Financial Times (London, England) - Updown Court - Where the price is right for billionaires Alison Beard views one of the most expensive homes in the world

February 26, 2005

One of the most expensive residences in the world will come to market this week with an asking price above the record-breaking Pounds 70m steel baron Lakshmi Mittal paid for his London mansion last year.

Updown Court, a 103-room, new home on 58 acres in Surrey, has been the subject of speculation for several years following the 2001 arrest of its project manager on customs violation charges (later dropped), which halted construction. The development fell into receivership but was rescued by one of the original investors, Leslie Allen-Vercoe, and is now complete.

"The house was designed right from the start to be the most expensive, opulent new house in England," he says. "Our view is we can't put a price on it, so we're taking offers over Pounds 70m . . . There's only one Updown Court (but) there are at least 600 known billionaires in the world who can afford it."

To put the price in perspective, Microsoft's Bill Gates is reported to have spent up to Dollars 100m for his estate on Lake Washington in Seattle. The residence that topped Forbes magazine's ranking of most expensive homes for sale in the US in 2004 was the Palm Beach estate of Triac chairman Nelson Peltz, with a Dollars 75m asking price, and a 171-acre Hawaiian property was listed at only Dollars 46m.

In the UK, there is the

Mittal sale, valued at Pounds 70m (topping the previous world record of Pounds 62.7m paid for a Hong Kong home) but lavish country homes have until now stayed at or below Pounds 50m, says Crispin Holborrow of Savills, the agent for Updown Court along with Hamptons International.

It is unclear whether the Surrey estate will fetch as much as Allen-Vercoe hopes. but he says several people, including a few Russians, a Chinese businessman and a "dotcom magnate" from the US have expressed interest. (The latter two would use part of the mansion for business.)

There's no questioning the quality of the estate's location (it's within the "golden triangle" of Runnymede, Ascot and Weybridge and 28 minutes from London in Allen-Vercoe's car) or of its amenities. It has 11 acres of formal gardens; 47 acres of woodland; two guest houses with a total of nine bedrooms; an estate manager's office; stables, tennis court and two swimming pools outside; bowling alley, squash court and three indoor pools; cinema and wine cellar; breakfast room and banquet hall; computer-controlled home technology, including a panic room; marble floors; a heated marble driveway and an eight-limousine garage.

Even more opulent, but perhaps less understated, are the staircases leading to the landing above the reception room - replicas of the pair found in the Miami Beach home of the late Gianni Versace.

The sleeping quarters are also luxurious: two penthouses with two bedrooms each, kitchens and Jacuzzi-ready bathrooms opening to a terrace with an infinity pool; a master bedroom with a lift to the downstairs pool; and eight more with en-suite bathrooms.

Given Updown Court's size and price, it could be converted into flats, a hotel or a part-time workplace, thereby forfeiting the "most expensive home" title. In fact, Allen-Vercoe claims that the Chinese businessman suggested using it as a residence and a showroom for goods, while a London hotelier has considered making it a private country club for his city guests.

But Holborrow says he expects the estate to go to a family, perhaps from outside the UK. "The sort of people we're talking to are used to buying commercial property. So to spend this (much) on not only a home but also an investment for the future, it's not an unheard-of figure," he explains.


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