Tag: property

A Federal Find

Federal-style New York townhouse for sale for £3.982 million; the West Village was previously the Home of the Sons and Daughters of Israel

A 2,212 square foot townhouse dating to 1833 on sale in New York comes with quite a history. Built in the Federal-style by a cartman named John C. Blauvelt, the property subsequently became the Home of the Sons and Daughters of Israel – a “home for aged male and female Hebrews” – in 1913 and was then converted to two residences in 1951.

232 West 10th Street, West Village, Manhattan, New York, NY 10014, United States of America

Reduced in price from £4.772 million ($5.975 million, €5.630 million or درهم21.946 million) to £3.982 million ($4.986 million, €4.698 million or درهم18.313 million), 232 West 10^th Street in West Village, Manhattan currently remains as two units and comprises of 3 reception rooms, 2 kitchens, 2 offices, 2 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. It could, however, easily be reconfigured back into a family home and comes with both a terrace and garden.

The house is offered by the Farah team at Compass Realty and is described as “a renovator’s dream”.

April 16, 2017
Witchfinders and Watermills

Picturesque watermill used in ‘The Witchfinder General’ and ‘Dad’s Army’ for sale

Witches and water don’t have an affinity – with dunking being a common form of punishment for suspects in the 16^th and 17^th centuries – and at The Watermill on the River Black Bourn at Ixworth in Suffolk, just such activity occurred in the 1968 film The Witchfinder General.

The Watermill, which is now for sale for £1 million ($1.3 million, €1.2 million or درهم4.6 milllion) through Savills, was also a location in the popular BBC series Dad’s Army and of this property, which until recently was used as a holiday rental, the corporation’s Martha Kearney once remarked: “I can’t think of a more enchanted summer evening than sitting outside the Mill, gazing across the water lilies on the pond to the beautiful island beyond”.

The Watermill prior to renovation

A working mill from 1800 until 1946, the 5,848 square foot, three floor building comes with detailed restrictions about how it could be altered given it is Grade II* listed but currently provides 3 reception rooms, 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

Previously rented from £1,450 to £3,000 per week depending on season, The Watermill is situated on a three acre plot that includes a picturesque lily-covered mill pond with island and mill race. An outbuilding has lapsed planning permission for conversion into ancillary accommodation whilst the former mill itself retains much of its original machinery.

April 15, 2017
Balancing Bedrooms

Converted Hampshire coach house for sale; it extends to 6,222 square foot but has just two bedrooms

A 6,222 square foot Hampshire coach house that was converted to a residential dwelling in 1987 is for sale for £2.5 million ($3.1 million, €2.9 million or درهم11.4 million).

Hildon House at Broughton is Grade II listed and though vast in terms of its total size provides just two bedroom suites. The house, instead, is primarily comprised of six entertaining spaces and two kitchens and is presented in a modern style internally.

Standing in 18.99 acres of parkland that formerly belonged to Rose Hill, the long since demolished house the coach house served, the three-floor building is set around a courtyard. It comes with a one bedroom annexe, clock tower, outdoor swimming pool and carport.

Knight Frank are the sole selling agents.

April 13, 2017
An MP’s Manor

Norfolk manor house owned by anti-Brexit Conservative politician Lord Prior of Brampton for sale for £3 million

David Prior – now The Rt. Hon. The Lord Prior of Brampton – undoubtedly was a decent and able Member of Parliament. Educated at Charterhouse and Cambridge, he became first an investment banker with Lehman Brothers and Lazard and then subsequently represented the Norfolk North constituency between 1997 and 2001.

A Conservative but one with a belief that “the role of the market is hugely limited in health and social care” and that Brexit will be “a terrible mistake”, 62-year old Mr Prior – whose father was the “Tory wet” Jim, later The Rt. Hon. The Lord Prior PC (1927 – 2016) – acquired Swannington Manor, ten miles north of Norwich in 1990 with his wife and has recently put it up for sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.5 million or درهم13.8 million).

Standing in 96.5 acres, Swannington Manor is a Grade II listed red brick built house that dates to around 1700. It retains many period features, extends to 7,519 square foot and includes 5 reception rooms, 8 bedrooms and a self-contained annexe. A 3 bedroom lodge – let on a protected tenancy – stands beside the property’s entrance gates and aside from various outbuildings, barns and stores, there are formal and informal gardens, a kitchen garden, a heated outdoor swimming pool and a hard tennis court.

Primarily to the south and west of the house are grazing meadows, water meadows, a trout stream, a series of ponds and areas of woodland. These have been maintained with conservation and duck flighting in mind and form what the selling agents Savills describe as “a small sporting estate”.

Surprisingly, given his comments about Britain leaving the EU, Lord Prior of Brampton was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 21^st December 2016.

April 13, 2017
Alfie Best II

A tenacious Romany Gypsy turned multi-millionaire businessman, Mayfair and Hertfordshire based Alfie Best overcame “many obstacles and prejudices” to make his fortune in cars, mobile phone stores and mobile home parks. The owner of Wyldecrest Parks also produces his own gin and claims his life philosophy is “90% perspiration and 10% inspiration”. His equally entrepreneurial son, Alfie Best III, appeared with him on Channel 4’s My Big Fat Gypsy Fortune.

April 10, 2017
Living Eyre

“Gentleman’s manor house” that inspired Charlotte Brontë’s Thornfield Hall in ‘Jane Eyre’ available to rent for just £14,400 per year; alternatively you could take a tiny studio in SW3 for the same sum

Described by Charlotte Brontë (1775 – 1817) as being “three storeys high; a gentleman’s manor house; battlements round the top gave it a picturesque look” in Jane Eyre, Thornfield Hall was where Jane Eyre became a governess and where she fell for Mr Rochester. The 16^th century building that is said to have been Brontë’s primary inspiration, North Lees Hall, is now available to rent and is offered for the same sum as a poky 179 square foot studio in Chelsea Cloisters in London, SW3.

North Lees Hall, Birley Lane, Hathersage, Derbyshire, S32 1BR is owned by the Peak District National Park and available to let after the Vivat Trust, that managed it as a holiday rental from 1988, ceased trading in 2015

A first floor studio – 154 Chelsea Cloisters, Sloane Avenue, Chelsea, London, SW3 3DR – is available through JLL for the same sum but is hardly as imposing

Ruth Wilson played Jane Eyre with Toby Stephens as Edward Rochester in the 2006 TV adaptation of Jane Eyre; part of the series was filmed at North Lees Hall

Supposedly designed by Robert Smythson (1534 – 1614), the architect of Hardwick Hall, Grade II* listed North Lees Hall features a tower and turrets and comprises of 2 reception rooms, 3 double bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It also has a large breakfast kitchen and basement but the panoramic views from the castellated roof terrace are what will most likely impress potential tenants.

North Lees Hall is available through Saxton Mee for £1,200 per month ($1,484, €1,402 or درهم5,453 per month). Tenders to rent it on a furnished basis for a minimum of twelve months must be submitted by Friday 28^th April.

April 9, 2017
Overheard – 8th April

Clangers overheard and snippets spotted by readers of ‘The Steeple Times’

Candy Knockers

At Scalini in Knightsbridge, two brash housebuilders from Essex sat devouring veal chops. One referenced his idols and observed: “The Candy brothers have a brilliant setup. They are like the Peter Stringfellows of property”. The other looked puzzled but the first continued: “They’ve got properties that sell as well as Katie Price’s knockers. What assets! Value for money? I don’t know. But, impressive? Hell yeah!” Try telling that to Mark Holyoake.

You’ve Got That Sinking Feeling

The same duo moved on to talking about their respective staff. The louder of the two offered his thoughts: “I’m so proud of Ray. He’s like the Titanic. He’s like the best ship in the world. Not because it sank but because it was the best ship in the world”. The other opined: “It still f**king sank and Ray will still f**king sink too”. All that was needed next was for My Heart Will Go On to play.

Housing the Godly

Two priests were spotted drinking Bloody Marys at the bar at PJ’s on Fulham Road. The first remarked: “I never quite manage to get given houses”. The second answered: “Shocking, isn’t it? I look through Country Life each week and I think: ‘All I get given each week is Communion wine’”.

Partying with a 4×4

A group of ladies gathered in the garden at Chiltern Firehouse after a hard day’s shopping in Selfridges. As they discussed an impending party an absent ‘friend’ was due to host, one Pucci clad creature shared her thoughts. She commented: “It’s not a party. They’re telling porkie pies. They’re just having it to show off that new Range Rover they’ve just bought. I bet they’ll block the bloody drive with it”. Miaow!

An Iggy Hangover

“My worst hangover was when I drank three bottles of champagne” remarked a passenger on the 14 bus. “Why?” asked her friend. “Because I had to take three days off work and because I thought I was Iggy Pop for two of them”.

Submit comments you hear to [email protected]. We publish amusing and ridiculous chatter we receive and sometimes we change names and locations to protect the identities of the vain and the vacuous.

April 8, 2017
Billionaire Battersea

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 lavish parties across the globe and counted Gianni Agnelli, Gordon Getty, Calvin Klein, Robert Maxwell, Rupert Murdoch, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump as friends. This “mysterious collector” also owned numerous residences and one of these, Old Battersea House in London, is for sale for the same sum as it was marketed for in 2011.

Often seen with Elizabeth Taylor at his side and described as “living life in the fabulous”, Forbes purchased Old Battersea House in 1971. It had previously been home to and saved from demolition by Battersea Council by the eccentric author and ghost hunter Wilhemina Stirling. She took up a lifetime tenancy on the building in 1931 and used it to house artworks by her sister, Evelyn de Morgan (1855 – 1919).

Businessman and publisher Malcolm S. Forbes (1919 – 1990) with seven times married actress Dame Elizabeth Taylor DBE (1932 – 2011) at his lavish 70th birthday party at the Palais Mendoub, Tangier, Morocco in 1989

Old Battersea House, 30 Vicarage Crescent, Battersea, London, SW11 3LD, United Kingdom

A. M. D. Wilhemina Stirling (1865 – 1965) owned the house prior to Malcolm Forbes

Christopher ‘Kip’ Forbes (born 1951) assisted his father restore Old Battersea House and later oversaw the family selling its art collection in 2003 and 2009

Grade II* listed since 1954 and adapted during Forbes and subsequently his son Kip’s ownership to showcase a vast collection of Victorian art and antiques, Old Battersea House was built on Tudor foundations in 1699 and was at first known as ‘Terrace House’. It originally had gardens extending down to the River Thames and is rumoured to have been designed by Sir Christopher Wren (1632 – 1723).

Featuring “handsome classical proportions throughout” and standing within a 110-foot wide walled garden, the 10,100 square foot house includes 4 reception rooms, 10 double bedrooms and 7 bathrooms. It has off-street parking and a garden store but it is sadly overlooked by the adjoining housing estate that was built in its grounds in the 1930s.

Savills seek £12 million ($15 million, €14 million or درهم54.9 million) for Old Battersea House.

The impressive hallway of Old Battersea House

Another entertaining space

Elizabeth Taylor and her then husband Larry Fortensky at Old Battersea House in 1992

Images of the house as it was furnished during the ownership of the Forbes family

April 6, 2017
A Dutch Delight

New York’s “most impressive” Dutch colonial house for sale for £2.59 million in spite of needing updating

Built in 1735 and listed as a designated New York landmark in 1966, 126 West Drive in Douglaston, Queens is considered to be New York’s “most impressive architectural remnant of the early Dutch Culture”. It has just been listed for sale for £2.59 million ($3.25 million, €3.05 million or درهم11.94 million) through Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty.

Overlooking Little Neck Bay, this “picturesque Dutch colonial house” features a salt-box roof, wooden shingles and oak beams and was built by Cornelius Van Wyck, a third generation settler on a plot of 125 acres. It was subsequently expanded in the 1770s and 1930s but despite now standing on a plot of just 0.65 acres is “one of the largest true waterfront properties in Queens”.

Extending to 3,876 square foot and including 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, the Cornelius Van Wyck House has direct access to a sandy beach and is just 28 minutes from Manhattan.

April 2, 2017
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.

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”.

March 30, 2017