Chateau La Gardine

Secrets of America's most expensive home

With her £56 million Chelsea home undergoing a two-year renovation, the F1 heiress can now nip off to her new pied-à-terre in LA to give a boost to her model/actress/designer career plans. With Manor House in Bel Air – on the market for $150 million (£92 million) – she has bagged the essence of the look-at-me-I’m-rich aesthetic. With 56,500 sq ft of floor space, this 1988 chateau is larger than Versailles, but considerably less classy.

There’s a tragi-comic video on YouTube of the agonisingly face-lifted vendor, Candy Spelling, taking us around the home she created for her late husband Aaron, producer of Charlie’s Angels, Dynasty and Beverley Hills 90210. Passing from one characterless, cavernous space to another, Candy titters about how the house grew as she didn’t have any idea of scale on the plans. The result is a mere 123 rooms, because Aaron knocked a whole wing off, thereby releasing parking space for 100 cars. Even so, he was able to quip: “Big? I’m still trying to find the bathroom.”

In an interview earlier this year, Petra – who sounds both fragile and determined to be a businesswoman – said that what she most likes doing with her fiancé, 29-year-old entrepreneur James Stunt, is watching TV. Should that pall, they will have a bowling alley, fruit machine arcade, barber’s shop and beauty salon, four “wet” bars and an indoor skating rink, as well as the museum Candy built for her dolls.

If, after their wedding in August, the Stunts tire of cosy suppers à deux, the kitchen can cater for 800 guests. James, an enthusiastic collector of Château Pétrus, can show them the wine-tasting room. After the meal, guests can repair to the Spellings’ pride and joy, the viewing room, with a vast screen and projectors that appear from behind pictures.

Petra will never have to battle her winter woolies into vacuum packs, because a whole floor is given over to walk-in cupboards. Clutching one of her 400 handbags, she can then descend the double staircase designed with Gone with the Wind in mind.

Is all of the above enviable or grotesque? It depends on whether you buy the dream of acquiring and flaunting extreme wealth. Taste comes into it, too. The house was put on the market in March 2009, and the gossip is that Petra may have got it for a knock-down $75 million to $85 million because it was hard to shift. Even she who has been called the “most spoiled girl in the world”, was not prepared to pay over the odds for a vast mock-up, on a smallish plot of land, with no views.

The Bildeston Crown – Suffolk hotel, restaurant & bar » Red Wines

Red Wines

RED WINES

BEAUJOLAIS

96. Moulin à Vent Chateau de Belleverne Beaujolais France

Very rare to see a Cru Beaujolais aged for this long, however the 2005 vintage was a outstanding year. This wine really shows Gamey at its best. £26.00    

  97. Beaujolais Domaine Chatelus de la Roche 2009

From a small parcel in the village of Bois d’Oingt. Garnet red in colour with notes of blackberries and raspberries with a fresh soft finish. £28.00

98. Fleurie Le Madone Domaine Chaintreuil 2008

Gamay at its very best. A rich wine with lovely vibrant purple tones. With cherry & summer fruit aromas accompanied by beautiful soft red fruit flavours. £32.00

BORDEAUX

99. Château Peychaud Maisonneuve Cotes De Bourg 1999

A mid weight wine with great charm. A well constructed wine from a reliable Chateau. £42.00

100. Domaine Des Gourdins St Emilion 1998

This wine shows fine oak with strong plum flavours. £56.00

101. Château Lamarche Canon Candelaire Canon Fronsac 1999

Located on the hill of Canon Fronsac leaning steadily towards the valley bottom, gaining the best of the warm summer sun, it is a rich wine with great elegance and finesse. £60.00

102. Château Garraud Lalande De Pomerol 2005

This wine is mouthfilling, voluptuous, textured & displays amazingly ripe tannins. Freshness and flavours of coffee, raspberry and black cherry linger on the finish. £65.00

103. Château La Cabanne Pomerol 1998

Plenty of blackberry and cherry character with round and soft tannins and just the smallest hint of vanilla oak. Full bodied, juicy and delicious. £99.00

BURGUNDY

104.  Pinot Noir De Bourgogne Domaine Collin-Bourisset 2007

100% Pinot Noir from both the Côte Chalonnaisse & Mâconnaise. Ruby coloured with purple hues of beautiful intensity A wide range of flavours including black stone fruit & spicy notes, along with velvet textures. £34.

The wines of the Rhône Valley and Provence

Heritage Auctions Fine and Rare Wine Auction Catalog #5071, Beverly Hills

Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide, 7th Edition, The Complete, Easy-to-Use Reference on Recent Vintages, Prices, and Ratings for More Than 8,000 Wines from All the Major Wine Regions

An encyclopedia of the wines and domaines of France

The Wine Enthusiast Essential Buying Guide 2007