An iconic home that has periodically been for sale for some 7 years with hardly any variation in the price asked for it
The fantastically named Thunderbird, set in Branksome Park, Poole’s answer to “Millionaire’s Row,” is a prime example of the saying:
“If it sells in a week, it’s underpriced… If it doesn’t sell in a year, it’s overpriced.”
Branksome Park is an area of Dorset that has always been popular with personalities. Amongst those who have lived there are J. R. R. Tolkein, Tony Blackburn, Bob Monkhouse and Tom Jones. This is a 360 acre estate where houses sell for up to £6,000,000 and one that is said to be well thought of because of it’s opulent dwellings and proximity to beachfront walks at Alum and Branksome Chines.
Periodically on the market since 2005, the design of the art deco styled Thunderbird was conceived by Eddie Mitchell of Seven Developments to reflect his love of Gerry and Slyvia Anderson’s Thunderbirds and their creation, Tracy Island. Mitchell is a man who doesn’t go for conventional names: other properties he’s developed include Bowie, Daytona, Dragon Fly, Moonraker and Utopia.
Shaped as a bird with two wings, the high-tech 6,000 square foot Thunderbird includes vast open plan living areas, 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and a heated triple garage. Leisure facilities take the form of a cinema room with 50” Panasonic wall mounted plasma screen, a gymnasium with three exercise machines and a 50ft infinity style pool. The property also boasts a heated triple garage and it is set in a plot of approximately an acre of landscaped grounds.
Thunderbird is a well thought of building. It won the Best UK and the Best Dorset Property at the Daily Mail Property Awards in 2006 and the Best House Award at the National Housebuilder Design Awards in the same year. Though reports have periodically spoken of footballers, aristocrats and even Noel Gallagher buying it, the house has for some strange reason languished on the market for some 7 years. Seven Developments have now again placed it on the market, this time through Sotheby’s International Realty.
Since coming to the market in 2005, the price for Thunderbird began at £4,000,000 and has gone as low as £3,500,000. Seven years have made little difference to the attitude to pricing as Sotheby’s now ask £3,950,000 for the freehold interest. On a separate website, Thunderbird is also available for £6,250 per month should someone prefer to only temporarily live like Agent Tracy.
How long, I must ask, will it be before someone can finally announce: “Thunderbird: Going, going, gone?”
Update: 12th October 2014: Thunderbird is now being marketed through Hamptons for £2.595 million.
For more information on Thunderbird, contact Glynn Evans of Sotheby’s International Realty’s Canford Cliffs office on +44 (0) 1202 709 283 or email him at [email protected]. More details can be viewed at: http://www.sothebysrealty.co.uk/eng/sales/detail/204-l-1908-4000029354/thunderbird-poole-en-bh13-7an
For more information about Seven Developments, contact them on +44 (0) 1202 716 873 or email [email protected]. View their website at: http://www.sevendevs.com
For more information on Branksome Park itself, go to the community’s website at: http://branksomepark.com
Beautiful home. The reason it hasn’t sold, I’m reliably told, is very complicated. Something to do with the owner and his marriage supposedly.
It certainly wasn’t because of the artwork on the walls!
I was responsible for that!