Properties; Kasbah Tagountaft may be “spectacular” but it most certainly doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
    A £5 Million Party Wreck – Kasbah Tagountaft, Morocco for sale Ruined Moroccan fortress fit for the most lavish of bashes for sale for £5.3 million through Kensington Properties; Kasbah Tagountaft may be “spectacular” but it most certainly doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
    A £5 Million Party Wreck – Kasbah Tagountaft, Morocco for sale Ruined Moroccan fortress fit for the most lavish of bashes for sale for £5.3 million through Kensington Properties; Kasbah Tagountaft may be “spectacular” but it most certainly doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
    A £5 Million Party Wreck – Kasbah Tagountaft, Morocco for sale Ruined Moroccan fortress fit for the most lavish of bashes for sale for £5.3 million through Kensington Properties; Kasbah Tagountaft may be “spectacular” but it most certainly doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
  • Gone is the Garage

    Gone is the Garage

    Purpose-built Upper East Side, NYC Beaux Arts garage reduced in price by 41%; it will still cost around £40 million to buy and turn into a vast single family residence

     

    Purpose built in 1906 to house the cars of wealthy (but not quite so wealthy enough to have their own carriage houses) Upper Eastsiders, 177 – 179 East 73rd Street in New York is a five-storey Beaux Arts structure that is described as “unusually sophisticated”.

     

    Reduced from a completely unrealistic £39.8 million ($50 million, €47 million or درهم183.6 million) when first marketed in 2015 to £23.5 million ($29.5 million, €27.7 million or درهم108.4 million) today, estimates put the cost of converting the building to a single townhouse at upto £15.9 million ($20 million, €18.8 million or درهم73.5 million).

     

    Featuring a granite and limestone façade, 177 – 179 East 73rd Street has ceiling heights that range from 12’7” to 17’, is 40’ wide and provides 17,232 square foot of internal space. Though plans have been drawn up to turn it into a vast 8-beroom residence complete with a 8-car garage, basketball court and home cinema, rival agent Jed Garfield of Leslie J. Garfield, told The Real Deal: “I think it’s still overpriced. The only surprising thing is that they’re now willing to sell it at [closer to] market price” late last week.

     

    The building – which remains in use as a UES garage – is listed by Carrie Chiang of Corcoran and is described as “just waiting to undergo a metamorphosis in the hands of a discerning buyer”.

     

    Image shows 177 – 179 East 73rd Street in 1906, 2017 and a rendering as a single family residence (left to right).

     

  • Narrow in Knightsbridge

    Narrow in Knightsbridge

    Tiny 2.5-foot deep Knightsbridge “corridor house” sells for £810,000 at auction

     

    Yesterday, at an auction in London, a 2.5-foot deep (at its minimum) and 3-foot deep (at its maximum) mews house sold for £810,000 ($1 million, €936,000 or درهم3.7 million) despite being nothing more than a very long corridor.

     

    Extending to 275 square foot in total and 65-foot long, 1B Ennismore Gardens Mews needs “complete refurbishment” but has potential for a first floor extension. The single-storey freehold property, which was owned from the 1950s to 2010 by a lady named Linda Wildoner, is certainly one of the smallest houses in Knightsbridge and could definitely be described as a curiosity.

     

    Narrow in Knightsbridge – 2.5-foot wide house sells for £810,000 –Tiny, 2.5-foot deep “corridor house” 1B Ennismore Gardens Mews, Knightsbridge, London, SW7 1HX sells for £810,000 ($1 million, €936,000 or درهم3.7 million) at Savills auction
    Linda Wildoner (1916 – 2010) outside 1B Ennismore Gardens Mews, Knightsbridge, London, SW7 1HX with Sir Martyn Poliakoff CBE (born 1947)

     

    Miss Wildoner, an Austrian who moved to London after the Second World War to take care of Sir Martin Poliakoff and his family, died in 2010 and yesterday’s sale was carried out at the behest of her executors.

     

    Of this extraordinarily weird property, Chris Coleman-Smith of auctioneers Savills told the Mail Online:

     

    “You see narrow houses, but this is something completely different… It is on a prime, crème de la crème mews on Knightsbridge. It is a superb, picturesque mews. One of the top addresses”.

     

    “It is very basic and will need a complete refurbishment. It is brilliant. It is weird and wonderful and I’ve not come across anything like it. Someone will create something fantastic here. In a cobbled mews in Knightsbridge it is a great opportunity”.

     

    Narrow in Knightsbridge – 2.5-foot wide house sells for £810,000 –Tiny, 2.5-foot deep “corridor house” 1B Ennismore Gardens Mews, Knightsbridge, London, SW7 1HX sells for £810,000 ($1 million, €936,000 or درهم3.7 million) at Savills auction Narrow in Knightsbridge – 2.5-foot wide house sells for £810,000 –Tiny, 2.5-foot deep “corridor house” 1B Ennismore Gardens Mews, Knightsbridge, London, SW7 1HX sells for £810,000 ($1 million, €936,000 or درهم3.7 million) at Savills auction

  • Not So Roomy

    Not So Roomy

    Small, single room in South Kensington to be sold for £150,000 at auction

     

    A single room in South Kensington is to be auctioned for the staggering sum of £150,000 ($184,000, €172,000 or درهم675,000).

     

    Curiously offered with a “reserve price not to exceed” that sum, the 205 square foot space is on the lower ground floor of 30 Queen’s Gate Gardens and held on a lease with 113 years remaining. It can be accessed from the main ground floor or entrance or via the lower ground floor entrance, has an external window and appears to have a rather large hole bashed in one of its walls.

     

    Auctioneers Allsop will sell what could be one of the most expensive cupboards in London on 30th March at The Cumberland Hotel in Great Cumberland Place, W1H. The agents emphasise a key selling point in stating: “There is no liability towards the building’s insurance or service charge” with this property.

     

  • Five of the Best: Rambling ruins

    Five of the Best: Rambling ruins

    Five British mansions that require new owners with bottomless pockets for sale at prices from £950,000 to over £10 million (more…)

  • A royal quarry

    A royal quarry

    Prince Charles puts a Cornish quarry up for sale

     

    In London, £40,000 to £50,000 won’t buy even a parking spot. In Cornwall, if the auction guide price is met, it’ll get you a former slate quarry with an engine house and 45.88 acres of land that is currently owned by Prince Charles’s Duchy of Cornwall. (more…)