Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Heather Mills Is Flipping Out on The Bishop's Avenue.


SELLER: Heather Mills
LOCATION: The Bishops Avenue, London, UK
PRICE: £3,750,000
SIZE: 242 square meters, 3 bedrooms, 3 full and 2 half bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: ...The apartment which comprises 242 sqm/2601 sq ft has been interior designed to an extremely high standard and is thus presented in immaculate decorative order throughout...Principal Bedroom with Dressing Room & En-Suite Bathroom, 2 Further Bedrooms, 1 Further Bathroom (En-Suite), Shower Room (En-Suite), Reception/Dining Room, Kitchen/Breakfast Room, Utility Room, Guest Cloakroom.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Ah yes, London's The Bishop's Avenue, where cheesed up magnates and big money potentates live in some of the largest and most garish architectural vulgarities that were ever erected anywhere on the damn planet. For example, Steel mogul Lakshmi Mittal owns–but does not occupySummer Palace, an 11 bedroom behemoth with 6 reception rooms, a swimming pool in the basement and a glass elevator that has more architecturally in common with a department store than a private residence. Immediately next door to Mittal's monster on The Bishop's Avenue is the residential beast Turkish tycoon Halis Toprak sold in early 2008 to a mysterious buyer for somewhere in the neighborhood of £50,000,000. Other inhabitants/property owners include the Sultan of Brunei, gossip and porn purveyor Richard Desmond, the Saudi royal family (who are rumored to own at least 10 of the 60-some properties on The Avenue), a group of squatters called the Invisible Expanding Collective, and Heather Mills.

That's right chickens, Heather Mills, the one-legged former wife of Beatle Sir Paul McCartney. Technically, the uni-limbed dee-vorcee does not own a mansion, but rather a modestly sized but lavishly expensive condominium at the very pricey Allingham Court condo complex. Previous reports reveal Miz Mucca forked over around £2,350,000–or nearly four million U.S. clams–for the posh property in late 2008. Less than one year after buying the flat, the former and unlikely Dancing With The Stars contestant was stricken with the real estate fickle and has recently flipped the apartment back on the market with an asking price of £3,750,000 or–according to Your Mama's currency converting contraption–$6,223,162US at today's rates.

If the reports of the purchase price are accurate, a few flicks of the well worn beads of our bejeweled abacus shows that Miz Mucca hopes to pocket a quite considerable $1,400,000 profit in less than a year of ownership. Granted, listing information for three bedroom and 3 full and 2 half pooper spread indicates the condo is being offered fully furnished, but still....

The residence was purchased amid rumors and reports that Miz Mucca was doing the dirty with another Bishop's Avenue resident, West End theatre producer Marc Sinden. Despite being seen tooling around Monaco and the Tate Modern together. As if anyone would much care about or object to Miz Mucca or Mister Sinden's dating habits, both parties have denied a romantic relationship.

Anyhoo, listing information for Miz Mucca's flat on The Bishop's Avenue indicates it measures 242 square meters, or 2,601 square feet for all us Americanos who don't understand the metric system. A peek and a poke around the floor plan shows the front door opens to a proper but windowless entrance hall where Miz Mucca and her team of nice, gay decorators have set the stylistic tone for the entire apartment with an aggressively neutral palette or biege, brown, ecru, biscuit, oatmeal and a bit of silver here and there. The milk chocolate walls (which look like they might be some sort of grass cloth), are set off with a silver sunburst mirror that presides over a slim and shiny side table topped with a couple of urns that look like the sort of thing one stores mummy and daddy after they've gone to meet their maker.

The marble floors of the entrance hall give way to hazelnut colored wood floors in the "reception room," otherwise known as a combination living/dining room. A trio of floor to ceiling windows would let light flood into an otherwise drab looking room if it weren't for the gauzy, taupe colored sheers. A couple of two-toned khaki colored sofas flank the fireplace and a chunky cylindrical coffee table holds a candle, a few stacked books, an objet d'art or two, and an Hermès orange box, the only object in the room that can not be accurately described as being a shade of brown.

The sleek, state of the art Poggenpohl kitchen includes all the new fangled fanciness a millionaire's private cook might want including an adjacent utility room and half pooper because, you know children, even in modestly sized apartments like this the staff do not under any circumstances make use of the guest pooper in the corridor that leads from the entrance hall to the bedrooms. Each of the bedrooms includes adequate closet space and a marble-clad private pooper. The glammy but all shades of beige master bedroom includes a dressing room, a bee-day for washing the naughty bits, a wee balcony in the tree tops, biscuit colored wall to wall carpeting and, behind the bed, a coppery-khaki colored padded wall, about which we will bite our tongue. Other luxuries include solid walnut doors, 3 meter tall ceilings–that's about ten feet according to our conversion contraption, air cooling systems–even though it's rarely hot enough for the a/c in London, and underfloor heating, a luxury Your Mama and the Dr. Cooter j'adore.

As one can and should expect in a dee-luxe and outrageously expensive 12-unit condo complex, the Allingham Court has amenities coming out the wazoo including electronic drive gates, 24-hour uniformed porterage (that's a doorman who carries groceries as best as we can surmise), CCTV and individual security systems, award winning communal gardens, secure underground parking, and a leisure center with an indoor swimming pool and gymnasium.

Although she may end up without a base in London, Miz Mucca will hardly be homeless when she sells her Bishop's Avenue crib. Miz Mucca reportedly owns a home in Robertsbridge, Sussex (a natty area of Hove in East Sussex), an apartment in Paris, and a glassy, 2-bedroom aerie in one of the Richard Meier designed towers on Perry Street which records show she scooped up in July of 2008 for $4,900,000. According to a source who claims friendship with Miz Mucca, "Heather realises she has more homes than a person could ever need, so selling the flat makes sense. And if she can make a 50 per cent profit why shouldn't she?" Uhm, well because the London property market is in the terlit so a 50% profit in less than a year not only seems grossly greedy but highly unlikely. But then again, what do we know? Nuthin', that's what.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why anyone would want to live on The Bishops Avenue ... Especially a Brit.

She'll never make such a profit but London prices weren't that badly affected in most areas [10-15%] & the past few months prices have been on the rise again & good properties are being snapped up pretty quickly ... Will be a little while until it's back to crazy 2007 levels but it will come.

Anonymous said...

One wonders if the complete lack of color reflects the personality of the owner, or was it decorated by some robot? It looks, in short, inhuman and depressing.

Anonymous said...

It looks like a model suite at a condominium presentation center. A home can be too decorated. This matchy-matchy neutral look it a total bore.

dolly said...

It's amazing how dated this looks now. If I see one more oversize metallic sunburst mirror hung on a dark textured wallpaper, or padded wall behind the bed, I might just scream.

In her WIC I guess she kept the left hand side for Spare leg storage, and the right for Lonely-billionaire-rockstar-attracting hooker outfits.

luke220 said...

I hate the way that the foyer opens directly to the kitchen, but not a bad place for an occasional overnight, which is probably how she used it.

Dontmocktheafflicted said...

Is it just me or do those bar stools at the kitchen island each have a prosthetic leg?

Madam Pince said...

This place screams for some tacky art & furnishings. I 'spect a velvet portrait of the Beatles would look divine. Time for a run to the border, Miz Mucca!

Anonymous said...

Buh-or-ing

sirvan said...

I was once made a floor plan of my own, but this structure is so great.

StPaulSnowman said...

These interiors would make a great background for a gory crime scene. ..........talk about lack of pizzazz....or perhaps a blind NGD.

Elanore Rigby said...

Heather, girl, get an imagination. You're into veggie mass merchandising? Check. Linda McCartey did that alrady.

You're into fashion? Check. Stella'a already there.

Land minds? Check. Lady Diane institutionalized the cause.

Now you're toying with The Bishops Ave? As they say over there, "Posh"? You're a little grubbing tart.

Get a grip. Invent yourself. Grow. Be original.

Better yet, blow through every penny of Sir Paul's cash you've been awkwardly awarded and unwisely squandered.

We'll be reading about your next lawsuit, two years out-max, about how you need more money.

Wha-aaaaaaa. Poor, poor, poor, tragic Heather.

Anonymous said...

These interiors are very 2002, especially that wall, but for
some reason, I really really
like it.

Anonymous said...

What is the architectural world and real estate market coming to, where by today's standards, a lavish, swank, superiorly located, and top dollar condo in the heart of London now affords one such high end, exclusive luxuries as a windowless entrance hall with a direct, double door view into the kitchen, a combination living room/eating area (room for only a perfunctory table and chairs dosen't qualify as a dining room), and a balcony just big enough to set the indoor plants on for some fresh air, not to mention a decorating scheme that attempts to raise bland to an art form. Marking the price up by 50% in under a year during the worst housing market in a half century is the icing on the cake.

Anonymous said...

This warm, enchanting abode sparkles with personality and unique charm. All it is lacking is well placed portrait of a pear, and a pot rack.

Emma Royd said...

@ Anon Sept.15, 10.43am

I am a Brit and I would adore to live on The Bishops Avenue. It is such a great location in London with easy access to all the best that the West End has to offer, and is really peaceful and tranquil given its position in the relative heart of London.

It is sheer class, and iffin I ever had that kind of moolah for an apartment, which by the way is very chic, this is exactly what I would choose.

Who cares if Heather Mills owns it now.

Remember that the median salary in the UK is £24000 GBP (mama will work her magic for you with the bejewelled abacus if you ask nicely) and you will soon see why most of the population would gladly live there.

StPaulSnowman said...

Emma Royd....I have always enjoyed your posts but it was only today that I appreciated what a celebrity you are. Why one can hardly go anywhere in your country without seeing your catchy logo, the fancy ER insignia on carriages, buildings and even the currency. It is a real honor to read your posts!

Anonymous said...

Everybody hates Heather, thus everyone hates her apartment. We actually don't know that this is Heather's decoration, do we? Since she apparently took possession of it in late '08, it seems at least plausible that she never did a thing to it, and had in fact bought it as furnished in these pictures, no? But, you know, Heather's selling it, so it's Heather's. Ah, the joys of being a celebrity.

Brad the Builder said...

Interesting article, thanks

Anonymous said...

This place oozes class and style!