Monday, July 21, 2008

Elle Macpherson's Mansion


SELLER: Elle Macpherson
LOCATION: Ladbroke Gardens, London, UK
PRICE: £7,500,000 (reduced from £9,500,000)
SIZE: 5,469 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 5 full and 2 half bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: Family house that has been designed to the highest specification set in idyllic communal gardens setting.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Your Mama recently heard from our world traveling tipster with a distinguished Greek surname who swears on his souvlaki that the house pictured above belongs to the six foot tall super model and lingerie entrepreneur Elle Macpherson.

So, since we've been inundated with uglee-ass houses lately, Your Mama has been desperate to look at some pretty pictures of a refined residence that does not make us want to poke out our eyes with last night's dirty chop sticks, and this house fits the bill.

Regarding Miz Macpherson, this is what Your Mama has gleaned from our early morning research on the internets: Shortly after Miz Macpherson split from her filthy rich Swiss born biznessman beau and baby daddy Arpad Busson in 2005, she and the former couple's two kiddies moved to a seven story house in Ladbroke Gardens that she did up and did over with all sorts of custom cabinetry and bespoke furniture.

(Mister Busson has moved on to engage himself to another high profile and tall blond babe, this time American actress and recent dee-vorcee Uma Thurman while 40-something year old Miz Macpherson has been rumored and reported to be dating all sorts of gentleman friends such as rock star Bryan Adams and 21 year old Vito Schnabel, young son of the artist Julian Schnabel.)

Anyhoo, there have been many and multiple reports about Miz Macpherson growing tired of living in London and wanting to decamp to her native Australia. However, there have also been reports of the swimsuit model turned bra and panty mogul shopping for new homes in the English countryside. So who knows?

The house in question, located in the Ladbroke Gardens section of hoity toity Notting Hill, has been listed at £9,500,000 which Your Mama's bejeweled abacus reveals converts to $18,933,540 at today's rates. Listing information for the 5,469 square foot property shows there are seven floors of living space with six bedrooms and five full and two half bathrooms. Although Your Mama worries about the practicality and extreme difficulty of living in a seven floor house without an elevator, we don't imagine this would be much of a problem for a woman like Miz Macpherson, who at 40 some years old still has rock hard glutes and legs of steel that make stair climbing easy.

Generally speaking Your Mama is loving this Notting Hill house and floor plan. In fact, besides the lack of a lift, we only find one glaring issue that causes us consternation and puzzlement: There is no easily accessible terlit for guests who are forced to descend two flights from the first floor drawing room to the "Lower Ground Floor" or hike up two floors to the third floor hall bath. Not good. There isn't an obvious place to squeeze a powder room on the ground or first floor, but Your Mama imagines a really good architect could work the floor plan to add a more convenient wee-wee room for guests.

We're appreciating the eclectic design of the main drawing room on the first floor which looks like a room where one could entertain swells and fashioneestas on Friday night and then kick up the bare feet and read the gossip glossies on Sunday morning. In addition to the drawing room there are several other smaller sitting and receptions rooms for more intimate moments.

Londoner's know how to do a kitchen with all the latest and greatest gadgets and gizmos and this kitchen does not disappoint. Yes, it is a little cold feeling, but try to imagine how it looks when Momma Macpherson is padding around in fuzzy slippers and whipping up rice pudding for the kiddies. A few signs of life and cooking in here would go along way to taking it from looking like a sterile surgical suite and into a sleek but cozy kitchen where friends and family hang out to watch the chef slice and dice.

Although on the floor plan the dining room on the lower ground floor looks terribly cramped, we note in the photos that Miz Macpherson's nice gay decorator has managed to fit a table for ten comfortably into the space by utilizing a clever built-in banquette. Bravo! The children will also note that the brazilliant designer also managed to save space in the too narrow room by removing the fireplace mantel and surrounding the enlarged firebox with what appears to be some sort of mirrored tile all of which makes the room appear larger than it really is.

The master bedroom, which generously occupies an entire floor, has been fitted and kitted with all manner of custom cabinetry that should satisfy any international clotheshorse. In addition to the all the drawers and cabinets, a dressing room has been installed, a feature that makes Your Mama swoon with envy, and the master bath includes a double vanities and a bidet as well as a terlit.

It's lovely to see that even the room dedicated to the children has been thoughtfully designed with custom drawers for storing all the toys and games that typically clutter up the family rooms of folks with children. This room is a testament to the notion that just because one lives with children the Barbies and X-Boxes do not have to be the dominant decorating feature in a family room.

The small garden isn't as user friendly as we might prefer, but according to the listing, the property includes access to communal gardens where we imagine there is much more room for the kiddies to stretch their legs.

Enjoy the photos and floor plan. We think it's dee-voon and dee-lightful. Now then, Your Mama is off to the Time Warner Center for an interview and then we're catching up with our wonderfully ascerbic pal Soozie for a look-see at the quartet of monumental Olafur Eliasson waterfalls that have been erected along the East River in New York City.

(P.S. All hail the Grammar Po-leese!)

15 comments:

StPaulSnowman said...

Tired of living in London? How sad. It may be a trendy decorator thing, but I think art should be hung rather than propped. From the acres of posh stainless steel to the walls everywhere, the palette seems pretty monochromatic to my eye. "Bespoke" is such a wonderful descriptor.......thanks for using it Mama. I believe the American translation includes at least a 60% price increase.

Anonymous said...

When she bought it in 2006 the dining room was actually located on the ground floor which the floorplan states as 'reception room' then you have the main lounge the floor above. Not sure why her interior designer moved it because it was an enormous dining room ...

I doubt she's moving back to Australia - she's been in London forever & her kids Father lives in London & I think he would have something to say about her going back to the other side of the world - the reports of her moving to Hampshire, Wiltshire etc.. are more realistic.

Anonymous said...

As someone who stayed in Notting Hill last year and passed by Ladbroke many times, I would kill to actually have a house there. It's a lovely, lovely area.

lil' gay boy said...

A lovely property, but…

…between the overly muted palette, the acres of built-ins and the odd dropped ceiling over the bed that gives it a proscenium-like quality, I'm just not feeling it.

Love the floor plan, despite the wee-wee situation, but even with bespoke furniture it just strikes me as a bit too '80s for my taste; so Blane from Pretty in Pink.

I keep picturing Krystle & Alexis rolling around in the garden beating the tar out of each other…

Anonymous said...

"Love the floor plan, despite the wee-wee situation, but even with bespoke furniture it just strikes me as a bit too '80s for my taste; so Blane from Pretty in Pink"

The property is extremely modern - It was totally renovated & sold in 2006. The kitchen, bathrooms, stunning parquet floors etc.. were all beautiful. Her interior designer has totally changed it & to be honest it's not nearly as nice as when it was on the market in 2006. Of course, furniture is a personal thing but it has amazing room proportions - it's just a shame the realtor pictures haven't demonstrated that.

StPaulSnowman said...

I'm still laughing over Krystal and Alexis........Sammy Jo can't find the bathroom. LGB needs his own show!

fairfield girl said...

I like it.

pch said...

Looks like a well-ordered floor plan, and the communal gardens are a plus. Nice place.

Alessandra said...

Love the kitchen. Am "meh" about much of the decor, but that is not relevant anyway.

Do like the garden.

Anonymous said...

Ohhh Mama. Every time you misspelled Notting Hill (no K, darling), it hurt my eyes a little bit.

Anonymous said...

Grammer Police;.......hurt your eyes?...Did knot either.

so_chic_darling said...

I love this house but you DO pay a heavy price for the Notting Hill location. I would buy a nice victorian house in Barons Court for 1.5 million myself. There are so many areas even in West London where you can get a nice house so much less.

Anonymous said...

so_chich_darling...

Ding Ding! We have a winner. You're totally right, many wonderful areas of London that don't possess the vomit inducing prices of Notting Hill (that being said, if I could snap up a place in Belgravia, I would)

Anonymous said...

I like the house, and I love the townhouses/brownstones in New York and the like that are three, four, etc floors, but this floor plan confuses me. While first floors in condos are different, in houses first floors are ground floors. So this house has that, AND a lower ground floor, AND a ground floor?! I like the decoration of the house, but I don't think I'd live there.

Anonymous said...

^

No. Europe & the U.S state floors differently. In the UK houses & apartments on the sidewalk level are always 'Ground Floor', floor below would be 'Lower Ground Floor' , floor above 'First Floor' ... makes more sense than the US way, for me anyway.