Skype founder loses High Court case despite his new £1.1m luxury home falling down around him Niklas Zennstrom bought the Bauhaus home in Hampshire in 2009 The £600m entrepreneur found the property had to be demolished He sued the lesbian couple who sold it but has lost the High Court claim Judge finds the women could not have known the property was defective For the co-founder of Skype said to be worth more than half a billion pounds, the £1.1million house he bought in 2009 was not going to break the bank but it was his dream home. However, once Niklas Zennstrom, 46, scratched the 'veneer of quality' of his new Bauhaus-style mansion, it soon became clear the 'shambolic' property was in such a bad state he had to knock it down and start again. Behind its glazed walls and minimalist interiors the house on one of Britain's most desirable private estates in Hampshire, had such serious defects that made it unfit for human habitation, the millionaire said. Modern: This is the house at the centre of the High Court row before it was knocked down by Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom Changes: The entrepreneur, said to be worth £600m, has since started rebuilding the home but pursued the former owners through the courts and lost yesterday Dream: The property (circled) sits facing the Hamble marina in an enviable position but soon after this picture was taken it was condemned A more recent image shows where the house used to stand The keen yachtsman and his wife had moved there because it is a stone's throw from the famous marina on the River Hamble. His anger was such that the Swede took the previous owners Deborah Wilks and Helen Moseley to court, but he has failed to convince a top judge that he was a victim of unscrupulous property developers. Mr Justice Edwards-Stuart said Mr Zennstrom's case had not looked promising from the start and concluded that neither Ms Moseley nor Ms Wilks had been aware of any significant construction defects. He said the evidence pointed 'overwhelmingly' to the conclusion that Ms Moseley and Ms Wilks had created their 'dream home' - which enjoys spectacular views over Hamble Marina from Crowsport Private estate - and did intend to sell when they embarked on a re-building project. Row: Keen yachtsman Niklas Zennstrom and his wife Catherine bought the home on the Hampshire coast from Deborah Wilks (pictured right yesterday) and her partner but the court found in their favour Imagination: Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis came up with the idea of Skype in 2003 and within 8 years it was sold for $8.5bn Jan 2003: Entrepreneurs Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis come up with the concept of Skype. Apr 2003: Skype is launched in beta but the first version was rough to say the least. Calls dropped and voice quality was shaky. Oct 2005: eBay buys Skype for $3.1billion - two years Jan 2006: Skype adds video calling. Apr 2009: Skype keeps expanding but doesn't make enough money. eBay has enough and suggests it wants to offer Skype on a initial public offering. Sep 2009: eBay announces sale of 65 per cent of Skype to a group of Index Ventures and Silver Lake Partners. May 2011: Microsoft buys Skype for $8.5billion The lesbian couple - who celebrated a civil partnership in 2008 and had been together for 20 years - said afterwards the case had left them 'physically and mentally' drained. 'The evidence points overwhelmingly, in my view, to the conclusion that they built it as their dream home as they have always contended', the judge told them yesterday. In true Grand Designs-style, Ms Moseley and Ms Wilks bought the property in 2004 for £360,000, later demolishing the existing house there and building what they hoped would be the sort of Bauhaus beauty beloved of Channel 4 presenter Kevin McCloud. The couple, from the Southampton area, told the court that, despite their intense desire to live in the house, they were forced to sell to the Zennstroms because of trouble meeting the mortgage and difficulties with a near neighbour. Skilled entrepreneur Zennstrom helped build the Skype brand into an online giant. In May 2011 the internet phone service was bought by Microsoft for around $8.5billion, its biggest-ever cash deal, and Zennstrom is believed to have got at least $500million of it. During the home-row court case Mr Zennstrom's barrister, Richard Morgan QC, had told the court he believed he was buying a 'new luxury house', built to a high standard. 'Instead, once the sale was complete and builders started opening up areas to undertake what should have been minor works, it became apparent that the construction of the property was a shambles,' he said. Rich: Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom is said to be worth £600million, much of which was generated when the online phone service was sold to Microsoft for $8.5billion Start again: Zennstrom was forced to bring in the builders to his Bauhaus-mansion in Hamble, Hampshire because he claimed it was unsafe Site: The keen yachtsman bought it on the Crowsport private estate which is a matter of metres from the famous Hamble marina Major defects had been disguised behind finishes that gave 'the veneer of quality' but which hid problems which gave no choice but to demolish and start again. Not only was the house not fit for human habitation, he claimed, but it was also dangerous in some respects and had to be knocked down. However, dismissing the Zennstroms" claims against Ms Wilks and Ms Moseley, the judge said they were genuinely ignorant of the ins and out of construction work and had not operated as commercial property developers.