Tag: society

  • A Belgravian Yo-Yo

    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 15th 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.

     

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    A Belgravian Yo-Yo – £3m for Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE, United Kingdom down from £4.5m through agents Rokstone– 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.
    The designer of the interior of 50a Eaton Square, Nicky Haslam (pictured with fellow socialite Paris Hilton).
    A Belgravian Yo-Yo – £3m for Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE, United Kingdom down from £4.5m through agents Rokstone– 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.
    The entrance hall and staircase.
    A Belgravian Yo-Yo – £3m for Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE, United Kingdom down from £4.5m through agents Rokstone– 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.
    The main reception room.
    A Belgravian Yo-Yo – £3m for Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE, United Kingdom down from £4.5m through agents Rokstone– 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.
    Viewed from another angle.
    A Belgravian Yo-Yo – £3m for Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE, United Kingdom down from £4.5m through agents Rokstone– 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.
    The room includes a bar and is opulent in its styling.
    A Belgravian Yo-Yo – £3m for Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE, United Kingdom down from £4.5m through agents Rokstone– 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.
    A second reception room, on the ground floor, features a sitting area within a bay window.
    A Belgravian Yo-Yo – £3m for Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE, United Kingdom down from £4.5m through agents Rokstone– 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.
    It is has a division.
    A Belgravian Yo-Yo – £3m for Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE, United Kingdom down from £4.5m through agents Rokstone– 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.
    With a dining area beyond.
    A Belgravian Yo-Yo – £3m for Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE, United Kingdom down from £4.5m through agents Rokstone– 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.
    The kitchen features a central island.
    A Belgravian Yo-Yo – £3m for Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE, United Kingdom down from £4.5m through agents Rokstone– 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.
    The main bedroom suite.
    A Belgravian Yo-Yo – £3m for Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE, United Kingdom down from £4.5m through agents Rokstone– 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.
    Another view of that suite’s bathroom.
    A Belgravian Yo-Yo – £3m for Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE, United Kingdom down from £4.5m through agents Rokstone– 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.
    The suite comes with its own roof terrace.
    A Belgravian Yo-Yo – £3m for Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE, United Kingdom down from £4.5m through agents Rokstone– 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.
    The second bedroom is situated on the ground floor.
    A Belgravian Yo-Yo – £3m for Orpheo House, 50a Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, SW1W 9BE, United Kingdom down from £4.5m through agents Rokstone– 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.
    A floor plan of the property.
  • Cash, Rocket and a Madam

    Cash, Rocket and a Madam

    Why won’t the Cash & Rocket ‘charity’ answer a simple question about their past participant, the madam to a paedophile Ghislaine Maxwell?

    Last year, prior to disappearing off the face of the planet in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein-Prince Andrew scandal, Ghislaine Maxwell participated in the Cash & Rocket London-Monte Carlo ‘charity’ car rally in an Alfa Romeo.

     

    Featuring a selection of the vain and the vacuous, amongst them  Chloe Green – daughter of the alleged abuser and “cross between Al Capone and Shylock” Sir Philip Green – and self-declared “hey ho, I can’t help if they think I’m fabulous” Caroline Stanbury, this “marketing platform” founded by Julie Brangstrup meaninglessly claims to “unite us all through female empowerment and solidarity.”

     

    Last week, when Cash & Rocket posted on Instagram about their next rally, we quite reasonably asked: “Will Ghislaine Maxwell be attending?” We received no response and so when they posted about their International Women’s Day lunch, we posed the same again. An answer, no doubt, will be as likely as finding ‘Bouncing Bob’s’ daughter riding Shergar the racehorse off into the sunset with Elvis Presley.

     

    Pictured top: Ghislaine Maxwell and the Alfa Romeo that she co-drove in the 2019 Cash & Rocket rally with Annette Mason, wife of the Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.

     

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    Cash, Rocket and a Madam – Why won’t the Cash & Rocket ‘charity’ answer a simple question about their past participant, the madam to a paedophile Ghislaine Maxwell? Will Ghislaine Maxwell be participating this year?
    The Steeple Times asked Cash & Rocket (twice): “Will Ghislaine Maxwell be attending?” of their events in 2020. We have yet to receive any form of response.
    Cash, Rocket and a Madam – Why won’t the Cash & Rocket ‘charity’ answer a simple question about their past participant, the madam to a paedophile Ghislaine Maxwell? Will Ghislaine Maxwell be participating this year?
    Ghislaine Maxwell participated in the 2019 Cash & Rocket London-Monte Carlo rally. The ‘charity’s’ website no longer features mention of ‘Captain Bob’s’ daughter, but previously showed an image of her alongside Annette Mason as entrants. It seems that they raise nothing.
    Cash, Rocket and a Madam – Why won’t the Cash & Rocket ‘charity’ answer a simple question about their past participant, the madam to a paedophile Ghislaine Maxwell? Will Ghislaine Maxwell be participating this year?
    Ghislaine Maxwell was pictured at the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner at the 2019 Cash & Rocket rally launch event. She wore sunglasses to no doubt hide herself. It is one of the last images of her in over a year now.
  • Chelsea’s Chicken McNugget Girls

    Chelsea’s Chicken McNugget Girls

    It’s no longer “Who Sloanes Wins” in Chelsea; welcome to the 2020s in SW3 – and the arrival of an age of vulgarity and coarseness

    Chelsea used to be the land of Peter York’s Sloane Rangers, girls in pearls and the at-that-time soon to be Princess Diana getting merry in ‘The Ad Cod.’

     

    As the 1980s faded and more recently the 2010s brought the gaucheness of the Made in Chelsea set (in spite of the fact most of them lived in Fulham) along with the money-parking, “no lights on, nobody’s home” UHNW’s (‘Ultra High Net Worth’s’ to the unaware), the once civilised Royal Borough – a place once the haunt of the likes of Whistler and Wilde – has descended into an abyss.

     

    On New Year’s Day in a restaurant near Sloane Square, two supposedly local ‘women’ (most definitely not ‘ladies’) were heard loudly recounting their respective Christmas and New Year’s Eve experiences. The following numbered amongst their most definitely banal banter:

     

    “I drink tequila like water… We had a party at The Standard and I then slept with my best friend’s boyfriend’s brother… I’m glad I did as his parents live in Monaco… He paid for a suite. And more tequila.”

     

    “After f**king, we watched a documentary on Satanists in America… And then we ended up having sex again.”

     

    “Do you have a trashy female I can bring tomorrow? I need one for my best friend’s boyfriend’s brother… The one I slept with wants another to join in with us.”

     

    “Whenever I got f**ked up, as I did with my best friend’s brother, I eat fifty Chicken McNuggets.”

     

    “I love a good Italian [restaurant] but you have to check their Insta first. No point going without doing that… But actually, you know what, I prefer Chicken McNuggets.”

     

    “I kind of did a pre-party on the day before New Year’s Eve… I liked that we were going in a private room at Gold in Notting, but then we all went to McDonald’s in Kensington High Street… Well, we were really f**ked up.”

     

    “We had a dinner at Lucky Cat on New Year’s Eve. It was not a ‘party, party’ … But then we bounced, bounced… So we bounced… Oh my God, I did not know what the f**k we were doing but we were doing it, so we bounced to Lulu’s… Empty, empty – just like Halloween, naff… So we bounced to Annabel’s… It was bangin’.”

     

    “I took drugs last night. Do you think that might be why my nose might be sore?”

     

    We are sure readers will agree that these potty mouthed specimens need only one thing: No more Chicken McNuggets and instead a bar of soap in each of their mouths.

     

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  • Superlative Stedcombe

    Superlative Stedcombe

    Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale; Stedcombe House for sale for £4.5 million

    An “outstanding” William and Mary country house built with the profits from the slave trade by one Richard Hallett (died 1747), whose “Black Negro servant called Ando” was accused of rioting in the streets of Lyme Regis in December 1702, has come to the market for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million).

     

    Standing on the site of a manor house destroyed in the Civil War in 1645, Grade I listed Stedcombe House was built in 1697 by the Hallett family on their return from Barbados. It was occupied by them until their bankruptcy in 1889 and passed to the Stephens family, whom remained resident until 1960.

     

    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    The house in 1961; note the 19th century porch (which was later removed). The house has the typical William and Mary look; we featured another example of such when we featured the sale of Oswaldkirk Hall in Yorkshire in October 2013.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    The front elevation of Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom today (without the porch).
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    A painting of Richard Hallett at Stedcombe House with his black servant Ando by Julie Hine (painted 1992).
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    A birthday party with “exotic performers” at Stedcombe House in March 1907 (again, note the later removed 19th century porch).
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    This grand reception room in the house provides indication of the quality of the refurbishment carried out since 1988.

    Left vacant and rotting subsequently, the house became infected by “serious dry rot,” but upon purchase by the current owner it was subject to a “meticulous and sympathetic renovation” according to selling agents Savills.

     

    Described as a “large house overlooking the Axe valley” of “red brick in Flemish bond with Beer and Portland stone dressings” by Historic England, Stedcombe is a four storey symmetrical residence with a belvedere crowning its pinnacle. It is grand yet manageable and features 4 reception rooms, 9 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms and comes with a 3 bedroom gate lodge, a stable block and “numerous outbuildings” requiring renovation also.

     

    Standing on a plot of 20 acres that includes three walled gardens, pastureland and woodland, the only limitation of this home is that its once vast estate is now separate from it. Otherwise, here is probably the quintessential example of one of Britain’s most stunning homes.

     

    Of the 8,039 square foot main house, Savills note: “Several things about it are unusual, but its most significant characteristics are its easy flow of rooms and the quality of design. In keeping with its era, all the rooms benefit from high ceilings and excellent proportions.” Pevsner and Cherry (1988) add: “[Stedcombe House is] an exceptionally fine and complete example of this type of small late 17th Century country house, the compact and centralised plan being an early example.”

                                      

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    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    The house viewed from the garden elevation; the grounds are laid out formally, but plainly are ready for a new owner with deep pockets to lavish attention on them.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    The decorative style of the current owner is simple, but tasteful.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    A room for reflection.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    The dining room.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    A more informal sitting space is to be found at basement level.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    One can imagine hosting similar kitchen table suppers in this room very easily.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    One of the grand bedrooms of the house.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    Guests would not fail to be impressed by this canopy.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    Even the bathrooms at Stedcombe House are grand.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    The outbuildings at Stedcombe provide potential for conversion to other uses; office space, staff or guest accommodation or for use to provide a cinema room, games room or gym perhaps.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    The sale price includes this gate house. It was built at a much later date, but is of a reflective architectural design.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    The setting is unspoilt and the gardens roll into the countryside beyond.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    Stedcombe’s acreage is split into gardens, woodland and parkland.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    The entrance to the property is simple, but could be improved by a new owner.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    A site plan of Stedcombe indicates its proximity to a neighbouring farm and other properties.
    Superlative Stedcombe – Stedcombe House, Axmouth, Devon, EX12 4BJ, United Kingdom – For sale for £4.5 million ($5.6 million, €5.1 million or درهم20.6 million) through Savills – Stunning Grade I listed symmetrical William and Mary country house in Devon with slave trade links for sale for £4.5 million.
    A glorious view of this stunning house from its gardens.
  • Anything But BIG

    Anything But BIG

    Pretentious number plate ‘BIG’ attracts attention in Knightsbridge

    ‘Mr Big’ in Sex and the City was considered a bit of player. He was the “big man on the campus” according to Carrie Bradshaw and he was an “intriguing character” in the eyes of Comcast.

     

    Now, in Cadogan Square in London, someone has decided to pretend to be him. They’ve positioned their ego on a Porsche and installed on it a numberplate that reads ‘81G’ (or ‘BIG’ to the casual observer).

     

    Plainly not all locals were as unimpressed as us: Someone named Tabrez left a note on the car asking to buy it. He announced: “I already hold other ‘BIG’ plates.”

     

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    BIG Porsche 81G
    Update – 14th April 2021 – ‘81G’ attracted the attention of Sam McAlister, the BBC “booker extraordinaire” of Prince Andrew for that now forever infamous ‘Newsnight’ interview. She shared an image of the Porsche with her 11,600 followers and remarked: “I bet it isn’t…” and attracted over 3,200 likes and 140 retweets.
    Personalised number plates are very much something people either love or loathe. In London, they are ten-a-penny and frankly though some can be amusing, many are just ludicrous, tacky, stupid and common.
    BIG Porsche 81G G 5POT
    This motorist plainly thinks driving around emblazoned with a plate referencing the ‘G-spot’ makes them either witty or sexually appealing even. Frankly, unless the owner works in a sex clinic, what are they trying to achieve?
    BIG Porsche 81G CUM 80Y
    Another motorist with a bizarre or frankly warped sense of humour imagines this plate to be appealing. We’d argue, instead, that the owner of this car instead gets mocked and derided wherever they dare drive.
  • Falling Down Flass

    Falling Down Flass

    Grade II* listed Cumbrian mansion built by opium dealer and once marketed for £1.5 million for sale for just £460,000; it was also the scene of the UK’s biggest ever cannabis raid in 2012

     

    A 23,000 square foot, 52 room, mid-19th century Palladian mansion in the Westmorland Dales National Park is to be sold at auction – by order of the mortgagees not in possession – for £1 million less than it was marketed for in 2014. It is sadly now described as being in an utterly wrecked, vandalised condition.

     

    Falling Down Flass – Flass, Maulds Meaburn, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 3HN, United Kingdom – To be offered at auction with a guide price of just £460,000 ($596,000, €525,000 or درهم2.2 million) by auctioneers Harman Healy – Grade II* listed Cumbrian mansion once marketed for £1.5m for sale for just £460,000; scene of UK’s biggest ever cannabis raid in 2012.
    The entrance elevation of the mansion then and now

    Falling Down Flass – Flass, Maulds Meaburn, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 3HN, United Kingdom – To be offered at auction with a guide price of just £460,000 ($596,000, €525,000 or درهم2.2 million) by auctioneers Harman Healy – Grade II* listed Cumbrian mansion once marketed for £1.5m for sale for just £460,000; scene of UK’s biggest ever cannabis raid in 2012.
    The strikingly grand interiors of Flass (prior to visits from the ‘Urban Explorers’)

    Falling Down Flass – Flass, Maulds Meaburn, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 3HN, United Kingdom – To be offered at auction with a guide price of just £460,000 ($596,000, €525,000 or درهم2.2 million) by auctioneers Harman Healy – Grade II* listed Cumbrian mansion once marketed for £1.5m for sale for just £460,000; scene of UK’s biggest ever cannabis raid in 2012.
    The completely trashed interiors of the mansion (after visits from the ‘Urban Explorers’)

     

    Built in 1851 for wealthy merchant brothers and tea and opium magnets Lancelot and Wilkinson Dent, 8-bedroomed Flass at Maulds Meaburn, near Penrith in Cumbria was designed by architects Grey and Mair and includes furnishings by the renowned firm Gillows of Lancaster and London.

     

    Opulent to its core and said to have featured marble fireplaces, ivory door handles and friezes with pearls, Flass remained in the Dent family until 1973. Just prior to being sold for £17,000 (the equivalent of £202,000 today) that year to a historian named Frank Walsh, the then owner Sir Robert Dent opened up an attic of the house and discovered items from the Mughal Empire that he then auctioned for the astounding sum of £220,000 (the equivalent of £2.6 million today).

     

    Subsequently this vast stucco finished, limestone built house – complete with a Doric porte-cochère and a three-storey tower – became a care home and was then after sold in 2000 to a singer-songwriter best known for co-writing the creepy Christian crooner Sir Cliff Richard’s Devil Woman named Christine Holmes (also known as Kristine Sparkle) and her husband Paul Davies. The pair turned the property into a performing arts school.

     

    After the couple divorced, Davies took control of the mansion but due to spiraling maintenance costs, he eventually got himself involved with a gang of drug dealers in 2011. Due to what rental agents at the time described as the house being “totally private and hidden away, with an unmatched seclusion and charm,” Davies and his five cohorts were able to grow cannabis with a street value of £5.26 million undetected until a neighbour became suspicious. He was jailed for his role in the crime for three years and eight months in September 2015.

     

    Falling Down Flass – Flass, Maulds Meaburn, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 3HN, United Kingdom – To be offered at auction with a guide price of just £460,000 ($596,000, €525,000 or درهم2.2 million) by auctioneers Harman Healy – Grade II* listed Cumbrian mansion once marketed for £1.5m for sale for just £460,000; scene of UK’s biggest ever cannabis raid in 2012.
    Singer-songwriter Christine Holmes outside Flass in September 2017 (after visits from the ‘Urban Explorers’ and their having trashed her home)

    Falling Down Flass – Flass, Maulds Meaburn, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 3HN, United Kingdom – To be offered at auction with a guide price of just £460,000 ($596,000, €525,000 or درهم2.2 million) by auctioneers Harman Healy – Grade II* listed Cumbrian mansion once marketed for £1.5m for sale for just £460,000; scene of UK’s biggest ever cannabis raid in 2012.
    Paul Davies turned Flass into Britain’s biggest cannabis farm (and got himself three years and eight months in jail for his efforts; on his conviction his representative said: “He blames nobody but himself for getting involved in this criminal business”)

    Falling Down Flass – Flass, Maulds Meaburn, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 3HN, United Kingdom – To be offered at auction with a guide price of just £460,000 ($596,000, €525,000 or درهم2.2 million) by auctioneers Harman Healy – Grade II* listed Cumbrian mansion once marketed for £1.5m for sale for just £460,000; scene of UK’s biggest ever cannabis raid in 2012.
    The “massive scale” £5 million cannabis farm operated at Flass was described in court as “a professional setup” and having the “real hallmarks of organised crime”

     

    Christine Holmes subsequently took back control of Flass and after trying and failing to sell the house for £1.5 million spent £200,000 on renovations to put right the damage done by the drug operation. Her bad luck, however, was not to end there. In September 2017, the Cumberland & Westmorland Herald reported that a gang of ‘Urban Explorers’ had raided the somewhat derelict building and filmed their exploits. In the weeks that followed, trespassers returned at least twelve further times and “ransacked and trashed” the once glorious residence. She told the paper:

     

    “I was absolutely horrified when I saw [videos of the house] online. I couldn’t believe how anyone could come into my home and believe it was an abandoned building.”

     

    “I think since then people have been staying in the building and have even been there hiding while I’ve been there. I’m petrified. These are evil people who are breaking into my home. I think it’s becoming a game to them. They are breaking in every day.”

     

    Auctioneers Harman Healy will now offer Grade II* listed Flass along with 17.5 acres of overgrown grounds with a guide price of just £460,000+ on 30th January. Christine Holmes no doubt will be glad if she finally gets shot of what she likely ended up considering to be the worst kind of white elephant.

     

    Flass – The Numbers

     

    January 2019 – To be offered at auction with a guide price of just £460,000 ($596,000, €525,000 or درهم2.2 million).

     

    July 2014 – Offered for sale for £1.5 million ($1.9 million, €1.7 million or درهم7.1 million).

     

    2000 – Sold for £490,000 ($635,000, €559,000 or درهم2.3 million) to the currently jailed drug dealer Paul Davies and his then wife songwriter Christine Holmes.

     

    1998 – Reduced to £650,000 ($842,000, €741,000 or درهم3.1 million).

     

    1997 – For sale for £750,000 ($972,000, €855,000 or درهم3.6 million).

     

    1982 – Sold for £115,000 ($149,000, €131,000 or درهم547,000) to a retired solicitor named Malcolm Whiteside. He turned Flass into a care home which he ran with his wife Mary.

     

    1973 – Sold by Sir Robert Dent, a descendant of the family who built the house, for £17,000 ($22,000, €19,000 or درهم81,000) to a historian named Frank Welsh.

     

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    Falling Down Flass – Flass, Maulds Meaburn, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 3HN, United Kingdom – To be offered at auction with a guide price of just £460,000 ($596,000, €525,000 or درهم2.2 million) by auctioneers Harman Healy – Grade II* listed Cumbrian mansion once marketed for £1.5m for sale for just £460,000; scene of UK’s biggest ever cannabis raid in 2012.
    The garden elevation of the mansion then and now

    Falling Down Flass – Flass, Maulds Meaburn, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 3HN, United Kingdom – To be offered at auction with a guide price of just £460,000 ($596,000, €525,000 or درهم2.2 million) by auctioneers Harman Healy – Grade II* listed Cumbrian mansion once marketed for £1.5m for sale for just £460,000; scene of UK’s biggest ever cannabis raid in 2012.
    The no doubt once glorious gardens of Flass have now gone to wrack and ruin

    Falling Down Flass – Flass, Maulds Meaburn, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 3HN, United Kingdom – To be offered at auction with a guide price of just £460,000 ($596,000, €525,000 or درهم2.2 million) by auctioneers Harman Healy – Grade II* listed Cumbrian mansion once marketed for £1.5m for sale for just £460,000; scene of UK’s biggest ever cannabis raid in 2012.
    The entrance gates to the estate (in better days)

    Falling Down Flass – Flass, Maulds Meaburn, Penrith, Cumbria, CA10 3HN, United Kingdom – To be offered at auction with a guide price of just £460,000 ($596,000, €525,000 or درهم2.2 million) by auctioneers Harman Healy – Grade II* listed Cumbrian mansion once marketed for £1.5m for sale for just £460,000; scene of UK’s biggest ever cannabis raid in 2012.
    A plan of Flass and its surrounding land

  • Awarding a Pun

    Awarding a Pun

    Rat-like party crasher David Pun puts in an appearance at the ‘Mayfair Times’ Awards at Claridge’s

     

    Last night, at Claridge’s, blagger and ligger David Pun put in appearance for the Mayfair Times Awards 2019.

     

    No doubt pretending to be a director of Harvey Nichols, Peninsula Hotels and an architect also, Pun sported his signature bow tie and reportedly ate and drank more than anyone in sight.

     

    Awarding a Pun – Party crasher David Pun remerges like a rat – Rat-like party crasher David Pun puts in an appearance at the ‘Mayfair Times’ Awards at Claridge’s – Business card of David Pun and business card of Marie-Claire, Baroness von Alvensleben.
    The ludicrous business cards of London’s leading liggers David Pun and Marie-Claire, ‘Baroness’ von Alvensleben

     

    With a New Year upon us, event hosts should be reminded of the menace of this degenerate. This rat-like creature should not be welcomed by polite society but instead relegated back to the bus shelter in Hammersmith where he belongs.

     

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  • Supporting Giovanni

    Supporting Giovanni

    Matthew Steeples criticises the ‘Evening Standard’s’ Benedict Moore-Bridger for his unjustified attack on the Knightsbridge restaurant Giovanni

     

    Benedict Moore-Bridger is an Evening Standard journalist who has been criticised for his “lazy work” and described as “[not] the most popular chap at the office.” Of his writing style, one Twitter user remarked: “[He makes me] sigh” whilst another commented that an article he wrote about a hit-and-run was “shameful.” Here, it seems, is a writer capable of causing unnecessary annoyance and here yesterday was a journalist who sought out a cheap headline at the expense of a decent, hardworking Knightsbridge restaurateur.

     

    In picking up and exaggerating on information no doubt fed to him by a disgruntled busybody resident of Yeoman’s Row – where Adriano Basha runs the delightful Italian eatery Giovanni – Moore-Bridger decided to highlight irrelevant details about the businessman and his country of origin. His article contained a veiled hint of anti-immigrant sentiment and suggested local residents “regular[ly]” complain about the establishment. In response, the paper further stoked this matter in allowing the most inappropriate and bigoted reader comments to be published underneath the online version of the piece.

     

    The Evening Standard and Mr Moore-Bridger should be ashamed of themselves. Local residents love Giovanni; it is a fine restaurant and one most ably run. We urge all our readers to support Adriano and Giovanni.

     

    Giovanni, 6 Yeoman’s Row, London, SW3 2AH. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7591 0210.

     

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  • Arise The Gavinator

    Arise The Gavinator

    Gavin Newsom brings hope to America and we expect him to great things as 40th Governor of California; we also urge him to do what he can to free the victims of parental abuse, the Menendez brothers

     

    Gavin Newsom, as the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, achieved much. This spirited businessman brought in same-sex marriage in violation of the then state law, implemented a programme that provided permanent housing with support for 7,000 homeless people and did much to support workers’ rights.

     

    Awarded the title of “America’s Most Social Mayor” based on his prominence on social media in 2010, here is a politician who has thrived because he does things differently. Charismatic and forward thinking, Newsom’s first book, Citizenville, explored how technology can transform democracy and in 2014, by then the 49th Lieutenant Governor of California, he became the only statewide politician to endorse the legalisation of cannabis.

     

    More importantly, illustrating his thoroughly decent personality, in 2012, Newsom supported a sadly failed measure that sought to end the death penalty in California. He cited that California had spent $5 billion since 1978 to execute just 13 people and also stated that the death penalty was “immoral” and “did not deter crime.”

     

    Yesterday, Newsom – a possible future President we’d go as far to say – was sworn in as the 40th Governor of California. Walking in the shoes of Arnold Schwarzenegger will undoubtedly be a new challenge for him and presiding over the most populous and prosperous state in the United States will certainly bring with it great challenges. With 39.6 million residents and a $2.9 trillion economy that is larger than that of the United Kingdom, he plans to work to reform healthcare, has already stood up to Donald Trump over his ridiculous wall and described it as a “monument of stupidity” and boldy taken on the NRA and stated: “We need comprehensive gun reform. NOW.”

     

    All at The Steeple Times today salute ‘The Gavinator’ – as he once joked he would be known – but today, on his second day in office, we make a more heartfelt plea to him. Given the increasing amount of support and increasing amount of information about their case finally now being in the public domain, we urge the 40th Governor to take up the mantle of the permanently incarcerated victims of the most abhorrent of parental abuse, Erik and Lyle Menenendez. These boys received the most harsh of sentences simply because of who they were and have been locked up in Californian jails for 27 years without any chance of release ever. It is, we’d argue, now damn well time they were let out and it would be a fine thing if Gavin Newsom could do what he can to ensure the day when these brothers again walk free comes sooner rather than later.

     

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  • Mrs Simpson Farmed in Mayfair

    Mrs Simpson Farmed in Mayfair

    Mayfair “farmhouse” where Mrs Simpson began her affair with the then Prince of Wales for sale for 147% more than it was marketed for in 2012

     

    Last marketed at a price of £4.75 million ($6.04 million, €5.30 million or درهم22.19 million) in 2012 and offered for sale in 2005 at an undisclosed sum also, a house where the then Mrs Simpson began her affair with the then Prince of Wales is again for sale.

     

    Rebuilt in the early 1900s by a Mrs M. Strakosch in “the Gothic style,” Farm House – or 22 Farm Street as it is more simply known – stands on the site of a farmhouse that predated the development of Mayfair.

     

    Entered through a large oak front door that feature the heads of the twelve apostles, the half-timbered house Mrs Strakosch commissioned featured Flemish linenfold paneling and 17th century doors. Though much of this has now gone, a number of Jacobean and medieval features remain and what is now offered is described as “the perfect space for modern entertaining.”

     

    Mrs Simpson Farmed in Mayfair – Farm House, 22 Farm Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 5RQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £11.75 million ($14.95 million, €13.12 million or درهم54.90 million) through Knight Frank.
    Farm House, 22 Farm Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 5RQ – For sale for £11.75 million

    Mrs Simpson Farmed in Mayfair – Farm House, 22 Farm Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 5RQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £11.75 million ($14.95 million, €13.12 million or درهم54.90 million) through Knight Frank.
    Gloria Swanson, Gloria Vanderbilt and Thelma Furness

     

    Farm House includes three reception rooms, two kitchens, six bedrooms, four bathrooms, two terraces and a garage. It extends to 4,564 square foot over four floors and was home to the Swiss born Thelma Furness, Viscountess Furness (1904 – 1970), the twice married mistress of the then Prince of Wales and later King Edward VIII between 1930 and 1934, during their relationship.

     

    Furness, whose twin sister Gloria (1904 – 1965) became a Vanderbilt and was also the maternal grandmother of the American news anchor Anderson Cooper, at this time, was friends with Wallis Simpson. She introduced her American friend to the prince at her country house, Burrough Court, near Melton Mowbray, first in 1931 but then became supplanted in his affections in 1934.

     

    With their relationship approaching its end, Furness embarked on a short affair with Prince Aly Khan whilst in America and whilst there allowed Simpson to live in her Farm Street home according to the actress Gloria Swanson (1899 – 1983). Later, in her autobiography Silent Boulevard, Swanson wrote:

     

    “Lady Thelma Furness had a charming house on Farm Street, where her friend Wallis Simpson has kept the Prince of Wales company while Thelma was away in the States.”

     

    Swanson, whilst pregnant, and her then husband Michael Farmer subsequently rented Farm House from Furness and of their time there wrote: “The house was empty for the moment, so we settled in to wait for the baby and see old friends.”

     

    Knight Frank now seek £11.75 million ($14.95 million, €13.12 million or درهم54.90 million) for Farm House. Reportedly, according to a 2012 Mayfair Times article, the property comes with deeds that specifically mention that it still has a “right of way for sheep.”

     

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    Mrs Simpson Farmed in Mayfair – Farm House, 22 Farm Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 5RQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £11.75 million ($14.95 million, €13.12 million or درهم54.90 million) through Knight Frank. Mrs Simpson Farmed in Mayfair – Farm House, 22 Farm Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 5RQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £11.75 million ($14.95 million, €13.12 million or درهم54.90 million) through Knight Frank.Mrs Simpson Farmed in Mayfair – Farm House, 22 Farm Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 5RQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £11.75 million ($14.95 million, €13.12 million or درهم54.90 million) through Knight Frank.Mrs Simpson Farmed in Mayfair – Farm House, 22 Farm Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 5RQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £11.75 million ($14.95 million, €13.12 million or درهم54.90 million) through Knight Frank.Mrs Simpson Farmed in Mayfair – Farm House, 22 Farm Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 5RQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £11.75 million ($14.95 million, €13.12 million or درهم54.90 million) through Knight Frank. Mrs Simpson Farmed in Mayfair – Farm House, 22 Farm Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 5RQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £11.75 million ($14.95 million, €13.12 million or درهم54.90 million) through Knight Frank. Mrs Simpson Farmed in Mayfair – Farm House, 22 Farm Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 5RQ, United Kingdom – For sale for £11.75 million ($14.95 million, €13.12 million or درهم54.90 million) through Knight Frank.