Ancestral Homes
Wall Street Journal, 2023.
Letting Go of the Family ‘Pile’ - a story for The Wall Street Journal Real Estate, January 2023. (L) Rod and Jules Thomas at Boulston Manor (Wales), Matthew Clarke and his sister Bridget at Gatcome Court (Bristol).
Looking after the property and its grounds is a “pretty much full-time job,” said Mr. Thomas, a retired chartered surveyor. The couple don’t employ any staff and do all the work themselves. It is also too large for two people, and is expensive to run. Its oil and electricity bills total around $12,300 per year, said Mr. Thomas.
Mr. Thomas’s grandfather, Birt Llewellin, purchased Boulston Manor in the 1950s after making his fortune in the family butter-churn business. When Mr. Thomas was around 30, his parents inherited the riverside house, which is in the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire, and lived there until his father died in 2002. At that point, he said, his mother realized that the 10-bedroom, 9,128-square-foot house was too large for her to manage alone.
Matthew Clarke and his sister Bridget grew up in Gatcombe Court, which is now for sale just outside of Bristol. The 10-bedroom mansion, parts of which date back to the 13th century is on the market with a guide price of $2.45 million USD.
Article published in the ‘Mansion’ section of The Wall Street Journal on Friday 20th January 2023. Article by Ruth Bloomfield.
︎ ‘Letting Go of the Family ‘Pile’’
Wall Street Journal, 2023.
Letting Go of the Family ‘Pile’ - a story for The Wall Street Journal Real Estate, January 2023. (L) Rod and Jules Thomas at Boulston Manor (Wales), Matthew Clarke and his sister Bridget at Gatcome Court (Bristol).
Looking after the property and its grounds is a “pretty much full-time job,” said Mr. Thomas, a retired chartered surveyor. The couple don’t employ any staff and do all the work themselves. It is also too large for two people, and is expensive to run. Its oil and electricity bills total around $12,300 per year, said Mr. Thomas.
Mr. Thomas’s grandfather, Birt Llewellin, purchased Boulston Manor in the 1950s after making his fortune in the family butter-churn business. When Mr. Thomas was around 30, his parents inherited the riverside house, which is in the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire, and lived there until his father died in 2002. At that point, he said, his mother realized that the 10-bedroom, 9,128-square-foot house was too large for her to manage alone.
Matthew Clarke and his sister Bridget grew up in Gatcombe Court, which is now for sale just outside of Bristol. The 10-bedroom mansion, parts of which date back to the 13th century is on the market with a guide price of $2.45 million USD.
Article published in the ‘Mansion’ section of The Wall Street Journal on Friday 20th January 2023. Article by Ruth Bloomfield.
︎ ‘Letting Go of the Family ‘Pile’’
© Josh Adam Jones, 2023. All Rights Reserved.