Evicted: Conductor and his Harry Potter musician wife with debts of £3million
A RENOWNED conductor, his musician wife and their children have been evicted from their home after a dispute with a builder led to financial ruin.
Peter and Kathryn Bassano have been declared bankrupt and were forced this week to leave their sixbedroom house in the Chilterns where they had lived for 16 years.
In an exclusive interview, Mr Bassano revealed that his wife – who played the viola on the Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings film soundtracks – had to face the bailiffs alone after he was rushed to hospital with high blood pressure caused by stress.
‘The bailiffs have changed the locks to stop us returning,’ he said. ‘We are homeless and relying on the kindness of friends.’
Their home was seized on the instructions of Northern Rock and a bridging loan company, which say the couple owe them £636,000. Mr Bassano disputes that figure. But docu- ments seen by this newspaper show that the Bassanos’ total debts amount to more than £3million, owed to mortgage companies, law firms and the local council.
Mr Bassano, 68, said his troubles began when he had to borrow heavily after becoming embroiled in a legal battle with a local builder over the cost of an extension to the house in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.
The former Royal College of Music professor claims he is now unable to sell the property – once valued at £3million – because it has been blighted by the HS2 high-speed rail link.
In a further setback, Mrs Bassano, 56, has been unable to work as she was forced to sell her viola earlier this year, after losing a court battle over loan repayments on the 200-year-old instrument. Mr Bassano said: ‘The extension was intended to increase the value of the house but once we got involved in litigation, it was difficult to withdraw without incurring further costs.
‘I don’t blame anyone else for our financial predicament. But we were hit by a perfect storm of the banking crisis, my earnings dropping and a huge fall in the value of the house.’
Their four children – aged between 12 and 22 – have been educated at Eton and Cheltenham Ladies’ College.
But Mr Bassano denied the fam- ily led an extravagant lifestyle and said the school fees were funded by bursaries and scholarships.
Their debts began to accumulate during the dispute over the extension in 2002, said Mr Bassano, who has been a guest conductor with leading orchestras.