Torch my own stately home? That’s insane
Tycoon arrested after inferno tells MoS of devastation at loss of ‘life’s work’
THE fierce flames which engulfed the historic Grade Ilisted Parnham House last week may have died down, but an incendiary mystery remains amid the smouldering ashes of the Dorset mansion as police investigate an arson attack.
For the wealthy and respected Treichl family, who have spent years lovingly restoring the 16thCentury property after buying it in 2001, one question is perhaps most troubling – who could do such a terrible thing?
And in a turn of events that shocked the family and sleepy, rural community near Beaminster in equal measure, Michael Treichl, 68, a hedge-fund manager, was arrested and interviewed by police.
Today, to their huge relief, the family can reveal he has been released without any bail conditions. It is understood that evidence which police believed was suspicious has now been discounted – although the Treichls remain determined to help officers find the true culprit.
Last night, speaking for the first time about the fire, Mr Treichl told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I am devastated at the loss of our home. The restoration of Parnham has been my life’s work and it is insane to think I could have destroyed it. I am now intent on rebuilding and restoring it.’
It will come at an emotional and financial cost. Michael and his wife Emma, 54, reputedly spent £10 million restoring Parnham House after buying it two years into their marriage.
Michael, who belongs to a family of distinguished Austrian bankers, is himself a leading light in hedge fund Audley Capital Advisors LLP. He would fly in and out of the estate by helicopter while Emma, a former Vogue model who grew up in London and the Bahamas, worked with Clarence House interior designer Robert Kime to turn it into a modern family home.
The project included building indoor and outdoor swimming pools, stables, a wet room, a gym, a flower room, a cinema, a ‘grown-ups room’, separate ‘his and her’ bathrooms for the parents, a bedroom with en-suite for the nanny and generous rooms for each of their children – Max, 17, and Charlotte, 15 – plus Emma’s son and daughter Carlo, 21, and Sofia, 26, from her first marriage to Italian banker Stefano Marsaglia.
But the house also contained an extraordinary wealth of historic architectural detail, faithfully maintained by the Treichls. All this was lost last week.
It was a passing milkman who raised the alarm and fire crews were called to the blaze just after 4am on Saturday April 15. Such was the extent of the inferno that it took until Wednesday for the fire brigade to finally extinguish the flames.
As for the involvement of police, it is being said locally that a hoard of silver antiques and other valuables found piled out- side an entrance raised suspicions. A jerry can carrying as much as 25 litres of fuel was abandoned on the lawn, supporting the theory that arson may have been involved.
The family are still, understandably, in shock both at the loss of their home and at Mr Treichl’s arrest. They have been advised by lawyers not to discuss the events of that night so as not to jeopardise an ongoing investigation. However there are some who suspect the fire may have been caused by sophisticated thieves anxious not only to cover their tracks but to make it impossible to know whether treasures were lost in the blaze or stolen.
Fortuitously, the house was empty on the night of the fire. Mr Treichl was in London, while Emma was with Max and Charlotte with relatives in Provence – and only found out about the blaze in a phone call with her husband later that morning. ‘Michael was at Parnham the following day, looking at the burning wreckage,’ Emma recalled. ‘He was gutted, very emotional. He could barely speak. I don’t recall his exact words – he was sobbing.’ Distraught, Emma rushed home to be by his side.
‘It’s strange – when this is happening you think about the things that you need. I did think to myself, when I was rushing to get to the airport, that I’d ask the children to just bring my luggage later,’ she said.
‘ But I realised that my luggage was everything I had left – which brought home what had happened in such sharp focus. It also made me realise that my family was safe, and that’s all that matters.’
However, nothing could have prepared her for the sight that greeted her at Parnham.
‘Looking at the charred remains of our home was shocking, disturbing – it is still hard to put into words,’ she said. ‘I saw the
‘I’m now intent on rebuilding it all’
external walls, I saw the smoke and damage the fire had done, but I couldn’t get terribly close to the building i tself because i t was unsafe. Eventually I was allowed by the fire service to get on a cherry picker above the building so I could see inside. It was like looking into a doll’s house, without the roof. There was nothing there.’
Along with personal possessions which make up the history of any family were irreplaceable items of historic and cultural value. As part of the restoration of the property, the Treichls had painstakingly searched for and recovered paintings and furniture which belonged at, or had a connection to, Parnham. But equally, priceless family heirlooms were also lost.
A collection of medieval armour amassed by one of Michael’s relatives included a suit which survived the Turkish occupation of Vienna in 1529.
Another painting of a member of the wealthy Strode family, the original owners of the house, by Eng- lish portrait painter Sir Thomas Lawrence is also presumed lost. Distressingly, the Treichls have lost their wedding photographs. Indeed, only their wine collection survived – preserved in the building’s ancient cellar.
‘I haven’t really allowed myself to make a full tally of everything we’ve lost because it’s so enormous and so utterly comprehensive that I can’t really start to calculate it,’ Emma says. ‘Every single item has gone. The house just collapsed in on itself and only the exterior walls have, somehow, survived.
‘What’s most upsetting to lose are the things that have been passed down from generation to generation. You’re like custodians when you inherit these things and now we’ve broken that chain.’ It is this which will spur the family on to a new restoration project. They have already been in touch with English Heritage, who will help oversee any work.
But despite any potential insurance payout, much of the significant cost of returning Parnham to its former splendour will be met by the family. ‘ We’re going to rebuild, absolutely,’ Emma said. ‘I’ve never once doubted that. We can’t not do it. I have to keep thinking about the future; how we’re going to live our lives, how we’re going to move forward.
‘ The whole complication of rebuilding and dealing with English Heritage will be much greater than the insurance claim itself.
‘The cost of replacing something which is irreplaceable is unimaginable; it’s huge. We’re working with English Heritage to find a way forward, but it’s a very long process.’
She added: ‘I don’t feel angry, I feel very sad. I don’t want to think about it, it’s not a very healthy way to look at the circumstances, and the reality of now.’ Such a r reality marks an extraordinary turn of events for a family who have led remarkably fortunate l lives. Emma met Michael w when she was representin ing an artist who had been c commissioned to paint his p portrait. Worried the subje ject might fidget, Emma w was invited along and sp speak to Michael during si sittings. Ten sittings later, the couple had fallen in love. Although not a country girl at heart, Emma agreed the couple would buy Parnham House for a reported £4 million with the aim
‘I realised my luggage was all I had left’ ‘He could barely speak – he was just sobbing’
of making it their family home. It was to become a monumental restoration project that would cost millions.
Parnham House was first owned by the Strode family, who lived there for 200 years. But even then it was overshadowed with tragedy. During the English Civil War, Sir John Strode’s widow Lady Ann was killed while trying to protect the house from Roundheads under the authority of Thomas Fairfax.
In 1764 it passed to the Oglanders of Nunwell. But by the 1920s it was used as a country club before being requisitioned during the Second World War for use by the American military. In the grand hall, soldiers of the 16th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army drew up plans for the D-day landings, and Eisenhower even once dined there.
In the 1950s and 1960s it was transformed into a nursing home and was later used as a school for craftsmen training to be cabinetmakers.
The Treichls returned it to a f amily home, al beit one t hat required plenty of help. Staff included a butler with a second as backup for the weekends, a French cook, a secretary, two cleaners and a housekeeper.
Shooting trips for around 30 guests were regularly organised at weekends and an annual food festival was held in the grounds.
As well as amassing his own wealth, Michael is the son of a baroness and a banker and his brother Andreas is the chief executive officer of a leading Austrian bank.
Despite t he family’s wealth, Emma once revealed to Tatler magazine: ‘Sometimes I have to really enjoy this because I don’t know how long it will last.
‘I’m always afraid of what will happen – not in a gloomy way, but I sense it’s not always going to be like this and I have to try to remember this bit now.’
Her words have sadly become prophetic. It seems now that her memories, particularly of Parnham, may have to sustain the family for some time to come.