DUKES IN DIFFICULTIES

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 29 October 1921, Page 8

DUKES IN DIFFICULTIES

STATELY HOMES FOR SALE. COST OF UPKEEP PROHIBITIVE. i a An UMVW, Aug. 11. JU>rds and Commoners are At present follow-sufferers from the, housing prob-j-2?' ■•1* affectSi them, however, from different anglee. While thousands of ordinary mortals are endeavouring to devise means of obtaining houses, many of: the most prominent members of; the': peerage are wonderjng how they can get rid of the - houses they have merited; . . , '^'flo l&nA .and estate pages of papers ' like the Times and Morning Post are nlled with advertisements in which dozens of the stately homes of England are offered for sale. But selling a gold brick" for the nominal sum of a shilling is an easy matter compared with that of selling a mansion or from 10 to 100 rooms. Of course, the New Rich (a term which nowadays seems to be applied to almost anybody whoso wealth does not date back at least three generations) still sometimes oblige, but few fortunes, however new , and extensive, are equal to the strain' of maintaining, houses such as some of those now on the books of estate agents, after providing 10s in^the £ for income tax, and probably another 5s in other forms . of taxation. ' l A great change is coming over ihe English, countryside, and has also manifested itself in the wealthy residential quarters of the West End of London, ihe upkeep of many great houses/which oven m pre-war days often constituted i a,*J eavy burden upon their owner*, has or late years become impossible. Devonshir© House, in Piccadilly, once the ■ scene of much magnificent hospitality, I has for lon gj been vacant. Just behind ,ni is Lansdowne House, which the ! Marquis of Lansdowne has Teased to , Mr. Gordon Self ridge, of Self ridge's l&tores.^ Five great mansions in Bel- [ grave Square have sale boards in front of them-and Earl Buxton, Gov«rnorS?Cr?i a* ? ou*, h Africa- is offering his . dignified family residence" in Buckingham Gate for sale, mentioning, among _other - inducements, that ft faces Buckingham Palace." These are all signs of the times; but even more significant is the disposition of owners of great country houses to sell their properties. The Duke of Portland last week told his tenants that even if he hsmself was able to remain at the family seat—Welbeck Abbey—it was exceedingly doubtful if his heirs would be able to do co, owing to "the present enormous weight of taxation and the extremely onerous incidence of

c© © death duties." Welbeck Abbey is one of the histonte <'show places'* of Eng. land; 15 miles of subterranean tunnelling, together with vast underground libraries, a ballroom, and a ridine school (in which the late Mr. JosepH v l*?}?^? m' once addressed a meeting ok. 10,000 persons) being among its notable features. ■ * ; Some idea of the cost/of maintaining | such homes may be gleaned from the tact that there are stated to be riot less than /0 country .mansions in Great Britain, at each of which 2GO or more servants are employed. When the Duke Devonshire was in residence at Chats*?s£Jr ouse lt lB s»ld to have cost him *i/,(XK) a year, and even when closed its ■ upkeep and that of its grounds-->vnich include'some wonderful gardens and a, park 11 miles in circumferenceis £12 000 annually Altogether there are between 900 and 1000 large country houses m Great Britain, each of which se?vants * °f "pt less th£^n' «> Ji<3n£ ? uke u Df Bucc; ePKhi A© Duke of {{©word— who complains, incidentally^ fWumi.- hl! ,coH ntry ««me, Belvoir T^S \^ :si tv/ y ls a quarter of a mile from his. bedroom—and other landowners, have recently f furnished the Times with detailed statements which show the impossibility of-maintaining their houses out of the, reVenue from their estates. Sit Rider Haggard-who Vi K ,W a A utli on I t.y.on agriculture, and visited Australia m this capacity come years ago-states thdt "practical^ most of agn<;ulturaV England Is for sale »