Pete Townshend's palace fit for a king (of rock)

By Jane Slade
Posted: 2010/07/07

JANE SLADE takes a look around Pete Townshend's historic new home, which cost him £4.5million and will be open to the public

NEXT month Who legend Pete Townshend will move into Ashdown House, which sits in 500 acres of rolling fields on the Berkshire Downs in the race-horse training capital of Lambourn. Pete bought the National Trust-owned property to mark his 65th birthday in May, spending £4.5million on a "chateau" built for a queen.

It may seem quite a lot to pay for a 41-year lease (equating to £10,000 a month) but Pete will reign over a stately pile comprising a 17th-century former hunting lodge built in the reign of Charles II, an orangerie with an 18-metre swimming pool and marble steam room, two lodges, three cottages, a tennis court and 100 acres of garden. In other words, the perfect spot for Pete and his rocker friends to make as much noise as they want without disturbing the neighbours.

"He is so excited about it," says a close friend. It is wild, remote and peaceful and where he wants to be at weekends to do some writing."

The six-bedroomed property, which resembles a French chateau with a Dutch twist, was built by the first Earl of Craven supposedly for Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, sister of Charles I whom Craven is said to have secretly married.

The house is almost a perfect cube and has spectacular views from the roof, which is under renovation. The only downside to Pete's new pile is that he has to allow the general public to visit two days a week.

The house has only one staircase, a massive oak and lime centrepiece that accesses all four floors. Visitors are allowed to climb the seven fl ights (100 steps) to the roof, which is crowned with a dome cupola.

Pete will have to ensure he clears the stairwell and hallways of his guitars, plectrums and chainsaws (he is a keen collector) and lock all the doors to his private quarters each Wednesday and Saturday between April and November so his fans can have a nose around for the admission price of £2.80.

"We are hoping he will let us open it more often during the summer months," an optimistic National Trust guide told me. "We have had an increase in visitor numbers this year."

This is hardly surprising. In fact one can sense a frisson of excitement in this quiet, lonely corner of the English countryside that Pete's arrival may attract more visitors over and above the population of cows, deer and horses, before the house has to be closed in a couple of years for exterior refurbishment.

The balustrade platform on the roof needs fixing, roof tiles need replacing and the façade needs some attention but none of this has deterred the wrinkly rocker who is looking forward to moving his knick-knacks into the vast inter-connecting reception rooms downstairs where he will entertain his friends and family.

Ashdown House is one of a very few National Trust properties available to rent. "It is one of the most beautiful properties we have," says Richard Henderson, the trust's property manager. The current tenants who took it on in 1984 used it as a weekend bolthole but have sold the remainder of the lease to Pete.

The existing tenants are moving out in mid-July and taking Maurice their butler with them so Pete will need to hire a butler and housekeeper and probably a watchman to keep an eye on inquisitive visitors.

Ashdown house  is 90 miles from Townshend's main home The wick, a Georgian house on Richmond hill in surrey that used to belong to the late
actor sir John Mills. Pete bought the property from fellow rocker Ronnie Wood in the late seventies. It's now worth £14million.

"Pete has been very canny with his property purchases," adds the friend, "but he has also been very generous."

Indeed, he bought his girlfriend, 37-year-old musician Rachel Fuller  a villa in the medieval village of Mougins, north of Cannes, for £2.8million last year while his former wife Karen, the mother of his three children, recently sold the family home in Twickenham where Pete used to entertain writers such as
Lord of The Flies author william Golding, for £5.5million.

Pete bought the Georgian townhouse, the former home of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, for £730,000 in 1985. now officially a member of the pensioner rockers club Pete may be best known for being a king among guitarists but he is also a talented writer and a former literary editor.


He also boasts a fine art collection and revealed to BBC Radio 4 last year that many of the 100 songs he wrote for the who including rock operas Tommy and Quadrophenia were inspired by the music of the Baroque composer henry Purcell.

"He will love living at Ashdown house and will invite us all to visit," the friend adds.

It is just a shame that he won't be able to enjoy the music of the birdsong and thunder of horses' hooves across the downs since he
suffers from tinnitus and hearing loss, which he attributes to Keith Moon's drum set exploding during a concert in 1967.
 
MORE INFORMATION: For opening times to Ashdown House visit nationaltrust.org.uk or telephone 01494 755 569.