From The Sunday Times
February 21, 2010
Ronnie Wood: Can’t get no satisfaction
After a costly divorce, the Rolling Stone is set to lose £1m on his Chelsea home
Anna Mikhailova
The age of his girlfriends may be fast diminishing, but so is the value of Ronnie Wood’s property portfolio. The Rolling Stones guitarist has put his Queen Anne townhouse in Chelsea, west London, on the market for £5.875m — and faces a seven-figure loss.
The ageing rocker is set to lose £1.375m in the sale of a home he bought before splitting up with his wife. This comes less than two years after Wood, 62, paid £7.25m for the property, on the same road where Keith Richards and Mick Jagger once lived.
The 4,228 sq ft house has five bedrooms, four bathrooms and three receptions. There is planning permission to dig down and create a two-storey basement with an underground swimming pool, which would almost double the size of the house.
Wood had intended to carry out the work, and gutted the house, but the project never got under way. The price has been reduced since the property went on the market in October at £6.5m.
The house stands in one of upmarket Chelsea’s oldest terraces, built between the mid-17th and early 18th centuries. Famous former occupants of the row include Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Hilaire Belloc, the writer best known for his Cautionary Tales for Children. The painter Walter Greaves, who was taught by James McNeill Whistler, lived at Wood’s house until his death in 1930.
“It’s a big project, aimed at a property-savvy owner,” says Simon Rose, partner at the Chelsea office of Strutt & Parker, the selling agent for the house. “This is a fantastic opportunity, but probably more for someone who has done a project before.” He estimates that the work, which would cost millions, could boost the resale price to more than £10m.
A source close to the sale said Wood originally bought the house as an investment for his children. The transaction was made in March 2008 in the name of Sanctum Properties, a company in the name of both Wood and his son Tyrone, 26.
Last year, Wood’s personal fortune was estimated at £35m, down by £5m from 2008. As well as the Chelsea townhouse and the £10m marital home in Surrey, it includes a £3m estate in Co Kildare, Ireland, which Wood has reportedly been trying to sell on the quiet since last year. He also owns music and painting companies, and co-owns a London art gallery, Scream, with Tyrone and his stepson Jamie.
Wood has already paid out £6.5m in a costly divorce following the breakdown of his marriage last year to his wife of 24 years, Jo, 54, who is still living in the family home in Kingston, southwest London, and is reportedly planning to sell it. Last November, the couple, who met at the height of the Rolling Stones’ fame in the 1970s, were granted a decree nisi separation by the High Court after the musician admitted adultery.
A stormy two-year relationship with Ekaterina Ivanova, a Russian waitress 40 years his junior, whom he met in a London club, culminated in Wood being taken into custody for allegedly throttling her in the street during an argument. He spent several hours behind bars, but was not charged. He has since been romantically linked with a Brazilian polo coach, Ana Araujo, 30, and again with Ivanova. (He was recently snapped leaving her house.)
Last month, Wood, known for his rock’n’roll lifestyle, reportedly checked in at the Priory clinic, the rehabilitation centre favoured by celebrities. A spokesperson for Wood declined to comment on the sale, saying that this was a private matter.
Strutt & Parker; 020 7225 3866, struttandparker.com
http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/buying_and_selling...
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