A mansion tax is a pox on all our country houses
September 24, 2014 December 7, 2014 Matthew Beckett - The Country Seat4 Comments
It's a widely accepted principle that even if trying to achieve a noble goal, it is not a justification to do harm in doing so. Whether one is trying to fund the NHS or provide kittens and puppies for all, if ever such an ill-thought out idea as a mansion tax is introduced, it is likely that the law of unintended consequences will find myriad ways to demonstrate itself. In few sectors will the damage be greater than in that of our nation's cultural and architectural heritage where decades of hard work and conservation of our country houses will be sacrificed to play a short-term political game.
Beaudesert Hall, Staffordshire – demolished 1935 due to demands of heavy taxation (Image: Lost Heritage)
Let me make clear that this objection is not party political – I would object as vigorously regardless of whoever tried to propose it. Obviously the devil is in the detail but if we assume a tax levied on homes valued at £2m or more at 1% of the property value to be paid annually there are many obvious and profound flaws with the idea – below are a few of them:
Fallacy of numbers: there are more expensive houses than there are rich people who could afford the tax. Many houses which would be affected have been inherited thus exchanging the large liquid capital requirements of purchase for the more manageable (though not insubstantial) cost of on-going maintenance.
Value suppression: a house valued at £2m will immediately not be worth £2m when a mansion tax is introduced (thus reducing the projected tax receipts). This will lead to a very hard ceiling on house prices, stagnating the market far below that level as it will prevent others trading up by imposing a disproportionate penalty on anyone purchasing over that price level. Think of all the disadvantages of the current crude banding of Stamp Duty, but magnified.
Incentive to neglect: if your house is worth just over £2m, there is a benefit to allowing your property to deteriorate so that it can be assessed at being below the threshold. But how often will they be valued? Will it lead to a cycle of neglect and repair to coincide with this? Who will wish to improve their property for fear that it will push it over the punitive threshold?
Perhaps the greatest threat is to the contents of country houses; the art, sculpture, books, tapestries which combine in such an intangible emotive way to create that atmosphere unique to each. When the financial effects of the 1870-80s agricultural depression began to be felt, the first items to be sold were the contents – the Titians, Rubens, Caxtons, Shakespeares, Nollekens, Canovas were taken from their pride of place and sent to auction or dealers, the resulting funds merely delaying the inevitable sale of the house. If we thought the National Lottery Fund was sorely stretched at the moment to acquire for the nation the occasional fine work which appears at auction, there is little chance of them being saved if the volume increases, meaning they will, in many cases, go overseas. Additionally, if the best works have already been sold, then death duties will be a final hammer blow to shatter the cultural and historical unity of the country house, with nothing left to sell or offer in lieu.
This type of crude taxation has been tried before and it is always heritage which pays the price. The many gaunt shells of Scottish country houses, such as Dalquharran Castle or New Slains Castle, which were un-roofed to avoid punitive taxes are sad testament to the folly of this approach. Supporting a mansion tax is to accept a probable return to an era where empty country houses become derelict – ironically coming so soon after the 40th anniversary of the 'Destruction of the Country House' exhibition. The National Trust will not be able to take them on without an endowment and English Heritage are sorely underfunded already – leaving either neglect or a hope for an influx of foreign wealth to purchase these houses. Without a local owner living there full time, there are likely to be fewer jobs reducing tax revenues and, with the dearth of rural jobs, leading to higher numbers relying on the State for assistance or an exodus to larger urban areas, further damaging the rural environment.
Dalquharran Castle, Ayrshire – built by Robert Adam c1785-1790, un-roofed 1967 (Image: RCAHMS)
Perhaps there could be exemptions for houses which are open a certain number of days a year or which support useful charitable activities but the danger is that these would be used to justify an idea that is inherently wrong.
This article is deliberately painting a rather bleak picture, partially because there is a real likelihood of any of these outcomes, but also to emphasise just how badly-thought out this crude idea is. It offers no benefits except as a bone to be thrown to a few class warriors but it should seriously worry anyone who cares about the UK's cultural, artistic and architectural heritage. Owning a country house is a responsibility, not only as a home for the owner and their family, but one owed to society as a whole. It is inevitable and right that tax should be raised to pay for the society we hope to live in, but to wilfully sacrifice four centuries of heritage is an immoral and culturally destructive way to do so, no matter how noble the intended reason.
At Risk, Comment, NewsAt Risk, buildings at risk, country house, country houses, english heritage, mansion tax, national trust
Country House Rescue: school's out – High Elms Manor, Herts
High Elms Manor, Hertfordshire (Image: Ishin Ryu)
If there was a prize for commitment above and beyond financial sense then the owner of High Elms Manor/Garston Manor could probably win 'Highly Commended' for her determination to rescue this once-derelict country house on the edge of Watford, Hertfordshire, which is the next destination of Ruth Watson and Country House Rescue. The house is an interesting example of the various pressures which can affect country houses and the solutions having experienced almost the complete range over the last century with the new owners adding a few more.
Built sometime before 1813 and once the centre of a 500-acre estate, High Elms Manor originally enjoyed fine rural seclusion, its nearest neighbours the St Pancras Industrial School and Metropolitan District Asylum to the west (now demolished and built over) and Bucknalls, a Victorian manor house now home to the Buildings Research Establishment, to the east. Originally known as High Elms Manor, it was changed to Garston Manor in 1895, though the current owner has apparently decided to go back to using the original name; even if it's not the one used by Channel 4.
Relentless urban growth over the last 100 years pushed housing estates and industry right up to the boundaries of many country estates – and usually then overwhelmed them. The sad pattern was often industry moving closer and blighting the views, then the air, ruining the very attributes which had been their reason for being built in the first place. As workers followed industry so more land was needed for housing and so estates on the edges of towns were particularly vulnerable (as they still unfortunately are today).
Cassiobury House, Hertfordshire (Image: Lost Heritage)
Watford has already lost one major house – Cassiobury – to just these pressures, though this was much closer to the centre of the modern town and was lost back in 1927. The long-time seat of the Capel family, Earls of Essex, who built a fine house which was altered by Hugh May c.1674-80 and which boasted superb interiors, with carvings by Grinling Gibbons, and which was later 'Gothicised' by James Wyatt (c.1800). Visited by Country Life magazine in 1910 it was still rural:
"'…set in great and delightful grounds and surrounded by a grandly timbered park. Therein is peace and quiet; the aloofness of the old-country home far from the haunts of men reigns there still, and Watford and its rows of villas and its busy streets is forgotten as soon as the lodge gates are passed'."
Yet by 1922 the house and 458-acre park were for sale and were bought in 1927 by a consortium of local businessmen who stripped the house for materials, sold the carvings to museums and private collectors and then demolished the house, with residential estates over-running that once rural idyll. Sadly this was the case for so many of our demolished country houses.
High Elms Manor, being further north, escaped these immediate pressures. The house became home to the Watney brewing family around 1870, who commissioned alterations which enlarged the house. The house was then sold to the Benskins, another family of brewers, before it was bought in 1911 by Walter Bourne, co-founder of the Oxford Street department store Bourne & Hollingsworth (now split into retail units and offices – history (scroll past the odd photos at top of the page)), who made further changes around 1920, shortly before his death in 1921. Stafford Bourne, one of the sons of the founder, described High Elms as:
"…one of the finest and most dignified medium-sized estates in the county of Hertfordshire."
With fine and interesting interiors, this was a house built for entertaining and accommodating large numbers of guests and visitors. This was to perhaps save the house from demolition as the house was sold once again after Walter Bourne's death and took on another of the many uses our country houses have been adapted for and became a medical rehabilitation unit, still known as Garston Manor. It remained in this role until the 1990s when the council, faced with rising maintenance costs, abandoned it and left it to decay.
Sadly, although boarded up, the house suffered from repeated vandalism and theft, with roof lead and floorboards proving particularly attractive. When the now-owner Sheila O'Neill came to view the house it was a daunting prospect:
'It had been empty for years when I came to see it,' says the present owner. 'It was more or less derelict. Ceilings had fallen in, all the floors had been damaged, the wood panelling had turned green, chimneys had collapsed, lead had been stripped off the roof by vandals, there were 100 broken windows, the garden was a jungle, it was in a terrible state…"
Thankfully, as many other country houses have discovered, they can be rescued from such a parlous state. High Elms was now adapted to that familiar role for a country house; that of being a school. There is a long and fine tradition of our country houses educating future generations in grand adapted ballrooms and dining rooms. In cases such as the spectacular Stowe House in Buckinghamshire, (now being wonderfully restored by the Stowe House Preservation Trust with backing from the World Monuments Fund) it almost certainly saved it from demolition. Stowe is an especially grand example of the country house as a school but there are hundreds across the UK, each doing their bit to preserve our architectural heritage – though sadly the necessary ancillary buildings can sometimes detract from the setting.
Thankfully though, in the case of High Elms Manor, the needs of the school have been accommodated within the 80-odd rooms of the house with, for example, the ballroom serving as a gymnasium. However, a house of this size requires significant funding not only in terms of capital investments in the house but also just to meet the £75,000 per year running costs. Having bought it for £500,000, Sheila O'Neill estimates she has poured at least that much again in her quest to restore the house. Faced with her own need for a replacement hip, and the relatively low profits from running her Montessori school, Mrs O'Neill has turned to Ruth to provide guidance as to how to make more from the not-very-successful wedding hire business and for any other tips. With strong local competition from the incredibly pretty Hunton Park, it seems that it is the posse of daughters who appear to hold the key to maintaining and improving their situation.
Country House Rescue: 'Garston Manor' [Channel 4]
Interview with Sheila O'Neill: 'Country House Rescue in Garston' [Hertfordshire Life]
Comment, Newsarchitecture, bourne & hollingsworth, buckinghamshire, buildings at risk, cassiobury house, conservation, country house, country house rescue, country houses, country life magazine, english, garston manor, grade-ii, grinling gibbons, heritage, hertfordshire, high elms manor, houses, hugh may, hunton park, James Wyatt, listed, restoration, ruth watson, school, sheila o'neill, stowe house, watford, world monuments fund
Castle Howard, Yorkshire (Image: Tricky via Flickr)
I started updating this blog regularly in January 2010 so it has been fascinating and humbling to see over the past year just how many others share my love and interest in UK country houses. So, thank you to all those who have visited and a particular thanks to the many kind people who have shared information and commented on the various stories – it is very much appreciated.
The blog will be back next year with more stories about the glories of our country houses, updates on the threats they face, and anything else related. I'm also aiming to visit more houses (including a trip to Derbyshire to see the Cavendish houses and others) and highlighting those which come up for sale in Country Life magazine and elsewhere. There will naturally be fewer updates over the next couple of weeks so I'd like to take the opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2011!
Newscastle howard, cavendish, country houses, country life magazine, yorkshire
History repeating: the National Trust for Scotland
August 12, 2010 August 12, 2010 Matthew Beckett - The Country Seat3 Comments
Culzean Castle, Scotland (Image: StaraBlazkova/Wikipedia)
The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) is one of the largest landowners north of the border with 130 properties, including 26 castles, palaces and country houses, and over 78,000-acres. Yet like a feckless son who has inherited plenty but isn't living up to his responsibilities and squandering his inheritance, so the NTS has been ignoring its duties and now has to face the financial reality of their mistakes – with possibly far-reaching consequences for its country houses.
For many landowners, the 1920s and 30s were a lavish time. Yet, often the land which provided the income was heavily mortgaged and although this could cover expenses it usually left little in reserve. Landowners were ranked according to their acres which led to many to over-extend themselves – leaving them vulnerable if a crisis arose. Although the First World War had had a devastating impact on the lives of many both in the big house and on the estate, for those who came through it must have seemed that life might be able to be resumed from before the war. However, life had changed and although some owners were able to see this and adapt, others refused to face financial facts leading to lavish and unsustainable overspending. This later manifested itself with the massive land and art sales of the 1930s as financial recklessness raced right up to the front door of the main house and forced out the owners.
The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) was formed in 1931, over 30 years after its southern sibling. It now runs 130 attractions which include some of the finest country houses in Scotland such as Haddo House, Culzean Castle, and Pollok House. However, in marked contrast to the National Trust for England and Wales, the NTS hit a £13m financial blackhole in 2009 which led to staff redundancies, the selling of their Edinburgh HQ, and worst of all, the mothballing of various properties. A formal, independent review of the NTS has just been published which makes it clear that they had been living in much the same way as the country house owners of the early 20th-century and now largely faces the same choices they had.
Like those dissolute owners in the 1920s and 30s who initially refused to face reality, the NTS have finally admitted that they have been living beyond its means and would now require a significant cash injection to cover its debts. For the country house owner in the 1920s and 30s they could always hope to marry an American heiress – but with this option denied to the NTS they'll have to beg from the public.
Interestingly the NTS has also admitted that just 12 of its 130 properties are fully endowed, leaving the other attractions to have to make up the shortfall. The southern National Trust have, since 1968, used a complex calculation known as the 'Chorley Formula' which takes account of the probable cost of repairs and maintenance, likely revenues, wages costs etc to assess what level of endowment they would have to receive from the donor before they could agree to accept a house and has led to them rejecting many on that basis.
It seems that the NTS have abandoned this sound practice and over-extended themselves. It has also admitted it doesn't even have a complete asset register of what properties it actually owns or a list of the necessary repairs to maintain the properties. So like the owners of the houses who suddenly faced a dramatic downturn in the economy and their income, they are faced with some stark choices which the struggling owner in the 1930s would recognise well: sell or turn over some properties to other uses.
The owner in the 1930s also had the option to demolish or abandon a house and many hundreds were lost over the next couple of decades. Thankfully this option is not open to the NTS so what's likely to happen? Unlike the National Trust for England and Wales, not all the Scottish properties are 'inalienable' meaning they could be sold. The NTS have however said that no property of architectural significance would be – so we are unlikely to see Culzean Castle in the local estate agents window but some of the smaller country houses may be tenanted on a long term basis. Some may also turned over to other organisations for community use – though this has a naturally detrimental impact on the fabric of the house through increased wear and tear.
The NTS has shown that, as usual, it's the owner who's the problem not the houses. Even an organisation which has admittedly done much to preserve and protect country houses in Scotland over the last 80 years can become part of the problem. Let's hope that they take this opportunity to reform the 'byzantine' governance structure which has led them into this crisis and that it creates a leaner, more financially stable organisation better able to look after the country house treasures they have inherited.
More details: 'NTS to be told: sell treasures or go bust' [The Scotsman]
At Risk, Comment, Newsarchitecture, castles, conservation, country house, country houses, culzean castle, haddo house, heritage, houses, listed, national trust, national trust for scotland, pollok house, restoration, scotland
What may come? Ireland's country house property crash
July 29, 2010 August 3, 2010 Matthew Beckett - The Country Seat2 Comments
Bellamont Forest, Ireland (Image: Knight Frank)
One side effect of the exceptionally buoyant Irish property market which made areas of Dublin as expensive as central London was a similar rise in value of their country houses. Now with the drastic drop in property values, Irish country houses have proven to be far from immune and offer a useful indicator of what might happen in a similar situation on this side of the Irish sea.
The country house market in Ireland truly rode the boom when property became a sure-fire route to riches in the republic. Houses which had been neglected for many years were suddenly 'discovered', bought and lavishly refurbished as private houses for the newly wealthy. This is actually unsurprising as a key aspiration for anyone acquiring riches over the last 400 years has been to establish themselves in a rural domain. Owning land was the route to power since time immemorial with greater acreage giving greater influence. Despite the breaking of that link in the UK between 1870 and 1920 (and most decisively with the passing of the Lords Reform Bill of 1911) the idea of the country estate as the acme of achievement had become embedded as the ultimate status symbol. Therefore any boom in the economy has usually led to a rush to the country.
Ireland's situation was slightly different in that, unlike in the UK with it's stricter planning laws, the purchase of a country house was also viewed with residential development potential in mind. For those projects which completed this meant that the house was simply a means to an end leaving fine houses stranded in the middle of a new suburb (many of which are now half-empty) thus ruining a perfectly good house. This also meant that some houses were bought with over-inflated 'development value' built into the price.
So now the crash has hit, what has happened to the houses? For those owners who were simply in the family home and managed to sell a few acres for development they have 'won' as they still have their house and estate but also gained money to sustain the estate and complete much needed restoration and improvements. For others who didn't capitalise there must be a certain disappointment as they've gone from lying in bed thinking about how the house is now worth ten times what it was a few years ago, back to lying awake wondering how to pay the bills again.
Worse though are those who paid hyped prices and now are stuck either with a home they may have paid for but which is now worth much less than they paid for it – country houses prices can race ahead of the trend in a bull market but can easily do the same when it falls. On a positive note, for those owners who can afford to, they are likely to stay longer than otherwise they might, providing stable ownership and perhaps a commitment to invest in the estate to sustain what value they can. For those who bought on finance or who now lack the funds to meet the running costs they may now be forced to sell at a loss. Declines of 30-50% aren't unheard of, even for the very best properties. The Lyons Demesne, one of the finest estates in Ireland and former home of Tony Ryan, founder of Ryanair, is currently for sale with 600-acres at €50m, down from its former valuation of €80m. Even on the less stratospheric level, Bellamont Forest, the first Palladian house in Ireland (and ridiculously beautiful) was initially marketed at €10m but is now offered at €7.5m.
So what could happen over here? UK country houses prices, certainly for the best properties, have risen dramatically over the last 10-20 years. However, that rise has been on the back of a broader boom in the economy which, despite some aspects turning out to be smoke and mirrors, did actually generate real money. In addition, the commodity value of UK farmland which has risen from £2,000 per acre to around £7,000 per acre has also provided a stronger capital base for the estates. The natural British caution does have its advantages.
The dangers are where owners are left with over-priced houses unable to meets the cost of maintenance and there is the risk that basic tasks are put off leaving the houses at risk from any number of ailments such as water ingress due to blocked gutters. Unfortunately government austerity means that at a time when local councils need to be most vigilant they are going to be less likely to fund the necessary heritage conservation staff.
Country houses are never immune from the challenges of the wider economy but they can also be insulated if the owner has the resources to weather the storm. Luckily for the UK, many owners are in a strong position but there is always the danger that the over-excited may get carried away and over-pay leading to problems if the property market weakens. The situation in Ireland should be watched as a useful case study in the dangers of an over-heated market.
Full story: Crash-landed gentry [ft.com]
Comment, Newsarchitecture, bellamont forest, conservation, country house, country houses, development, dublin, estate, farmland, for sale, heritage, houses, ireland, irish, listed, lyons desmene, palladian, property, restoration
Please someone buy the beautiful Pell Well Hall
October 14, 2009 October 14, 2009 Matthew Beckett - The Country Seat1 Comment
Pell Well Hall (Image from Strutt & Parker)
Sir John Soane was one of the most important Regency architects, responsible for some of the most interesting buildings in the country. However, many of his commissions were urban or were additions to existing country houses. This makes the country houses which he designed alone quite rare – and as a master architect they are usually amongst the most beautiful and elegant buildings in the country. However, despite their rarity and elegance they have often been mistreated.
Pell Well Hall is one such example. Built between 1822-28 for the wealthy iron merchant, Mr Purney Sillitoe, it later became a boys school until the mid-1960s when it passed again into private ownership. This however was a period which ended with the house as a fire-ravaged shell on the verge of collapse. There was widespread concern with the house appearing on the various 'building at risk' registers. This led to a concerted effort which removed the unsympathetic Victorian and Edwardian additions (sorry SPAB) leaving an eminently manageable country house. The restoration programme stabilised the building and interior and the house was put on the market about two years ago. Unfortunately, like Soane's other 'at risk' house, Piercefield in Chepstow (also for sale with Strutt & Parker), it failed to find a buyer.
So, once again, the elegant Pell Well Hall is again for sale. Strutt & Parker are offering the Grade-II* house with 4 acres of land, with the guide price of £750,000 reflecting the level of work that will be required to restore this important house (think low single digit millions to do it properly). It could be used for leisure or commercial purposes but really this house cries out for someone to make it a home.
Full details: 'Pell Wall, Market Drayton, Shropshire' [Strutt & Parker]
Uncategorizedcountry houses, pell well hall, restoration, shropshire, sir john soane