BOILING MAD!
Locals’ anger as Ramsay makes £2m holiday home out of town’s last bank
As one of the most successful chefs in the world, you wouldn’t think he would have any trouble putting food on the table.
But that hasn’t stopped Gordon Ramsay charging £7,000 a week for families to stay at his new luxury holiday home in Cornwall – much to the ire of locals.
The celebrity chef bought the £2million property in the harbour town of Fowey, which is already besieged by second home owners. The building had formerly been the town’s last bank but had closed before Ramsay – thought to be worth £133million – decided to purchase it.
Commenting on a Cornwall Facebook page, Fowey resident Kerri Lee said: ‘This is the sort of c**p which prices locals out of their own towns.’
Holidaymaker sarah Carter said: ‘He’s just giving the impression only “Hooray Henrys” visit Cornwall and that simply isn’t the case. We want affordable accommodation and Cornwall residents on the housing waiting list would love a place to call home as well.’
The town is now left with a mobile Barclays truck that visits only two days a week – forcing residents to travel seven miles out of town to do their banking. Captain master, Paul said Thomas, the building the Fowey should harbour never have closed in the first place.
He said: ‘Banks leaving places like this is a real scandal. We used to have three banks, now we only have one mobile bank that comes two days a week. We’ve got one cash machine and in the summer the queues are insane.’
The Grade II-listed property shut as a Lloyds branch in 2015.
The notoriously angry chef – who has 16 Michelin stars – then bought the building the following year.
Many locals were initially hoping it would be turned into one of his awardwinning restaurants. But it has been converted luxury holiday private into a terrace home state-of-the-art, complete featuring with threestorey a fire a pit and al fresco dining overlooking the harbour and iPad-controlled lighting. Naturally, the four-bedroom home boasts two enviable kitchens with the appliances and crockery chosen by Ramsay himself. If families need a bit of culinary inspiration, then they are in luck – Ramsay has placed a handful of his own cookery books on the shelves. It is his third property in Cornwall. He also has a five-bedroom mansion in the north coast town of Rock which he bought for £4.4million and a £4million property in nearby Trebetherick.