Can feng shui master help sell one of UK’s most expensive homes? Guru is called in after Far East buyers express interest in Addison Lee founder’s £29M Regent’s Park mega mansion
- EXCLUSIVE: Addison Lee founder John Griffin selling £29m John Nash mansion
- Estate agents called on feng shui master Ning Cheng after interest in the Far East
- House features on upcoming C4 documentary Britain’s ‘Most Expensive Houses’
Estate agents have called a feng shui master to help them sell the £29million mansion owned by Addison Lee founder John Griffin.
Mr Griffin has been trying to sell his John Nash mansion, overlooking London’s Regent’s Park, for over a year and Sotherbys appointed feng shui expert Ning Cheng because of interest from buyers in the Far East.
The sprawling mansion features on the upcoming Channel 4 documentary Britain’s ‘Most Expensive Houses’ where Mr Cheng told the show he needed to measure the direction of the stove, which is very important to followers of the ancient tradition.
He pointed out that it was ‘good’ that the mansion faces a lake because water can bring the owner fortune and bring money into the house.
He was also quite particular about the flowers, saying that if you place them facing in different directions depending on whether you are married or single.
Estate agents have called a feng shui master to help them sell the £29million mansion (pictured) owned by Addison Lee founder John Griffin
Estate agents Sotherbys have appointed feng shui expert Ning Cheng (pictured) because of interest from buyers in the Far East
Mr Griffin (pictured) has been trying to sell his John Nash mansion, overlooking London’s Regent’s Park, for over a year
The London mansion near Regent’s Park has five storeys, six bedrooms eight bathrooms
Mr Cheng said he needed to measure the direction of the stove, which is very important to followers of the ancient tradition of feng shui
The sprawling mansion features on the upcoming Channel 4 documentary Britain’s ‘Most Expensive Houses’
Mr Griffin, 80, put his Grade I listed five-storey six-bedroom eight-bathroom townhouse, which comes with its own separate mews house and walled garden, on the market at the start of 2022
Seeing the property for the first time, Cheng said: ‘I really love it. It’s an incredible house. We are facing the lake, which is good because in feng shui, if you directly face the lake, it’s the water can bring the fortune, can bring the money into this house.
‘This compass, or in Chinese terms is a Luo Pan, it is used by a feng shui professional to measure the directions of different objects inside houses.
‘So what I’m doing right now is measure the direction of the stove because in our theory the stove’s direction is very important because for the extremely bad stove direction it will be causing a very serious disease or something like that.’
Looking at the flowers, he went on: ‘This bit is something that we need to talk about because if you have flowers in this direction, if you are married, your wife need to be a little bit worried that you might have some affairs. But if you are single, it’s perfectly fine.
‘So all you need to do is just simply remove the flower from this direction. That’s it, solve the problem. But if you are single, keep it.’
He was also worried about the mirror facing the bed.
He added: ‘In our feng shui theory, the mirror should not face the bed. The mirror reflects everything that gets into it, so you have trouble in sleeping. Just swap it with a beautiful oil painting, it will be magnificent.
Finally he suggested cleaning the house.
‘What I would do is I can clean the whole house just to make sure that this house is blessed,’ he said.
Mr Cheng pointed out that it was ‘good’ that the mansion faces a lake because water can bring the owner fortune and bring money into the house
One of the large bedrooms in Mr Griffin’s expansive London mansion
The house, in Hanover Terrace, which has a cinema room, gym (pictured) and sauna
The mansion has its own cinema room complete with high-tech projector so you can watch the latest releases in comfort and style
Mr Griffin, 80, put his Grade I listed five-storey six-bedroom eight-bathroom townhouse, which comes with its own separate mews house and walled garden, on the market at the start of 2022.
‘There is no better view in London,’ he said at the time.
Built in 1822, the house, in Hanover Terrace, which has a cinema room, gym and sauna, spreads over 6,380 square feet, with grand statement fireplaces, period cornicing and glittering chandeliers.
Its Crown Estate lease runs for approximately 110 years and the buyer will be able to count on the terrace’s 24-hour private security guards.
Mr Griffin, who appeared on the Channel 4 reality TV show The Secret Millionaire, was born above a shop in 1942, at the height of World War II and was raised in Kilburn, north-west London.
He left school at the age of 15 without qualifications after contracting tuberculosis after drinking cow’s milk on a school visit to a farm.
He abandoned his accountancy training to help salvage his father’s road and sewer building business, working as a minicab driver to make ends meet.
He set up Addison Lee, the minicab and courier company, in 1975, and stepped down as chairman in 2014, shortly after the private equity firm Carlyle Group bought a majority stake in the company for £300 million.
The property has eight separate bathrooms so there will be no fighting over who gets to shower first
The mansion spreads over 6,380 square feet, with grand statement fireplaces, period cornicing and glittering chandeliers
One of his neighbours in Hanover Terrace is Britain’s richest artist Damien Hirst: he reportedly paid £40 million for his property, before installing a yoga room and swimming pool.
Lee Koffman, from Sotherbys told the Channel 4 show: ‘As a company, we try and understand who’s going to be buying the house.
‘We have a psychological profile as to how we want to show the house and who we’re going to show the house to. We’ve seen a spike of activity from Singapore in buyers coming over, so from my experience feng shui is very important to them.’
Britain’s Most Expensive Houses is on Channel 4 at 9pm on June 15.
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