MCHEZAJI SUPER STAR ANUNUA JUMBA LA BILLIONI 77.5 ZA BONGO ONA HAPA!!
Beckham anunua jumba la kifahari lenye thamani ya £30million sawa na Tshs. 77,493,300,000.00 (Bilioni 77.5): The new Beckingham Palace: Four nail bars, a catwalk, even a waterfall - the secrets of the Beckhams' riotously naff new £30million London Home
Beckham anunua jumba la kifahari lenye
thamani ya £30million sawa na Tshs. 77,493,300,000.00 (Bilioni 77.5): The new Beckingham Palace: Four nail bars, a
catwalk, even a waterfall - the secrets of the Beckhams' riotously naff new
£30million London Home.
Floor ya 3: ina bedroom 3 za wageni, sehemu
ya pool table na baa ndogo. Floor ya 2:
in master bedroom1 na master birthroom 1, pia ina sehemu ya manicure, hair
dressing na make up na sehemu hii ni mfano wa theatre dressing room pia ina
sehemu nzuri sana ya kupumzikia. Floor ya 1: ina Victoria’s dressing room,
restaurant-standard kitchen, dinning room na family living room. Ground floor: ina offisi ya Victoria, mlango wa siri, study
room, play room, store, powder Room. Lower ground floor: Luxury spa and GYM, store
room (kuijua vizuri nyumba ya Beckham soma zaidi chini)
David and Victoria Beckham
are rumoured to have paid £30million for 'Beckingham Palace MkII' in Kensington
& Chelsea and have put aside £5million for renovation
One of its first residents
in the 1880s was a successful Yorkshire wool broker. In the 1920s a Peruvian
diplomat lived here, and in 1930 it became a boarding house for genteel single
ladies.
By the 1990s, the dawn of a
flashy new epoch was reflected in the installation of a vast subterranean pool
complex beneath the house, which had been bought by a rich horse-breeder.
In 2005, a Guernsey-based
holding company purchased the property and it is believed to have been
unoccupied for several years.
This week its new owners
were revealed to be Victoria and David Beckham, who intend to put their own
unique imprint on the property.
When the retired
footballer, his fashion designer wife and their four children move in, the
house will once again take on a new hue — that of our celebrity-obsessed era.
The couple, who have been
renting a property in Kensington since January, have, according to one source,
paid more than £30 million for the house, which stands on one of the smartest
streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
At more than 9,000 square
feet, it is one of the largest in the area, boasting eight bedrooms and seven
bathrooms.
Victoria, 39, has
instructed the interior designer Kelly Hoppen — who is a friend — to renovate
the house, with an upper budget of £5 million.
After discussing Victoria’s ‘vision’ with her at length, last week plans
for the renovation were submitted to the local council, where they are publicly
available.
New new mansion will come
fitted with four nail bars, in case Victoria decides to have guests to stay, as
well as a restaurant-standard kitchen and a gym complete with 'calming' fish
tank
While the property’s Grade
II-listed status prevents major alterations to the exterior structure (a mercy,
perhaps), Victoria has very definite ideas about what she wants done inside.
So let us, then, take a
tour of Beckingham Palace, Mark II — Victoria and David Beckham’s idea of urban
palatial living — starting at the bottom of the five-storey house and
travelling up to the top.
On the lower ground floor
there will be a spacious gym and massage area (the pool was removed several
years ago).
According to a friend, the
former Spice Girl turned fashion designer hopes to recreate the atmosphere of a
luxury spa.
‘There will be four massage beds, a fish tank
which apparently has calming properties, and a cascading water feature on one
wall,’ says the friend.
Nearby will be a luxury
powder room with flattering mirrors and lots of expensive products.
Across the hall from the
massage area will be two ‘boot rooms’ — not literally for Victoria’s boots (of
which she has many pairs, several thigh-high) but for deliveries and storage.
There will be a playroom
for the couple’s three sons, 14-year-old Brooklyn, Romeo, 11, and Cruz, eight,
and daughter Harper, two, as well as a small study, a utility room and larder.
The old Beckingham Palace,
a 12-acre estate in Hertfordshire, was reportedly sold for £12million last
month
Moving up to the ground
floor, there will be the family living room, a huge kitchen leading into a
dining room and a ‘home office’ for Victoria.
Intriguingly, the entrance
to Victoria’s office will be a secret ‘jib’-style door — the type that blends
into panelling or a book case.
The door will be soundless,
which will give Victoria the opportunity, if she so wishes, to walk in at any
moment and surprise her assistants.
The kitchen will be the
heart of this area of the house.
‘Although Victoria isn’t
really one for cooking, the kitchen will be restaurant quality,’ says the
source.
The first floor — all 2,000
square feet of it, the size of a large family house — will be devoted almost
entirely to Victoria and David’s bedroom space. The master bedroom and ensuite
bathroom alone take up around 1,000 sq feet.
The two studies which are
currently located on this floor will be done away with. In their place will be
a giant-sized dressing room and a moderately large dressing room. No prizes for
guessing who will be getting the enormous one.
According to the friend,
Victoria’s dressing room will have a wooden floored catwalk-style ‘runway’, on
which she can parade her new outfits.
The walk-in wardrobes will
feature an electrically operated ‘runner’ — like those used in large dry
cleaners’ shops — so that Victoria can press a button and wait for her dress of
choice to arrive in front of her.
Last week, Victoria gave
away some items of her clothing to the Red Cross to raise money for victims of
Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, but presumably there are plenty of frocks
left over to fill the new wardrobes.
Leading on from Victoria’s
dressing room, which is likely to feature pictures of her style heroine, Audrey
Hepburn, on the walls, will be an area set aside for ‘manicure, hairdressing
and make-up’.
David and Victoria will be
moving into the new house with sons Cruz, Romeo and Brooklyn (left to right)
According to the friend,
there will be four nail bars, four comfy chairs attached to sinks, just like
those in a real hairdressing salon, and a make-up area with vast mirrors and
surrounded by lightbulbs, just like those backstage at a theatre.
‘Victoria wants four of
everything, in case she has friends over, such as Tana Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay’s
wife,’ explains the friend.
The hairdressing area leads
out to a charming terrace, overlooking the manicured 100 ft oriental garden, where
Victoria and her friends can enjoy drinks together.
Upstairs on the second
floor will be three bedrooms, all with ensuite bathrooms, for the Beckham boys.
Right at the top of the
house, on the third floor, will be a ‘snug’ for 39-year-old David. In this
Victoria-free haven will be a pool table, as well as a mini-bar.
There will also be three
guest bedrooms, all with ensuite bathrooms and one with a dressing room. Within
the grounds at the bottom of the garden, there is another small house for overspill
guests.
State-of-the-art security
is to be installed throughout.
And what about the interior
furnishings? On her website, Miss Hoppen, who became a ‘dragon’ on BBC 2’s
Dragons’ Den earlier this year, states: ‘Kelly’s ever-evolving style is
underpinned by a subtly coordinated fusion of East meets West; clean lines and neutral
tones, blended with charming warmth and sumptuous opulence.’
The house will include a 'man-cave' for David with snooker tables
and a mini bar, and four nail bars and a catwalk for Victoria
So lots of cream, beige,
taupe: no neutral shade is left untouched in a Kelly Hoppen scheme. Her use of
dark wood and slate in contrast to all these shades of cream is undeniably
soothing, but does rather bring to mind the interior of a Thai restaurant.
And whether this ‘fusion’
of East meets West is entirely right for a traditional stucco-fronted London
mansion is debatable.
But Victoria, for one, is a
great fan of 54-year-old Miss Hoppen’s interiors. Indeed, she flew her
out to decorate the family’s six-bedroom £13.5 million home in Los Angeles six
years ago.
According to the friend,
Victoria has entrusted Miss Hoppen with all the finer detail at the London
house.
‘Kelly will get the
cutlery, the crockery, cushions, pictures — the lot,’ says the friend.
It is significant that the
Beckhams have chosen the Royal Borough of Kensington as their base following
their return from LA.
Their previous home, the
so-called Beckingham Palace — which sold a couple of months ago for
£12 million — was set in the Hertfordshire countryside.
It acquired its nickname on
account of the blingy bathrooms and furnishings and line of fast cars parked
outside. Kensington is seen as a new beginning for the Beckhams, a move away
from bling.
Victoria — who is so
aspirational her nickname in the Spice Girls was ‘Posh’ — believes an elegant
house in Kensington means the family have truly arrived.
‘Victoria sees Kensington
as the epicentre of where things are happening,’ explains a friend. ‘Simon
Cowell lives nearby, so does the singer Gary Barlow.
‘She likes the shops, of
course, and it’s on the right side of London for Heathrow Airport.’
Victoria and David have
viewed several large houses over the past few months, but what particularly
appealed to them about this house was its grandeur — or ‘kerb appeal’.
There is, after all,
speculation that at some point Beckham will get the knighthood his wife feels
he so richly deserves.
‘Victoria believes the
place will be suitable to receive visitors if they become Sir David and Lady
Beckham.’
Its relatively close
proximity to Kensington Palace, home to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, is a
factor, too, says the friend.
‘It all gives weight to the
general opinion that right now the borough of Kensington is the place to be,’
the friend continues.
It’s no secret that the
Beckhams are rich, but the price tag on the new property has caused some surprise.
Can they really afford it?
Well, an examination at the Beckhams’ accounts shows the couple’s finances to
be doing very nicely indeed, despite David’s retirement from professional
football in May.
For the Christmas issue of
Paris Vogue the couple are pictured together in a racy shoot and have talked
about their marriage, appearing stronger than ever
His company, Footwork
Productions, showed a profit for 2012 of £14.7 million, up from £13.4 million
the previous year.
It appears Beckham’s
‘bodywear’ range for H&M and his range of aftershaves must be flying off
the shelves.
Meanwhile, Beckham
Ventures, which handles Victoria’s fashion business, had a turnover last year
of £15.36 million, up from £6.77 m in 2011.
The company posted a profit
of £2 million, compared to a loss of £2.1 million in 2011.
This week Victoria has been
out and about near her new London home, promoting her accessories range at
Selfridges and attending the launch of Miss Hoppen’s new book, Design
Masterclass.
The Beckhams are now
waiting to hear whether their elaborate scheme will be granted planning
permission.
They are expecting to hear
in January whether the application is successful. If it is, Miss Hoppen will
begin work immediately.
‘It’s a huge project but
Kelly is on a mission,’ says a friend. ‘She wants to wrap it up in six months.’ The only major work to take
place in the house during its 150-year history has been the installation of the
swimming pool in the 1990s.
Now it is braced for
massage rooms, nail bars, a mini hairdressing salon and a dressing room with a
catwalk runway. A serious house is to be subjected to trivialities. This week, by way of
response, an air of cool disdain appeared to have settled upon the property.
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