Latest news with #upsizing
Daily Telegraph
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Telegraph
Prince William, Kate Middleton eyeing new royal home
Prince William and Kate Middleton are looking at moving on from Adelaide Cottage to a larger home. It's understood the Prince and Princess of Wales, who are looking to upsize to a grander royal residence, may consider relocating to Fort Belvedere, the Daily Mail reports. The property was the favourite home of Edward VIII, who lived there before he became king and after he abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson. Known as The Fort, the sprawling estate features an outdoor swimming pool and tennis court. It also boasts a rose garden, walled garden, kitchen garden, large greenhouse, stables, two lakes, paddocks and three cottages for staff. RELATED: Meghan's next move after Netflix disaster 'Toxic': King's staff stage mass exodus George must abide by sad rule 'They feel they have outgrown Adelaide Cottage and need somewhere more substantial,' a source told the Daily Mail. 'This is the perfect new home for them. It has a swimming pool and tennis court, and Charlotte loves playing tennis.' William and Kate were previously reported to be offered the keys to Royal Lodge, the large Windsor home where Prince Andrew lives. The Duke of York, who moved into the 30-room mansion in 2004, has refused to move, after taking on a 'cast-iron lease' that lasts until 2078. Another plan to move the family into a wing of Windsor Castle also seems to be off the table. William and Kate moved their family into Adelaide Cottage in 2022. Before living in the four-bedroom home, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, and their parents lived in a lavish 20-room Kensington Palace apartment, which has been dubbed a 'prison for kids'. The family lived in Apartment 1A from 2017 to 2022, and Kate and William still use it as their official office, The Sun reports. Although it is called an 'apartment', royal experts have said the royal dwelling is anything but small. The 'enormous' Apartment 1A is spread over four floors and takes up half the Clock Tower wing designed by Sir Christopher Wren for King William and Queen Mary. It has five reception rooms, three main bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, as well as his-and-hers dressing rooms. There are nine bedrooms for staff on the top floor, which can be reached by a lift. In the basement, there is a gym, laundry room and space for luggage. Despite the impressive amenities, William and Kate uprooted their kids in 2022 for a more rural and private life out of the 'goldfish bowl' of central London. Sources said the couple dreamt of having a 'modest' home with a garden so the children could play outside together. Parts of this story first appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission. RELATED: 'Desperate': Harry's fear when Wills is King Harry and Meg slash staff in brutal move Wild reason Charles can't kick Andrew out
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Prince William, Kate Middleton eyeing new royal home
Prince William and Kate Middleton are looking at moving on from Adelaide Cottage to a larger home. It's understood the Prince and Princess of Wales, who are looking to upsize to a grander royal residence, may consider relocating to Fort Belvedere, the Daily Mail reports. The property was the favourite home of Edward VIII, who lived there before he became king and after he abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson. Known as The Fort, the sprawling estate features an outdoor swimming pool and tennis court. It also boasts a rose garden, walled garden, kitchen garden, large greenhouse, stables, two lakes, paddocks and three cottages for staff. 'They feel they have outgrown Adelaide Cottage and need somewhere more substantial,' a source told the Daily Mail. 'This is the perfect new home for them. It has a swimming pool and tennis court, and Charlotte loves playing tennis.' William and Kate were previously reported to be offered the keys to Royal Lodge, the large Windsor home where Prince Andrew lives. The Duke of York, who moved into the 30-room mansion in 2004, has refused to move, after taking on a 'cast-iron lease' that lasts until 2078. Another plan to move the family into a wing of Windsor Castle also seems to be off the table. William and Kate moved their family into Adelaide Cottage in 2022. Before living in the four-bedroom home, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, and their parents lived in a lavish 20-room Kensington Palace apartment, which has been dubbed a 'prison for kids'. The family lived in Apartment 1A from 2017 to 2022, and Kate and William still use it as their official office, The Sun reports. Although it is called an 'apartment', royal experts have said the royal dwelling is anything but small. The 'enormous' Apartment 1A is spread over four floors and takes up half the Clock Tower wing designed by Sir Christopher Wren for King William and Queen Mary. It has five reception rooms, three main bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, as well as his-and-hers dressing rooms. There are nine bedrooms for staff on the top floor, which can be reached by a lift. In the basement, there is a gym, laundry room and space for luggage. Despite the impressive amenities, William and Kate uprooted their kids in 2022 for a more rural and private life out of the 'goldfish bowl' of central London. Sources said the couple dreamt of having a 'modest' home with a garden so the children could play outside together.
Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Times
If Kate and William upsize, will an old pile with a tennis court be a curse?
William and Kate are reported to be considering a move from their cosy four-bedroom home in the grounds of Windsor Castle for somewhere more expansive — and certainly grander. If it's true, they will be swapping their picturesque cottage for a gothic fort. Fort Belvedere, also in Windsor Great Park, and where King Edward VIII signed his abdication papers, has eight bedrooms, 59 acres, a swimming pool, tennis court and a walled garden. It's the upsizing equivalent of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle moving into Toad Hall. The idea makes sense on many levels. William is the future king, has three children, presumably a number of staff, and needs a house where you can find room to store ceremonial robes as well as boxes of Lego. The idea of more space for a young family will certainly be enticing. But some aspects of the move to somewhere much larger will be challenging too. And I know. I've done it. • Read more expert advice on property, interiors and home improvement Ten years ago, on a whim, I decided to sell my one-bedroom basement flat in north London for a grand eight-bedroom house with two staff cottages and an enormous walled garden set in 72 acres of Capability Brown parkland in Hertfordshire. We managed to get a hefty mortgage, some financial help from family, and a good price for my flat. Madness, of course, but the house and park, belonging to the youngest son of an earl, had fallen into slight disrepair, and my husband and I fancied a project. The house was so charming and so near London, had great potential, and was reached by a magical mile-long drive that took you into a stable-yard through the archway of a bell tower. Buying the property took every penny we had. There would be little spare each month to run and restore it. The immensity of the task ahead was very apparent the day we moved in. With all the previous owner's grand furniture and metres-high family portraits removed the house looked bleak, shabby and even larger than before. We couldn't afford a proper removal company so had hired some men with a lorry that we had found online. They got lost while trying to find the property and didn't arrive with my modest amount of furniture until 4am. When they had finished unloading our possessions I was dismayed to discover that everything we owned fitted into one small room of the house. Over the next few weeks I spent a lot of time on eBay searching for sofas and beds. When you upsize so dramatically it takes some time to adjust to the new proportions you now live within. A pretty three-seater sofa I bought online, which looked suitable in size and period for our Georgian house, appeared ridiculously small when I placed it in the drawing room, as if it had been stolen from a doll's house. Our bedroom was enormous too. It took about five minutes to cross it to reach the en suite bathroom. A few weeks after we moved in, the soles of my feet began to ache so much it hurt to walk. I went to see my GP because I thought I might have developed plantar fasciitis. The doctor asked me if I spent much time walking around in bare feet. Only to get to the bathroom each day, I told him. That was what had caused the problem. I would need to wear shoes to go for a wee in the future, he said. • Ten planning applications and £60,000: the torment of building a house Slowly, we managed to populate areas of the house and buy mattresses to go with the eight beds we now owned; paint the giant walls; sand the endless wooden floors; pull up stained carpets, restore rotten window frames and replace the 1970s kitchen units. It may still have looked more Bleak House than Downton Abbey, but it did at least look like people lived there. When you upsize so dramatically, it also takes a period of adjustment to use the extensive space you now have. We were used to living in an open-plan flat where everything was within easy reach of the sofa. So initially we tended to live within only three of the property's many rooms. It was hard to think of a reason to leave the sitting room you were in to sit in another sitting room instead just because you could. I became obsessed that it was a waste to have so many rooms that were unused, even unseen. So every evening when I got back from work I would wander round the house, and the two empty cottages, and peer into every room we owned. It seemed unappreciative not to do so. By the time I had done this each night it was time for bed. And, first world problem, I know, but losing your glasses or misplacing the house keys in a property this size is a monumental disaster. A whole weekend can be spent searching every room and garden bench to find them. Eventually, keys and spectacles were fixed with electronic trackers to help us locate them more speedily. And thank God for the Find My function on iPhones. Cash to cover his new home's running costs is unlikely to be a problem for the Prince of Wales. His income from the Duchy of Cornwall will more than cover the heating bills and the costs of a gardener or two at Fort Belvedere. We weren't quite so prosperous, so winters were chilly, parts of the house would effectively be closed until spring, and the walled garden looked a little underwhelming populated with only a couple of small vegetable beds and a row of dahlias. You needed a sat-nav to locate them they looked so minuscule. And it was three years before we could afford to renovate and use the overgrown tennis court. It looked more like an allotment than a Wimbledon lawn. • Babies or house: how would you rather spend half a million pounds? Eventually, we rented out the house for film and shoot locations to fund further renovations. Sometimes this was quite fun. We watched them film a scene from The Crown on our staircase (when Princess Margaret meets Antony Armstrong-Jones) and witnessed a gruesome murder take place in the cellar for a horror film. But it had it's drawbacks too: you would get shouted at for flushing the loo upstairs when they were filming an emotional scene downstairs; objects you cherished would never be seen again unless you watched the film they had been borrowed for; and sometimes I'd get home from work, desperate to flop in front of the TV, only to discover the sitting room had been turned into a bathroom and the sofa had been replaced by a bidet. One July evening I returned to find reindeer and snow in the garden and a bunch of small children running round a dining room laden with festive food and tinsel. A department store was filming its Christmas ad campaign at our house. After five years of extraordinary adventures, cashflow challenges and unforgettable house parties — one New Year's Eve all 32 guests stayed overnight with us — we were made an offer we couldn't refuse to sell the house. The family who brought it from us renovated it for seven years before moving in. In that time, we've already bought and sold three times. We now live in a four-bedroom farmhouse in Cumbria, a house more appropriate to the income I receive from the Duchy of Langmead. It's probably the house that I've been happiest in. I quite like being downwardly mobile. My upsize days are over. William and Kate's are only just beginning.
Telegraph
29-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
‘We paid £150,000 to upsize in our 80s'
Retirees Rosemary and Bill Scott Brown have moved house 20 times throughout their lives, and lived in four different continents – but their most recent move is perhaps the most surprising. Unlike most 80-somethings, who look to downsize to more manageable properties as they get older, just under two years ago Rosemary, 82, and her husband, 83, swapped their two-bedroom apartment in Bangor, Northern Ireland, for a four-bedroom, detached property on the other side of town. The primary reason for their significant upsize? Having their family to stay – even though it doesn't happen often. 'Our girls don't live in Northern Ireland, so we needed somewhere for them to stay,' Rosemary explains. The couple have two daughters and four young grandchildren who live in mainland UK and France, and visit Northern Ireland for a couple of weeks at a time. 'They come over once or twice a year. The rooms are just there for them when they visit. We don't use them for anything else when they're not here.' It's a decision that a growing number of older homeowners are taking, says Claire Whisker, founder of First In The Door, a property adviser platform that matches home buyers with buying agents. 'In recent years, we've seen a clear shift in how many retirees are approaching their next move. Rather than downsizing, a growing number are now upsizing, actively seeking homes with enough space to host visiting grandchildren and extended family,' she says. ' Rising childcare costs have led more grandparents to take on a hands-on role in family life, and their property choices are reflecting that.' Last year, Whisker did not receive any enquiries from older upsizers – this year, she's already had five. 'This trend is particularly evident in suburban and semi-rural locations, well-connected coastal areas and larger market towns, where space and accessibility go hand-in-hand,' she says. Older upsizing clients include a retiree from Yorkshire relocating to London to help care for her grandsons, and a woman in her 60s looking for a four-bedroom house in Wimbledon to accommodate her growing number of grandchildren. 'It's a new kind of upsizing – not just about square footage but about creating a home that supports intergenerational living and deeper family connections,' Whisker adds. For the Scott Browns, the move was a pricey one. Their larger home cost £150,000 more than the sale price of the couple's apartment. Fortunately, they had enough savings to cover the extra amount. Bills in the new house are more expensive too; council tax, gas, water and electricity work out at £2,500 extra annually, but Rosemary says they were careful to budget for this beforehand. 'I'm absolutely glad we made the move. The apartment was in a converted house and the family could only come individually – one family at a time – and we'd squash them in. But here everyone can come together for Christmas and birthdays.' They also appreciate having a good-sized private garden and no neighbours above them. While they don't know how long they will stay in their current home, Rosemary says she has no desire to downsize or move into a retirement village. 'I look at the ads for them in the paper and the people always look so happy, but you're very much tied to a group of people there, and I don't know if that's for me.' 'Most people we know are looking after their grandchildren' Family also influenced the 2023 move that Lorraine, 66, and Michael Shorter, 72, made to a David Wilson Home in Sturry, near Canterbury. The pair had spent the previous 39 years living in a semi in Crayford, which had three bedrooms – one of which was a box room. 'The guy [from David Wilson] showed us around a two-bedroom at first, and I thought 'This is too small; I have two children with partners and two granddaughters',' Lorraine says. Instead, they opted for a 1,089 sq ft, three-bedroom, end-of-terrace house, upsizing so they could host visiting relatives. 'In our old house, our main bedroom was extremely small – a very stark difference [to here],' she says. '[Our new home is] on three storeys and what appealed to us was that there was a master bedroom on the top floor and the second floor had two double bedrooms… I said to my husband recently how great it is having the second floor – people can come and stay and have their own bathroom.' Even though their current property is larger, it was £40,000 cheaper than the Shorters' previous home, and bills are broadly the same. However, they do have to pay a £40 monthly service charge to cover the general maintenance of shared green space (although the house comes with its own private garden). Lorraine previously worked at a law firm, while her husband owned a hair salon in Blackheath. Now they're both retired, the couple regularly help out with the childcare of their two grandchildren and, as both live over an hour away, having the space for them to stay overnight was crucial. 'While their parents are working, we help look after the kids,' she says. 'During the school holidays, Sophia, who's 11, comes to stay and, if it's nice weather, our daughter will come for the weekend. Our granddaughter, Angel, who's three, calls it 'Nanny's holiday home', as it feels like they're on holiday when they come.' Like the Scott Browns, they also don't use the rooms when their family aren't staying, as it's such a regular occurrence: 'They come and stay more than once a month. In the past few weeks, my daughter has been having work done to her house, so she's been here a lot… Being able to put people up easily was important for us.' Lorraine says a lot of their friends have similar caring commitments. 'Most people we know are looking after their grandchildren… Our friends have got children and it's a big consideration,' she says. She feels like this multi-generational approach to bringing up children harks back to her own childhood. 'I come from the East End and my dad was one of seven. Relying on family is coming back round. Our family all lived in the same street or house; I had an aunt upstairs and one next door, and everyone lived near each other,' she says. Again like the Scott Browns, Lorraine isn't sure how long they'll remain 'upsized' for, saying she'll have to see what the future brings. 'I don't know how long we will stay for – certainly a few years, while the grandchildren are coming.'
