Nick and Christian Candy are British businessmen specialising in the luxury housing market working as Candy & Candy. This week, they achieved the sale of a £199m flat - possibly the biggest residential property sale ever.
Certainly it suggests that confidence is returning to the luxury property market, and that set us thinking... how would you furnish a £199m flat? The high price of any property is as dependent on the decor as it is on the square footage and location.
You'd want it to have collectibles as unique and high quality as the flat itself. Some things are obvious: a luxury home will need to have an exceptional cellar, in which are contained a range of fine wines and spirits.
A few cases of Chateau Lafite and Latour from good years are a necessity, with perhaps a few bottles of Romanée Conti 1988 in case of a visit from Royalty or the Pope. For other tastes, a fine Ardbeg or Macallan single malt Scotch whisky will be well worth keeping available.
Outside, the garage will contain a nice Jaguar E-type - some examples of which are surprisingly affordable.
The main living spaces will be filled with art, both contemporary art such as paintings by Jasper Johns and Frank Auerbach, and decorative art such as Chinese Imari vases like those from the Benjamin Edwards collection.
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There will also be a display of classic photographs - perhaps some signed images of music icons such as Elvis and Jimi Hendrix on one of the walls. As a counterpoint, a suit of Japanese armour, such as the heavily decorated suit which sold for £120,000 at Bonhams recently.
The apartment will of course have its own library, filled with first edition books. Perhaps a complete set of the works of Shakespeare (or Ian Fleming?) and maybe even a Gutenberg Bible, or the remains of a famous person's Bible such as that of Robert Burns.
A library would be a good place to keep something a little more sneaky - George IV's bookcase. The then future monarch carried out an affair and used a secret passageway to reach his lover's room without being observed. The entrance was hidden in the bookcase. Perhaps it could link to the next flat.
The flat will certainly have a balcony, or rooftop areas. Stargazing will be enhanced by keeping close at hand something of those who have travelled out into the night skies. Perhaps Buzz Aldrin's signed training suit for his Apollo 11 mission to the moon could be kept within view.
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The bedroom could be kept fairly plain, with the only exception being the bedside table, on which would be kept a unique watch, such as the Russian Imperator, designed by Grieb & Benzinger, and maybe, just for amusement, Winston Churchill's dentures (recently sold for £17,480) in a glass.
Last will be the bathroom. In here, John Lennon's recently sold toilet seat might find a home (framed, of course). Alongside the tub itself might hang Marilyn Monroe's bathrobe (sold for $120,000) in case she drops by...
That's not likely of course. Unless the geneticists in the next building are having any luck with the strands of hair you lent them.
