Much has already been written on Britain’s decision to disentangle itself from Europe and the effect it will have on the UK’s property market.
Within two days of the vote to leave the European Union, about £6.9 billion (Dh32bn) had been wiped off the value of the 10 biggest house builders on the London Stock Exchange, while the value of its 10 biggest Real Estate Investment Trusts fell by £7.6bn, according to the trade title Property Week.
Although bad for current owners of UK property, Brexit is considered an opportunity for investors – especially those in Gulf countries whose dollar-pegged currencies now stretch further. At current prices, British property is 31 per cent less expensive for Gulf buyers than it was in the peak of the late 2007 boom, according to Cluttons.
One home that could appeal for practical and historical reasons is Trafalgar Park, a country house estate in Salisbury, Wiltshire, on the market for £12 million. The property stands as testament to an earlier, albeit more successful, withdrawal from Europe. The Grade I listed Georgian Country House was bought by the UK government in 1814 and gifted to the Reverend William Nelson, the older brother of Lord Horatio Nelson, in recognition of the latter’s role as Admiral of the Royal Navy, leading many battles during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
The house remained in the hands of the Nelson family until 1948 and has been privately owned ever since. It consists of a main house with a Baroque banquet hall, a music room painted by the artist Giovanni Battista Cipriani, a drawing room, library, a sitting room, 11 bedrooms, five bathrooms, a hall and storage rooms.
There’s also a south wing linked by a gallery hall containing a dining room, family sitting rooms, a kitchen/dining room, cloakroom and its own two-bed flat.
Another gallery hall links the north wing, which is currently disused but can be redeveloped to add new rooms. Alongside this, the estate contains extensive cellars with a laundry room, boiler rooms, stores and a cloakroom.
Externally, there are two stable blocks containing stables, garages, offices, stores and a three-bed staff flat. It even has its own private church with a memorial to Lord Nelson.
Q&A
This place looks familiar. Why?
Its traditional country house feel means it has played host to a number of period dramas, including adaptations of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, starring Emma Thompson, and of Emma, with Kate Beckinsale. More unusually, it also featured in director Danny Boyle’s zombie blockbuster 28 Days Later.
Who would live in a house like this?
A lover of the arts and culture. The current owner, Michael Wade, describes Trafalgar Park as “a wonderful family home”. He has overseen a renovation of the home, enhancing its Greek Revivalist style, which he described as a “labour of love”. He said: “It is a place of great fun. During my tenure we have enjoyed and recorded opera and instrumentalists in the Baroque Hall, had the Globe Theatre Company perform Shakespeare – not to mention film stars.”
What are the gardens like?
There are 33 acres of parkland with formal gardens, a swimming pool, tennis court, parks and woods.
What else does it offer?
Crispin Holborow, the country director of Savills Private Office, describes it as “the cream of the crop of fine country houses to be marketed in 2016”. It has great views, and the chance to live like a real English country gentleman. It is on the edge of the New Forest Country Park and Cranborne Chase, and close to Stonehenge. The cathedral city of Salisbury is seven miles away, from which direct trains to London Waterloo station (88 minutes away) run. Helicopters can also be safely landed within its 33 acres of grounds.
mfahy@thenational.ae
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