Led Zeppelin manager's Grade I listed Horselunges Manor goes on the market for £4.5million

[zeplz71]

Led Zeppelin manager's Grade I listed Horselunges Manor goes on the market for £4.5million, complete with parlour, billiards room, gym and of course Stairway to Heaven

By Olivia Jones | 09.10.2023

Led Zeppelin manager's Grade I listed Horselunges Manor has gone on the market for £4.5million.

The mansion - complete with a parlour, billiards room and a gym - even has a its very own 'Stairway to Heaven', with one of the earliest examples of a well staircase, a flight of steps that have a landing and turn back on themselves.

They were built in the early 16th century and were singled out by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner in his book The Buildings of England.

The manor was the home of Peter Grant in the 1970s and 1980s.

Grant was the legendary rock band's manager from their creation in 1968 through to their breakup in 1980 and is described as 'one of the shrewdest and most ruthless managers in rock history'.

The house featured in The Song Remains the Same, the 1976 concert film about the band, and Grant suggested basing Swan Song Records, the label the band created in 1974 when their contract with Atlantic Records ended, at the property.

The incredible historic home includes a six-bedroom main house, additional self-contained accommodation and 30 acres of land in Hellingly, East Sussex.

It was built in about 1408 by John Devenish, whose family owned it for several generations.

It has a number of medieval architectural and period features including elaborate wood panelling and carving, stained glass and oriel windows, moulded timber beam ceilings and elaborate fireplaces.

It also has a natural spring-fed 30ft wide moat with a bridge across it to access the house and formal gardens.

Grant bought the house in the 1970s for £80,000 and spent a further £10,000 on renovations.

When Led Zeppelin broke up and then the record label folded in 1983, Grant effectively retired from the music business to the estate.

He sold the property in the early 1990s. Grant died, aged 60, in 1995 after a heart attack and was buried in the local church at Hellingly.

The current owners have had the property for the last 30 years.

The main house a grand and imposing Great Parlour, an impressive dining room, a billiard room and a gym.
There is also an attached self-contained two-bedroom cottage annexe, a self-contained three-bedroom flat above the eight-car garage block and a two-bedroom Stables cottage and a number of farm buildings.

The grounds come to 5.5 acres and include the formal gardens surrounding the main house, raised vegetables beds and a greenhouse, a heated swimming pool, which is in need of updating, and two small paddocks.

There is also another 24.5 acres of farmland and woodland and about 450 yards of double bank on the Cuckmere River.

Robert Batcheller, from estate agents Batcheller Monkhouse, said: 'What must it be like to live in a house with such history both ancient and modern - if the walls could talk!

'Peter Grant, manager of the world-famous rock band Led Zeppelin, lived at Horselunges and the house featured in the film The Song Remains the Same.

'Sir Nikolas Pevsner devotes nearly a page in his book 'The Buildings of England' to Horselunges Manor, which is praise indeed when the great majority of the houses he chose are dealt with in a few lines. He stated Horselunges Manor to be 'One of the most spectacular of Sussex timber houses'.

'It is an exceptional Grade I Listed moated manor, rich in medieval architecture.'

 

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12501439/Led-Zeppelin-managers-Grade-listed-Horselunges-Manor-goes-market-4-5million-complete-parlour-billiards-room-gym-course-Stairway-Heaven.html

 

 

[SteveAJones]

I have visited Horselunges Manor a few times and I must say it is very impressive indeed. I own a hard cover book published in 1928 by the Sussex Archeological Society which provides a great deal of information on it's history,  to include detailed floor plans. When I locate that book in my archives I do intend to have it carefully scanned for posterity.

As a by the way, Peter is not laid to rest in the local church yard, rather in the Hellingly Cemetary, located on the B-2104. 

 

 

[John M]

That purchase price in the 70s seems low so I did some checking.  Let's include the renovations Grant did.  The total would be 90,000 GBP.  Using overall inflation (not real estate inflation) in Britain since 1973 we get 1,060,000 GBP today.  The current exchange rate to USD is 1.25 so that is $1,325,000 today.

Another way to look at this is take 90,000 GBP Grant spent and convert it to dollars in 1973.  The exchange rate back then was $2.40 so that gives us $216,000 in 1973.  Ok, that is equal to $1,508,000 today using overall inflation.

Based on these rough estimates Grant got quite a deal back in the 70s even if we include the renovation spending listed in the article.

If he bought the house in 1971 those two years would add a bit more to the inflation adjusted figure.  For example the USD figure would be $1,611,000 based on todays money.   Using GBP we get 1,271,000 as the equivalent of 90,000 GBP in 1971.   With todays exchange rate of $1.25, that is roughly $1,588,750 in today's dollars.

Today in the US $1.6 million would not likely buy you an estate like that.  I don't know about real estate in Great Britain.  I wonder how much 1.27 million pounds would buy today?  

 

[SteveZ98]

I wasn't familiar with the grading system for buildings, so I checked and only 2.5% of the ones that are graded are listed as grade 1. That makes this house one of the finest old buildings in the country. More info about the grading system: 

https://www.comparemymove.com/advice/surveying/listed-buildings-explained#:~:text=Grade I listed buildings are,making it the rarest option.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listed_building

Edited September 12, 2023 by SteveZ98

[chillumpuffer]

53 minutes ago, John M said:

That purchase price in the 70s seems low so I did some checking.  Let's include the renovations Grant did.  The total would be 90,000 GBP.  Using overall inflation (not real estate inflation) in Britain since 1973 we get 1,060,000 GBP today.  The current exchange rate to USD is 1.25 so that is $1,325,000 today.

Another way to look at this is take 90,000 GBP Grant spent and convert it to dollars in 1973.  The exchange rate back then was $2.40 so that gives us $216,000 in 1973.  Ok, that is equal to $1,508,000 today using overall inflation.

Based on these rough estimates Grant got quite a deal back in the 70s even if we include the renovation spending listed in the article.

If he bought the house in 1971 those two years would add a bit more to the inflation adjusted figure.  For example the USD figure would be $1,611,000 based on todays money.   Using GBP we get 1,271,000 as the equivalent of 90,000 GBP in 1971.   With todays exchange rate of $1.25, that is roughly $1,588,750 in today's dollars.

Today in the US $1.6 million would not likely buy you an estate like that.  I don't know about real estate in Great Britain.  I wonder how much 1.27 million pounds would buy today?  

 

Real Estate with Land, especially in that part of the UK, is very expensive. On top of the asking price, you can add on Agents fees (1% say) and Stamp Duty, which in this case is another £550,000. To run that type of property would cost endless thousand of pounds. You can't change anything as it's a Grade 1 listed property. If I had that sort of money, I wouldn't live in the UK anyway.

[rm2551]

On 9/12/2023 at 11:00 PM, chillumpuffer said:

If I had that sort of money, I wouldn't live in the UK anyway.

That's interesting Chilly my man. If I had that kind of money - or any kind of money, I'd still live here. Not in this house, but not far (-2hrs) from it.

[chillumpuffer]

On 9/15/2023 at 2:08 PM, rm2551 said:

That's interesting Chilly my man. If I had that kind of money - or any kind of money, I'd still live here. Not in this house, but not far (-2hrs) from it.

The real issue in this country is the geographical gap between the rich haves and the poor have nots. The South, in particular, the South East gets the lion share of the money. The poor North gets basically fuck all. It hardly surprises me when I watch the (BBC) news and they want to lead a story on poverty, up North they go. Every fucking time. God forbid a poor story from the South East. They never can find one. The Government treat (Illegal) Asylum seekers better than locals. They get houses, money, in fact everything. Violent and crime generally is out of control. We witness a gang of filth trying to steal a Scooter the other week. Outside a large Supermarket, on a Saturday afternoon in front of horrified shoppers. These vermin have been terrorising towns and villagers around the town for ages and the Police don't do a thing about it.

If money wasn't an option we would move out of this overcrowded, damp miserable Island. Where to one could ask? Australia would be very high on our list

 

[rm2551]

14 hours ago, chillumpuffer said:

The real issue in this country is the geographical gap between the rich haves and the poor have nots. The South, in particular, the South East gets the lion share of the money. The poor North gets basically fuck all. It hardly surprises me when I watch the (BBC) news and they want to lead a story on poverty, up North they go. Every fucking time. God forbid a poor story from the South East. They never can find one. The Government treat (Illegal) Asylum seekers better than locals. They get houses, money, in fact everything. Violent and crime generally is out of control. We witness a gang of filth trying to steal a Scooter the other week. Outside a large Supermarket, on a Saturday afternoon in front of horrified shoppers. These vermin have been terrorising towns and villagers around the town for ages and the Police don't do a thing about it.

If money wasn't an option we would move out of this overcrowded, damp miserable Island. Where to one could ask? Australia would be very high on our list

 

Yeah, I hear you mate, we have similar issues with crime here. Especially in small towns where youth crime is at times rampant. We had to move interstate when we started up our family as we were renting in Sydney which was just starting to ramp up, and even back then housing prices in Sydney were insane. So to Brisbane we went. It was a big move, especially away from my wife's family but affordable housing, better weather, better (nicer) people, much more relaxed vibe (almost like a medium size country town in a lot of ways) made it a good decision (still scary as fuck). I was lucky I was able to transfer and stay with the same company. We have never looked back and still can't believe how great a move that was. Sydney is great, I loved growing up there, but it is just too crowded and expensive now. Brisbane is magical in comparison and the Sunshine Coast (1.5hrs from us) is an absolute paradise. If you ever bite the bullet, I'd say come to Brisbane. Avoid Sydney and Melbourne unless you have significant coin.

[ledzepfan63]

always wonder why grant,s kids did,nt keep and sell the house

[SteveAJones]

7 hours ago, ledzepfan63 said:

always wonder why grant,s kids did,nt keep and sell the house

Peter sold it and spent his final years in Eastbourne. He once famously said it cost 800 pounds a month to heat!

[chillumpuffer]

1 hour ago, SteveAJones said:

 He once famously said it cost 800 pounds a month to heat!

That was then. Imagine how much it would cost now? Our modest 2 bedroom stone cottage costs us the best part of £200 to heat and light a month.

Edited September 20, 2023 by chillumpuffer

[ledzepfan63]

5 hours ago, SteveAJones said:

Peter sold it and spent his final years in Eastbourne. He once famously said it cost 800 pounds a month to heat!

thanks for responding