Led Zeppelin and Take That Have A Bust Up.
Led Zeppelin guitar legend Jimmy Page is in a fight with neighbour Robbie Williams over their properties in London. Singer Williams wanted was to make a major refit to his new home on the edge of Holland Park. He plans to be installing a recording studio, a lift and adding a window that would overlook Page’s garden. The Tower House has been Page’s since 1972, when he was known for high jinks and an interest in black-magic books.
Page, 71, has written to the council saying he is “extremely concerned” that the works will create an eyesore in the conservation area and risk damaging his own Grade I-listed property. Williams has been here before — last time he moved to west London, in the early Noughties, he installed a recording studio.
These two houses are famous in the area, where neighbours include media scions, financial giants and the super- successful international set. Williams HQ, built in 1876, is a plush example of civilised Queen Anne-style, while Page’s place, though built only a year earlier, was designed in defiance of taste. It is a homage to all things Gothic, complete with its own turret. On paper, the two owners are more similar; both music stars are romantically linked with actresses — in Williams’s case, Ayda Field, 35, and Page is seeing Scarlett Sabet, 25. But how do the houses measure up?
If Robbie Williams was looking to impress his American wife with the best of British, he made the right choice. King Edward VII described the master bedroom of Woodland House as “one of the finest rooms in London”. It has gone through a few incarnations since then. Winner was after a “country vicar” feel and enlisted the help of interior designer Tessa Kennedy, whose clients include Stanley Kubrick and Claridge’s, and whose interiors are described as “not for the faint-hearted”. He was disappointed with the result, calling it the “house of a lottery winner”. After some adjustment he was happier — think colourful patterns galore. How will Williams take that?
Jimmy Pages – The Tower House divides opinion. Some say it is “a work of art” and “a fine example of medieval revival done with humour”, others say being inside made them feel “uncomfortable” and “sense evil”. Architect William Burges’s original 1875 design remains largely unchanged. Each room is themed and Page has said he still notices new details after 33 years. The hall is “Time”, the drawing room “Love” and what was Burges’s bedroom is “Sea”, with murals of mermaids and sea-monsters that are reflected in the mirrored ceiling, designed for candlelight to bounce off. Page brought in his own wardrobe, with paintings of medieval maidens and poppies painted on it in red and gold — but sadly could not find space to display his seven metre-long Pre-Raphaelite Burne-Jones tapestry.
“Fame” is the dominant note in the dining room, with a frieze of fairy tales on glazed tiles and fireplaces disguised as battlements. There is a spiral staircase, not to heaven, but the turret, where a single light is often left on — terrifying children on dark winter nights, according to one neighbour.
Secure luxury is the byword for the basement of Williams Woodland House. Winner said “it would be nice to have a swim occasionally. I had the space and thank God I had the money [to install a pool]”. There is also a private cinema and a panic room for when you can’t just calm down, dear.
The depths of The Tower House are filled with dusty old books about the occult. Jimmy Page is fascinated by dark magician Aleister Crowley and in the Seventies owned a bookshop specialising in his work. When it closed, his basement was the perfect place to store unsold stock.
The singer bought Grade II-listed Woodland House for £17.5 million last year, although Winner believed it was worth more. He tried unsuccessfully to sell it for £60 million in 2011 and then discussed turning it into a museum. It had been in the Winner family since 1946 when Michael’s parents snapped it up at the bargain price of £2,000 because of bomb damage. However the house has only 31 years remaining on the lease — the freehold belongs to Charlotte Townshend, an aristocrat who is one of the wealthiest women in Britain.
There have been bidding wars over The Tower House. Page paid £350,000 for it (£4 million in real terms), trumping David Bowie — Led Zep were at their height so he could afford to invest. The previous owner, actor Richard Harris, paid £75,000 in 1970, upping his bid after discovering that entertainer Liberace had made an offer. Harris described his investment as “the biggest gift I have ever given myself”. He had great affection for the house, having slept outside it when he was a struggling student. If Page ever did want to sell, it would be worth at least £20 million today.
When Winner lived at Woodland House he had 3,400 light bulbs installed, which he quipped made the house visible from space. He liked to talk and had 86 telephones installed. Williams prefers to communicate online, live tweeting the birth of his son last year.
The Tower House may be full of collectors’ items but it is not practical. It would be a nightmare to install electric plug sockets in the frieze and sculpture-covered walls. But who needs to plug in an iPad when they have some of the greatest art of the 19th century on their walls? Page built an annex for modern life, which his daughter Scarlet, 43, lived in briefly.
Proper gardens are a real find in London. The one at Woodland House is decent at three-quarters of an acre — plenty of space for the mini-Williamses to play in. It is filled with tropical and native trees.
There is a garden at The Tower House but it is of secondary importance to the interior. Every Gothic pile needs ivy, though, and when a neighbour dared to trim it back they were promptly ticked off by a peeved Page.
http://youtu.be/Shw0mYoeGvU