Spectacular homes with spectacular owners
Part 3: Special features

Jimmy Page

Founder of Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, lives in a Grade I listed Victorian castle in London. The property was designed by architect William Burges between 1875 and 1881 in the style of 13^th century gothic. The property is constructed of red brick, has irreplaceable interiors, and has several eye-catching stained-glass windows.

The principal rooms in the “Tower House” all have themes and tell a story – time, love, and literature. The hall’s theme is time, with giant murals of the sun and moon on the ceiling and stained-glass windows representing the seasons. The drawing room’s theme is love, and has a medieval Cupid painted on the ceiling.

Jimmy was 28 when he bought this property and said that he knew what a privilege it was to live in a property like this. The only special feature it doesn’t have is a stairway to heaven, but that tower almost does the trick.

Michael Caine

Caine’s beautiful Grade II listed property, known as Rectory Farmhouse, is set in gardens with 200 yards of River Thames frontage. The property has six bedrooms, four bathrooms, six reception rooms, a library, study, a cinema room (complete with individual refrigeration in each arm rest), and even an indoor swimming pool with its own spa. And not a lot of people know that.

When asked about the two bathrooms off the primary bedroom, Caine answered this was the key to a “long and happy marriage”.

Within the grounds there is a guest cottage with a sitting room, bedroom, and bathroom on the ground floor, and an additional bedroom on the first floor.

There is also a vegetable and cut flower garden, as well as an orchard, large open areas of lawn, ponds, a lake, tennis court, and lime walk down to the river Thames, where there is a landing stage and boathouse.

Caine put the property on the market in 2020 for £6,950,000, which finally sold for around half of that, allowing the actor and wife Shakira to downsize.

Yoko Ono

Located in Liverpool, 251 Menlove Avenue, Allerton, is the childhood home of the Beatles’ John Lennon. Also known as Mendips, this is a grade II listed building that the National Trust initially had no interest in acquiring. However, Yoko Ono, Lennon’s wife, bought the house in 2002 and donated it to the National Trust to save it from demolition and property spectators.

In 2000, when “In His Life: A John Lennon Story” was filmed in the property, a downstairs wall was demolished to make room for cameras. When donated to the National Trust in 2002, the house was then restored to its 1950s appearance.

The property didn’t become officially listed until February 2012 when it was listed for its historical association, architectural interest, interior fittings, and cultural interest. The property is a classic example of a typical 1930s, middle-class, semi-detached house made special for surviving as it did from the long period of Lennon’s residence.

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