A houseboat in Chelsea for £795,000
Ratty, Mole, Mr. Badger and Mr. Toad in Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows lived by the belief that: “There is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats”. Whomever purchases the M.S. Mouette, a converted former passenger ferry moored on Chelsea’s Cadogan Pier, is likely to be someone who’ll also live by this mantra.
Reduced in price from £1 million to £795,000 and on the market since 2011, the German built M.S. Mouette is not a boat for everyone. It has just one bedroom so wouldn’t suit a family but with 1,380 square foot of internal accommodation including a vast 29-foot long reception room and 700 square foot of decks, this is a perfect pad for someone who likes to entertain.
The current owner, Wolfgang Steck, found the 111.55-foot long M.S. Mouette in 2003 on Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland and cut her in two to transport her across the Alps to Bavaria. Rebuilt and restored complete with original wooden flooring and maple Bauhaus inspired furnishings, Steck settled the boat on the Thames in 2005 and used it to host a party for 100 guests during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012.
Of why he is selling, Steck, who has bought a mooring in Venice, told Savile Row magazine:
“Yes, it will be a wrench to sell her. But I’m not here so much and she deserves to be lived in, not left alone. I have many wonderful memories”.
Mooring fees for the M.S. Mouette, which is available through Harrods Estates, are £11,954 per annum. Whilst messing about on this boat, therefore, doesn’t come cheap, it’s certainly something that any buyer will ultimately cherish.
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