Combining a mix of society's last word and both wit and wisdom, The Steeple Times covers food, drink and fine dining as well as luxury, travel, the arts, individuals of influence and current affairs in the United Kingdom, America and elsewhere. We are best described as being akin to "a cross between The Huffington Post and Private Eye".
The magazine's following is affluent, engaged and international. With 41% of readers coming from the UK and 38% from America, The Steeple Times also has strong presence within Canadian, Italian, German and Australian territories.
April 20, 2018
by Matthew Steeples
A dream house for ‘The Wind In The Willows’ character Ratty; Devon boathouse for sale for £2.5 million A Devon house that could be perfect for anyone sharing Kenneth Grahame’s character Rat’s view that “there is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats” has gone … Continue reading “Ratty on The River”
March 4, 2018
by Matthew Steeples
Britain’s weirdest home for sale for a sum 61% lower than the £13 million sum asked for it in 2016; it has been repossessed and comes with a 69-foot long indoor beach In October 2016, The Steeple Times featured what could quite possibly be Britain’s weirdest home. Offered then for £10 million, The Chalet … Continue reading “A Cut Cost Chalet”
November 29, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Neglected Georgian mansion that has been home to Sir Dirk Bogarde, Basil Dearden, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Matt Aitken and Robert Kilroy-Silk for sale for 39% less than it sold for in 2014 A dilapidated Grade II* listed country house whose extensive roster of owners numbers aristocrats, rock and film stars and politicians is … Continue reading “The Stars of Beel”
November 11, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
“One of Britain’s finest 20th-century country houses” has been placed for sale for £20 million; it comes with 530 acres and was built by the late businessman Sebastian de Ferranti in the 1980s One could imagine being in the early 18th century or in Italy even on first taking a look at the Palladian … Continue reading “A Modern Beauty”
October 24, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Six-storey Belgravia residence with controversial business connections goes on sale for 22% less than it was marketed for in 2015 and 3,497% more than it sold for in 1997 A 6,961 square foot freehold terraced townhouse in Belgravia has gone on sale for £25 million or 3,497% more than it was sold for in … Continue reading “Wealthy Wilton”
October 22, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
C-shaped glass and stone house complete with a Grade II listed set of Druid stones for sale for £7 million; it sits next door to the £140 million home of the fugitive billionaire financier Andrey Borodin A C-shaped 20th century house in 43 acres of parkland has gone on sale for £7 million ($9.2 … Continue reading “In the Round”
October 16, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Belgravia apartment for sale for £27.5 million in spite of being a 1980s timewarp; the Sloaney home forms part of a building at one-time home the residence of one half of Gilbert and Sullivan A penthouse on the “favoured northern side” of Belgravia’s Eaton Square is on sale for £27.5 million ($36.6 million, €31 … Continue reading “A Sloane Home”
September 11, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Detached Grade II listed Georgian cottage in London, E13 for sale for just £180,000 What could be one of London’s cheapest detached Georgian houses is headed to auction. Built in 1836 as the gate lodge to a now demolished mansion known as Bedfords and later The Willows, Grade II listed Willow Lodge in … Continue reading “A Cheap Cottage”
September 7, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Clubbable sorts will love the opportunity to live like Nigella Lawson above Little House Mayfair When the flatform trainer loving cook Nigella Lawson first split up with Charles ‘The Throttler’ Saatchi back in 2013, she took up residence in an apartment above the Little House private members’ club in Mayfair’s Queen Street. … Continue reading “Little Nigella”
August 17, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Scottish castle on sale for just £130,000; it comes without a roof and is located near the Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire A castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland is for sale for £130,000 ($168,000, €143,000 or درهم616,000) in spite of being nothing other than a roofless shell. Reduced in price from £150,000 ($193,000, … Continue reading “A Castle for £130k”
July 9, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Thatched seaside cottage in West Sussex for sale; it has a plot laid out in the style of the Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal winning garden of 1936 A thatched seaside cottage on what has been described as “the Sussex Riviera” has gone on sale for £3.25 million ($4.19 million, €3.67 million or درهم15.39 … Continue reading “Breaking For Gold”
by Matthew Steeples
Eaton Square penthouse offered for £825,000 or 30% lower sum than it was marketed for two years ago; it comes with several catches A penthouse in Eaton Square, Belgravia has gone on sale for £1.925 million ($2.483 million, €2.178 million or درهم9.121 million) in spite of being held on a lease with just 16 … Continue reading “A Slumping Square”
July 6, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Small country house in Derbyshire that has been in the same family since it was built for sale for £2.5 million Owned by the same family since it was built in 1840 and occupied by them since the 1930s, Nether Hall at Hathersage in Derbyshire is to be sold for the first time ever … Continue reading “One Owner From 1840”
July 4, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Former Liberal Democrats headquarters for sale for somewhat reduced but still anything but liberal sum of £36 million (to include a Rodin) A building that was originally the London office of the North Eastern Railway Company and the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party and then their successors, the Liberal Democrats, between 1982 and … Continue reading “Anything But Liberal”
June 23, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
130 acre Surrey estate with gardens by Arabella Lennox Boyd for sale for £28 million (or £13 million more than it was marketed for in 2013) A Surrey estate has gone on sale for 87% more than in was offered for four years ago. Featured in Country Life in 2013 whilst for sale … Continue reading “Pricey Pickhurst”
June 8, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
London estate agents launch three properties priced over £25 million each on General Election day Pundits may be referencing worrying times ahead in Britain’s post-Brexit economy, but London’s top tier estate agents have come out all guns blazing on General Election day and launched a series of jaw droppingly priced properties. In Knightsbridge’s … Continue reading “Flop or Fly?”
June 6, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Grade II* listed Kent townhouse for sale for just £166 per square foot; a similarly sized property in Knightsbridge would set you back £2,000 per square foot A freehold 2,500 square foot detached 15th century timber framed house just 23 miles south of London has gone on sale for the lowly sum of £166 … Continue reading “A House of Hide”
May 29, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
EXCLUSIVE – “Nationally important” Grade II* listed Berkshire mansion in 130 acres for sale for £26 million; its interior is yet to be renovated A Grade II* listed building capable of being reinstated as one of Britain’s finest country houses has just been placed on the market for £26 million. Benham Park – … Continue reading “Best in Britain”
May 25, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Scottish sporting estate, once home to Sir Walter Scott, for sale; it comes with nearly two miles of fishing on the River Tweed, 863 acres of land and seven houses The Scottish estate where Sir Walter Scott, Bt. (1771 – 1732) wrote his narrative poems Lay of the Minstrel and The Lady of the … Continue reading “An Epic Estate”
May 6, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Grade I listed Georgian mansion in Worcestershire for sale for the first time since the 1720s Few houses remain in the ownership of the same family for three hundred years, but an example of such, Ombersley Court at Ombersley in Worcestershire, has just been placed on the market for £3.5 million ($4.5 million, €4.1 … Continue reading “A Georgian Gem”
April 15, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
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 16th and 17th centuries – and at The Watermill on the River Black Bourn at Ixworth in Suffolk, just such activity occurred … Continue reading “Witchfinders and Watermills”
April 13, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
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 … Continue reading “An MP’s Manor”
April 6, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
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 … Continue reading “Billionaire Battersea”
March 30, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
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 … Continue reading “Narrow in Knightsbridge”
March 12, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Vast Knightsbridge penthouse with two terraces and a double garage for sale for a sum 478% higher than it achieved in 2000 A penthouse across three buildings in Knightsbridge that sold for £5.1 million (the equivalent of £7.9 million, $9.6 million, €9 million or درهم 35.3 million today) in November 2000 has gone on … Continue reading “Large in Lowndes”
March 9, 2017
by Matthew Steeples
Grade II* listed Kent manor house for sale for £3.95 million; the purchaser will get a controversial £107.9 million EuroMillions jackpot winner as their neighbour Sold last in 2009 for £1.9 million (the equivalent of £2.3 million, $2.8 million, €2.2 million or درهم 10.3 million today), Waystrode Manor at Cowden, near Edenbridge in Kent … Continue reading “Barbed Manors”
December 9, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
East Sussex country house for sale; it comes complete with an enormous rectangular moat allegedly dug by an eccentric parson in the 1700s One generally associates moats with castles and manor houses – such as the one we featured last month – but an old rectory currently for sale for £5 million ($6.3 million … Continue reading “A Parson’s Moat”
December 3, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Oxfordshire country house that has appeared in many films for sale for £10 million in spite of needing some renovation Launched to the market in June for £10 million ($12.7 million or €11.9 million or درهم46.7 million) in June 2016 as a while or £7.75 million ($9.9 million or €9.2 million or درهم36.2 million) … Continue reading “A £10m Doer-Upper”
November 26, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Picturesque gate lodge in Warwickshire offered for sale Sometimes the best things come in small packages and for those looking for a weekend retreat, a little 19th century gatehouse named Molly’s Lodge could provide just what the doctor ordered. Standing in 0.61 acres of cottage gardens at Wolford Heath, near Long Compton in … Continue reading “Pint-Sized Perfection”
August 7, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Thameside boat house that will no longer suffer from flooding for sale for £3.75 million A riverside home might be wonderful on a sunny summer’s day but when the water rises, they can be an absolute nightmare. The Boat House at Goring in Oxfordshire previously fell into that category, but thanks to a £200,000 … Continue reading “Forget flooding”
August 1, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Dorset racing stables and stud for sale Horse racing fans with £4.75 million ($6.26 million or €5.64 million) to spare could do worse than buy Whitcombe Monymusk Racing Stables & Stud, near Dorchester in Dorset. Offered for sale after the death of its owner, Liz Nelson MBE, in 2014, the stud and training … Continue reading “Racing on”
May 15, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Grade I listed Sir John Soane designed country house Tyringham Hall reduced in price by 30%
May 9, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Converted former station in Yorkshire with holiday units created from train carriages for sale for £795,000
May 6, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Grade I listed 40,000 square foot Oxfordshire stately home on the market for just £3.6 million – but inevitably there’s a catch
May 3, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Modern Georgian style country house for sale for £19.5 million – complete with bowling alley and ‘Indian room’ with LED ‘night sky’ ceiling
April 25, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Hampshire estate Hackwood Park goes on the open market for £65 million – making it one of most expensive country houses ever offered for sale in Britain
April 14, 2016
by Matthew Steeples
Former home of ‘Don who’s Donna at night’ for sale for £3 million – in spite of the fact it needs renovation
September 20, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
Could part of the former home of George Peabody in London be Britain’s most expensive fixer-upper flat?
August 15, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
Devon lighthouse for sale for £450,000 – accessible only by helicopter, on foot or using a utility terrain vehicle
June 20, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
£3 million sought for a repossessed, roofless shell set in 1,530 acres of Cumbrian countryside
June 7, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
A 39th floor apartment in The Pierre Hotel in New York becomes the city’s priciest rental at a staggering £327,000 per month
May 21, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
Five British mansions that require new owners with bottomless pockets for sale at prices from £950,000 to over £10 million
March 2, 2015
by Matthew Steeples
200 acre Scottish estate for sale for the price of an 800 square foot flat in Knightsbridge
October 13, 2014
by Matthew Steeples
An opportunity to rent a ‘set’ in the ‘Paradise of Piccadilly’ Albany is a little known building off London’s Piccadilly that is akin to Manhattan’s smartest co-operative buildings in the way it is run. So exclusive is this block that its residents are called ‘proprietors’ and its flats are known as ‘sets’.
October 8, 2014
by Matthew Steeples
Reconfigured Lancashire estate for sale for £4.25 million Businessman Martin Higginson and his wife Maggie have reversed what has happened to most English country estates in buying back properties and land around their Lancashire home, Hay Carr at Bay Horse, near Lancaster. They are now selling the whole property with a price of offers … Continue reading “Northern glory”
August 16, 2014
by Matthew Steeples
Scottish castle for sale for just £28.90 per square foot They say that owning a grouse moor is equivalent to burning £50 notes but the buyer of the 41,433 square foot Carbisdale Castle in Sutherland will take on an altogether bigger burden.
August 9, 2014
by Matthew Steeples
Confused.com founder puts castle on market for £1.5 million less than she spent on it “Wild haired” Kate Armstrong, the Australian founder of Confused.com, bought the medieval Scottish castle Cassillis House in Ayrshire from the Kennedy clan in 2009 for £3 million. She spent four years and £3.5 million updating and improving it but is … Continue reading “Confusing a castle”
July 30, 2014
by Matthew Steeples
An opportunity to create your own version of Downton Abbey in the Cotswolds For a mere £27 million you can currently purchase a 6-bedroomed mews house in Reeves Mews in Mayfair. Alternatively, a buyer with the same sum to hand could splash out on something a little grander, a 774.32 acre Cotswold estate complete … Continue reading “Perfectly British”
July 23, 2014
by Matthew Steeples
The perfect English country house comes to the market for £11 million complete with its own cricket pitch A house that has been in the same ownership for 30 years normally would be described by estate agents as “requiring some updating”. Stanton Court in the north Cotswolds is an exception.
June 2, 2014
by Matthew Steeples
Former home of film director Richard Attenborough for sale for £12.75 million The Academy Award winning actor, producer and director Lord Attenborough is best known for his roles in such hits as The Great Escape, Gandhi and 10 Rillington Place but it was at Old Friars, his home of many years in Richmond, Surrey, … Continue reading “Cinematic bliss”
May 8, 2014
by Matthew Steeples
£8 million Morley Hall combines traditional style with a home fit for modern living Morley Hall is a Georgian country house to the east of Ware in Hertfordshire. This fine residence is worthy of note as it was remodeled in the Palladian style by the renowned classical architect Raymond Erith
April 13, 2014
by Matthew Steeples
One of England’s finest estates comes to the market for £25 to £30 million The scene of the tragic deaths of the Conservative MP Michael Colvin and his wife Nicola in 2000 in a fire, Tangley House, near Andover in Hampshire subsequently had to be demolished. A new house was constructed on the site … Continue reading “From the ashes”
April 5, 2014
by Matthew Steeples
£27,500,000 for a flat in Knightsbridge For the price of 110 average UK homes, a ‘high net worth’ individual can acquire an apartment in Lennox Gardens in Knightsbridge.
December 27, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
A coastal estate complete with its own private cove comes to the market for £7.5 million Described by the selling agents as a “private coastal estate with fun as its mantra”, Redlap House near Dartmouth in Devon is situated in a 30-acre frost free valley that runs down to the sea.
October 26, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
17th century Oswaldkirk Hall for sale for £4 million Described by Candida Lycett Green as “a fine and architecturally distinguished house, built in the reign of William and Mary” in her 1994 book The Perfect English Country House, Oswaldkirk Hall in the North Riding of Yorkshire is at the heart of the setting of … Continue reading “The Perfect English Country House”
October 4, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
Scotland’s most expensive estate comes to the market In Downton Abbey last week, the Grantham family talked about selling off parts of their estate to cover the costs of death duties. In Scotland, the death of Sir James Cayzer has led to his family selling off one of their estates.
August 20, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
This “ebullient” American’s name is most apt. A former Barclays bank executive who likes to wear sunglasses come rain or shine, Ricci retired to a Kentish mansion at 49 and supposedly travels by private jet to Dublin every weekend as he “just love[s] Irish racing”. With 40 horses in training and a take home total … Continue reading “Rich Ricci”
July 20, 2013
June 24, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
Homes perfect for those who love messing about in boats The Water Rat in Wind in the Willows famously stated: “There is NOTHING – absolute nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats”. Here, we share five homes that would suit him perfectly as a base for … Continue reading “Five of the best: Boathouses”
June 16, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
Robbie Williams’ Wiltshire estate for sale again for £2.6 million less than he paid for it Singer Robbie Williams paid £8,100,000 for Compton Bassett House, near Calne in Wiltshire in 2008. In the years since he’s tried to sell it several times but even now that it has been relaunched for just £5,500,000, will … Continue reading “Blighted Bassett”
June 2, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
The sale of the £18 million Sir John Soane designed Tyringham Hall Property developer Anton Bilton and his Brooklyn born wife Lisa Barbuscia-Bilton (better known as Lisa B.) bought the Sir John Soane designed Tyringham Hall in Buckinghamshire for £2.5 million in 2001. They’ve recently put it on the market at the staggering price … Continue reading “A happy mansion”
March 14, 2013
by Matthew Steeples
The story of “fallen tycoon” Brian O’Donnell, the differences between bankruptcy in the UK and Ireland and an £11 million mansion In these straightened times, the media in general and the Daily Mail in particular quickly latch on to stories about benefit scroungers living in luxury homes. They’re less quick, however, with the exception … Continue reading “Bankrupt in Barton Street”
by Matthew Steeples
A property developer extraordinaire with a “passion for deals”. He has been involved in deals involving many of London’s most expensive properties and founded the Marcus Cooper Group in 1991. Cooper purchased the capital’s second largest home, Witanhurst on Highgate Hill, for £32 million in 2007 and put it back on the market five weeks … Continue reading “Marcus Cooper”
November 27, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
Victoria Beckham tours Brian Blessed’s former home In April, the blog that preceded The Steeple Times featured an article on Clarence House in Richmond. At the time this former school and home of actor Brian Blessed was priced at £22,500,000 but after languishing on the market, the price has been slashed by £4,500,000 … Continue reading “Blessed Beckham”
November 17, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
The sale of the The Manor House, Stoke Poges In the blog that preceded “The Steeple Times,” Matthew Steeples took a look at The Manor House at Stoke Poges in March 2012. It’s still on the market at £13,500,000 and though the price has yet to be cut, there has been uproar about revelations … Continue reading “A Monarch Carries On”
November 15, 2012
by Matthew Steeples
This mouthpiece was born in Rettendon, Essex in 1958 and vents bile on all manner of subjects. Articles such as: “Why don’t more women moan like me?” and “Liz Jones’ baby craving drove her to steal husband’s sperm in ultimate deception” are frankly illustrative of why she’s so unpopular. After she got banned from the … Continue reading “Liz Jones”
