Wednesday 7 August 2013

No 63: Petra Ecclestone Stunt ... Selling + Burgled

Petra Ecclestone - aka Mrs James Stunt - has a house in Eaton Square. In future we plan to avoid disclosing numbers, but since hers is all over the press, and is one of the few paparazzi have regular appointments outside ...

On Tuesday evening news "broke" that a fake millionaire viewer had stolen jewellery whilst poking around with an estate agent:

Petra Ecclestone is robbed of £ 500,000 worth of jewels while a 'fake' Kazakh millionaire pretends to view her £32million mansion | Mail Online

Petra posing in her first floor living room for Grazia. The three windows on the right hand side of the photo overlook Eaton Square - and a very small balcony with trees (see below).
Knight Frank's photo of the Eaton Square front of the house, one of the smallest houses in the Square, right on the corner of South Eaton Place - with three trees on the balcony.
Petra posing for Grazia in one of her many dressing rooms. This seems to be the small one off her bedroom, rather than one of the two taking up the entire floor above it. Given her attempt at looking like a cross between Katie Price and Malibu Barbie, we're surprise it isn't pink and sparkly. Just shiny and mirrored.
The original Mail story, which was quickly emailed around Eaton Square residents, had photos of the property, but these were removed rather swiftly.

What do her neighbours think? It all sounds rather fishy. Who leaves that much jewellery lying around? And then doesn't file an insurance claim or call the police? People with flash, ready cash and no class?

Using her various attempts at publicity, and the information provided by the estate agents Knight Frank, we can get a pretty good idea of Petra's house - and why it is still on the market despite being in a prime location and garnering regular media coverage.

We'll start at the bottom. Because that's where the trash is put out.

There are no "sub-basements" in Eaton Square - this one is under the Mews House at the back. The neighbours were not thrilled by all the tunnelling ... The Eaton Square house starts at the Lower Ground Floor: the bottom part of the plan is the Square, the top the Mews house at the back, and the former garden has been filled in so it is a bit tight. The green section at the bottom is on the street, and access for trade and so forth. Perhaps the most shocking aspect to neighbours is that she has turned the former coal vaults under the pavement - which most of us use for wine or storing rubbish until it is collected, since they are so small - into the world's smallest staff room and a shower room. People who treat staff like garbage ...
So you have a "sub-basement" .... And then what do you do with the windowless box you've created? Add a white bit, some sofas,and call it a Media Room! For watching sister Tamara's tacky reality TV show?

On to the basement. Petra complains about a lack of garden, but where most of her neighbours have one, behind the house, she has filled in the space to her Mews house and filled the corridor around the light well now there with gym equipment. And, hey presto, you have a gym! Property development 101. At the back there's a double garage, although she has far more than two high-end personalised cars. Neighbours are a little puzzled though .... Madonna manages to evade the paparazzi outside her London house by driving out through the Mews. Why can't Petra and visiting Tamara do the same rather than bother the neighbours by having their burly security security try to "seal off" the street?

The Ground Floor, through which exalted staff - make-up artists - and friends enter via the Eaton Square entrance (bottom).

Kitchen with a table - at the back of the house: the French windows overlook the Mews, and the stairs lead up to the terrace. There seems to be a huge TV over an open fireplace to the left. Log fires are not allowed, so it has to be gas.
Every "socialite" needs a dining room. It overlooks Eaton Square. The butterflies on the right are by Damien Hirst, the go-to artist for those who want a brand name but don't understand art.
The first floor with that gaudy living room Petra likes to pose in at the front, overlooking Eaton Square (if you crane your neck). The photo is of Raquel Welsh - see below.

Another view of the living room.

At the back, overlooking the Mews, is a small terrace. The glass overlooks the light-well, which does not seem to be too well thought out, given the Ecclestone "Girls'" predilection for the shortest of skirts. The dead hedge suggests both that the automatic sprinkler system is not working, and that the staff are not well managed ... but then we knew that.
Master bedroom suite - this seems to have the narrow dressing room in the Grazia photo above.

A whole floor of dressing rooms - because if you have no style, you might as well have lots of it.
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The guest bedrooms. Presumably where tax exile, and loaner of cash to buy real, estate mother Slavica stays?


Petra in one of her Barbie-pink third floor dressing rooms. And more proof that money can neither buy you class nor style.
We think this might be something known as a loft conversion, but we're not middle class so we're not sure. We hear that they are very popular on Coronation Street.

The energy ratings are pretty bad - no eco-friendly billionaire is going to be interested.

One more magazine spread Petra "at home" did promoting ... herself? This time in The Tatler, which used to be a society magazine.


This Louis Vuitton trunk is in the living room.
More shots of the dressing rooms.

The house is unlikely to sell for the £ 32 million asking price, since Petra bought it for a lot less, and frankly has done a rather "unique" look most buyers will probably rip out. It has been on the market for some time, with relatively few buyers visiting.

2 comments:

  1. Still on the market nearly six years later at the same price. I guess when you're that rich you're not desperate for a quick sale.

    https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65527969.html

    ReplyDelete