PTJan/Feb 2010 p62-63 property YC PJ JM MB 21/1/10 17:40 Page 2
The knowledge Property
Which prime polo pads
changed hands in 2009?
Yolanda Carslaw asks two leading polo-savvy agents what they sold last year,
what has just come to the market and how they see things shaping up in 2010
W
hile 2009 proved a long year for some
sellers of polo properties, others had
theirs snapped up swiftly and others
have shifted after a drop in price or arrangements.
Patron Tony Pidgley had to wait more than a year
to find a buyer for Barton Lodge near Windsor,
which first went on sale at £18m. “Pidge” had
transformed the 106-acre property into an
immaculate polo set-up over 10 years, and after a
price drop and a carve-up, a happy ending ensued
late in 2009. Hampshire patron Simon Arber, whose
family play too, has bought the polo facilities,
including stabling for 80, two acclaimed grounds
and an arena. Pidgley still lives next door, having
held on to the stick-and-ball ground and his house.
“It was a question of waiting for the right buyer
Former Geebung patron, Australian Rick Stowe, has been forced to take £2m off the asking price for Ascot Cottage (above)
and dividing it into lots,” says Robert Fanshawe,
head of equestrian sales for Knight Frank, which attracted the buyer,” says Fanshawe. As PT went to Down, an idyllic Gloucestershire set-up that sold off
handled the sale. “It was a good buy for Simon press negotiations were under way to rent out the the open market. The majestic house, on 160 acres,
Arber and a good sale for Tony Pidgley.” Indeed polo facilities and keep the game going. came with cottages and grooms' flats, a pool, tennis
Arber, who has put Sophie Heaton-Ellis in charge of In January patron Rick Stowe put Ascot Cottage, a court, two stone stable yards, stone barns, a stick-
the equestrian side, confirmed he was delighted. He 12-bedroom mansion near Windsor with a stick-and- and-ball ground and an arena. However, Savills is
is negotiating with a major high-goal side to make ball field, stabling and 15 acres, on the market with still looking for the right buyer for the Morrison
Knight Frank at £6m, down from £8m when it was family's Bartlett Lodge, Berkshire (£5.75m), and for
“It was a good sale for Tony
marketed in 2007. Other previously unsold Knight Saddlewood Manor (£5.25m, cut from £6m), near
Pidgley and a good buy for
Frank properties include estancia La Taba ($2m, the Beaufort and with its own polo ground.
down from $3.5m) in Argentina and Parklands Farm James Walker from the country house
Simon Arber” – Robert Fanshawe
(£1.4m) near Chobham, which has polo facilities and department at Savills says: “Cracking properties like
permission to build a house. Also yet to attract the Saddlewood that are already set up for polo usually
Barton Lodge their base in 2010, and will continue right offer is Gadbridge Farm in Berkshire, which sell well, and we have comfortably more buyers than
to host private games and SUPA polo. American owner Louis Bacon put on the market last stock. There's a lot of British money coming out of
Another property that needed the right buyer and autumn at £4m. Jack Kidd developed Gadbridge for London and a good overseas client base.”
a price drop was the magnificent Blackdown Park polo before selling it to the hedge-fund magnate, Walker warns potential sellers to get in quickly in
near Midhurst, the home until their separation of who also has private grounds on Long Island. 2010. “Historically spring is the best selling time,
Charles and Lucy Fraser (née Pearson). After a For 2010, Fanshawe forecasts an increase in when the leaves are out and everything looks fresh,”
reported reduction from £9m to £7.5m, joint-agents demand for good polo properties at which to base he says. “Bonuses are spent in the second quarter,
Strutt & Parker and Knight Frank sold the 136-acre international teams, particularly in the south-east. which helps too. But this year we advise getting in
property, with its 17th-century nine-bedroom house “At the moment it's chiefly medium- and high-goal by early March to achieve a sale before the election.
and formal gardens, to Salkeld patron Nick Clarke. patrons looking, and mainly overseas money,” says Then the market is likely to go off the boil for a
In the autumn Knight Frank sold Inglesham, the Fanshawe. “There’s a particular dearth of small month. From autumn there may be a slight increase
popular club near Lechlade, to a local farming family farms around Cowdray.” in stock, because people who held on to see the
within weeks for close to the asking price (of The premier polo sale in 2009 for Savills, along election result may go ahead and sell, while others
£2.5m). “The property's diverse nature is what with its subsidiary Prime Purchase, was Charlton may be forced to do so financially.” F
For further information with regard to equestrian property sales contracts,
please contact Mark Charter at Blake Lapthorn directly: on 023 8085 7116; via
email, at
mark.charter@bllaw.co.uk; or write to Mark Charter, Partner, Real Estate,
Blake Lapthorn, New Kings Court, Tollgate, Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh, SO53 3LG
62 January/February 2010
www.polotimes.co.uk
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