Say Hello to classic Lock House
Pop star Adele rented lavish, remote property after hitting the big time Anderson Cooper interviewed Adele and toured her rented mansion for 60 Minutes in 2012. Rooms for recreation and leisure abound in the large country estate. Large windows and chandel
If selling millions of records didn’t signal that Adele was moving up in the world, then moving houses surely did.
Six or seven years ago, as her hits “Rolling in the Deep,” “Set Fire to the Rain,” and “Rumour Has It” filled the airwaves, the powerhouse pop singer was tucked away in a massive country estate in southeast England.
“It’s a fantastic place if you want privacy,” says realtor James Mackenzie, noting that Adele is indeed “a very incredibly private person.”
The location of the historic manor house among the trees at the end of a long driveway in West Sussex is “very remote,” he adds. “You’d never know it was there.”
So big and remote, in fact, that Adele, who was in her early 20s at the time, was nervous about “rattling around” there on her own so she hired a bodyguard to stay with her, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail.
Nevertheless, she was “so excited to be renting such a lavish property” after living in a “dingy flat” above a store in London, the tabloid said.
The singer-songwriter, who won a Grammy for best new artist in 2009 and an armful since then, reportedly paid about $24,000 a month to rent the mansion, called Lock House.
Private or not, she opened her door to Anderson Cooper of 60
Minutes in early 2012. During the tour, the fun-loving celebrity baked cupcakes with the TV journalist during a mock cooking show they called “Rolling in the Dough.”
Adele now juggles her career around married life and motherhood.
“My career’s not my life. It’s my hobby,” she told Rolling Stone when her much-anticipated third album, 25, came out in November 2015. Her 2018 tour is expected to include more than 100 concerts in Europe and North America.
At home in 2012, Adele, who’s known for big hair, introduced Cooper to “June Carter” and “Jackie Collins,” a couple of her favourite wigs that were strewn on the bed in the master suite, which has attached dressing and sitting rooms.
With Adele now long gone and no sign of someone like you . . . er, her, wanting to take up residence, Lock House is looking for a new owner.
Not much has changed inside since she lived there, according to Mackenzie, of Strutt & Parker, an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate.
“You walk into an enormous hallway that has a very welcoming feel,” he says.
Built by a wealthy family at the turn of the 20th century, the expansive house is full of fireplaces, big windows, chandeliers and hardwood floors. The home abounds with “beautiful woodwork,” says Mackenzie, noting the main reception hall’s carved Jacobeanstyle staircase and panelled walnut room.
A ballroom has been repurposed as a modern, open kitch- en and family room totalling more than 1,000 square feet.
The property, which was refurbished and expanded by new owners in the 1930s, at one point served as a convent inhabited by nuns. More recent renovations added an indoor swimming pool and gym while retaining Art Deco features from the ’30s such as built-in bedroom furniture and bathrooms.
Outside, there’s a second pool, helicopter hangar, tennis court and separate guest cottage on the 35-hectare grounds, which are covered by sweeping lawns, mature trees and gardens.
“It has a sense of history which makes it attractive,” Mackenzie adds.
And, hello, what about bragging rights to that famous songbird who once roosted there? When she was young(er).