The Steeple Times

Tag: social

  • Written in the sun

    Written in the sun

    The sale of the former home of Dame Rebecca West

     

    Ibstone House at Ibstone in Buckinghamshire has recently come to the market at a price of offers in excess of £15 million. Now owned by Ariadne “Ari” Getty Williams, the daughter of Paul Getty and Abigail Harris, Ibstone has also been home to Sun City tycoon Sol Kerzner, who is currently divorcing his wife Heather. This Grade II listed house is situated in the Chiltern Hills and was originally built in the late 18th century.

     

    Ibstone House, Ibstone, Near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP14 3YA
    A reception room at Ibstone House
    The house’s swimming pool
    An aerial view of the estate

    Arranged over three floors and including an extensive leisure and entertaining complex, the property includes 6 principal reception rooms, 7 bedrooms and an indoor pool. A 2-bedroom lodge cottage and large barn stand in the 79-acre grounds that also include gardens designed by Lady Arabella Lennox-Boyd.

     

    Dame Rebecca West, described by TIME Magazine as being “indisputably the world’s number one writer” in 1947, purchased Ibstone House in the late 1930s and lived there with her banker husband Henry Maxwell Andrews.

     

    Dame Rebecca West DBE (1892 – 1983)

    West, who had affairs with H. G. Wells, Charlie Chaplin and Lord Beaverbrook, used the grounds of the house as a small dairy farm and also housed Yugoslav refugees in the blacked out spare rooms of the manor during the Second World War. After the death of her husband, she sold up and moved to an apartment next to the Iranian Embassy in Prince’s Gate, London. During the 1980 siege there, aged 87, she had to be evacuated.

     

    Solomon “Sol” and Heather Kerzner

    Kerzner, who has been married four times to Kerzner and tragically lost his son, Butch, in a helicopter crash, has homes around the world and both he and his wife blamed the breakdown of their marriage on his workaholic lifestyle.

     

    Of divorcing her husband, Heather Kerzner commented:

     

    “He’s a hugely important person to myself and my children. I have only positive things to say about him. He’s the most influential person in my life – and that’s worth a lot. He’s one of the world’s most incredible men, he has shown me a different world and we had an incredible life together but sometimes I guess it just doesn’t work out.”

     

    Some time ago the Kerzners sold Ibstone House to Ms. Getty but now she too has decided to sell up. Though best known because of her family name, Aridane Getty has run the Fuserna Foundation since 2005 and is considered a great philanthropist in her own right.

     

    It’ll be fascinating to see what chapter opens next for this magnificent house.

     

    For more information contact Stephen Christie-Miller of Savills on +44 (0) 1491 843000. To download a brochure for Ibstone House go to: http://residentialsearch.savills.co.uk/property-detail/333522/list

     

    For more details on the Fuserna Foundation, go to: http://fusernafoundation.org

  • Andrew Embiricos (1985 – 2011)

    Andrew Embiricos (1985 – 2011)

    A descendant of the Aga Khan and the grandson of Rita Heyworth. Gregarious and witty Embiricos was passionate about flying and worked for Virgin Atlantic. His departure came far too soon.

  • Benjamin McKenzie (born Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan)

    Benjamin McKenzie (born Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan)

    The nephew of Pulitzer-Prize winning playright Robert Schenkkan is best known for having played The O.C.’s Ryan Attwood, a troubled teenager and outcast who is given a second chance and a life of luxury in Newport, California by the rich Cohen family. One of his best lines in the series, which concluded in 2007, was: “You know what I like about rich kids? [punches another character] Nothing.” He’s since excelled as a rookie police officer in the NBC drama Southland and is most definitely one to watch.

  • Gerry & Kate McCann

    Gerry & Kate McCann

    Their daughter Madeleine disappeared on the evening 3rd May 2007 from a holiday apartment whilst they sat enjoying tapas with a bunch of friends. Some believe the poor child was kidnapped. Others have alternative theories. A public fund to find “Maddie” raised hundreds of thousands of pounds but Mrs McCann’s book, Madeleine, contains so many references to trips on private jets and meeting famous people that it makes one question whether the search for the child or fame has become the focus.

  • Holly Candy (born Holly Rachel Vukadinović)

    Holly Candy (born Holly Rachel Vukadinović)

    Best known for her role as Flick Scully on the soap Neighbours, this Australian born actress, singer and model struck gold when she married the British property tycoon Nick Candy. Her foray into music as Holly Valance brought success with Kiss Kiss but she subsequently fell out with her manager and had to pay him $350,000 in damages. She’s now most likely to be found on London’s social circuit or out shopping.

  • Sir Peter O'Sullevan CBE (1918 – 2015)

    “The Voice of Racing” was undoubtedly the most charming gent in England and was the first sports broadcaster to have been knighted. (more…)

  • Oliver Estreich

    Oliver Estreich

    This New Yorker founded theNativeSociety private social networking website that cleverly brings together the most exceptional individuals under the age of 40. Oliver Estreich is also involved in the hospitality division of his father’s architecture practice, David Estreich Architects, and lists his favourite author as Bret Easton Ellis. Here is a gent who brings style and substance to all that he involves himself in.

     

  • Steven Berkoff

    Steven Berkoff

    Steven Berkoff is a titan of the stage and a might with a pen. He’s best known for playing the darkest of characters but in reality he’s charm personified. Berkoff beat Julie Burchill in a libel case in 1996 and finds it “flattering” to play evil characters. He lives on the river in a converted warehouse in Limehouse with his delightful partner, the Danish pianist Clara Fischer, and often sports the snazziest loafers in town.

  • The Hon. Imogen Lloyd Webber

    The Hon. Imogen Lloyd Webber

    The daughter of the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber lives in New York and is a contributor to MSNBC. Her Single Girl’s Guide was published in both the UK and America and her debut show Touched… For The Very First Time was a mighty success in the West End in 2009. Described as a “petite polymath,” Imogen Lloyd Webber digitally published The Twitter Diaries in May 2012. Turning tweets into a novel, this co-written e-book has been lauded as: “Bridget Jones tries social networking.”

     

  • Iris Bond

    Iris Bond

    A personal secretary to Mohamed Al Fayed whose evidence was key in the 1999 Neil Hamilton “cash for questions” libel case. This Chelsea resident brings grace and style to any gathering she attends and also has an extensive knowledge of all things operatic. An evening in Bond’s company is always a pleasure.