After municipal authorities discovered the enormous edifice hidden between hay bales and tarpaulin, Robert Fidler was ordered to destroy it. The PS1 million Honeycrock Farm in Salfords, Surrey, remained hidden for over seven years before it was demolished in 2007 by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council.
Robert Fidler claimed that he had no idea his house was still there after moving away from home. He said that he thought it had been taken down as it was no longer useful and had caused him problems with his tenants.
However, the council believed that the structure could potentially be reused and so decided not to send it to a landfill site or industrial plant. Instead, they used explosives to bring it down.
Robert Fidler, the man who built the home in Salfords, Surrey's greenbelt, was ordered to demolish it or face jail time. Instead, he appealed the case and won. This legal battle lasted for over 20 years and ended only when Fidler died in 1998. His wife continued to live in the house until she too died in 2013.
Fidler came from a family of builders. He started work at age 15 as an assistant carpenter on a fishing boat in Canada. After several years, he bought the boat and sailed around the world for three years. When he returned home to England, he set up his own building business.
This business was very successful and he eventually bought land around Salfords where he could build houses such as this one. The Fidlers were very wealthy and they still own lots of land today. In fact, some people say that the house is still visible from the road outside of its grounds!
Here is what the house looked like in 1990 when it was first photographed by an architect who was working with Surrey County Council to have the house declared historic. You can see that most of the walls are made of brick and there are wooden beams running across the ceiling.
The council, which estimates it has spent PS50,000 fighting the project, declined to give retrospective approval, and he has subsequently spent tens of thousands of pounds on court sessions. Robert Fidler covertly constructs his PS1m mansion and conceals it beneath a massive pile of hay in June 2002. The owner's building permit is issued by the local council, but construction work begins two months later under the watchful eye of a security guard.
Fidler tells the Sunday Mirror that he wanted "to create a private oasis within a city that's well known for its parks and gardens". He adds: "I'm sure many people will come here to relax and have a quiet chat over a coffee."
However, not everyone is happy about the new park. Some residents claim they have been left feeling intimidated by the presence of the security guard and worried about their children playing alone in the garden area. One father complains that his 15-year-old son has been verbally abused by other boys on the street because they think he lives in the house.
"It's a terrible, terrible situation," says Fidler. "But I don't want to move out. This is my home."
He adds: "People need to feel safe in their own homes. Otherwise what's the point of having one?"
In Graham Greene's short novella "The Destructors," the members of the Wormsley Common gang were unsure why they wanted to destroy "Old Misery's" house—a structure that had previously survived several German air strikes. However, they decided that it was their duty as "destroyers" to do so.
Greene also wrote a long essay on the topic titled "Why Destroy This House?" in which he concluded that destroying Old Misery's house would fulfill three desires: destruction, revenge, and justice.
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The irascible Rev. Francis Gastrell, who was battling with the local authorities over taxes, demolished the mansion in 1759. His wife had chopped down the mulberry tree in whose shadow Shakespeare is claimed to have been reading three years before because she was disturbed by tourists peeping into the yard. The land upon which the house stood was sold and the money went toward paying off debts.
Shakespeare's family were yeomen farmers and they probably lived in a small cottage on their estate. There are no records indicating where this house might have been but it probably wasn't much more than a shed since there's no evidence that it was ever rebuilt after the fire.
In 1596, when William Shakespeare was killed in a car accident at the age of 45, he was survived by his wife, two children and a sister. The family was very poor and depended on Elizabethan Act 5 Eliz. 1.c. For support. This act authorized the seizure of all lands, goods, and merchandise belonging to dead persons without compensation.
It's believed that William Shakespeare earned around £20 per year at most. He was not only a talented writer but also an actor and director as well. However, there is no concrete evidence to prove that he made any money after he turned 30.
In 1608, eight years after William Shakespeare died, his daughter Judith married Thomas Greene.
Jeremy Clarkson demolished his old property in the Cotswolds to make space for his new one. Clarkson received approval in July to destroy his PS4 million five-bedroom farmhouse near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, and replace it with a new one. The only thing that remains of the house is a massive mound of debris and wood. It's not clear when or how the demolition took place; however, according to reports, it happened sometime last year.
Clarkson bought the property in 2005 for £750,000 ($1.18 million). He sold it two years later for £2.45 million ($3.6 million). At the time of its destruction, the house was being sold for £3.5 million ($5.25 million).
The TV personality has been in hot water recently with both advertisers and viewers over an incident during the season premiere of Top Gear in which he punched ex-driver Olly Purnell in the face. While some people think he should lose his job over this incident, many others believe he has brought it upon himself by degrading other cars on the road.
His future at Top Gear isn't certain yet as the show's producers are still deciding what role, if any, he will have going forward. But regardless of what happens to him, the house he built will be replaced with another one just like it. That's how sure they are about demolishing his property.
The Glenbuck House He died in 1914, and his heirs ultimately demolished the roof (after 1945?) to avoid paying tax on the family home, and the house gradually disintegrated since the softer red native Mauchline sandstone is very friable when exposed to rain. The walls were also removed during this time.
Today only the stable block remains, along with some of the internal doors and windows. There is no evidence that the owners restored the house after it was abandoned for many years.
The site today is a car park but there are plans to build 150 homes on the land.
In addition to being a residence, the Glenbuck House also served as a meeting place for farmers from the surrounding area to discuss business matters and pass laws. This role made it equivalent to a town hall.
The building was entered through a porticoed front door, which was flanked by two-storeyed Doric columns supporting an entablature and pediment. Above the entrance was a large window with stained glass panels depicting scenes from classical mythology. The house was lit by gas jets attached to metal rods which could be raised or lowered to regulate the heat or light desired.
Inside the house was divided into several rooms, including a dining room, drawing room, library, and kitchen. There were also three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
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