Lord Sugar puts his gin palace up for sale for £12.7 million after owning it for just two years; it was originally built for the controversial tycoon Alan Bond
On Monday, the Daily Mail’s Sebastian Shakespeare revealed that Lord Sugar – of The Apprentice fame, in case you didn’t already know – is trying to sell his motor yacht, the ‘Lady A’, for £12.7 million ($16.5 million, €14 million or درهم60.6 million).
The 181-foot long gin palace accommodates 12 guests in 6 cabins and has a crew of 15. Built in Japan in 1986 for the subsequently disgraced and now dead Australian tycoon Alan Bond (1938 – 2015), the vessel passed through various other hands before being bought by Lord Sugar in 2015. Originally known as ‘Southern Cross III’, the boat was renamed ‘Indian Princess’ during supposed ownership by the brewing tycoon and ‘King of Good Times’ Vijay Mallya and ‘Emihar Chios’ whilst owned by the Greek shipping tycoon Harry N. Vafias.
Totally refitted over 10 months in 2016 by Burgess Marine and then renamed in honour of Lord Sugar’s wife since 1968, Lady Sugar (originally Ann), the ‘Lady A’ is described as a “unique market opportunity” and “one of the most distinctive yachts on the water” by brokers Edmiston.
Designer Reed Krakoff slashes the price of his Hamptons mansion; Jackie Kennedy Onassis spent her childhood summers there
A Hamptons mansion named Lasata – meaning: “Place of Peace” in Native American – where Jacqueline Bouvier (later Kennedy and later Kennedy Onassis) spent her childhood summers has recently been reduced in price from £41.5 million to £36.1 million.
121 Further Lane, East Hampton, New York, NY 11937, United States of AmericaJacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929 – 1994)Reed and Delphine Krakoff – Mr Krakoff was at one time tipped as “the next Tom Ford” but reportedly “walked away” from his eponymous brand after supposed differences of vision for it with investors
Alternatively and more simply known as 121 Further Lane, the property concerned is situated in East Hampton and currently owned by the fashion designer Reed Krakoff and his wife Delphine. It extends to 8,500 square foot and includes 10 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms and stands on a plot of 11.54 acres.
Two blocks from the Atlantic Ocean and three blocks from the Maidstone Club, Lasata was built in 1917 to the designs of Arthur Jackson and bought by Jackie Bouvier’s paternal grandfather, John Vernou Bouvier Jr. (AKA ‘The Major’), in 1935. The future President’s wife is said to have learnt to ride there and aged ten, wrote a poem about her time at the estate:
When I go down to the sandy shore
I can think of nothing I want more
Than to live by the booming blue sea
As the seagulls flutter around about me
I can run about when the tide is out
With the wind and the sea all about
And the seagulls are swirling and diving for fish
Oh-to live by the sea is my only wish
The Arts and Crafts style property was subsequently sold and most recently bought by Mr and Mrs Krakoff for £15.3 million in 2007. The pair – whose other homes have variously included residences in Paris, New York’s Upper East Side and the former New Canaan, Connecticut residence of the eccentric recluse Huguette Clark – carried out extensive renovations and are said to be selling in order to move to a more contemporary beachfront Hamptons property.
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 million) through agents Savills.
Having the look of something you might also find in the Hamptons in America, The Breakers on the Willowhayne Estate at East Preston, near Littlehampton was built in 1936 in the Arts and Crafts style and restored over the last nine years by the current owners.
Providing 6,006 square foot of accommodation over three floors, the house includes 4 reception rooms, 6 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. It stands on a 0.75-acre beachside plot laid out in the plan of the winning garden at Chelsea Flower Show in 1936 and has an outdoor swimming pool – built in 2010 – also.
A neighbouring house, owned by one of the original question setters for the game Trivial Pursuit, burnt to the ground in January 2014.
Influential business leaders from green sector back Lib Dems in Thursday’s General Election in a letter to ‘The Steeple Times’
Sir
The environment has been shut out of this election.
Economic growth has provided the world with abundant food, medicine, energy and raw materials. However, unmanaged it is destroying the ecosystem, wiping out fauna, flora, forests and seas. An ecological meltdown will cause economic ruin, political turmoil and threaten the very existence of human civilisation.
Air pollution causes 40,000 premature deaths in the UK each year. With greenhouse gases and habitat depletion, together, they are having a catastrophic effect on our environment, contributing to global climate change, wildlife, crop and forest damage, rising sea levels, floods and haze. Whole countries could drown under water or starve under drought, driving migration and climate wars.
The path to a sustainable future requires the creative power of our best scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs, backed by the courage of politicians to think long term.
Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris accords is an act of environmental vandalism on a global scale. And by refusing to condemn him, Theresa May is aiding and abetting him.
Only the Lib Dems combine the ambition to bring forward climate change targets and support for the Paris agreement, with an entrepreneurial approach to investing in cutting edge clean technologies, and commitment to international institutions to enable Britain to be a world leader in protecting the global environment.
Britain has been part of the cause. By supporting the Lib Dems on 8th June, Britain can also be part of the solution.
Yours faithfully
Simon Blakey, managing director, SAB Global Energy
Vast “Italian style” oceanfront mansion in Orange County, CA relaunched for sale for £42.7 million; it has failed to sell at prices as high as £53 million
An 18,000 square foot barn of a residence described as “the finest oceanfront home in SoCal” has been relaunched to the market this month at a price 20% lower than when it was first listed in 2013.
Built in what is somewhat ambitiously termed an “Italian palazzo style” and featuring Spanish tile roofing, five imported European fireplaces and “terrazzo flooring evoking those in The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades”, 2585 Riviera Drive stands on an acre plot in north Laguna Beach’s private Irvine Cove community. It is one of twelve oceanside homes in a gated, 24-hour-a-day guarded community and enjoys “spectacular views” of the Pacific and access to a private beach.
Constructed to the designs of the Warner Group over a period of eight years and completed in 2010, the house offered occupies half of a larger plot owned until 2002 by Joan Irvine Smith, a woman whose family had at one time been the main landowner in the area. It features not only 5 bedroom suites and 9 bathrooms but also a screening room with bar, a 10,000 bottle wine cellar with tasting room and a 6-car garage with hydraulic lift.
Within the grounds stands a guest house that was designed to be “a scaled back replica of Philip Johnson’s Glass House in Connecticut” and a 53-foot brass and glass waterfall made from materials salvaged from a Los Angeles bank. There are also 100-year old olive trees, a rose garden and a pool with cabana and spa.
An aerial shot of the site during constructionThe house today with the ocean beyond
“My wife and I love traveling to Northern Italy, particularly Bellagio and the lake country, where we’ve always admired the architecture… [But] I wouldn’t want [our house] to be construed as Tuscan in any way… Even though we built an Italianate palazzo, we wanted the flavor [sic] of mid-century design around us”.
“We wanted people to know they were stepping into an oceanfront property the moment they arrived”.
The Numbers – 2585 Riviera Drive, Laguna Beach
June 2002 – Land subdivided into three plots; 2585 Riviera Drive sold for sum of $10.5 million (the equivalent of £11.1 million, $14.3 million, €12.7 million or درهم52.5 million today).
July 2013 – Placed for sale for $65 million (the equivalent of £53 million, $68.2 million, €60.5 million or درهم250.6 million today).
May 2017 – Relaunched for sale for $55 million (£42.7 million, €49 million or درهم202 million).
Apartment in mansion block in Sloane Square for sale for £6.2 million in spite of needing updating; it is within the building from which a Mayor of Chelsea lived and departed to his death on RMS Titanic
A third floor flat in a portered mansion block on Sloane Square has gone on sale for £6.2 million ($8 million, €7.3 million or درهم29.5 million) through Cluttons in spite of being decorated like a relic from the 1980s. It is situated above Hugo Boss’ flagship store and within Grade II listed Wyndham House, the building from which a former Mayor of Chelsea went to his untimely death aboard the RMS Titanic in 1912.
Previously priced at £6.5 million ($8.4 million, €7.7 million or درهم30.9 million) when marketed by Russell & Simpson in February 2016, the 2,684 square foot lateral apartment includes a 30-foot long reception room, 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and features such details as ornate ceiling friezes and plasterwork and working fireplaces. A larger 5 bedroom flat within Wyndham House sold for the staggering sum of £12 million ($15.5 million, €14.2 million or درهم57 million) in July 2015 according to Land Registry records.
Wyndham House resident and Mayor of Chelsea from 1909 to 1911 Charles Head (1869 – 1912) perished aboard RMS Titanic, his body was never recovered but a sundial was erected in his memory in nearby Cadogan Place Gardens
Aside from being one of Chelsea’s grandest residential blocks, Wyndham House was at home to one of the victims of the Titanic maritime disaster in the early 1900s and it was from here that Charles Head, Mayor of Chelsea between 1909 and 1911, went to his death in April 1912. Head, a Cambridge educated barrister turned director of Head & Co. insurance brokers and underwriters at Lloyds of London, was a well known supporter of the arts, a councilor from 1906 and had only married 18 months earlier. He travelled alone on a £42 first class ticket (the equivalent of £4,400, $5,700, €5,200 or درهم20,900 today) on the Titanic’s maiden voyage and bizarrely had taken out a £25,000 insurance policy “against ocean accidents”. His precaution left his widow very well provided for given such a sum was the equivalent of £2.6 million today ($3.4 million, €3.1 million or درهم12.4 million).
A property named ‘2431 Riviera Drive’ sounds ordinary but its setting is anything but that – and it has a price tag to match
‘2431 Riviera Drive’ isn’t the most fetching name for a house but in Irvine Cove, Laguna Beach, California just such a property is for sale. It comes with an especially unordinary asking price of £41.8 million ($51 million or €46.5 million).
Known also as ‘Villa Dei Tramonti’ or ‘Villa of the Sunsets’, this 10,000 square foot house is literally jammed in between two others. What sets it apart and makes it quite different though is that it has a truly spectacular asset that someone will most certainly pay handsomely for – it is one of just five houses with direct access to the most scenic private beach in Southern California and comes with 180-feet of lineal frontage on the sand at the secluded end of the cove.
Built in 1995 in what the selling agents term a “sublime Mediterranean Revival style” – whatever that means – and standing on a plot of 0.48 acres, the house has 6 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms and reception rooms that include a 1,000 square foot ‘great room’. In estate agent speak, it is described as being decorated with “informal perfection” and undoubtedly the finest features are the “sun-soaked terraces and mature gardens”.
The monthly property tax on 2431 Riviera Drive – which is situated within a gated community – is as punchy as the price the sellers seek and comes in at £42,000 ($51,000 or €46,000) per month or £502,000 ($612,000 or €558,000) per year.
2431 Riviera Drive is on the market through Sotheby’s International Realty and would certainly not have looked out of place in the cult 2000s series The O.C.
A 20-question interview with Nicola Radano, an Italian fashion blogger and founder of tie producers Spacca Neapolis
The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?
Determination and loyalty.
“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?
“One can get rich at any moment, but if one has no class, one is always a beggar” – paraphrased from philosopher and connoisseur of Neapolitan culture Luciano De Crescenzo.
Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2016?
A lot of people.
Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?
I miss being able to sail.
What might you swap all your wealth for?
Living in a world populated by principled people.
Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the banking crisis?
The banking crisis was born to the low value given to the Euro. I have no words to say on that.
What phrase or word do you most loathe?
“I can’t do it”.
In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?
For me, it’s absolutely right to support both domestic and international charities. Helping someone who has little is the most gallant gesture that anyone can do.
The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?
Smartphones are now improperly used by young children. This is harmful because many of them prefer using them to reading a good book.
Nicola Radano
If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?
Only elegant men.
If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?
A plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce by the sea.
What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?
In the afternoon.
A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?
A cup of Neapolitan coffee please.
Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?
I like afternoon appetizers in the summer time. I find them most relaxing.
Who is the most positive person you know?
My mum.
What’s your most guilty pleasure?
Sleeping in late without being interrupted.
If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?
A rudder.
If you were a car, what marque would you be?
A Porsche.
Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.
That I’ve been able to create unexpected things from nothing.
What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?
Family photos, antique ashtrays and a clock.
Nicola Radano declares his passion to be classical fashion and Neapolitan tailoring. He established a blog about the subject titled ‘Me, Myself & I’ in 2013 and launched his own firm of hand sewn tie producers, Spacca Neapolis, in 2016.
Follow him on Instagram at @nicolaradano and on Facebook by clicking here.
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