Tag: property

Stunning Stonewall

Co-founder of Calvin Klein Inc. puts his 740 acre equestrian estate just an hour from New York up for sale for £81 million; about 65 stake winners and several horses that have competed at the Kentucky Derby have been produced there

“Murdered grocer’s son from the Bronx” Barry K. Schwartz and his childhood friend Calvin Klein co-founded the now world-famous fashion brand Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968 and sold it for £589 million in 2003.

Barry K. Schwartz with Calvin Klein.

Barry K. and Sheryl Schwartz.

Aside from spending his ever-growing fortune on horses – one of which he named ‘Degenerate Jon’ (after his son) and another ‘Killer Diller’ (after his friend the media mogul Barry Diller) – Schwartz and his wife, Sheryl, purchased 673 acres of land to the north of New York City in Westchester County in 1979 for the back then far from insubstantial sum then of £2.6 million.

There, not that far from Belmont Park racetrack in the small residential hamlet of Granite Springs, after adding yet more land to take their “equestrian estate” to a grand total of 18 deeded parcels on 740 contiguous acres, the couple created a world-class equestrian establishment that they filled with thoroughbred racehorses. Facilities at ‘Stonewall Farm’ – as it is now known – have evolved to include a turf racetrack, riding trails, a 40-stall yearling barn, two 24-stall broodmare barns, round pens and 4board fenced paddocks and pastures with run-in sheds.

A year after cashing in alongside Klein, stamp collector Schwartz’s new home was completed on the property. It features 24,000 square foot of accommodation, 8 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms. There is a 2,200-bottle wine cellar, a pub, a two-storey library “that would delight any reader” and living spaces that “invites elegant entertaining, whether intimate or on a grand scale,” according to selling agents Christie’s International Real Estate.

Elsewhere in the grounds, there are 8 staff residences (to house the 30 employees that currently maintain the estate), a guest house and a caretaker’s house. Formal gardens, designed by Edmund D. Hollander in geometric French and Japanese styles, adjoin the house and there is a 60-foot long swimming pool within a 4,000 square foot pavilion also.

Stonewall Farm is situated just one hour from Manhattan, but now that Mr and Mrs Schwartz are spending more time at another of their homes in Santa Barbara, California, they have decided to sell. Of it, realtor Kathleen Coumou told The Journal News:

“It’s on one of the largest pieces of property that one can purchase in the county. It was so convenient for [the Schwartzes] to be on this farm, with all its privacy, and still be close to New York… [It’s] magnificently laid out, with a southern-looking main house and behind it, it’s like you’re in Kentucky. You see the pastures with the horses and lots of woodlands. It’s quite spread out – it feels like you’re somewhere else, not in Westchester County… You have gorgeous views – hills and ponds and horses and paddocks, and different levels of rolling hills… You certainly can’t see anybody else around.”

“[Stonewall Farm will be sold to] a billionaire, who could come from anywhere.”

The Names & Numbers – Stonewall Farm, Mahopac Avenue, Granite Springs, Westchester County, New York, NY 10527, United States of America

April 2020 – For sale for £80.7 million ($100 million, €92.1 million or درهم368 million) through Christie’s International Real Estate. Of why, they chose this sum, realtor Kathleen Coumou told The Journal News: “We did a very thorough appraisal of the property – the land and all of the buildings – and came up with a price of $110 million, and then we decided to round it down to $100 million.”

June 2005 – The house is featured in Architectural Digest.

1999 to 2004 – Construction of main house, a “colonial-style manor” with a “white clapboard facade and a slate roof repurposed from the Yale Divinity School,” was completed to the designs of the New York architect Rebecca Rasmussen with an interior by the London based interior designer Kelly Hoppen.

2003 – Calvin Klein and Barry K. Schwartz sell their company to Philips-Van Heusen (now known as PVH Corp.) for £589 million ($730 million, €672 million or درهم2.7 billion).

1979 – Barry K. and Sheryl Schwartz pay £2.6 million ($3.25 million, €3 million or درهم11.9 million) for 673 acres of land. Of buying it, Mr Schwartz later commented: “”It was the easiest negotiation of my life. The seller asked $3.5 million, I offered $3 million and we settled on $3.25 million.” The couple purchased further land shortly thereafter.

1968 – Calvin Klein (born 19^th November 1942) co-founds Calvin Klein Inc. with his childhood friend Barry K. Schwartz (born 25^th May 1942) with a loan of £8,100 ($10,000, €9,200 or درهم36,700).

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

April 8, 2020
A Corona Cut Church

Converted church in Knightsbridge has its asking price cut by £11 million during the coronavirus lockdown; its price is still 340% higher than it sold for in 2003

In December, we featured the launch to the market of a £55 million property in Walton Street, Knightsbridge. Now, in the midst of London’s coronavirus lockdown, just three months later, that price has been cut by the staggering sum of £11 million.

Yours for £11 million less than in December 2019 – St Saviour’s House, Walton Street, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1SA.

St Saviour’s House, as it is now known, forms one thirds of a church and its conversion to a 12,102 square foot house did not delight everyone. Of it, back in 2001, The Telegraph’s Anne Atkins went as far to say: “[It is a] ghastly temple to Mammon… It is so awful I hardly know where to begin… Not my idea of a cosy home… Hideous and tacky… I tried to imagine living with this… The monstrosity of it… Vile.”

Knight Frank, who remain the selling agents, plainly still think otherwise and now market what they describe as an “extraordinary seven bedroom home” for £44 million. Referencing the pandemic directly, they add: “Owing to our commitment to keep both our colleagues and clients safe during this period of recommended isolation, we have many self-serve viewing options available to you. These include video walkthroughs, 360 virtual reality viewings and enhanced comprehensive photography.”

To see more pictures of this most curious conversion, click here.

The Numbers – St Saviour’s House, Walton Street, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1SA

April 2020 – Reduced in price to £44 million ($54 million, €50 million or درهم198 million).

December 2019 – For sale for £55 million ($73 million, €66 million or درهم269 million).

April 2014 – Sold to a Saudi businessman for £41 million ($55 million, €49 million or درهم201 million).

2009 – Sold to a Thai businessman for £13.5 million ($18 million, €16 million or درهم66 million). An additional £10 million ($13.3 million, €12 million or درهم49 million) was spent on redevelopment.

2003 – Bought by lyricist Alain Boublil for £10 million ($13.3 million, €12 million or درهم49 million).

1998 – Half the church and the church hall sold by the Diocese of London for about £1.2 million ($1.6 million, €1.4 million or درهم5.9 million) for conversion into two dwellings. The central portion of the building retained as a place of worship.

1837 – Plot on which entirety of St Saviour’s Church now sits sold for £300 or the equivalent of £33,000 today ($44,000, €40,000 or درهم162,000 today) to the Metropolitan Church Fund.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

April 4, 2020
A Wyatt Wonder

“Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson

Designed by Robert Adam’s rival James Wyatt in 1773 and “clothed in the Italiante manner” in 1859 to 1860, “grand and beautifully executed” Abbey Leix in County Laois is considered “one of Ireland’s most important country houses.”

Placed for sale last June for £17.8 million ($22 million, €20 million or درهم81 million), the main house on the 1,120-acre estate, Abbey Leix House – also known as ‘Abbeyleix House’ and’ Abbeyleix Castle’) – is vast and includes 26,910 square foot of accommodation. Aside from 9 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, the classical building has amongst other things 3 major rooms on the park front, a deep hall, a music room with original Wyatt plasterwork, a library and a conservatory.

Sir David Davies (born in Wales in 1940) at Abbey Leix.

Renovated and remodeled since being sold to the Welsh born, twice divorced, father of five Sir David Davies in 1995 by its previous owners of the 250 years, the de Vesci family, Abbey Leix is described by agents Sotheby’s International Realty as a “21^st century family home with an appropriate balance between comfort and informality on the one hand and grandeur for entertaining and the display of art on the other.”

As well as Ireland’s oldest oak tree being within the grounds, the property also includes some of the “last surviving remnants of Ireland’s ancient woodland” and frontage to the River Nore. There is also a stud farm with 24 loose boxes, a separate farmyard with many outbuildings and 10 lodges and cottages on the estate. The present owner’s private airstrip was created because he wanted to be able to “fly from wherever in the UK straight into the estate.”

Of why he is selling Abbey Leix, “superstar banker and businessman” Sir David – who has variously held senior posts at Chase Manhattan Bank, Hill Samuel, MEPC, Hardine Matheson, Hong Kong Land, Johnson Matthey and EFG Private Bank – told the Business Post:

“I’m organising my whole estate for the benefit of my children… Although the children all love this place very much, none of them wanted to take it on… The typical refrain is ‘Dad, this is your project,’ and I’m lucky enough to have Killoughter House, the home of my childhood, to return to.”

Though born in Wales, Sir David – whom was knighted “for his work as chairman of the Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment” in 1999 – has maintained a home in Ireland throughout his adulthood. He “proudly” became an Irish citizen after Brexit and described “inept” Theresa May as “going from one catastrophe to that leads to the next catastrophe.” Of her successor, the opera loving son of a South Wales steel mill owner went further and recently remarked: “I have no time for Boris Johnson: he doesn’t do his homework, and can’t be trusted.”

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

April 2, 2020
A Respite for NHS Workers in SW7

Luxurious South Kensington apartment offered to NHS workers for 75% less than it generally rents for during the coronavirus crisis by film producer Alexa Jago

A born and bred Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea resident is offering her opulent South Kensington apartment – situated within close walking distance of both the Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust Hospital and the private BUPA Cromwell Hospital – to doctors, nurses and other medical workers for just £65 per night ($81, €73 or درهم296 per night) with further discount for longer term stays. It normally rents for as much as £280 per night ($348, €315 or درهم1,300 per night).

Of why she is making the property available, actress, film producer and film financier Alexa Jago – who is also involved in military charities and was executive producer of Kajaki, the true British war docu-drama – told The Steeple Times:

“All the glamour of making films in Hollywood doesn’t take away from my heart being firmly a Londoner.”

“At this time, I realise that I am truly a Londoner. Our city is silent except for in the ICU wards and none of us in our silent homes across London and the rest of the country can probably really imagine what is going on for some out there on the front line.”

“I’d like to do my part. I’m not a doctor or a nurse but I do have central London accommodation which I can share. I hope it can give an NHS worker a peaceful retreat after a long day’s work.”

The one bedroomed, ground floor apartment has its own private entrance and has recently been totally refurbished. It has been cleverly designed to maximise use of the internal space and includes a vast sitting room with high ceilings, cornicing and a charming fireplace, a dining area in a bright bay window, a compact fully fitted kitchen and a white marble bathroom. There is fast WiFi throughout and televisions with Netflix in both the sitting room and bedroom.

NHS workers in need of accommodation in SW7, should email Alexa Jago directly at [email protected] for more information.

Pictured top: The private entrance to the apartment, its period fireplace and Alexa Jago herself.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

March 31, 2020
A Bowled Down Price

Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum

In March 2015, The Steeple Times featured a Texan mansion described by some as “more iconic than Southfork.” Back then this “replica of George Washington’s Virginia estate” had been for sale for four years already and now, in March 2020, it’s still on the market.

Offered at prices as high as £26.1 million and as low as £12 million, Mount Vernon overlooks White Rock Lake in Dallas and was built between 1928 and 1930. It was sold in 1938 to one of the world’s largest oil baron’s, H. L. Hunt (1889 – 1974) – a man “reputed to have the highest net worth of any individual in the world” at the time of his death.

John Amend with Laura Bush at the bowling alley at Mount Vernon and with his wife Teresa.

One of the entrances to Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America.

Passing on to a commercial real estate tycoon and fellow supporter of the Bush political dynasty named John Amend in 1999, the 10,511 square foot house was subsequently renovated and aside from creating spaces including a prayer room, a 10,000 bottle wine cellar, a 1950s style diner and a car museum, what is considered to be the finest private bowling centre in America was added. It comes complete with a digital jukebox that has over 500,000 songs on its concert hall quality sound system

Whilst Mr Amend and his wife Teresa hosted guests including Glenn Close and President George W. Bush at Mount Vernon, in 2011 they decided to “simplify their lives” and placed it for sale. In the time since, its yoyo-ed on and off the market but speaking about the property to the Dallas News in February this year, realtor Allie Beth Allman claimed the Amends have now “made it a goal to sell the property this year.” She went further and stated:

“Many interested buyers have made offers, but the family has been reluctant to sell… The kids are just now at the age that they really enjoy it, and they spend a lot of time over there. It’s hard to give that up when your grandkids are saying, ‘Oh, don’t sell.’”

Allie Beth Allman & Associates now seek £14.9 million for Mount Vernon and the 10 acres that surround it.

The Names & Numbers – Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America

March 2020 – Relisted at £14.9 million ($18.5 million, €16.6 million or درهم67.9 million) and still for sale through Allie Beth Allman & Associates.

May 2019 – Relisted at a price of £12 million ($14.9 million, €13.4 million or درهم54.7 million).

May 2016 – Relisted at a price of £14.1 million ($17.5 million, €15.7 million or درهم64.3 million).

March 2015 – Featured in The Steeple Times whilst listed with Allie Beth Allman & Associates and Christie’s Real Estate at a price of £15.3 million ($19 million, €17 million or درهم68 million).

September 2013 – Reduced in price to £15.3 million ($19 million, €17 million or درهم68 million).

November 2012 – Reduced in price to £23.7 million ($29.5 million, €26.5 million or درهم108.3 million).

2011 – Placed for sale for £26.1 million ($32.5 million, €29.2 million or درهم119.4 million).

2004 – Hosted its first event as “the nation’s finest professionally equipped bowling centre.” The alley reportedly cost £1.16 million ($1.45 million, €1.3 million or درهم5.33 million) to construct.

2002 – Renovated and expanded.

1999 – Sold to the self-declared real estate “pioneer and innovator” John T. Amend and his wife Teresa for an undisclosed sum.

1938 – Sold by Thomas Y. Pickett to Harold Lafayette Hunt, Jr. for $69,000 or the equivalent of £740,000 today ($922,000, €826,000 or درهم3.4 million today).

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

March 29, 2020
Going Thin – Two Into One?

Second apartment in South Kensington’s famous ‘Thin House’ comes to the market after another has languished for sale for four years; the two could potentially be merged to make a truly spectacular artist’s studio in the sky

In May 2016, The Steeple Times featured a 603 square foot third floor artist’s studio flat in a building known as ‘The Thin House’ (or ‘The Skinny House’) in Thurloe Square, South Kensington. Priced then at £895,000 ($1.1 million, €1 million or درهم4.1 million), this apartment is surprisingly still for sale for the same sum and complete with the same furniture four years later. Now, however, it is no longer offered by the defunct agents W. A. Ellis and is instead available through agents Rokstone.

The third floor space for sale through Rokstone for £895,000 has been on the market since 2016, yet has never been reduced in price.

A reason this flat may not have ‘moved’ in the period is not only that the building in which it is situated is not only of an “architecturally weird shape,” but also because it directly backs onto the District and Circle line. With trains running from around 5.30am to 12.30am each day, it is undoubtedly noise affected.

Constructed on the remaining land of five neo-classical houses demolished to make way for the underground in the 1860s, red brick 5 Thurloe Square – just six foot wide at its narrowest point – was the brainchild of a local builder named William Douglas. Fitting into a “meagre” triangle, he designed and built seven artists’ studios between 1885 and 1887 and some of them are still in use by creatives to this day.

As well as the aforementioned share of freehold third floor property, a studio on the second floor of the building is also on the market. Offered by Winkworth for £875,000 ($1.1 million, €980,000 or درهم4 million), the 676 square foot space features a 21-foot by 16-foot studio with a small kitchen and bathroom off and a 13-foot by 7-foot mezzanine bedroom over. The agents describe the property as offering “exceptional space” and “the most magnificent view over the treetops of Thurloe Square towards the Victoria and Albert Museum.”

Subject to planning, imagination and deep pockets, an inspired individual could perhaps purchase and merge both apartments into one. The resulting 1,279 square foot creation would not only be thin, it could potentially be spectacular.

Images and floor plans of the third floor artist’s studio follow.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

March 27, 2020
A Cockney Paradise in Chelsea

Art deco mansion block apartment in Chelsea that was once home to the “cheeky Cockney” actor Harry Fowler for sale

“Cheeky Cockney” actor Harry Fowler MBE (1926 – 2012) appeared in everything from Minder to Lawrence of Arabia. He was first discovered as “a near illiterate newspaper boy” making eight shillings a week and invited on the BBC on a radio programme about life in wartime London. He was an immediate hit and subsequently a film company executive offered this Lambeth born boy a “monumental 42 shillings a day” to play an evacuee in The Demi-Paradise – which starred Laurence Olivier and Penelope Ward.

Subsequently Fowler took on many “juvenile roles” and after serving in the RAF during the war, he appeared in films and television series including Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars, Jackanory, In Sickness and in Health, The Bill and Casualty and was described by Terence Pettigrew as being “as English as suet pudding.” Going further, of him, the broadcaster added: “His characters were neither honest nor irretrievably delinquent, merely wise in the ways of the streets, surviving through a combination of wit and stealth. He had a certain arrogance, but there was an appealing vulnerability, too.”

Harry Fowler as a schoolboy named Albert in John Paddy Carstairs’ British comedy film. ‘Top of the Form’ (1953).

Married first to the Ealing Studios star Joan Dowling, whom tragically committed suicide in 1954 by gas poisoning, Fowler’s second wife was Catherine Palmer. The couple had no children and amongst where they lived was in a portered art deco mansion block called Chesil Court in Chelsea, London, SW3.

Now offered for £975,000 ($1.2 million, €1.1 million or درهم4.3 million), the one-bedroomed first floor flat in which the “everyman for every occasion” and his wife resided is appropriately decorated in authentic 1930s style. It has an original iron bath and original radiators and a Chesil Court clock even. In the bedroom, the wallpaper is a Parisienne print by Madeleine Castaing and in-keeping also are the peacock blue silk blackout curtains and silk leopard print curtains that can be found throughout, according to agents Strutt & Parker.

The 586 square foot apartment is small but perfectly formed and comes with a 35 square foot south facing balcony and it was no doubt there that this Labour supporter decided against a career in parliament. “I found there was little room for laughter in politics,” The Telegraph reported he concluded.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

The sitting room is furnished in appropriate 1930s style.

The dining area.

The kitchen is small but stylish.

The bedroom features rainforest patterned wallpaper.

The original 1930s bathroom.

The south facing balcony.

The entrance to Chesil Court, Chelsea Manor Street, Chelsea, London, SW3 5QS, United Kingdom.

A floor plan of the first floor apartment.

March 26, 2020
A Belgravian Yo-Yo

Nicky Haslam designed Belgravia house for sale for 33% less than in 2010 in spite of yoyo-ing up and down in price for ten years

Estate agents like to make things sound grander generally and often give a house a name rather than a number. In the case of ‘Orpheo House’ in Belgravia, they’ve done the opposite and even though technically it stands in Elizabeth Street, its listed address is the rather grander sounding ‘50a Eaton Square.’

Grosvenor Estate owned Eaton Square, developed from 1827 onwards, has variously been home to actors, politicians and statesmen. Amongst them have been Stanley Baldwin, Sean Connery, Rex Harrison, Vivien Leigh, Joachim von Ribbentrop, George Soros and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and most recently in 2019, the square was used as a location in the hit BBC drama series The Capture.

50a Eaton Square has had a curious history. In 1992, it was listed as the final address of the fourth and last Baron of Southborough on his death and subsequently, in 2009, it was sold to a “British music executive” according to Financial News. In 2010, he commissioned the renowned interior designer Nicky Haslam to turn it into a “trophy home” and the “epitome of comfortable luxury.” It now includes not only air conditioning and underfloor heating, but also has “secret drawers for DVDs” and “display cabinets for watches and sunglasses.”

“Super-stylish… [and] whimsical… with a Parisienne theme” according to the Evening Standard in 2016, the three-storey property fronts Elizabeth Street, but can also be accessed from a side door into Eaton Mews West – a cobbled street that has been home to Belgravia Garage since 1930.

Plainly, being next to the busy garage and car wash has put off buyers given that the property has yoyo-ed on and off the market at prices as high as £4.5 million since 2010. The real problem, however, is that the remaining 26-year lease is not enfranchisable.

Extending to 2,253 square feet, 50a Eaton Square features a double reception room, an Italian black lacquer kitchen and a small bedroom suite on its ground floor, a 25-foot by 24-foot reception on its first floor whilst a “generous” bedroom suite with dressing room, bathroom and west facing roof terrace takes up the entire second floor. A spiral wine cellar is located on the lower ground floor and a parking space within the mews is also included.

Agents Rokstone now seek the very much reduced sum of £3 million for the property.

The Names & Numbers – Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE

March 2020 – Reduced in price to £3 million ($3.5 million, €3.3 million or درهم12.9 million) and still available through agents Rokstone.

November 2019 – Listed for sale on Zoopla.com for £3.45 million ($4 million, €3.7 million or درهم14.8 million).

June 2018 – Listed for sale in Square Mile magazine for £4.25 million ($5 million, €4.6 million or درهم18.3 million).

October 2016 – Featured in the Evening Standard’s ‘Homes & Property’ section at a price of £4.25 million ($5 million, €4.6 million or درهم18.3 million) with agents Rokstone.

July 2011 – Listed as the ‘House of the Day’ on the Financial News website at a price of £3.95 million ($4.6 million, €4.3 million or درهم17 million) through agents Savills.

January 2010 – Listed for sale in Square Mile magazine for £4.5 million ($5.3 million, €4.9 million or درهم19.4 million) with agents Aylesford.

2009 – Sold to a “British music executive” according to Financial News. They state: “He moved out last year while [Nicky] Haslam completely gutted the house, taking it back to bare brick and changing the ceiling heights.”

June 1992 – Described as the last address of Francis Michael Hopwood, Lord Southborough, whom died on 15^th June 1992 (born 1922). Given the fourth Baron of Southborough had no offspring, the title (which was created in 1917 by King George V) then became extinct.

June 1955 – Featured in The Gazette as the address of Ambrose Dasent, an engineer and relative of the Sir George Webbe Dasent (1817 – 1896), the renowned translator of Scandinavian literature and mythology.

February 1936 – Featured in The Times as having “been sold by Messrs.’ George Trollope and Sons before auction.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

The designer of the interior of 50a Eaton Square, Nicky Haslam (pictured with fellow socialite Paris Hilton).

The entrance hall and staircase.

The main reception room.

Viewed from another angle.

The room includes a bar and is opulent in its styling.

A second reception room, on the ground floor, features a sitting area within a bay window.

It is has a division.

With a dining area beyond.

The kitchen features a central island.

The main bedroom suite.

Another view of that suite’s bathroom.

The suite comes with its own roof terrace.

The second bedroom is situated on the ground floor.

A floor plan of the property.

March 25, 2020
A Poirot Curve

Curve shaped neo-Georgian house that wouldn’t look out of place in an Agatha Christie Poirot novel on the St. George’s Hill estate in Surrey for sale for an extraordinary sum

Featured as the main article in Country Life just 15 days after the start of the Second World War on 16^th September 1939, Hamstone House on the 946-acre St. George’s Hill estate in Weybridge, Surrey was constructed between 1937 and 1938 for Herman Peter Thygesen Lind (1890 – 1956), the founder of a firm that later constructed both Waterloo Bridge and the BT Tower in London.

Now offered for £16 million ($18.4 million, €17.2million or درهم67.6 million) by agents Beauchamp Estates, this Grade II listed “classical” house is described on British Listed Buildings as being “in Georgian tradition” and of “brown ham stone ashlar,” but has a look that is more akin to something out of Agatha Christie’s Poirot novels. In 1987, Christopher Warman of The Times, lauded it as “the most important architectural centrepiece of St George’s Hill” and “[looking] like the bridge of a huge ocean going liner.”

Accessed via a Grade II listed double gatehouse, Hamstone House is curved in shape and was somewhat mockingly featured in Punch magazine as “[standing] out like the Duchess of Windsor’s flamingo brooch in a local jewellers window.” Its 8 acres of gardens and grounds were listed as “not [looking] out of place in the grandest of crematoria.”

Refurbished most recently in 2006, the 23,546 square foot freehold property now includes amongst other things 5 reception rooms, 5 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms and an indoor swimming pool. The second floor is dominated by a large roof terrace accessed via an office, from where no doubt Mr Lind no doubt planned many a business manoeuvre as he looked out across what is listed as “rural grandeur.”

Sold to a company connected to Oleg Deripaska, the somewhat controversial oligarch and associate of Peter (now Lord) Mandleson in 2001, Hamstone House was previously marketed for £5 million ($5.7 million, €5.4 million or درهم21.2 million) in 1987 according to Wikipedia.

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

March 23, 2020
A Cottage or a Cage?

Knightsbridge ‘cage’ in an underground car park for sale for the same price as a 6 bedroom former farmhouse in 1 acre in Scotland

In Kincardineshire, you’ll get a 4,090 square foot 19^th century farmhouse that has most recently been used as a hotel for £375,000 ($484,000, €448,000 or درهم1.8 million). In Ennismore Gardens, Knightsbridge, you’ll simply get a 215 square foot underground ‘caged’ parking space.

In Scotland, Savills offer stone-built and harled Old Sauchieburn at Luthermuir. It includes 4 en-suite bedrooms, 2 attic rooms, a 2-bedroom cottage, a brick-built barn and various other outbuildings. Externally, aside from gardens and ample parking there are also two paddocks.

In Knightsbridge, Nicolas Van Patrick don’t say much about the single parking space they offer other than it is “well located [and] has the added benefits of a long leasehold, a daily garage porter and CCTV.”

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

February 21, 2020