Redlands, a Victorian mansion, sold the same day it went up for auction – despite it’s chequered past. Originally put on sale for a guide price of £100,000 to £125,000, bidders were not put off by its string of bad luck.
First sold by seed merchant Mr E. Sidney Thoday in 1910 to stockbroker William Stanley Spark, the new owner soon lost all of his fortune in the 1929 stock market crash.
The 16-room property was then sold to Russian lecturer Mr A. Besicovitch out of necessity but during Mr Besicovitch’s occupation, the Second World War broke out.
Once peace had resumed, Redlands – situated in the Cambridgeshire countryside – remained unscathed alongside its one acre of land.
The property was then sold to banker Mr F. L. Dawson but, in 1956, a roaring fire demolished the elaborate mosaic flooring, large reception spaces and the balcony that run the length of the first floor – as well as the roof.
Redlands has been uninhabited since the 1950s fire, but two more fires ravaged the place. The most destructive fire took place in 1996 which destroyed all the internal floors, most of the rooms, and what had remained of the original roof.
During this time, Redlands was owned by the father of Mr Keith Tyler, who went on to inherit the property.
Mr Tyler said: “My father was a carpenter and joiner by trade with a sideline of rush cutting, and he bought Redlands originally to store boats and to have an area for drying the rushes.
“His dream was to renovate the property and to this end he accumulated a huge amount of building materials, and being an inveterate collector throughout his life, also acquired everything including cars, boats and agricultural machinery, much of which remains at Redlands.
“Unfortunately, age overtook his ability to complete a renovation of the property, and he died in 2007 aged 100 years, leaving his dream unfulfilled.”
Throughout Mr Tyler’s ownership, his family maintained the grounds but he put it up for sale in the hopes that “someone falls in love with the romance of Redlands”.
Mr Tyler said: “It really is time for someone to take it on and bring it back to its former glory. It is now completely overgrown, with what was once a beech hedge now standing at well over 20 feet high, trees all through the inside of the property and brambles at head height.”
The property had no electricity, gas or water connections at the time of its sale. Ian Kitson, the director of Cheffins who handled the latest sale of the property, said at the time of auction: “Despite the site needing some significant clearing, Redlands is a magical property in a fairytale setting.
“We are expecting significant interest from both developers and private buyers.” Having sold within 24 hours for £445,000, the auction director wasn’t wrong.
