06-05-2025
Curiosities for sale from fire-damaged Parnham House
An offbeat collection of prehistoric remains, taxidermy animals and artworks is being sold by the owner of a stately home following a notorious I listed Parnham House, near Beaminster, Dorset, was gutted in a suspected arson attack in Auctioneers said the sale on 13 May could raise about £ rave promoter James Perkins, who bought the property in 2020 and has collected the items over several decades, said he hoped the sale would pay for work to complete the building's roof.
Mr Perkins, 56, who co-founded the Fantazia events brand, said: "We've done a whole wing. We were saving that because it was raining in the house and we needed somewhere to have an office."We've got an awful lot more work to do... There's been lots and lots of delays which hasn't really helped the building."
The fire broke out in the early hours of 15 April 2017 and took four days to be fully owner Michael Treichl was arrested on suspicion of arson and was found dead two months 2020, Historic England said the need for over-roofing and scaffolding support to the internal structure was becoming "more critical".The auction comprises 448 lots including a taxidermy male lion wearing a crown and a skeleton of a giraffe wearing stilettos.A fossil of a mammoth has the highest valuation of between £200,000 and £300,000.
Other notable items include a mounted skeleton of an ichthyosaur - a prehistoric marine reptile - as well as marble Roman capitals, a prehistoric fossilised frond and artworks by Mr Perkins collector said: "There's a little sense of humour and a whimsical aspect to it but then also quite a serious part... when you've got these creatures that go back hundreds of millions of years."I don't know, outside of the Natural History Museum, anyone who's tried to do it for their home."Dreweatts Auctioneers, which handled Mr Perkins' previous sale of artworks and curiosities at Aynhoe Park in Northamptonshire, said it expected interest from buyers across the Perkins has opened the 131-acre estate to visitors and has won an events licence as well as permission to build holiday chalets in the grounds.
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