The Steeple Times

Tag: USA

  • Kingly Kinlet

    Kingly Kinlet

    Grand Grade I listed Shropshire mansion Kinlet Hall for sale after coronavirus forced the closure of its wedding venue and summer school

    • Striking Grade I listed Palladian mansion in Shropshire for sale.
    • Kinlet Hall is priced at £3.5 million or just £104 per square foot.
    • The house has until recently been a school and wedding venue, but this usage has been stopped because of the coronavirus lockdown.
    • A cricket ground included with the property was lauded as one of “Britain’s most scenic” by ‘The Telegraph’ whilst HRH Princess Anne has competed in horse trials in the parkland.

    Coinciding with the partial relaxation of the coronavirus lockdown, the ‘trophy country house’ market seems to be revving up with the commencement of marketing of several historically significant residences.

    Now, following on from our feature on Saturday on the £10 million crumbling Jacobean gem Lilford Hall Estate in Northamptonshire, the same agents, Savills, have now introduced the sale of another treasure – the utterly stunning Palladian architectural treasure that is Kinlet Hall in Shropshire.

    Significantly cheaper at £3.5 million or £104 per square foot and in far better condition than 33,406 square foot Lilford Hall, the 33,609 square foot Grade I listed Kinlet Hall comes with less land – 102 acres as opposed to 321 acres. It is further from London, which may limit its appeal to wealthy city sorts, but given it has been used as both a school and wedding venue until lockdown, it is in actual “working condition” as opposed to the perilously falling down state that Lilford is sadly currently in. That is, indeed, a major plus.

    Featuring a seven-bayed central block of three storeys plus cellars, the hall is flanked by two two-storey wings. Presently configured to provide 5 reception rooms and 15 bedrooms, there are classrooms, gyms and flats also. Surprisingly, unlike with many residential to school conversions of mansions in the 1940s where ugly modern extensions were distastefully tacked on, damage to the integrity of the original structure has been minimal.

    In addition, to a 5-bedroom detached house named ‘The Old House’ and a range of farm buildings within the grounds, there is a cricket pavilion and a cricket pitch. The Telegraph named its runner-up for “Britain’s most scenic cricket ground” in 2008 and interestingly amongst the many established plant and tree species in the grounds is a Wellingtonia that allegedly came as a seed in a matchbox from the Americas.

    Of Kinlet Hall, Tony Morris-Eyton of Savills comments: “[This is] an exquisitely beautiful Palladian country house, formerly a prep school, awaiting its next chapter with enormous potential as either a private home or [for] other uses.”

    The village of Kinlet is situated on the northern edge of the Wyre Forest about 18 miles from Telford and 23 miles from Birmingham.

    Kingly Kinlet – £3.5 million ($4.4 million, €3.9 million or درهم16.3 million) for Kinlet Hall, Kinlet, Bewdley, Shropshire, DY12 3AY, United Kingdom through agents Savills – Grand Grade I listed Shropshire mansion Kinlet Hall for sale after coronavirus forced the closure of its wedding venue and summer school. HRH Prince Anne has competed at horse trials in its parkland.
    Design Maestros – Villa Pisani, Montagnana (top left) by Andrea Palladio (lower centre) inspired both Francis Smith of Warwick (lower left) in his designs for Kinlet Hall and William Buckland (lower right) in his creation of the Hammond-Harwood House (top right).

    The Names & Numbers – Kinlet Hall, Kinlet, Bewdley, Shropshire, DY12 3AY, United Kingdom

     

    June 2020 – Put up for sale for £3.5 million ($4.4 million, €3.9 million or درهم16.3 million) through agents Savills. Orchard Lodge, a 4-bedroom cottage with an acre of paddock, is available by separate negotiation.

     

    July 2017 – Moffats School closes for the final time citing financial pressures. Of the decision, school chairman Julian Engleheart told the Shropshire Star: “We have always been a small school by choice, maintaining the family ethos of our founders. However, the current financial climate is putting enormous pressure on small schools and we have decided that it would be unwise to commit to a new year this September. However, we will continue to run educational activities in our lovely house and grounds, which provide such a wonderful environment for learning.”

     

    1946 – Moffats School (founded in 1934 by the children’s writer Natalie Engleheart in a Hertfordshire house called Moffats) is relocated to Kinlet Hall.

     

    1939 – 1945 – The house was temporarily home to a school for the blind; the parkland became a camp for the US army as part of their preparations for the Normandy Landings.

     

    1827 – Ballroom added to the designs of Sir Jeffrey Wyattville (1766 – 1840) trained architect Edward Haycock (1790 – 1870) for William Baldwyn Childe. He died three years before it was completed and “this is the only significant part of the house not dating from 1729.”

     

    1727 – 1729 – Kinlet Hall is “built in a classic early Georgian style with the symmetry and grand elevations synonymous with [the English master-builder and architect] Francis Smith of Warwick (1672 – 1738)” for Tory politician William Lacon Childe (1700 – 1757) close to the site of an older Tudor manor house.

     

    Other notable works by Smith and his family include Calke Abbey, Fawsley Hall, Kirtlington House, Ombersley Court and Stoneleigh Abbey. His design was said to be inspired by Andrea Palladio’s (1508 – 1580) Villa Pisani at Montagnana – which also reportedly was the influence for the ‘Anglo-Palladian’ Hammond-Harwood House by the English architect William Buckland (1734 – 1774) in Annapolois, Maryland, USA.

     

    During construction, the old village was removed to “improve” the setting. Only the original church, St. John the Baptist, which contains monuments dating to the 1580s, was left as a “remnant.” It was restored subsequently in 1892.

     

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  • Moving On – June 2020

    Moving On – June 2020

    Moving on homes owned by the newsworthy – including properties owned by society snapper Sir Cecil Beaton, novelist Jackie Collins and film producer-director Peter Minns.

    A Tennis Court Teardown

    Moving On – June 2020 – Moves of the Noteworthy – A chronicle of the moves of the newsworthy – including homes owned by society snapper Sir Cecil Beaton, novelist Jackie Collins and film producer-director Peter Minns.

    Paris Hilton’s dad Rick’s realty firm Hilton & Hyland has just launched to the market the former Beverly Hills home of the late Jackie Collins OBE (1937 – 2015) for £13.4 million ($16.95 million). They don’t say much about the bonkbuster author’s residence of some 25 years other than: “Secluded behind gates and foliage lies a great opportunity to purchase a tennis court… Home could use a remodel or rebuild.” Miss Collins and her second husband art gallery owner Oscar Lerman paid £2.4 million ($3 million) for 5,269 square foot 614 N Beverly Drive in 1991.

    Limited Living in the ‘Hampshire Highlands’

    Moving On – June 2020 – Moves of the Noteworthy – A chronicle of the moves of the newsworthy – including homes owned by society snapper Sir Cecil Beaton, novelist Jackie Collins and film producer-director Peter Minns.
    https://vimeo.com/358107497/b6629a2217

    Reduced in price from £4 million ($5.1 million) in September 2019 to £3.73 million ($4.72 million) now through agents BCM, The Oast House at Hartley Mauditt in the South Downs National Park in Hampshire was converted by film producer-director Peter Minns in the 1990s.

     

    This delightful ‘mini estate’ looks like something that could have been in of The Darling Buds of May and comes with 76.28 acres of land suitable for ‘stick and ball’ polo, but the problem is this – a planning stipulation dictates that the majority of the main house is only allowed to be on a “short-term” basis whilst two cottages are for “holiday or seasonal worker use” and a bungalow is limited to “anyone fully employed in agriculture.”

     

    Minns is best known for having produced programmes including Mad Cows & Englishmen for the BBC, A Question of Sleaze – The Neil Hamilton Story for Channel 4 and Citizen 2000 – which followed the lives of twenty children who became 18 in the year 2000.

     

    Moving on Sir Cecil’s Seat

    Moving On – June 2020 – Moves of the Noteworthy – A chronicle of the moves of the newsworthy – including homes owned by society snapper Sir Cecil Beaton, novelist Jackie Collins and film producer-director Peter Minns.

    £4 million ($5.1 million) is sought for Queen Anne Reddish House in the Chalke Valley in Wiltshire by agents Savills. Society snapper Sir Cecil Beaton CBE, owner from 1947 until his death in 1980, described it as: “My dream home” and an “exquisite country seat” and between 1987 and 1999, it was home to the I Want to Be Free singer Toyah Wilcox. Aside from 6 acres of glorious gardens, the Grade II* listed house comes with two cottages, a range of follies and a water meadow. Locked-down Instagrammers have been moving all over its marketing brochure and sharing photos online, with one even gushing: “It’s the prettiest house I’ve seen EVER… EVER.”

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  • Roy Clark’s Roller

    Roy Clark’s Roller

    ‘I Never Picked Cotton’ singer Roy Clark’s Rolls-Royce heads to auction complete with suicide doors and emblazoned with his initials in gold leaf

    American Hee Haw host and country singer Roy Clark (1933 – 2018) was best known for songs such as Yesterday, When I Was Young and Thank God and Greyhound. Now, enthusiasts of this tobacco farmer’s son have the opportunity to buy a piece of his memorabilia in the form of a Rolls-Royce that he owned for some forty years.

     

    Last offered without reserve at the Leake Auction Company sale in Tulsa in June 2019, the dark red 1964 Phantom V touring limousine by James Young was owned by the star from 1977 until his death. Clark paid $19,500 (the equivalent of £70,000, $86,000, €79,000 or درهم316,000 today) when he purchased it and after it was subsequently sold to a “noted private collection in Texas,” they lavished £24,000 ($30,000, €27,000 or درهم110,000) on servicing it in 2019 and 2020.

     

    This month, RM Sotheby’s will sell the Rolls-Royce – which is currently located in Austin, Texas – as part of their 21st to 29th May ‘Driving Into Summer’ online sale. They have set an estimate of £49,000 to £57,000 ($60,000 to $70,000, €55,000 to €64,000 or درهم220,000 to درهم257,000). Of the car, they remark:

     

    “The limousine is finished in a lovely shade of dark red and accented by a gold pinstripe running the length of the car. The initials “RC” are prominently featured on the driver’s side passenger door. The interior is trimmed in tan leather and is accented by beautiful woodwork throughout. The driver compartment features Smiths instrumentation, an AM/FM radio, and an altimeter in the passenger glove box door. Furthermore, the car is equipped with electric windows and air conditioning which is vented into both the driver and passenger compartments. A division window separates the driver from the passengers. The rear compartment is the epitome of 1960s luxury and features dual footrests, fold-out jump seats, pillar-mounted flower vases, reading lights, and a Smiths clock while fold-out picnic tables flank a small cocktail bar with crystal decanters and glassware.”

     

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    Roy Clark’s Roller – 1964 ex-Roy Clark Rolls-Royce limousine to be sold – ‘I Never Picked Cotton’ singer Roy Clark’s Rolls-Royce heads to auction complete with suicide and emblazoned with his initials in gold leaf – RM Sotheby’s will sell the Rolls-Royce – which is currently located in Austin, Texas – as part of their 21st to 29th May ‘Driving Into Summer’ online sale. They have set an estimate of £49,000 to £57,000 ($60,000 to $70,000, €55,000 to €64,000 or درهم220,000 to درهم257,000).
    Roy Clark’s Roller – 1964 ex-Roy Clark Rolls-Royce limousine to be sold – ‘I Never Picked Cotton’ singer Roy Clark’s Rolls-Royce heads to auction complete with suicide and emblazoned with his initials in gold leaf – RM Sotheby’s will sell the Rolls-Royce – which is currently located in Austin, Texas – as part of their 21st to 29th May ‘Driving Into Summer’ online sale. They have set an estimate of £49,000 to £57,000 ($60,000 to $70,000, €55,000 to €64,000 or درهم220,000 to درهم257,000).
    Roy Clark’s Roller – 1964 ex-Roy Clark Rolls-Royce limousine to be sold – ‘I Never Picked Cotton’ singer Roy Clark’s Rolls-Royce heads to auction complete with suicide and emblazoned with his initials in gold leaf – RM Sotheby’s will sell the Rolls-Royce – which is currently located in Austin, Texas – as part of their 21st to 29th May ‘Driving Into Summer’ online sale. They have set an estimate of £49,000 to £57,000 ($60,000 to $70,000, €55,000 to €64,000 or درهم220,000 to درهم257,000).
    Roy Clark’s Roller – 1964 ex-Roy Clark Rolls-Royce limousine to be sold – ‘I Never Picked Cotton’ singer Roy Clark’s Rolls-Royce heads to auction complete with suicide and emblazoned with his initials in gold leaf – RM Sotheby’s will sell the Rolls-Royce – which is currently located in Austin, Texas – as part of their 21st to 29th May ‘Driving Into Summer’ online sale. They have set an estimate of £49,000 to £57,000 ($60,000 to $70,000, €55,000 to €64,000 or درهم220,000 to درهم257,000).
    Roy Clark’s Roller – 1964 ex-Roy Clark Rolls-Royce limousine to be sold – ‘I Never Picked Cotton’ singer Roy Clark’s Rolls-Royce heads to auction complete with suicide and emblazoned with his initials in gold leaf – RM Sotheby’s will sell the Rolls-Royce – which is currently located in Austin, Texas – as part of their 21st to 29th May ‘Driving Into Summer’ online sale. They have set an estimate of £49,000 to £57,000 ($60,000 to $70,000, €55,000 to €64,000 or درهم220,000 to درهم257,000).
    Roy Clark’s Roller – 1964 ex-Roy Clark Rolls-Royce limousine to be sold – ‘I Never Picked Cotton’ singer Roy Clark’s Rolls-Royce heads to auction complete with suicide and emblazoned with his initials in gold leaf – RM Sotheby’s will sell the Rolls-Royce – which is currently located in Austin, Texas – as part of their 21st to 29th May ‘Driving Into Summer’ online sale. They have set an estimate of £49,000 to £57,000 ($60,000 to $70,000, €55,000 to €64,000 or درهم220,000 to درهم257,000).
    Roy Clark’s Roller – 1964 ex-Roy Clark Rolls-Royce limousine to be sold – ‘I Never Picked Cotton’ singer Roy Clark’s Rolls-Royce heads to auction complete with suicide and emblazoned with his initials in gold leaf – RM Sotheby’s will sell the Rolls-Royce – which is currently located in Austin, Texas – as part of their 21st to 29th May ‘Driving Into Summer’ online sale. They have set an estimate of £49,000 to £57,000 ($60,000 to $70,000, €55,000 to €64,000 or درهم220,000 to درهم257,000).
    Roy Clark’s Roller – 1964 ex-Roy Clark Rolls-Royce limousine to be sold – ‘I Never Picked Cotton’ singer Roy Clark’s Rolls-Royce heads to auction complete with suicide and emblazoned with his initials in gold leaf – RM Sotheby’s will sell the Rolls-Royce – which is currently located in Austin, Texas – as part of their 21st to 29th May ‘Driving Into Summer’ online sale. They have set an estimate of £49,000 to £57,000 ($60,000 to $70,000, €55,000 to €64,000 or درهم220,000 to درهم257,000).
    Roy Clark’s Roller – 1964 ex-Roy Clark Rolls-Royce limousine to be sold – ‘I Never Picked Cotton’ singer Roy Clark’s Rolls-Royce heads to auction complete with suicide and emblazoned with his initials in gold leaf – RM Sotheby’s will sell the Rolls-Royce – which is currently located in Austin, Texas – as part of their 21st to 29th May ‘Driving Into Summer’ online sale. They have set an estimate of £49,000 to £57,000 ($60,000 to $70,000, €55,000 to €64,000 or درهم220,000 to درهم257,000).
    Roy Clark’s Roller – 1964 ex-Roy Clark Rolls-Royce limousine to be sold – ‘I Never Picked Cotton’ singer Roy Clark’s Rolls-Royce heads to auction complete with suicide and emblazoned with his initials in gold leaf – RM Sotheby’s will sell the Rolls-Royce – which is currently located in Austin, Texas – as part of their 21st to 29th May ‘Driving Into Summer’ online sale. They have set an estimate of £49,000 to £57,000 ($60,000 to $70,000, €55,000 to €64,000 or درهم220,000 to درهم257,000).
  • A Miniature Kingdom

    A Miniature Kingdom

    Private island just 75 miles from New York for sale for just £650,000; it could make an ideal downsize from Necker for Sir Richard Branson

    Created from pink granite bedrock that once formed hilltops prior to the last ice age, the 365 islands that form The Thimbles in Connecticut are mostly uninhabited rest stops for migrating seals.

     

    With 81 houses across the 23 inhabited islands, 14 of those isles have only a single residence on them and now someone with £652,000 to spare can join past residents who’ve counted President William H. Taft and purchase one named Jepson Island.

    An aerial shot of Jepson Island.

    Only accessible by boat from the nearby village of Stony Creek, Branford the tiny 0.77-acre island is dominated by a 962 square foot “contemporary vacation” bungalow with two bedrooms and a bathroom. It has power from a generator and passive solar power, mains ‘city’ water and is offered for sale fully furnished.

     

    Situated just 75 miles from New York City, Jepson Island is described by agents William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty as “the ultimate easy, nearby escape.”

    The Names & Numbers – Jepson Island, Branford, Connecticut, CT 06405, United States of America

    May 2020 – Jepson Island is offered for sale for £652,000 ($800,000, €737,000 or درهم1.2 million) through William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty. Two other islands available include 0.77-acre Wheelers Island at £2.4 million ($3 million, €2.8 million or درهم11 million) and the 1.04-acre Belden Island at £1.2 million ($1.5 million, €1.4 million or درهم5.5 million).

    2016 – Offered for sale as part of an “eight island deal” for £63.5 million ($78 million, €71.9 million or درهم286.5 million) by owners Edmund and Christine Stoecklein.

    Late 1990s to early 2000s – Christine Stoecklein, widow of John Svenningsen (president of the party goods manufacturer Amscan Holdings Inc), bought a number of the Thimble Islands for a total of £24.4 million ($30 million, €27.7 million or درهم110.2 million).

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  • Come Enjoy!

    Come Enjoy!

    Quaint Edwardian cottage with 22 acres of land in Wellington, Maine for sale for the same price as a brand new Land Rover Discovery

    Named for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, the town of Wellington in Piscataquis County, Maine is pretty small. With a population of just 260 in 2010 across 39.93 square miles, this is a place where “there are really are more cows than people.”

     

    Known for an over-the-top annual Christmas light display that “brings tears of joy to the eyes” (supposedly) courtesy of a woodsman named Blaine Henderson, someone with just £48,300 ($59,900, €54,900 or درهم220,000) spare could now join this typically apple pie American, Hicksville community and become what locals call a “Mainiac.”

     

    Counting the actress Liv Tyler and the author Stephen King amongst those born there, the state of Maine is best known for agriculture, fishing and shipbuilding and has a humid continental climate. It is the northern-most state in the north-east of America and for those “yearning for a home with acreage,” an Edwardian cottage at 14 Smith Hill Road could make for an ideal holiday home.

     

    Standing on a plot of 21.58 acres, the 640 square foot cedar shingle clad house has been “updated” (to a degree) and has one bedroom and one bathroom currently. There is “lots of potential for expansion” and of the smallholding, realtors Berkshire Hathaway announce: “Come enjoy!”

     

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    Come Enjoy! £48,300 ($59,900) for 14 Smith Hill Road, Wellington, Piscataquis County, Maine, ME 04942, United States of America – Edwardian cottage with 22 acres of land in Wellington, Maine for sale for the same price as a brand new Land Rover Discovery.
    Come Enjoy! £48,300 ($59,900) for 14 Smith Hill Road, Wellington, Piscataquis County, Maine, ME 04942, United States of America – Edwardian cottage with 22 acres of land in Wellington, Maine for sale for the same price as a brand new Land Rover Discovery.
    Come Enjoy! £48,300 ($59,900) for 14 Smith Hill Road, Wellington, Piscataquis County, Maine, ME 04942, United States of America – Edwardian cottage with 22 acres of land in Wellington, Maine for sale for the same price as a brand new Land Rover Discovery.
    Come Enjoy! £48,300 ($59,900) for 14 Smith Hill Road, Wellington, Piscataquis County, Maine, ME 04942, United States of America – Edwardian cottage with 22 acres of land in Wellington, Maine for sale for the same price as a brand new Land Rover Discovery.
    Come Enjoy! £48,300 ($59,900) for 14 Smith Hill Road, Wellington, Piscataquis County, Maine, ME 04942, United States of America – Edwardian cottage with 22 acres of land in Wellington, Maine for sale for the same price as a brand new Land Rover Discovery.
    Come Enjoy! £48,300 ($59,900) for 14 Smith Hill Road, Wellington, Piscataquis County, Maine, ME 04942, United States of America – Edwardian cottage with 22 acres of land in Wellington, Maine for sale for the same price as a brand new Land Rover Discovery.
    Come Enjoy! £48,300 ($59,900) for 14 Smith Hill Road, Wellington, Piscataquis County, Maine, ME 04942, United States of America – Edwardian cottage with 22 acres of land in Wellington, Maine for sale for the same price as a brand new Land Rover Discovery.
    Come Enjoy! £48,300 ($59,900) for 14 Smith Hill Road, Wellington, Piscataquis County, Maine, ME 04942, United States of America – Edwardian cottage with 22 acres of land in Wellington, Maine for sale for the same price as a brand new Land Rover Discovery.
    Come Enjoy! £48,300 ($59,900) for 14 Smith Hill Road, Wellington, Piscataquis County, Maine, ME 04942, United States of America – Edwardian cottage with 22 acres of land in Wellington, Maine for sale for the same price as a brand new Land Rover Discovery.
    Come Enjoy! £48,300 ($59,900) for 14 Smith Hill Road, Wellington, Piscataquis County, Maine, ME 04942, United States of America – Edwardian cottage with 22 acres of land in Wellington, Maine for sale for the same price as a brand new Land Rover Discovery.
  • Berating Branson

    Berating Branson

    As a petition to strip Sir Richard Branson of his knighthood reaches 27,000 signatories, a doctor calls out this Beelzebub-like businessman’s meanness

    Sir Richard Branson, undoubtedly one of the most deserving figures of hate of the coronavirus pandemic, has rightly been panned on the left and panned on the right. With both Tory and Labour politicians after him and his key backer, Delta, refusing to inject fresh cash into his crisis-hit airline, this cretinous tax exile has truly hit the buffers and is quite rightly fast running out of friends and allies.

     

    On Tuesday in the Guardian, the columnist Marina Hyde condemned Branson’s offer of Necker Island as security for a £500 million bailout from the British government as “the most WTF-tinged piece of collateral action since that late-1980s moment when Australian entrepreneur Alan Bond bought Van Gogh’s Irises at Sotheby’s, using a loan from Sotheby’s, for which the painting itself was collateral.” She was spot on about this and in stating: “I’d encourage you to speculate on how soon it will be before Richard requests UK or US bailout money for his Virgin Galactic enterprise, where space travel has been ‘set to be a reality next year’ for a good 12 years now,” this journalist hits the nail on the head. Branson can certainly be termed an immensely clever (if deviant) stage manager and anything but a one-trick pony, but what lies beneath his mirage is nothing but a house of sand propped up by a bag of bilge.

     

    In response to the feature, one Nicholas Fox of Virgin Group wrote to the Guardian on Saturday. His missive pathetically bleated about being “saddened” by Hyde’s suggestions, but as a counterpoint, one Dr Richard O’Brien, who had travelled on one of Branson’s aircraft, provided an entirely different take. The good doctor remarked:

     

    SIR – Is Marina Hyde being a little harsh on Richard Branson? On a Virgin flight home from Los Angeles several years ago I answered the call for a doctor (the third call, actually, as hardened medics wait for somebody more gung-ho to respond) and saved the life of a businessman who had swooned during his in-flight massage (no, please, it was nothing).

     

    The crew were so relieved when I spared them the expensive inconvenience of an unscheduled landing that they gave me a free orange juice as they ushered me past the empty business seats and back to steerage. It was followed up by a letter of gratitude and a promise of 10% off my next trip. I later found out that anybody could get 10% off by booking online.

     

    So don’t tell me Branson seems to feel entitled to the free benefit of others’ generosity – I already know.

     

    Dr Richard O’Brien

    Highbridge, Somerset

     

    Elsewhere, an online petition on Change.org to strip Branson of his knighthood continues to garner support. Justifying it someone named ‘Duna Stays Mad’ calls the billionaire businessman a “disgrace to his country” and a “traitor” and suggests he is “milking the system.” Today, we urge our readers to join the 27,000 who have already signed it by clicking here.

     

    Pictured top: Sir Richard Branson getting his filthy mitts into a blonde.

     

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  • Where’s Ghislaine?

    Where’s Ghislaine?

    As Prince Andrew faces the possibility of being sued by victims of Jeffrey Epstein, we again join those asking: “Where’s Ghislaine Maxwell?” Suggestions that she’s on a submarine do seem a bit far-fetched, but you never know…

    Whilst Fergie’s been busy making a prized prat of herself mopping floors in an attempt to ‘resonate’ with a populous in panic over a pandemic and her ‘selfless’ daughter has had to yet again postpone her wedding and deal with the ensuing “heartbreak,” things aren’t looking that rosy for the ‘House of Dork’ right now.

     

    Throw in news that Prince Andrew could potentially face legal suits from victims of Jeffrey Epstein – even after they receive payout deals from the late paedophile’s estate – and frankly 2019’s annus horribilis seems like an Austin Powers-esque party. The fact that ‘MeGain’ and a near global lockdown are keeping this wing of the royal family off the front pages (for now) is the biggest lottery win this tawdry collection could ever have hoped for.

     

    Where’s Ghislaine? As Prince Andrew faces the possibility of being sued by victims of Jeffrey Epstein, we again join those asking: “Where’s Ghislaine Maxwell?” Suggestions that she’s on a submarine do seem a bit far-fetched, but you never know… Featuring Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Sarah, Duchess of York, Lady Victoria Hervey, Virginia Giuffre (Virginia Roberts), Rupert Murdoch and Laura Goldman and the late Robert Maxwell and the late Jeffrey Epstein.
    The Non-Sweating Prince and the Charwoman – Prince Andrew NOT sweating at Pizza Express (Woking branch) and Sarah, Duchess of York pretending she knows how to use a mop in a kitchen that most definitely hasn’t been visited by the former Meghan Markle’s very, very expensive (publicly funded) interior designers.
    Where’s Ghislaine? As Prince Andrew faces the possibility of being sued by victims of Jeffrey Epstein, we again join those asking: “Where’s Ghislaine Maxwell?” Suggestions that she’s on a submarine do seem a bit far-fetched, but you never know… Featuring Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Sarah, Duchess of York, Lady Victoria Hervey, Virginia Giuffre (Virginia Roberts), Rupert Murdoch and Laura Goldman and the late Robert Maxwell and the late Jeffrey Epstein.
    Lovers of fancy dress and lovers of deviancy (from left to right) – Now jailed sex offender Harvey Weinstein, now deceased paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, currently missing alleged paedophile procurer Ghislaine Maxwell (at a party thrown by Prince Andrew) and now deceased pension plunderer Robert Maxwell (at another party); what an utterly charming and delightful bunch.

    Meanwhile, just as Epstein’s most outspoken victim, Virginia Giuffre (née Roberts), quite rightly carries on calling out her abusers on Twitter, theories about the whereabouts of the ‘missing mucky madam’ and ‘procuring queen’ of this sordid saga, Ghislaine Maxwell, continue to do the rounds.

     

    Quite ludicrously in February, the Mirror claimed ‘Bouncing Bob’s’ bombastic “bitch” of a daughter could be “hiding in a submarine.” Nobody mentioned whether she was playing Yellow Submarine down there or if she had Amelia Earhart and Glenn Miller singing along with her, however. After it was more recently claimed that Miss Maxwell has been sheltering at her late mother’s former home, Chateau de la Malartrie, La Roque-Gageac, 24220 Vézac, France, the journalist Laura Goldman came out claiming to the contrary. Yesterday, this supposed “friend” ‘authoritatively’ tweeted: “#GhislaineMaxwell isn’t at her family’s chateau in France.”

     

    Elsewhere, in an open letter published in the somewhat way-out-beyond-wacky title Politicalite on 2nd April, Goldman was described by a group of Epstein’s victims as “a dubious source with a colourful history.” They termed her a woman whom they believed The Sun “[should not] consider a reliable source” and added: “Anything said by Ms. Goldman… presented herewith is not trustworthy.”

     

    With no sightings in the UK or America in months, it has been speculated that this pension’s plunderer’s daughter could have taken refuge in Israel. This theory seems more likely than most and whilst another supposed “chum,” Lady Victoria Hervey, described Maxwell as “like a James Bond character,” nobody with half-a-brain would go as far as to argue she’s even close to being on a level with Ernst Blofeld or Max Zorin.

     

    “Not renowned for having much upstairs” Lady Hervey subsequently stated: “I just don’t believe anyone is going to find her,” but, whatever is the case, there are a lot of outstanding questions awaiting Ghislaine Maxwell. It is now jolly well time this wicked wench turned herself in and it’s jolly well time she faced the music – be it accompanied by a Beatles tune or otherwise.

     

    Pictured top: Disgraced media mogul’s spawn Ghislaine Maxwell with currently-still-a-media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

     

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    Where’s Ghislaine? As Prince Andrew faces the possibility of being sued by victims of Jeffrey Epstein, we again join those asking: “Where’s Ghislaine Maxwell?” Suggestions that she’s on a submarine do seem a bit far-fetched, but you never know… Featuring Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Sarah, Duchess of York, Lady Victoria Hervey, Virginia Giuffre (Virginia Roberts), Rupert Murdoch and Laura Goldman and the late Robert Maxwell and the late Jeffrey Epstein.
    Virginia Giuffre, a victim of sexual abuse and grooming by Jeffrey Epstein, is not giving up. In a recent tweet she announced: “#TimesUp #PrinceAndrew #GhislaineMaxwell Co-Conspirators – lie through your teeth – the truth is coming out!”
    Where’s Ghislaine? As Prince Andrew faces the possibility of being sued by victims of Jeffrey Epstein, we again join those asking: “Where’s Ghislaine Maxwell?” Suggestions that she’s on a submarine do seem a bit far-fetched, but you never know… Featuring Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Sarah, Duchess of York, Lady Victoria Hervey, Virginia Giuffre (Virginia Roberts), Rupert Murdoch and Laura Goldman and the late Robert Maxwell and the late Jeffrey Epstein.
    A tweet from Laura Goldman claims Ghislaine Maxwell is not at a French chateau belonging to her late mother, Dr Betty Maxwell, but many are now asking: “How does this supposed friend actually know?”
  • Slashed Seven Sisters

    Slashed Seven Sisters

    Famous  ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards

    Montauk has variously been associated with part-time residents such as the playwright Edward Albee, the world’s largest Ponzi scheme operator Bernie Madoff and the artist Andy Warhol. It was a place that the Algonquian speaking Montaukett Native American tribe called home until one Arthur W. Benson (circa 1798 – 1889), the president of the Brooklyn Gas Light company, came along in 1879 and purchased 10,000 acres there for just $151,000 from the American government.

     

    “Land baron” Benson soon after sold half his acreage to the Long Island Rail Road for $600,000 and then set about turfing out the natives and creating a “playground for the rich.” As part of his plan, he ordered the construction of seven “shingle-style” homes that came to form a 100-acre compound for use as a “private hunting and fishing retreat for him and his friends.” They became known as the ‘Seven Sisters’ and one of them is currently for sale through Sotheby’s International Realty.

     

    Designed by Stanford White (1853 – 1906) – a “lauded architect” whom became more famous for being shot and killed by the deranged railroad heir Harry Thaw (1871 – 1947) – the property offered is said to be known as ‘Andrews House.’ It is more commonly listed, however, as 153 Deforest Road and its date of construction has been put at as early as 1879 and as late as 1888. The ‘cottage’ reportedly first belonged to Benson’s friend, a writer and one of the founders of both the bibliographic Grolier Club in Manhattan and the Society of Iconophiles, William Loring Andrews (1837 – 1920).

     

    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards. William Loring Andrews, architect and murder victim Stanford White and Harry Thaw in a ‘gilded’ jail cell.
    William Loring Andrews, architect and murder victim Stanford White and Harry Thaw in a ‘gilded’ jail cell.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    The Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America – a ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage that has seen its asking price reduced from £14.8 million in 2016 to £10.4 million in 2020.

    Remodeled and expanded in 1992 by the well-known Hamptons architect Francis Fleetwood (1946 – 2015) and updated yet again in the 2010s, 153 Deforest Road today extends to some 3,800 square foot in total. The house stands on a plot of 2.3 acres and accommodation includes a sunken living room, dining room, library, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and a second floor veranda “with mesmerising views that always inspire.”

     

    In 2016, when priced at £14.8 million, Mansion Global remarked: “The property comes with plans for a future expansion by [the renowned classical] architect Allan Greenberg,” but plainly such has made little difference to attracting interest. Four years later, 153 Deforest Road’s asking price has been slashed to ‘just’ £10.4 million and rather strangely its interior colour scheme is entirely in a depressing shade of grey.

     

    The artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel, comedian and talk show host Dick Cavett are amongst others to have lived in ‘Seven Sisters’ houses. One, Tick Hall, was destroyed by a fire in 1997 and then completely rebuilt; what happens to the ‘Andrews House’ remains to be seen.

     

    The Names & Numbers – The Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954

     

    July 2019 – It is further reduced to £10.4 million ($12.995 million, €11.9 million or درهمX47.7 million) through Sotheby’s International Realty.

     

    June 2018 – It is reduced to £12 million ($14.995 million, €13.7 million or درهم55.1 million) through Sotheby’s International Realty.

     

    February 2018 – It is relisted for £13 million ($16.25 million, €14.9 million or درهم60 million) with Sotheby’s International Realty.

     

    August 2016 – The house is listed for sale for £14.8 million ($18.5 million, €17 million or درهم67.9 million) with Douglas Elliman.

     

    2012 – 153 Deforest Road is sold to a limited liability company for £5.6 million ($6.995 million, €6.4 million or درهم25.7 million).

     

    1992 – 153 Deforest Road is renovated and remodeled by the Chilean born architect Francis Fleetwood (1946 – 2015) – a man described as a “popular East Hampton, New York–based architect [of] romantic country houses” by Architectural Digest in April 2015. Fleetwood’s well-known clients numbered Lauren Bacall, Calvin Klein and Paul McCartney and of them, he once told The New York Times: “They’d all love to be born into a grand old house that had been handed down through the generations… [And, he added, surely with a grin]… So would I.”

     

    1976 – The ‘Seven Sisters’ – including 153 Deforest Road – and two other neighbouring properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

     

    Between 1879 and 1888 – 153 Deforest Road was built as a home for the writer and librarian William L. Andrews (1837 – 1920). It formed part of a group of houses known as the ‘Seven Sisters’ and was known as ‘Andrews House.’

     

    1879 – Arthur W. Benson (circa 1798 – 1889) successfully bids $151,000 or the equivalent of £3.2 million today ($4 million, €3.7 million or درهم14.7 million today) for 11,000 acres of land around Montauk in an auction. He then cleverly sold half the land for $600,000 or the equivalent of £12.8 million today ($16 million, €14.7 million or درهم58.8 million today) to the Long Island Rail Road and kept the remainder as his “private playground.” The legitimacy of the ownership of Benson and others of Montauk remains the subject of legal actions by the Montaukett Native Americans to this date.

     

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    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    Slashed Seven Sisters – £10.4 million or $12.995 million for Andrews House, 153 Deforest Road, Montauk, New York, NY 11954, United States of America through Sotheby’s International Realty, down from £14.8 million or $18.5 million in 2016 – Famous ‘Seven Sisters’ cottage in Montauk for sale for 30% less than in 2016; the ‘Gilded Age cottage’ was designed by Stanford White, an architect whose murder famously led to the ‘Trial of the Century’ from 1907 onwards.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OofTAtdlGzw
  • Evelyn McHale (1923 – 1947)

    Evelyn McHale (1923 – 1947)

    Little is known about what drove Evelyn McHale to jump from the Empire State Building and be captured in the “most beautiful suicide [photograph] ever” on 1st May 1947.

     

    Berkeley, California born bookkeeper McHale was one of nine children of a divorced bank examiner. The 23-year-old worked at the Kitab Engraving Company in Pearl Street, Manhattan and was engaged to a college student discharged from the United States Army Air Force named Barry Rhodes. She seemed to have had it all, but chose to end her life from atop one of the most famous buildings in the world.

     

    “Elegantly attired and wearing a silk scarf, white gloves and a pearl necklace… [she is said to have] carefully removed her coat and neatly folded it, next she placed her black pocketbook on top of her coat [along with her makeup compact filled with family pictures and a handbag]. At 10:40am: Patrolman John Morrisey of Traffic C, directing traffic at 34th and 35th Avenue, reported seeing a white scarf floating lazily down from the heavens. Moments later this peaceful, dreamy scene was brutally interrupted by a heart rendering boom” as McHale had jumped 1,050-feet to her death and a crowd had converged.

     

    Photography student Robert Wiles is said to have run over and captured a “poignant and surreal photo.” It was the only image of his ever published and Life Magazine captioned it: “At the bottom of the Empire State Building the body of Evelyn McHale reposes in grotesque bier, her falling body punched into the top of a [United Nations Assembly Cadillac limousine].” The driver was “in a nearby drug store, thereby escaping death or serious injury” other reports added.

     

    A note found in her pocketbook announced: “I don’t want anyone in or out of my family to see any part of me. Could you destroy my body by cremation? I beg of you and my family – don’t have any service for me or remembrance for me.” She had crossed out the following: “My fiancé asked me to marry him in June. I don’t think I would make a good wife for anybody. He is much better off without me” and then ended: “Tell my father, I have too many of my mother’s tendencies.”

     

    Of the image, one commentator later remarked: “Evelyn’s gloved hand appears to be serenely touching her pearl necklace, and her legs crossed as if taking a nap,” whilst another added: “Evelyn McHale will go down in history as something akin to a fallen angel, as poignant and iconic as Marilyn Monroe.”

     

    She was cremated with no service, grave or memorial and her fiancé reportedly said of her: “When I kissed her goodbye, she was happy and as normal as any girl about to be married.” He remained single for the rest of his life and died in Melbourne, Florida in 2007.

     

    Many ‘sightings’ of Evelyn McHale wearing bright red lipstick and “looking distressed” on the 86th floor observation deck have been reported and in the years since her death, she has been recalled in the works of Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Pearl Jam and Taylor Swift amongst others.

     

    Evelyn McHale (1923 – 1947) – Little is known about what drove Evelyn McHale to jump from the Empire State Building and be captured in the “most beautiful suicide [photograph] ever” on 1st May 1947.
    The United Nations Assembly Cadillac limousine that the body of Evelyn McHale landed upon after falling 86 floors from the observatory deck of the Empire State Building in New York City and the original image (unedited) taken by Robert Wiles. It has been has been compared to the photograph by Malcolm Wilde Browne of the self-immolation of Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức who burned himself alive at a busy Saigon road intersection on 11th June 1963.
    Evelyn McHale (1923 – 1947) – Little is known about what drove Evelyn McHale to jump from the Empire State Building and be captured in the “most beautiful suicide [photograph] ever” on 1st May 1947.
    An image clearly showing the damage to the car from above.
    Evelyn McHale (1923 – 1947) – Little is known about what drove Evelyn McHale to jump from the Empire State Building and be captured in the “most beautiful suicide [photograph] ever” on 1st May 1947.
    Joséphine Wister Faure created a ‘mixed media sculpture’ of the car that the body of Evelyn McHale hit on 1st May 1947. Her sculpture is described as: “An interpretation of the photo, revisiting the impact of the image and the trace this woman left, both literally and physically. Also being true to her last wishes in which she specifically asked not to be seen. Inside the car the radio is playing 1947 NYC broadcast.” It was exhibited at the Boite Noire Gallery in the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles in 2015.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXhxfOzkq5w
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQyHyJa2tSs

     

  • Fahad Takes Flight

    Fahad Takes Flight

    Blow to British racing as Sheikh Fahad places his Longholes operation in Newmarket, Suffolk up for sale for £6 million to spend more time in California

    The impact of the coronavirus pandemic was always going set to cause havoc for the racing industry, but alongside news this week that prominent racehorse owners the Rooney family are to quit National Hunt racing for good, it has been announced that 30-year-old Sheikh Fahad Bin Abdullah Al Thani has put his Longholes stud, near Newmarket in Suffolk on the market.

     

    Billed as a place for “preparing champions” and run by a “dedicated team” focused on pre-training and rehabilitation, Longholes was founded by the Accrington born “playboy” textile heir and racehorse breeder Sir George Bullough (1870 – 1939) in the 1920s and bought by Sheikh Fahad in 2013.

     

    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Sheikh Fahad Bin Abdullah Al Thani chats with David Redvers in 2016.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Sheikh Fahad wiht his brothers Sheikh Hamad, Sheikh Suhiam and Sheikh Khalifa.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Sheikh Fahad and his wife Sheikha Melissa with the late Roaring Lion.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Sheikh Fahad won the Corinthian Challege at Leopardstown on the Gordon Elliott trained Brutal in October 2017.

    Comprising of 217 acres of paddocks, schooling grounds and a 6-furlong gallop, the “renowned Newmarket stud farm” – which is 16 miles from Cambridge and 70 miles from London – includes not only 88 boxes, but also what has been described as a state-of-the-art “feel good factor” spa with hydro and water treadmill facilities amongst other things. There is a stud manager’s house, a guest cottage, a pair of staff bungalows and a pair of workers’ log cabins also.

     

    Of why the property is now for sale, David Redvers, racing and bloodstock advisor to the Sheikh – whom married an American named Melissa Margolis in 2018 and is choosing to spend more time in California as a result – told the Newmarket Journal on Friday:

     

    “Sheikh Fahad purchased Longholes in 2013 with a view to turning the attractive and historic stud farm into a state-of-the-art pre-training and rehabilitation establishment servicing the requirements of his own Qatar Racing and also the wider training centre of Newmarket. Seven years later and Longholes boasts an incredible array of modern facilities, an outstanding team of committed and highly trained professional staff and a client list that boasts many of the most recognised names in horse racing, eventing and show jumping.”

     

    “Sheikh Fahad is proud of what has been achieved at Longholes but a change in his own personal circumstances means that the farm’s exciting future now needs to be in another’s hands.”

     

    Speaking to Nick Luck of Racing TV in April 2019, Sheikh Fahad remarked:

     

    “We love horses, we’ve grown up with horses, me and my brothers. The idea was always to build something for the future, hopefully the long-term future, for generations to come. I’d like to see my kids grow up into a dynasty of breeding operations, of racing operations that they can take on from there.”

     

    “I watched I think, my early memories… I watched Channel 4 Racing, I think the Cheltenham Festival. It was very different to racing back home. We only had one racetrack and it was flat racing and they go round in the circle. My dad was the leading Arab racehorse owner in the country, so he won everything. It seemed like it was that easy to do and I started watching racing here and I saw all the different racecourses and National Hunt. And we don’t have National Hunt back home, so I was very curious about the whole industry. I wanted to learn as much as possible from every angle of it.”

     

    “I think the quality of racing, as you watch racing around the world, the biggest quality of racing is in England and Ireland in terms of top-class racing… It is good for the breed, it shows the best horses to breed onwards. The classics in Britain always prove to be the best source of that.”

     

    Of the flaws of British racing in general and perhaps hinting at a move to spending more time participating in American racing, the Sheikh continued:

     

    “It needs to up its game. It needs to find ways to attract more people into the sport. At the moment we are very grateful for the Sheikh Mohammeds in the business… Without Sheikh Mohammed [Bin Rashid Al Maktoum], this year would have been a disaster for a lot of people. The thing is that British racing needs to find more ways to attract quality. I think quality is very important.”

     

    “If you look at, for instance, Japanese racing, they have got a two-tier system. They have the JRA and the NRA. The JRA is the elite class of racehorses and horse racing and I think if you don’t break your maiden as a three year-old, then I think, that horse is not allowed to run in the JRA anymore. They have to go down to the NRA. Why can’t that some way be explored in British racing? We can’t be racing, I think you’re asking people to race for two grand or three grand…  whilst in Australia they have Saturday races with a minimum of a hundred grand a race. And in America, maidens are worth a hundred grand. And in California, I’ve got horses, and it seems ridiculous that, if you are taking a business point of view of racing and you open your books, that it would be ridiculous to have horses [in Britain] in comparison to there. The only reason we’re racing here is for the quality and prestige that we have at the moment, but you can’t rest on that. You have to change.”

     

    Later, in September 2019, the Sheikh’s Californian trainer, Simon Callaghan, told The Racing Post:

     

    “Sheikh Fahad is upping his interest in racing in America. He’s spending more time in California, so he wants to go after some of these high-end colts and go down the road of the Derby, we hope… I think his Californian wife has something to do with it.”

     

    Agents Windsor Clive seek £6 million ($7.5 million, €6.8 million or درهم27.4 million) for Longholes and offer it as a whole or in two lots. For the firm, George Windsor Clive remarked: “We’re still bringing Longholes to the market in these strange times [in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic] so that buyers can react quickly once restrictions are lifted.”

     

    For now, the other European racing operations of the Sheikh and his brothers and their Qatar Racing Ltd. company – which includes a presence at the David Redvers owned Tweenhills Farm in Gloucestershire and their own Spring Lodge stud farm in County Limerick – remain unaffected.

     

    Notable Results for Qatar Racing Limited – January 2016 to December 2020

     

    2yo turf: Roaring Lion – 36 wins and 64 placed from 218 runs.

     

    3yo turf: Roaring Lion – 40 wins and 45 placed from 222 runs.

     

    2yo AW: Kameko – 10 wins and 23 placed from 72 runs.

     

    3yo AW: Fierce Impact – 12 wins and 36 placed from 96 runs.

     

    Pictured top: Sheikh Fahad Bin Abdullah Al Thani with his wife Sheikha Melissa Al Fahad.

     

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    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.
    Fahad Takes Flight – £6 million for Sheikh Fahad’s Longholes stud – Blow to British racing as Sheikh Bin Fahad Abdullah Al Thani places his Longholes, Newmarket Road, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9EJ, United Kindom up for sale to spend more time in California. The agent is George Windsor Clive of Windsor Clive.