The billionaire owner of Britain’s most expensive house is selling its entire £50 million contents – and it could all go for just #500,000.
The lavish £300 million property was decked out by world-renowned interior design company Alberto Pinto during an epic two-and-a-half year refurb in the 90s.
But now the mystery owner – thought to be a rich Saudi royal – wants the place gutted and done again so is selling every single item in a huge auction.
There is no reserve on the 1,250 pieces, meaning everything from £70,000 Merino chandeliers to £300,000 gold plated Jade-encrusted bath taps could go for a fiver.
Many of the items have never been used, and everything is up for sale from the ornate hand-carved doors, to the gold-plated taps and the Louis XV antique fireplaces.
The home at 2-8a Rutland Gate, Knightsbridge, London, was the most expensive property ever marketed in Britain when it discretely went up for sale three years ago.
Experts think the whole contents could go for as little as £500,000 – just ONE PER CENT of the cost price.
Principal auctioneer at ProAuction Ltd, Mark Flynn said: “It’s a fantastic house. It is quite awe-inspiring.
“You look at it and you are just surrounded by beautiful furniture and decoration and the only word you can use it just ‘wow’.
“You just don’t imagine that level of quality and craftsmanship in a private house. There has been no expense spared, and it really does show.
“And we’ve got to sell it all. There is absolutely no reserves or withholding prices on this stuff. It has got to sell.
“There are quite a lot of decorative items like Baldi vases, and there are Baldi vases in that property which they still sell at Harrods which would cost you £30,000 and our policy at auction is always that it sells.
“If we get offered a fiver, we get offered a fiver.
“For anybody that is refurbishing an apartment or a house – or even a boutique hotel – the bargains they could pick up here for fractions of its original price.
“You and I ordinarily wouldn’t get a chance to buy any of this stuff – it would be way out of our price range – but you can come along to this auction it allows you to buy it for peanuts.”
The property in prestigious Rutland Gate in Knightsbridge, was revamped by the renowned Alberto Pinto – a very high end French interior design firm.
The company – which usually kits out luxury yachts and planes – spent 1992 until 1994 working on the house, curating pieces from all over the world.
The super-lush company also did some redecoration – estimated to have cost a total £50 million – in the late 90s or early 2000s, but very few items have been added since then.
It is thought the Saudi owner has moved out temporarily to let the auctioneers clear the place, before it is understood the same company will refurbish the whole mansion again.
Mark said he would be “disappointed” if the entire two-day sale brought in less than £500,000.
Among his favourite items are a Barovier and Toso Murano glass chandelier which would have cost £60,000 – but will likely go for between £1,500 and £2,000.
He also likes a five metre long Persian Nain carpet with wool and silk highlights. It would have cost #60,000 and will probably sell for around £3,000.
A lot of four 24-carat gold-plated wastepaper bins – which cost £420 each – are estimated to go for as little as £10 to £15.
Mark added: “All of the furniture is immaculate, but some of it looks like it has never been used. It is in showroom condition.
“We are very privileged to go to these places. You go in and it is quite inspiring to see how luxurious it is, but not only that, but how immaculate it is.
“This place is all immaculate and everything is in its rightful place.
“The bathrooms all of the fittings – the baths, the shower hoses and the like – are all gold-plated and all got semi-precious stones in them.
“It’s got a combination of Jade and Onyx, and there is some Opal in it as well.
“If you went to order a bath, on it’s own, from the manufacturer it would cost you #300,000.
“The design work and specification is mind-boggling. They are not brass taps you get down Homebase – they are gold-plated and all decorated with jewels.”
The sale will be held in Brompton Room, Millennium Knightsbridge, in London on July 14 and 15.
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