Latest news with #historicproperty
BBC News
7 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Cally Estate near Gatehouse of Fleet goes up for sale
A historic estate in the south of Scotland has gone up for sale for offers over £ Cally Estate near Gatehouse of Fleet stretches across 2,780 acres (1,125 hectares).At its heart is a seven-bedroom farmhouse "in need of modernisation" along with a number of outbuildings, a second farmhouse and two agent Goldcrest Land and Forestry Group (GLFG) said the site had "exciting potential for the future". The story of the estate dates back to at least the 18th Century when it was inherited by James remained in his family for generations until it came into the hands of Elizabeth Murray Usher in that time the estate was much larger but portions of it have been sold off since died in 1990 but her family has continued to run it to this day but is now putting it up for sale."The Cally Estate offers an extremely rare opportunity," said GLFG partner Jon Lambert."Comparable properties are few and far between."For those seeking a meaningful investment, a private sanctuary, or a landholding with limitless potential — Cally offers all this and more."
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Modern luxury meets vintage charm. See UC Davis founder's Sacramento home for sale
Prominent Sacramento judge and UC Davis founder Peter J. Shields bought a Craftsman-style home in the city in 1916 shortly after its construction. The historic residence in the Poverty Ridge neighborhood now awaits its next caretaker. Often referred to as the Shields House, the judge's longtime home at 2009 23rd St. is on the market for nearly $1.8 million. The four-bedroom, three-bathroom house unfolds across 3,250 square feet, and has been extensively modernized while preserving its original architectural character, according to listing agent Kim Pacini of Luxe Living. 'The house has been completely remodeled and restored, brought into the 21st Century with modern fixtures and modern amenities, (while) still maintaining the architectural integrity of the property,' she said. Pacini compared the spaciousness of the Craftsman's architecture — notable for its large, open rooms, high ceilings and numerous windows — to the more 'compartmentalized' rooms typically found in Victorian-style homes, which were popular in the early 1900s. 'The Victorian style is all compartmentalized little rooms,' Pacini said. 'Before central heat and air, these rooms were little, all with little fireplaces (whereas) this is the craftsman style of big open rooms for grand entertaining ... It's very square which really allows for large rooms.' The residence features two primary suites with spa-inspired bathrooms, according to the listing. The gourmet chef's kitchen is well-appointed with granite countertops, high-end stainless steel appliances and a warming drawer. 'The home's formal living and dining rooms exude timeless elegance, with soaring ceilings, wood floors, and beautiful fireplaces,' according to the official property listing. The backyard offers a quiet retreat. 'It has a very nice sized backyard, and there's a plunge pool and a waterfall, and a hot tub and a sauna,' Pacini said. While sitting in a peaceful, shady neighborhood, the house is close to all of the shopping, dining and culture in midtown, downtown and East Sacramento. The property is part of Poverty Ridge's storied past. In 1914, a Sacramento Bee advertisement for the newly constructed residence (then 2007 23rd St.) boasted it was 'one of Sacramento's most beautiful homes.' The ad reads: 'The style of architecture of this home is suggestive of the Italian Renaissance. The artistic lines of design, the buff stucco walls, the many French glass doors, the cement terrace and veranda with brick steps and stucco buttresses, the lawn, flower beds and auto driveway — all complete — give it an exterior appearance decidedly elegant.' A longtime Sacramento Superior Court judge, Shields was one of the founders of the University Farm, which became the campus of UC Davis. He's the namesake of the Shields Library there. Shields's wife, Carolee, was also longtime UC Davis benefactor. The Carolee Shields White Flower Garden and Gazebo is part of the UC Davis Arboretum. Built around 1913, the Shields House has a twin structure next door that mirrors its architecture. Built by William Murcell, the two houses originally shared a common courtyard and a stand-alone garage. 'The Shields House has this combination of simplicity and classiness that really makes it stand out,' said Catherine Turrell of Preservation Sacramento told The Bee when the home was featured on the 40th annual Sacramento Historic Home Tour. 'This house has this elegance that's been lovingly preserved,' she said. 'We find this (Prairie) style is coming back. People love the streamlined look. With its open floor plan, it's the perfect style for Sacramento.' The couple lived in the home for most of their lives. The home last sold in 2018 for about $1.8 million.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Owner of listed £8.5million Mayfair townhouse ordered to destroy luxury basement housing gym, sauna and cinema room after it was built despite planning permission being refused
The owner of a listed £8.5million Mayfair townhouse dating back to the 18th Century has been ordered to destroy an illegal 'iceberg' basement. The extensive alterations house a gym, sauna and cinema room beneath the historic property, which was built in 1729 and is very close to Hyde Park. Westminster Council said the owner of the home, which was once owned by the 2nd Duke of Westminster, was denied planning permission for the basement but went ahead regardless. The application was originally refused in 2010, after planning officials agreed with the council that it would harm the building's 'special architectural and historic interest'. Council officials served a notice requiring the in-filling of the basement in February 2023. An appeal against the decision by the home's Italian owner was not successful. It means the 860 square foot space will have to be filled in with concrete and the rest of the property rewired and re-plumbed. The home has been Grade II listed since 1987. Historic England's record cites its 'rusticated stucco ground floor', sash windows and a wrought iron balcony on the first floor among its standout features. As well as the extension to the basement, officials found that the owner carried out unauthorised changes to all other floors. These included the removal of historic wood pannelling, fireplaces, joinery and cornices. They also installed air conditioning units without permission. The owner has a year to restore the property and fill the new basement in. It is thought the cost of the restorations will run into hundreds of thousands of pounds. Explaining their reasoning for issuing the initial enforcement notice in 2023, Westminster Council said: 'The creation of a sub-basement level beneath the Property, the alteration of the floor and ceiling levels/heights of the basement of the Property and the alteration to the ceiling heights at ground, first and second floor levels, have obscured and confused the traditional vertical hierarchy of the building. 'The scale of the excavation carried out and the proportions of the rooms created is not in keeping with the scale and character of the early eighteenth-century building, which is a rare surviving example of a small Mayfair town house.' They added that the works were not carried out 'sympathetically'. A survey in 1910 listed the home's owner as the Duke of Westminster, with the property being part of his enormous Grosvenor Estate. It was later the home of esteemed historian Sir Alistair Allan Horne. The extension beneath the property was extensive, but now it has to be filled in Other alterations to the property also have to be removed. Above: A label noting that two glass floor lights have to be taken out and the solid floor be reinstated Labour councillor Geoff Barraclough, Westminster City Council's cabinet member for for planning and economic development, said: 'I hope this outcome sends a clear message: those who ignore planning rules will be held accountable. 'It is simply not acceptable to carry out works that have been explicitly refused listed building consent. 'The owner showed a complete disregard for both our decision and the historic significance of this property. 'We remain committed to safeguarding Westminster's unique architectural heritage.' The extensive appeal put together on behalf of the owner by heritage consultancy Worlledge Associates argued that the changes to the home were necessary. They argued that historic buildings like the one in question 'exhibit evidence of change, remodelled and extended to meet the needs of contemporary society'. They added: 'What has taken place here, as elsewhere, is a new chapter in the evolution of these buildings – repurposed to meet 21st century needs. 'This ensures the viability of these historic buildings, keeping them in residential use.' The owner of the property was approached for comment.
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Buyer sought to convert Astwood church into a home
A buyer is being sought to "sensitively convert" a 12th Century former church into a Peter's Church, which has been in the village of Astwood in Buckinghamshire since at least 1154, closed in 2015 and has been listed for sale with a guide price of £250, agent Bidwells was asked by the Diocese of Oxford to find a buyer to convert the Grade II listed building into a single residential Alexander, a partner at Rural at Bidwells, said: "We are seeking a buyer that can sensitively modernise this one-of-a-kind property while respecting its medieval charm." St Peter's was restored after World War Two after it had suffered bomb building has remnants of its original 12th Century stonework as well as a 14th Century the west tower, there are three historic church bells dating back to the 15th and 17th Centuries as well as a turret clock from to its status as a Grade II listed building any conversion work must retain its wall and floor to Bidwells, planning permission was previously granted to turn the church into a three-bedroom home. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Westboro residents fear for crumbling monastery saddled with back taxes
A historic nunnery is up for sale after a creditor pushed an Ashcroft Homes subsidiary into receivership, raising worries and hopes about the fate of a heritage property the city says is already unsafe. The Sisters of the Visitation convent near the southwest corner of Richmond Road and Island Park Drive dates back to the 1910s, though parts of it were constructed before Confederation. It housed an order of cloistered nuns for a century, until the property was sold to Ashcroft Homes in 2009 for $12.7 million. Ashcroft built a condo development to the north of the convent. In 2018, city council approved plans to build another nine-storey apartment building linked to the historic convent, which would be retained and preserved. But that never happened, and the convent has been sitting boarded up and vacant for years. In the meantime, $723,567 of tax arrears have built up on the property, which also has about $140,000 worth of liens for money owed to a contractor. According to Stuart Huxley, the interim city solicitor, the city has deemed the building unsafe and issued an order requiring the owner to retain a certified engineer to assess it and provide recommendations for repairs. Huxley said the building is suffering from "significant structural cracks" to its foundation. The building owner has appealed the city's order, Huxley said. "The building is a treasure in our community," said Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper. "It is absolutely irresponsible that the building has been allowed to degrade to this point where there are fundamental questions around its structural integrity." Lorne Cutler, president of the Hampton Iona Community Group, called the convent "a unique, peaceful oasis in the middle of Westboro." Heather Mitchell, chair of the Westboro Community Association's heritage committee, called the situation "appalling." "This is a very important piece of heritage and I think lots of people care about it, but nobody seems to be able to do anything to protect it and advance it. I find that really problematic," she said. Heather Mitchell, vice president of the Westboro Community Association and chair of its heritage committee, stands in front of the first phase of Ashcroft's redevelopment of the former Sisters of the Visitation monastery site. It is the only phase to be completed so far. (Mathieu Deroy/CBC) "I'm very worried that it's going to deteriorate and I think there's a lot of people that feel the same way. It's a big, beautiful building. It needs a lot of care." A cloistered order The oldest part of the convent was originally built as a Gothic Revival-style mansion around 1865, and known as the Elms. At that time, Richmond Road was lined with the estates of country gentlemen, and the Elms housed a series of prominent Ottawa businessmen and politicians. The third was Senator James Skead and the fourth was George Holland, who briefly co-owned the Ottawa Citizen with his brother. The Holland brothers later became the publishers of the Senate Hansard, a record of Parliamentary debates, and screened the first motion pictures in Ottawa using the Edison's Kinetoscope. The Sisters of the Visitation, a cloistered order founded in 1610, bought the property in 1910. It was to be their last new monastery in North America. They preserved the Elms but added an extensive addition for their cloistered order. It was built around a central courtyard and included a chapel. David Jeanes, a former president of Heritage Ottawa, once gave tours of the convent. He explained just how seriously the nuns took their monastic existence. "The nuns never had any direct face-to-face contact with the outside world," he said. "They stayed inside behind a high wall." Though the chapel opened to the public for church services, the nuns themselves remained hidden behind a screen. They even screened themselves from visiting family, he said, and took deliveries using a revolving cabinet that Jeanes compared to a Lazy Susan. But the number of nuns declined from a few dozen to about eight. After the property sold in 2009, the remaining nuns joined another order in Pembroke, Ont. City council granted the convent heritage designation in 2010, around the time Ashcroft unveiled a three-phase plan to redevelop the site. The first phase, a line of three nine-storey condo buildings along Richmond Road, was completed about 10 years ago. The second phase aimed to transform the convent into a mixed-use building with 161 housing units and restaurant space, though its southwest wing would be demolished to make way for a new nine-storey residential tower. The third phase foresaw a seniors residence and a low-rise residential building at the extreme south of the property. It appears that Ashcroft later flipped the order of the phases, as its website now refers to that part of the plan as phase 2. Jeanes was optimistic that the designation and redevelopment would preserve the convent. No longer. "At the moment, yes, I would say I'm pessimistic," he said. Councillor fears collapse Ashcroft Homes did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The receiver, MNP, said it was unable to comment beyond the documents it has filed with the court. Those documents reveal that the Ashcroft subsidiary known as Ashcroft Homes – 108 Richmond Road did not keep up with interest on a $7 million loan from Royal Bank of Canada. As a result, RBC applied last year to push it into receivership. Ashcroft subsidiaries all over the city are in receivership due to outstanding debt. RBC is also looking to collect on an $80 million loan relating to the expansive Eastboro development in the east end. Several other subsidiaries, including the owners of multiple Ashcroft seniors residences, are also under receivership for millions in outstanding loans to a different group of lenders. The convent sits on a 4.23 acre site. The receiver put it all up for sale. The listing has no set price and bids are due by May 28. Leiper hopes that whoever buys the property will follow through on the council-approved plans to develop and preserve the building. "Until the site is properly developed, there is a real risk that the the convent building may ultimately collapse to some degree or another," he said. But he acknowledged that the tax arrears will be a challenge for any buyer. Mitchell is frightened that the property might just sit on the market. Even if it sells, there's no guarantee that development will happen quickly. "I'm terrified that it will just sit here and we'll have demolition by attrition," she said, "That it will be allowed to disintegrate and at some point it will be unsafe and the new owner will say, 'I can't work with this, you're going to have to let me off the hook. I'm going to have to destroy it.'"
