Thursday, September 13, 2012

"Hyde Park Mansion on Sale for £300 Million"

As was said in another context yesterday, "I don't care who you are, once it gets to nine figures you're talking real money:.
From the Financial Times via CNBC:
The London mansion of Rafiq Hariri, Lebanon’s late prime minister, has been put up for sale in what is expected to be the most valuable housing transaction in British history.

The stucco-fronted property, which overlooks Hyde Park, is being offered to a select list of wealthy international buyers at an asking price of 300 million pounds, according to insiders.

The figure, more than double the previous UK house-price record of 140 million pounds, underlines the position of London’s luxury property market as an asset class cocooned from the country’s economic realities. 

The 45-bedroom, seven-storey building runs from 2-8A Rutland Gate and covers an area of 60,000 sq ft — slightly smaller than the playing surface of a Premier League football pitch. 

The property, built as four separate family houses, was owned by Mr. Hariri until his assassination in 2005. After his death, the building was made over as a gift to Sultan bin Abdulaziz, crown prince of Saudi Arabia who died in October. Mr. Harari had close business ties with the prince’s family....MORE
Here's the picture The Guardian is going with:


2-8a Rutland Gate, Knightsbridge, London, for sale for £300m
Brother can you spare £300m? 2-8a Rutland Gate's former owners include Lebanese 
prime minister Rafiq Hariri and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. 
Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian