Tag: UK

First Among (Not So) Equals

The latest sale of 32a Ovington Square

I first visited 32a Ovington Square in September 2009. At the time, this “hidden house” was the home of Lord Carrington and it had just come on the market at a price, if I recall correctly, of circa £3,000,000.

The newly redeveloped Carrington House, 32a Ovington Square, London, SW3 1LR

The Rt. Hon. The Lord Carrington KG, GCMG, CH, MC, PC, DL (born 6th June 1919) with his wife Lady Carrington (1920 – 2009) and their dog Edward

A friend was looking for somewhere to buy in London and I’d somehow come across the aforementioned property in a magazine. A detached house in Knightsbridge at this price seemed like a bargain and as he was keen to take a look and I lived round the corner, we arranged to see it together.

During this period, I had unfortunately made the mistake of making the acquaintance of a former ambassador’s wife who thought herself rather grand. Said woman somehow found out about my friend going to what Americans might term an “open house” at 32a Ovington Square and somehow muscled in. This individual happened to be selling her own home nearby and I reckon she, like my friend, thought she’d be onto a bargain. She’d previously unsuccessfully tried to persuade my friend to buy her individually styled, Ralph Lauren wallpapered home but as it actually rattled every time an underground train went underneath and as it was far from a bargain, he’d sensibly declined.

We arrived at the 2,240 square foot 32a Ovington Square to be told by a rather unhelpful estate agent that we’d have to just wander round by ourselves and that there was no brochure or floor plan. As a merry throng trailed through the house, Lord Carrington stood in the garden looking bemused and his secretary fussed around him. The pair plainly weren’t comfortable with all the interlopers and all in all, who could blame them.

The ex-ambassador’s wife, whose carelessness Rupert Everett most amusingly made reference to in his recent memoirs, spent the entire visit whingeing about the house being dark and stinking of damp. I had to agree with her as the neighbouring buildings towered over it and there was mould on the walls. My friend simply said: “It needs a fortune spending on it.” We left and later I heard that it sold for well above the asking price. The wife of the ex-ambassador thankfully departed from our lives soon after.

A site plan shows how hidden away 32a Ovington Square truly is – ideal for a government minister or indeed a wayward celebrity

About a year and a half later, I saw 32a Ovington Square for sale with planning permission to construct a far larger residence with a basement and sub-basement pool complex. The price was in the order of £14,000,000. I thought that somewhat ludicrous but now that the very same property is on the market at a price of £23,00,000, it seems that the world has just gone mad.

The brochure for the new residence, which has been renamed, Carrington House, reveals a three-storey low-built freehold building with 5,300 square foot of accommodation. Though 32a Ovington Square has been more than doubled in size by a developer named London City Developments, the sub-basement leisure complex has not been constructed. Could this have been because of planning problems or simply because such construction wasn’t deemed to add value?

In August 2002, Lord Carrington, whom The Mirror described as being “doddery” in a Scurra diary piece, was said to have objected to a bar named Townhouse behind his former home being given a 1am licence. That bar has since closed but as seven of the residents of Ovington Square and Beauchamp Place also took a dislike to the prospect of subterranean developments at his former home, only proposals for a single basement level were included in the January 2010 plans submitted by a Mr & Mrs R. Garner.

Jeffrey Archer’s 1984 novel “First Among Equals” (published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN: 0-340-35266-3)

Aside from controversy with residents and planning officials, this “heavily overlooked,” “dark” house gets a brief credit in Jeffrey Archer’s 1984 novel, First Among Equals:

“Charles would not have normally accepted the invitation. Lately he found cocktail parties to consist of nothing but silly little bits of food, never being able to get the right drink and rarely enjoying the trivial conversation. But when he glanced on his mantelpiece and saw an ‘At Home’ from Lady Carrington he felt it might be an amusing break from the routine he had fallen into since Fiona left. He was keen to discover more about the rumoured squabbles in Cabinet over expenditure cuts. He checked his tie in the mirror, removed an umbrella from the hat stand and left Eaton Square for Ovington Square… He arrived at Lord Carrington’s front door a little after six forty-five. A maid answered his knock, and he walked straight through to a drawing room that could have held fifty guests and very nearly did. He even managed to be served with the right blend of whiskey before joining his colleagues from both the Upper and Lower Houses.”

Turning to the real Lord Carrington, here is a man who has led a remarkable life. He served as Foreign Secretary in Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet between 1979 and 1982 and as Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. The last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir Alec Douglas-Home was British High Commissioner in Australia between 1956 and 1959 and also chaired the 1979 Lancaster House conference that brought Zimbabwe’s revolutionary war to an end. In 1991, Carrington presided over diplomatic talks in the former Yugoslavia and commented:

“When I first talked to Presidents Milošević and Tudjman, it was quite clear that both of them had a solution which was mutually satisfactory – which was that they were going to carve up Bosnia between them.”

Lord Carrington at his desk in 32a Ovington Square, Knightsbridge

The Manor House, Bledlow, Buckinghamshire, HP27 9PB is the country home of Lord Carrington

Milošević was found dead in his cell in 2006 but it is quite possible that Lord Carrington’s name will be mentioned in the trial of Goran Hadzic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia that has just commenced at The Hague. It is amazing to think that matters involving this 93-year old politician are still current but Carrington’s stamina is shown in his roles as the longest serving member of the House of Lords and the second longest serving member of the Privy Council after HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

Aside from politics, there is much on the internet, a considerable amount of it written by wildcards and fantasists whose number includes David Icke, about Carrington’s involvement with Henry Kissinger, the Illuminati, the Bilderberg Group and the Committee of 300. The consensus of these conspiracy theorists generally borders on the ludicrous, but it is without doubt that Lord Carrington had and continues to have influence in many high places. He was chairman of Christie’s International PLC from 1988 to 1993 and has held directorships on the boards of companies that have included Barclays Banks PLC, Hambros PLC, Cadbury Schweppes PLC, Amalgamated Metal Corporation PLC, British Metal Corpoation PLC, Rio Tinto PLC, Kissinger Associates Inc. and Hollinger Inc.

The main entrance to Carrington House

The main reception room of the house is decorated in a contemporary style and a far cry from the traditional decoration favoured by Lord and Lady Carrington

An essential feature in any house priced over £10 million is a media room

Carrington House now boasts a bar that any dignitary would envy

The newly added basement level features an entertaining hall, dining room, bar, gym, media room and two bedroom suites

The staircase is now lit by a glazed cupola

The master bedroom

The master bathroom

Another bedroom, located at basement level, is decorated with a Scottish theme and has access to a shared courtyard

The other suite that shares the courtyard is decorated with an “Out of Africa” theme complete with an image of a zebra and matching linen and upholstery

Would the purchaser of a £23,000,000 home truly want an AstroTurf lawn?

Following on from this rather over the top redevelopment, a new chapter has certainly begun at 32a Ovington Square. Whether it is bought by a popstar or a Russian oligarch, they’ll definitely not be anywhere nearly as equal to Lord Carrington in terms of their league of influence.

Carrington House, 32a Ovington Square, London, SW3 1LR is for sale through Knight Frank. For further information contact Nick Vestey on +44 (0) 20 7591 8600. Full details of the house can be viewed at: http://search.knightfrank.com/sla100211

For more details about the Carrington family’s Carrington Estates Ltd., go to: http://www.carington.co.uk/

October 19, 2012
Rocking with royalty

A £26 million residence with connections to rock, royalty and rectors

Built in the early 1500s, The Old Rectory is Wimbledon’s oldest house. Standing in grounds of 2.5 acres, this 16,200 square foot property was once described by a biographer of Sir Henry Cecil as being “not luxurious, but adequate” but now once again it finds itself in an entirely different league.

An image of The Old Rectory, 82 Church Road, Wimbledon, London, SW19 5AA in 1978. Present day imagery has been removed at the request of agents acting for the current owners.

Priced at £26,000,000, it is almost certainly one of the most expensive homes to ever come to the market in Wimbledon and whoever moves there next will undoubtedly be either an oligarch, an A-list personality or a top achieving business person.

The purchaser will follow in the footsteps of a fascinating array of historically important residents, the first of whom was Henry VIII (1491 – 1547). The King took up residence in 1547 in the months prior to his death and is said, as he was so bloated, to have been unable to climb the stairs to his sleeping chambers. His bed was relocated to the great hall of the house and here he slept next to the fire. Historical research recounts that, with a brewhouse, beer and wine cellars, a coal cellar, meat room, buttery and two dairy rooms, this was a “house fit for a king.”

Henry VIII (1491 – 1547)

Catherine Parr (1512 – 1548)

Henry VIII gave The Old Rectory, which was originally called The Parsonage House, to his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr (1512 – 1548). Preferring a residence in Chelsea, Parr left and the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral took possession. A lease was sold to Sir William Cecil (1520 – 1598), later Lord Burgley, and the manor then passed to his son Thomas Cecil (1542 – 1623), the 1^st Earl of Exeter.

In 1639, Charles I (1600 – 1649) bought the entire manor and gave it to Queen Henrietta Maria (1609 – 1669) but with the era of Comwell, The Old Rectory found itself occupied by General John Lambert (1619 – 1684). Shortly after, when a grander house was built next door, the property became first a laundry house and then servant accommodation and gradually fell into decline.

The Old Rectory passed next to Sir Theodore Janssen (1658 – 1748) in 1720. This French-born English financier, who was said to be worth the staggering sum of £250,000 at the time of his purchase of the house, was a founder member of the Bank of English but later disgraced for his part in the South Sea Bubble. He was expelled from the House of Commons and with his ruination, The Old Rectory saw yet another chapter of abandonment.

The garden front of The Old Rectory by Charles Henry Money Mileham (1837 – 1917)

By 1802, the house was described as an “uninhabited” ruin. A speculator credited with developing “modern Wimbledon” named John Augustus Beaumont bought it and restored and extended it but when it was sold to a Samuel Wilson in 1882 for £6,000, an era of truly comprehensive upgrades was to begin. Wilson added a pebble-dashed two-storey drawing room wing, carved oak doors and installed English, Flemish and Italian chimneypieces.

The next owner was a marine engineer named Matthias Jacobs who had been responsible for the construction of tunnels in Paris and New York. After having purchased The Old Rectory in 1909, he commissioned his brother to add a new single storey billiards room, a service wing and a study extension to mask the medieval chapel of the house. Jacobs sold up in 1923 to a Thomas Lethaby, who fitted oak paneling from Chantry House in Newark and a plaster ceiling based on the one at Knole House, Kent.

Lord Brock FRCS, FRCP (1903 – 1980)

In 1953, the eminent London surgeon and cardiologist, Lord Brock FRCS, FRCP (1903 – 1980), took possession of The Old Rectory after having paid £13,750 for it. Brock is credited as on of the pioneers of modern open heart surgery and also founded the Lord Brock Memorial Trust that to this day funds the museum he founded, The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret in Southwark, SE1.

Following the death of his first wife Germaine Louise Ladavèze, Brock sold to an Iraqi entrepreneur and philanthropist named Basil Faidhi in 1978. Faidhi had fled Iraq for Britain and though he spent vast sums restoring the house with assistance from English Heritage, he also created a basement discotheque for his daughter, Nina, and a bar. Aside from bringing the house into the “yuppie era,” Faidhi also commissioned a historian named Richard Milward MA to write a history of the building in 1992 entitled: The Rectory – Wimbledon’s Oldest House.

The Queen lead vocalist and anti-badger cull campaigner Brian May CBE purchased The Old Rectory in 1994 for £4,000,000 with the intention of living there with the Eastenders actress Anita Dobson.

Brian May CBE with his second wife Anita Dobson

Dobson, who didn’t marry May until 2008, had other ideas and refused to move in. It was suggested that she preferred a smaller house the pair occupied in Kensington and, at the time, a friend commented:

“[May] begged her to move into the new house so they can make a fresh start. Nobody can believe that Anita doesn’t want to be the lady of this fabulous house. But Brian says he can’t get through to her.”

Sir Donald Insall CBE

As a result, May never properly moved into The Old Rectory and eventually decided to sell. In 2006, it achieved a record price of £16,000,000 and in the ensuing years, an Italian architect-owner named Antonella Carminati and her husband have lavished time and money on further restorations with the help of Sir Donald Insall CBE’s Insall Associates firm of architects.

The driveway that leads to The Old Rectory from Church Road gives plenty of privacy

New fittings have been installed throughout and substantial extensions to the house have included a new kitchen and breakfast room with garaging beneath. The couple have demolished an early 20^th century porch and an “unsightly” oak conservatory, remodeled the billiards room as a drawing room and removed a “bilious” blue swimming pool from the east lawn.

Now featuring 12,882 square foot of accommodation in the main house and 3,320 square foot of additional accommodation, The Old Rectory has been planned to include 8 reception rooms; a vast kitchen with La Cornue appliances and an adjoining breakfast room; master bedroom suite with two dressing rooms, his and her bathrooms and a sitting room and 7 further bedrooms.

Outside, the gardens feature an original medieval fig tree trail, shaded paths, lawns and a large pond as well as garaging for six cars. Planning permission for an indoor swimming pool complex has also been granted and ample staff accommodation is provided above one of the garages and in the gate lodge.

Given the now limited financial resources of the traditional religious houses of Britain, will it be rock, royalty or new money that next takes possession of The Old Rectory? The historians of Wimbledon will undoubtedly be watching.

The Old Rectory, 82 Church Road, Wimbledon, London, SW19 5AA is for sale through the Wimbledon office of Knight Frank. For more information call: +44 (0) 20 8946 0026.

October 14, 2012
The bogs of Bayswater

Christian Huhnt recounts an evening at the launch of La Suite West

I have a personal connection to Inverness Terrace as twice in my life I’ve had to crash at my friend’s place there. It’s less than a minute from the new Anouska Hempel-designed hotel, La Suite West, and runs parallel to Queensway.

Bursting with cheap Chinese, Arabic and Mediterranean restaurants, this is an area that has great transport links to Oxford Street and the city centre that is also a very short walk from Hyde Park. As a result it’s full of tourists. Here, they arrive and depart every day, wandering around with heavy luggage trying to find their way. Most of them look like they’re hopelessly lost and in need of a good scrub. The tourist density here is almost equal to that of Victoria Station’s Gatwick Express exit or the Piazza San Marco in Venice.

The lobby of La Suite West, 41 – 51 Inverness Terrace, London, W2 3JN

Party guests at the launch of La Suite West

Please don’t get me wrong though. I have always felt that this place, the heart of Bayswater, has been totally underestimated. It is charming with lots of London Plane trees and a very cosmopolitan feel. Lady Weinberg, better known as the visionary designer and sometime actress Anouska Hempel, plainly agreed as she integrated all that was good about this atmosphere into the hotel that she has cleverly designed.

“Let’s celebrate with a little champagne”

Guests at the party included the British supermodel and VogueTV presenter Jade Parfitt and Duncan McDonald of Propeller Communications

Our party correspondent Christian Huhnt and Inga Buschke enjoying the launch of La Suite West

Angelo Valentino also represented “The Steeple Times” with his daughter

Guests at the launch of La Suite West

Susan Ansary, a regular on the party circuit, even put in an appearance

Arriving at the hotel entrance, you get a feel of how important it was for Hempel to grasp this outside space and use it as a communal environment for the guests. I was invited to visit on the evening of the hotel’s launch and this was the area where guests congregated. Here, along with the champagne, they served molecular bites including Nutella ice cream that had been shock frozen using liquid nitrogen. This, they told me, had been done to avoid ice crystals appearing and the result was a very smooth and creamy texture. I’d put money on this having left the menu now though as just days later I read news reports of a girl in Lancaster losing her stomach after drinking a cocktail made in a similar manner. With hindsight, I must say that my stomach is very glad that they got the measure just right.

When you enter the hotel, which first opened to guests three months ago, you feel as if you are visiting a Scientology church or traversing the ramp of a Star Wars space shuttle. Coming “onboard,” you enter a reception hall, in which a friendly concierge welcomes you. The whole interior is very minimalistic and has been reduced to hues of only black and white. A long fireplace leads you deeper into this shuttle, onto a main corridor, past the dining rooms and connects into to labyrinthian walkways that transport guests to their appointed suites.

I was told that the hotel rooms are all decorated in the same style and have similar layouts. They differ only slightly in size. On the evening of the launch, the largest could be admired and all of them had a very independent feel as they benefited from their own access to the street. Essentially, the rooms are quite small but all offer the contemporary luxury that any jetsetter would expect. The bathrooms have a particularly sophisticated feel and are clad in marble throughout. The extendable televisions hidden in the bed frames perfectly fitted with the minimalist design, but where this became bizarrely rigorous was the flexible water hose in the bathrooms that dispensed with the need for good old European toilet paper.

One of the hotel’s bedrooms

A toilet at La Suite West – complete with hose attachment but minus loo roll

La Suite West is a great step forward. In fact, it is a very audacious move towards upgrading a whole area that clearly has potential for more and which, at the time of writing, does not offer anything better than shabby hostels and seedy bed and breakfasts. The hotel is a well-arranged concept and evidently Hempel put a lot of thought into the execution of it. The design is well composed, but being German I did notice some of the carpets and minor details could have been a little better.

One last piece of advice: the management might want to ship in some bog roll. Some ageing Brit might decide to show up and I’m sure nobody would want a scene from Fawlty Towers to be played out in that rather smart lobby.

La Suite West, 41 – 51 Inverness Terrace, London, W2 3JN. Telephone: +44 (0) 20 3642 3928. Website: http://lasuitewest-px.rtrk.co.uk

Images by Andreas Kirchberger and Christian Huhnt.

October 12, 2012
Celebrating Champions in the Community
An event to support the unsung heroes in our community

On the 8^th November, The Steeple Times will be the media partner for a fundraising event jointly hosted by Gina and Alan Miller and The Rt. Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP at The Hurlingham Club in London, SW6. 100% of the funds raised by the “Celebrating Champions in the Community” evening will aid charities supported by Miller Philanthropy and The Centre for Social Justice.

Gina Miller of Miller Philanthropy comments:

“We increasingly hear and read in the media examples of how our society is breaking down. Yet there are unsung heroes battling every day, on all our behalves, trying to reverse these trends. We invite you to celebrate and support these individuals so please join us for an evening of entertainment, celebration and inspiration. 100% of your attendance donation will be going to these community heroes.”

Gina Miller

The Rt. Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP

This black tie event, whose principal sponsor is the luxury couture house Ralph & Russo, will include a drinks reception, dinner and auction as well as entertainment from the BRIT-Award winning singer Beverley Craven; Antony Costa, a former member of the pop boy band sensation Blue; the Magpie Dance company and Derek Paravicini, one of the great musical entertainers of his generation.

Beverley Craven

Antony Costa

Magpie Dance

Derek Paravicini

A donation of £150 per person comes as the condition of attending, 100% of which goes to charities being supported.

Miller Philanthropy

Miller Philanthropy is a family foundation founded on passion and integrity with 100% transparency and 100% of funds raised going to charities and causes.

The foundation focuses on small community charities – the unsung heroes who undertake vital work at the coal face of the negative trends in our society; primarily, but not exclusively in the UK. Miller Philanthropy’s premise is based upon a strong belief that charity begins at home.

The foundation acts as a philanthropic incubator for chosen charities and projects who undertake transformational work but face a growing number of challenges and lack of resources. We mentor and partner these extraordinary individuals and organisations until they become sustainable.

Beneficiary Charities
- The AMBER Trust
- Best Beginnings
- Chernobyl Children’s Project
- Crossway Pregnancy Crisis Centre
- Hebridean Whale & Dolphin Trust
- HELP Counselling Centre
- Magpie Dance
- Pond Conservation
- Street Kids International
- Target Ovarian Cancer
The Centre for Social Justice

The Centre for Social Justice is an independent think-tank, established to put social justice at the heart of British politics. Moved by shocking levels of disadvantage across the nation, it studies the root causes of Britain’s acute social problems in partnership with its Alliance of over 350 grassroots charities and people whose lives have been affected by poverty.

This enables the CSJ to find and promote evidence-based, experience-led solutions to change lives and transform communities.

The CSJ believes that the surest way to reverse social breakdown – and the poverty it creates – is to build resilience within individuals, families and the innovative organisations able to help them.

Breakthrough Britain

In 2007, the CSJ published its landmark report Breakthrough Britain. This publication has had a significant impact on the previous and present government and has led to the current welfare reforms being implemented across the UK. In Autumn 2012, the CSJ is set to produce Breakthrough Britain II which will update its policy recommendations, with the aim of creating a cross-party consensus on some of the most important policy issues facing Britain today.

For more details about The Centre for Social Justice, go to: http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk

For more details about Miller Philanthropy, go to: http://www.millerphilanthropy.com

To book tickets to the Celebrating Champions in the Community event, contact Rachael Dove of Miller Philanthropy on +44 (0) 20 7838 8650 or email [email protected]
October 9, 2012
Don't duck, duck

Matthew Steeples discovers the truth about the origins of the Gressingham duck

I grew up in North Lancashire and spent much time in the Lune Valley. Here, I was regularly told, in the 12^th century village of Gressingham, a staple of the menus many English restaurants and the most common farmed duck had originated: the Gressingham duck.

Recently, whilst chatting to a restaurateur, the subject of Gressingham duck came up for some bizarre reason. When I told him of the bird’s Lancastrian origins, he firmly disputed this and told me that they were actually of East Anglian extraction.

Gressingham ducks

The Loyn Bridge crosses the River Lune close to Gressingham, near Lancaster

Gressingham duck features on many restaurant menus

Having chatted with several other foodies, they, equally, were of his opinion. After then having spotted it on yet another restaurant menu last week, I decided I simply had to establish the true origin of this bird before I went, excuse the pun, quackers.

A Google search didn’t come up with a great deal but it did produce the required evidence. As I believed, he Gressingham duck was first bred in Gressingham, Lancashire in 1980 by crossing a Pekin duck with a wild mallard.

The result was a succulent, tender bird with a high breast meat yield and a gamey flavour. Of it Delia Smith comments: “It’s the very best type of duck available… Because of it’s smaller frame, [it gives] more meat.”

A Suffolk based couple named Maurice and Miriam Buchanan began rearing and processing Gressingham ducks in 1989 and then bought the exclusive rights to breed them in 1996. Their company, Green Label Foods, now Gressingham Foods, are now the only firm licensed to produce the “Gressingham Duck®” and now employ over 500 people on their farms in East Anglia.

Gressingham Hall, Gressingham, Lancaster, LA2 8LP

A view of Gressingham Hall from the road

Separately in my Google search I also discovered that the main house in the village of Gressingham has recently come to the market through agents Fine & Country. 7-bedroomed Gressingham Hall, a Grade II* listed 17^th century former farmhouse comes complete with 3 reception rooms, a Jacobean staircase and 10 acres of grounds.

A price of £1,350,000 is sought for Gressingham Hall whilst a separate cottage across the drive, Garden Cottage, has a guide price of £350,000. Whoever purchases it had better had get a Gressingham Duck® in the oven for their first night in residence.

Gressingham Hall, Gressingham, Lancaster, LA2 8LP is for sale through Fine & Country, 19 Castle Hill, Lancaster, LA1 1YN. Telephone: +44 (0) 1524 380560. View a brochure for Gressingham Hall at: http://media1.fineandcountry.com/v3/clients/171/properties/50018185/MED_50018185_50031560.pdf

For more details about Gressingham Duck® and Gressingham Foods, go to: http://www.gressinghamduck.co.uk

October 8, 2012
Stuart Graber: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

The Steeple Times asks Stuart Graber, chairman of The Alternative Board London and former managing director of Time Warner International: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom.” What’s your guiding force?

Superior mind, superior attitude.

“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

A quote from Calvin Coolidge: “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will jot; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2012?

Piers Morgan.

Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

Good friends who have gone over to the other side.

What might you swap all your wealth for?

Continued good health.

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?

History has taught us time and time again that when there is money to be made certain individuals will do “anything” they possibly can to benefit and that includes breaking the established rules and regulations.

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

“What will be, will be.”

In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home.” What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

My family and I believe that children and animals are most deserving of our charitable giving.

The judge in “Law Abiding Citizen” states: “I can pretty do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

These highly lethal modern technological marvels form a new arsenal of weaponry. I would imagine that the use of these devices requires a good deal of professional training and skill. If they are “used appropriately” by the military and law enforcement then they should be utilised to save lives.

If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

A mixture of family, friends and acquaintances whose company I enjoy.

Stuart Graber

If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

A Chinese ten-course dinner with the leader or person who could commute my death sentence. It would preferably be consumed on a private jet that can take off when I tell it to.

What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

It depends on which country and what age you happen to be however if pressed I would say about 2-3 hours before you eat dinner.

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

Martini.

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

LA based entertainment industry parties. They are much more experienced and better equipped to create the most amazing environments for a party.

Who is the most positive person you know?

My wife, Susan.

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

Smoking Cuban cigars.

If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

A British bulldog, not because they are tough or mean looking but because they are the embodiment of loyalty and love.

If you were a car, what marque would you be?

A Grabercar. For those who don’t know, they are lightweight sports cars.

Cilla Black presented “Surprise, Surprise.” Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

I am an expert marksman and knife thrower.

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

Statues of my bulldogs, The Manoush and Cupcake.

A graduate of Harvard Business School, Stuart Graber is the chairman of the Alternative Board London. He lives in North London and was previously managing director of both Time Warner International and Music Choice Europe. He was also involved in developing, licensing and distributing culturally and linguistically adapted versions of Sesame Street and obtained the first commercial network radio license in the United Kingdom for Classic-FM.

October 5, 2012
Video of the Week: Total Control

Nicky Haslam adds another string to his bow

Nicky Haslam is a man of many parts. He’s best known as an interior designer and author but over the years, in chameleon like fashion, he’s variously styled himself as Liam Gallagher, bought a house in Transylvania on the net and once told Vanity Fair he’d rather meet Kim Jong Il than Nelson Mandela. Whether he’s partying with Paris Hilton or working with a Russian oligarch, Haslam’s character and charm always shine through and for good reason he tops the list of the most invited in the land.

Nicky Haslam’s “Total Control”

Nicky Haslam’s life has been well documented in many a column but his latest move, recording a debut album entitled Midnight Matinée, can certainly be described as a bold departure. Yes, he did cabaret at Bellamy’s in 2009 and The Savoy in 2010 but having heard the first song, this truly does represent something akin to Kevin Spacey’s Beyond the Sea. I must admit that I thought it vastly superior.

Produced by David Ogilvy, who wrote the music for a BBC film about the interior designer, Total Control is the first in the series of songs to be released. It is accompanied by a video by a Canadian filmmaker named Douglas Arrowsmith.

We at The Steeple Times very much like Haslam’s “highly individual” foray into the “contemporary music scene” and for that reason make it our video of the week.

For more on Nicky Haslam and his interior design business, go to: http://www.nh-design.co.uk

Listen to Total Control and watch the accompanying video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyvmrswykXM

October 4, 2012
Picture of the Week: Drag in luxury

Who would have imagined seeing a Phantom and a Mulsanne drag racing?

In London, people do strange things with supercars. Arabs like His Highness Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, aged 28, don’t bother to insure their wrapped orange £230,000 Ferrari FF’s and find them impounded by the Metropolitan Police whilst Iraqi playboys race Ferrari 599’s down Sloane Street at 120 mph. Meanwhile, the Qatarai royals plainly don’t understand the concept of parking charges and strangely prefer to leave their £1.2million Koenigsegg CCXR’s to be clamped. The world of the super rich and their chariots is, indeed, nothing other than bemusing.

A Rolls-Royce Phantom and a Bentley Mulsanne drag racing in the 2012 goldRush Rally

When, yesterday, Thilo Martin, a director of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Geneva, kindly shared an image on Facebook, I truly saw two luxury cars being used in a manner that I could never have expected. In a photograph taken at the 2012 goldRush Rally readers will see a £253,000 Rolls Royce Phantom and a £225,000 Bentley Mulsanne drag racing.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom

The Bentley Mulsanne

We at The Steeple Times found this strange use of two vehicles that normally are more likely to be found on Rodeo Drive, Park Avenue or Bond Street most amusing and for that reason it had to be our picture of the week.

For more information on the goldRush Rally, go to: http://www.goldrushrally.com

October 4, 2012
Why pay less?

Living life to the full Donald G. Abbey style

“Why pay less when you can pay more?” is a mantra that some strangely choose to live by. In my time, I have encountered a couple with a different Ferrari for each day of the week, someone who proudly declared their home had a window for each day of the year and an heiress who insists upon the local baker feeding her dog daily with a freshly baked caviar pie.

When I discovered a house in California priced at $78,000,000, I didn’t expect to subsequently find out that the same vendor is also selling another of his homes in Montana at the very same price. Having done a little research into Donald G. Abbey, the commercial real estate tycoon who owns both The Bradbury Estate and Shelter Island, I discovered that here indeed is another personality whose excess knows no bounds.

I suppose when people sell homes of this worth, the asking price they set is quite irrelevant. “What,” I’m sure they ask, “is $5 million between friends?” Equally, when it comes to developing such properties, characters of this nature do not show any reserve. Bling is most definitely the order of the day and the larger and flashier one can build, I guess, the better.

An aerial shot of The Bradbury Estate, 172 Bliss Canyon Road, Bradbury, California, CA 91008, USA

The front elevation of the main house

The owner and his guests need not get wet on arrival in their limousines

Abbey’s Bradbury Estate is a case in point. This vast property consists of a 33,000 square foot main house with 7 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. It is almost entirely made of French limestone and includes a chef’s kitchen with a pizza oven, a 2,000 bottle wine cellar, an oak paneled elevator and a leather paneled poker room. Bedrooms include domes with hand painted frescos and in addition there is a detached 6,700 square foot guest house above a 10 car garage and a 5,700 square foot pool house with a catering kitchen, gym, massage room and a subterranean EPA certified 25 yard rifle shooting range complete with a gun storage room and 2 large safes.

The hall of the main residence comes complete with a gallery and bar

A vast library provides the perfect space to enjoy a good book

The library’s glazed ceiling

Another palatial reception room

The house features a rather impressive kitchen

Mr Abbey’s copper bath tub comes complete with a mat displaying his initials in front of it

Within the 8 acre grounds there is a cross shaped infinity-edged pool – perhaps Mr Abbey is religious – that is “just a few feet short of Olympic length.” It requires 350,000 gallons of water if it is to be filled to capacity. Adjoining this is something even more ludicrous: a 1,000,000 gallon, temperature-controlled rainbow trout pond that cost some $8,000,000 to construct. The pond is said to be “adorned with perennials,” is heated by a custom gravity separator with UV filters and is “chilled for the trout by a 300-tonne central cooling plant.” At Bradbury, thoughts of water crisis in Sudan and Ethiopia come way behind the needs of Abbey’s rainbows.

The rear of the house viewed from above The Bradbury Estate’s $8,000,000 trout pond

The estate’s 350,000 gallon near Olympic length cross shaped infinity edged swimming pool

The property’s EPA certified 25 yard rifle range

For those wanting to avoid California’s UV rays, Bradbury also boasts an acre of porches, decks, loggia and walkways. A 600ft blue stone driveway completes this “once in a lifetime trophy property” that “belongs in the portfolio of the most astute collector” and it has space for “60 foot truck access or multiple limousines.”

When Mr Abbey has tired of California, he is able to retreat to his own island in Montana. The 24 acre Shelter Island on Flathead Lake includes 7,000 feet of frontage to the water, a world class sporting clay course and 3 computer controlled tracks and docking systems that allow boats to be landed in the dry dock without riders ever leaving the craft or handling a line. The island is powered via an underground armoured utility cable that carry 12,000 amps to it along with CAT-5 computer cable and phonelines and the main entertaining space features a mammoth television of some 120-inches in size.

An aerial view of Donald G. Abbey’s Shelter Island

Mr Abbey’s passion for copper continues with a conservatory made out of the metal on the lakeside elevation of the main residence on Shelter Island

The Great Room of the main residence on Shelter Island

Mr Abbey’s passion for fine wines is displayed in a bar and tasting room in the property

The owner and his guests can access their boats without having to go anywhere near the water

Abbey has built over 44,000 square foot of accommodation on his island. The main house has 5 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms. His “Great Room” features ceilings of some 45 foot in height and in addition to yet another indoor shooting range, there is a kitchen that woudn’t look out of place in The Savoy hotel.

In the UK, the property most similar to anything Abbey has built has to be Updown Court at Windlesham in Surrey. Developed by a former bricklayer named Leslie Allen-Vercoe, the house was described by him as being: “The most important residence to be built in England since the 19^th century.” Architectural critics did not agree and some went as far as to say that it looked like: “A cross between a Tesco superstore and Center Parcs.”

Allen-Vercoe’s behemoth of a house is gargantuan in size. With 103 rooms it includes 24 bedrooms, 5 swimming pools, a 2-lane bowling alley, a squash court, a floodlit tennis court, a 50-seat cinema and a panic room. The heated driveway that led to the house is entirely made of marble and cost some £2.5 million to construct but plainly none of this appealed to the market as it languished for sale at a price of £70,000,000 from 2006 to 2011 before being repossessed by the Irish National Asset Management Agency (NAMA). Updown Court was sold for half the original asking price to a foreign buyer in October 2011 and is, I believe, due to undergo extensive remodeling.

Updown Court, Chertsey Road, Windlesham, Surrey, GU20 6HY, UK

Allen Vercoe once stated: “If Elton John were a house, he’d be Updown Court.” Equally, I imagine if Mr Abbey’s residences were to be compared to any celebrities they’d be the vulgar car crash that is Donatella Versace and the ludicrous money obsessed singer with a dollar sign in her name, Ke$ha.

Updown Court, Shelter Island and The Bradbury Estate all illustrate that money cannot buy you good taste. I suppose, though, that those who ultimately come to live in them will have plenty of space to choose how and where to enjoy their own form of misery.

For more information about Donald G. Abbey, go to: http://www.theabbeyco.com

For information on both The Bradbury Estate and Shelter Island, contact Bob Hurwitz of the Hurwitz James Company on +1 310-477-8865. Website: http://www.hurwitzjamesco.com

A website devoted to The Bradbury Estate can be viewed at: http://www.bradburyestate.com

A video of Shelter Island can be watched at: http://vimeo.com/11404637

For more details on Updown Court, go to: http://www.updowncourt.com/

October 4, 2012
The land of Tarka and Salar

The North Devon countryside that inspired Henry Williamson, R. D. Blackmore and Charles Kingsley

Much of my childhood was spent reading the works of superb authors and amongst the best of them were Arthur Ransome (1884 – 1967), Denys Watkins-Pitchford (1905 – 1990), who wrote many of his works under the pseudonym “B.B.”, and Henry Williamson (1895 – 1977). As a youngster, I was lucky enough to be read to by Ransome’s nephew, a most captivating professional storyteller, and was given first editions of many of the works of all three of these early to mid twentieth century authors.

I had my first sailing lessons on Windermere, where Ransome set many of his works, and went shooting in the Forest of Bowland, a place dear to B.B. Though I also fished in many wonderful locations, until now I’d never been to the land of Henry Williamson and his most famous creation, Tarka the Otter. I currently find myself here enjoying a break from London and yesterday I randomly discovered, I am staying next to the setting of one of Williamson’s lesser known stories, Salar the Salmon, on the River Bray close to Exmoor.

“Salar the Salmon” by Henry Williamson (1935)

Henry Williamson (1895 – 1977) photographed by Mark Gerson, cibachrome print from original transparency, August 1970

“Tarka the Otter” by Henry Williamson (1927)

Originally published in 1935, Salar the Salmon combines Henry Williamson’s great talent as a writer with his insight as a naturalist. The story tells the tale of a five-year old salmon named Salar, whose name means the “leaper,” and his return to the stream of his birth. Salar’s migration through the riverways of Devon involve him surviving porpoises, seals, nets, fishermen, otters, poachers and weirs and Williamson’s account truly gives the reader an insight into one of nature’s great journeys.

Henry Williamson wrote both Salar the Salmon and The Children of Shallowford (1939) whilst living beside the River Bray in a hamlet named Shallowford, near Lynton in Devon. The river plainly inspired him and whilst he lived there on the Fortescue Estate he also sired four children, joined Oswald Moseley’s British Union of Fascists, was briefly imprisoned for his views and conducted several extra-marital affairs.

“War Horse” author Michael Morpurgo OBE

Salar the Salmon is a story I am not alone in recommending. Another Devon based author and poet, Michael Morpurgo OBE, best known for his acclaimed work, War Horse, speaks very fondly of Williamson and the novel in a dedication he prepared for a recent reprint of it:

“It is a rare gift indeed for a storyteller to be poet as much as a storyteller, to tell a tale so deeply engaging that the reader wants to know what will happen and never want it to end, and yet at the same time tells it in such a way as to leave a reader wide-eyed with amazement at the sheer intensity of feeling that can be induced by the word-magic of a poet. Henry Williamson is just such a story-maker poet.”

Where I am staying, I have a view of the very river on which Salar made his journey and here also a detached barn conversion is currently available to rent at a price of £1,150 per month. Malle’s Barn is a 2-bedroom stone-built property that includes a 25ft by 12ft open plan sitting room with a fully fitted kitchen and a dining area, as well as a study and shower room.

The exterior of Malle’s Barn, Brayford, Near Barnstaple, Devon, EX32 7QB

A large open plan reception room includes sitting, dining and kitchen areas

The setting of Malle’s Barn overlooking the valley of the River Bray

Tenants of the house will have access to the owner’s 60-acre estate which includes a mile of salmon and brown trout fishing on both the Rivers Bray and Holewater, ancient woodland and a lake in addition to a private garden and adequate parking for several vehicles.

Malle’s Barn would make a perfect retreat for any author or artist and is just 10 minutes from South Molton, Barnstaple is 9 miles away and Exeter 40 miles. The location is 30 minutes from J27 of the M5 and Tiverton Parkway Station, which provides mainline links to London Paddington within 2 hours.

Close to Malle’s Barn are the prettiest sections of a footpath named the Tarka Trail. Consisting of over 180 miles of footpaths and cycle tracks that take in the Dartmoor and Exmoor National Parks and the North Devon Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The trail takes in many of the locations described in Williamson’s most famous novel but this area of North Devon also galvanized the pens of a number of other authors.

Richard Doddridge Blackmore (1825 – 1900)

Professor Charles Kingsley (1819 – 1875)

Richard Doddridge Blackmore (1825 – 1900) set Lorna Doone: A Romance on Exmoor in the locality in 1869 and Professor Charles Kingsley (1819 – 1875) put pen to paper here when he wrote Westward Ho! in 1855. A village of the same name was subsequently established near Bideford in the 1860s by entrepreneurs, led by Lord Portsmouth, who saw an opportunity to capitalise on the novel’s success. Westward Ho! is the only place in the United Kingdom with an exclamation mark in its name. The only other place in the world that shares such is Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! in Quebec, Canada.

Aside from literary connections, the locality is famous for its excellent fieldsports. The Earl and Countess of Arran’s Castle Hill and the Molland shoot are considered amongst two of England’s finest high bird pheasant shoots and both the Devon and Somerset Staghounds and Devon and Somerset Foxhounds hunt on Exmoor.

Johnny Kingdom

Johnny Kingdom, who describes himself as having been “a farmer, quarryman, forestry worker, gravedigger and, if truth be told, a poacher” in his youth, also lives in the locality and is well known as a wildlife photographer, filmmaker and television presenter. He sets many of his series on Exmoor because of the vast array of wildlife he comes across here and is, like Williamson before him, often to be found exploring the valley of the River Bray.

In a 1965 BBC interview Henry Williamson was asked: “What influence has this [the Devon] countryside had on you?”:

“Everything, I should say. I came down here as a youth, aged just 18 in 1914, spent a fortnight’s holiday here in the beginning of May, beginning of June. I walked 20 to 25 miles every day. Everything I saw was radiant and beautiful.”

This idyllic part of Devon that Williamson loved so much remains unspoilt to this day. If you haven’t visited yet, it really should be added to your bucketlist.

For more information about Henry Williamson, go to The Henry Williamson Society’s webpage: http://www.henrywilliamson.co.uk

Watch the 1965 BBC interview with Williamson at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/devon/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8475000/8475989.stm

For details and a map of the Tarka Trail, go to: http://www.devon.gov.uk/tarkatrail and http://www.devon.gov.uk/tarka-trail-circular-routes.pdf

For information on the Molland shoot, go to: http://www.bettwshall.com/molland.htm

For more information about the Devon and Somerset Staghounds, go to: http://www.devonandsomersetstaghounds.net

For more information on the Devon and Somerset Foxhounds, go to: http://www.exmoorfoxhounds.co.uk

View the official website of the author and poet Michael Morpurgo at: http://www.michaelmorpurgo.com

View the official website of Johnny Kingdom at: http://www.johnnykingdom.co.uk/

For more information about Malle’s Barn, contact Charles Mitford Cust at: [email protected]

October 2, 2012