The New Aristocracy

[Mich the Tester]

National Trust?

yES iNDEED, MY APOLIGIES FOR ABSENT CAPITALISATION. i HOPE THIS POST MORE THAN MAKES UP FOR THAT.

[Freamon]

An old heavy metal musician from Birmingham (which doesn't narrow it down by much) bought a house near my parents which had been in the possession of an old aristicratic lady and was basically falling down. He's done a fantastic job of restoring the house, has kept as close as possible to the original design, hasn't installed a helipad (thankfully) and is planning to open the gardens a few days each year as part of the village open garden days. Now OK, it's a romantic idea to dream of such a house being inherited within a local family or even handed to the national trust, but the reality is that restoring and maintaining a large old house costs an awful lot of money, as anyone who grew up in even an old farmhouse can tell you; surely in the long run it's a good thing that fine old houses end up in the hands of those who have the income needed to keep them standing? At some time in the future, the rock star/footballer/airhead celeb will leave or die, but the house will still be there, and probably would have been demolished if not for that celeb.

Sure, I'd rather see great old country houses in the hands of people who grew up in the country and appreciate the local culture and what the estate means to local people, but the most important thing is that they stay standing and are maintained, and to be fair, not all 'celebs' have bad taste.

National Trust?

[Mich the Tester]

An old heavy metal musician from Birmingham (which doesn't narrow it down by much) bought a house near my parents which had been in the possession of an old aristicratic lady and was basically falling down. He's done a fantastic job of restoring the house, has kept as close as possible to the original design, hasn't installed a helipad (thankfully) and is planning to open the gardens a few days each year as part of the village open garden days. Now OK, it's a romantic idea to dream of such a house being inherited within a local family or even handed to the national trust, but the reality is that restoring and maintaining a large old house costs an awful lot of money, as anyone who grew up in even an old farmhouse can tell you; surely in the long run it's a good thing that fine old houses end up in the hands of those who have the income needed to keep them standing? At some time in the future, the rock star/footballer/airhead celeb will leave or die, but the house will still be there, and probably would have been demolished if not for that celeb.

Sure, I'd rather see great old country houses in the hands of people who grew up in the country and appreciate the local culture and what the estate means to local people, but the most important thing is that they stay standing and are maintained, and to be fair, not all 'celebs' have bad taste.

[wurzel]

We all have houses in Frome.

Well shops anyway.

Tell me, which one?

[MarillionFan]

Don't move to Frome then. It's full of 'em:

Link

We all have houses in Frome.

Well shops anyway.

[wurzel]

I was listening to 5 Live the other day and they had some wonk on there going on about how the celebrity class is replacing the old aristocracy and I had to grudgingly concede that he was right.

Round where I live, every time a big pile comes onto the market some celebrity seems to be in the mix. There's a pad not 1 mile from me which I've known all my life just come on the market. Had always been in same family IIRC but now the old lady who remains there has decided its time to up sticks.

This has led to me dreading that some ghastly celebrity is going to move in and lord it up over us peasants. Funny that I have no probs with the old style aristos doing just that but the thought of some horrible old slapper like Jordan being in that position is too much to bear. It must be my inherent snobbery coming out.

Don't move to Frome then. It's full of 'em:

Link

[RichardCranium]

It must be my inherent snobbery coming out.

Very likely since you've just posted to tell us:

- round where you live there's lots of 'big piles';
- one such 'big pile' is not 1 mile from where you live;
- that you have always known this area;
- that you're in with the local families that built the big piles;
- that you think the sort of person who would buy a 'big pile' just because they can afford it is 'ghastly';
- you live in a manor or village type community where the resident of the big house is the local gentry;
- that you think your opinion should be considered when selecting the new local 'gentry';
- that you might have Jordan as a neighbour soon.

Yes. You're a snob.

You'll fit in just fine on here!

[pacharan]

I was listening to 5 Live the other day and they had some wonk on there going on about how the celebrity class is replacing the old aristocracy and I had to grudgingly concede that he was right.

Round where I live, every time a big pile comes onto the market some celebrity seems to be in the mix. There's a pad not 1 mile from me which I've known all my life just come on the market. Had always been in same family IIRC but now the old lady who remains there has decided its time to up sticks.

This has led to me dreading that some ghastly celebrity is going to move in and lord it up over us peasants. Funny that I have no probs with the old style aristos doing just that but the thought of some horrible old slapper like Jordan being in that position is too much to bear. It must be my inherent snobbery coming out.