I walk past the old pile several times a week and I have a slice of personal history with it that I will tell at some time.
It has been occupied by the same owners since Sir Thomas’s death in 1961 and is in a state of visible delapidation.
If I had £6 million to spare, I’d be in there like a rocket.
Estate agency details here.
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It is of historic value, of course, and looks nice, but a “vast garden”? It looks about 4 meters in width, just big enough, kinda for one tree.
Maybe that’s “vast” for London but not elsewhere.
“If I had £6 million to spare, I’d be in there like a ricket.”
Rocket?
Make that 7 million pounds and since the estate agent is estimating it needs another 1 million pounds for renovation, probably make it 8.
From the estate agent: (see link you provided)
“For starters, Beecham’s former stucco house needs major modernization, renovations that could add up to another £1 million on top of the £6 million asking price, the agent said.
“It needs everything,” Mr. Brand said.”
The “vast garden” to me looks quite tiny but I admit to not living in London. I suspect Beecham was not much of a gardener.
The “practice room” house next door, also owned by Beecham, looks like a better deal at only 3 million pounds. Note though: no picture provided and it has a different agent.
“Owned and selling separately, the two adjacent properties include Beecham’s former home, a painted-stucco mansion with a gated drive and vast garden, and a 1920s house next door with a cavernous living room the conductor used to rehearse his string quartets, said listing agent David Brand, associate director at Chestertons.”
Really?
What is the story with Beecham and string quartets?
Exactly my question. I’ve read several biographies of Tommy and his own memoir and nowhere is it mentioned he was writing or even rehearsing string quartets.
Remember that the language is from an estate agent’s blurb. Estate agents try to sell housing, not provide historically exact information. Ditto goes for the “vast garden” which looks more like a postage stamp.
The conductor probably led some ensembles of his orchestral groups or played the piano to accompany artists (setting tempos and the like) in the adjacent property. This is “chamber music” to an estate agent and is just designed to drive prices up.
http://www.chestertons.com/property-to-buy/st-john%27s-wood-grove-end-road-nw8/sjw180053/
https://search.savills.com/property-detail/gbsjrssts180194
£9 million if you want both house and studio — entirely too much.
Maybe if you tell a few Beecham stories, the estate agents will agree to lower the price.
If only that were true, Ruben. It’s already alarming that the owners care so little about the Beecham heritage that they would divide the listing between two realtor companies to maximize the financial take.
2 realtors (“estate agents” in UK English) tends to drive fast sale rather than high price. A sole agent trades off price vs. speed; if there are two the losing agent gets ZERO so they want a quick sale
The listing has been divided into two (house @ £6 million, studio @ £3 million). Then each part has been assigned to one realtor.
“sole agent trades off price vs. speed”
Sorry, but you are wrong. The estate agent does not really care about what price he or she gets. Getting an extra few thousand pounds on the price makes almost no difference to the commission: they want to sell to the first person who suggests a plausible price and move on to the next property.