A Guernsey estate with links to Hollywood royalty, a former prince and one of the island’s wealthiest businessmen has gone on the market for £65m.
Havilland Hall, the sprawling 80-acre estate at Le Vauquiedor, in St Peter Port, is being marketed by estate agents Savills as one of the most significant private properties in the Channel Islands.
Its owner, financier David Rowland, has counted Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor among his friends and house guests.
The former Prince Andrew has since suffered a spectacular fall from grace amid renewed scrutiny of his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew visited Havilland Hall – believed to be the largest private estate in Guernsey – in 2005, attending a private reception in aid of Outward Bound and unveiling a life-sized bronze statue of Rowland in the grounds.
Andrew’s links to the Rowland family have attracted further attention following the release of Epstein-related emails by the US Department of Justice earlier this year.
However, Rowland’s son Jonathan denied he or his father ever having contact with Epstein or meeting him.
Hollywood royalty
The estate’s connection to the royal family isn’t the only sprinkle of stardust, as it’s also got links to Hollywood royalty.
Havilland Hall takes its name from the de Havilland family, whose descendants include actresses Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine, as well as aviation pioneer Sir Geoffrey de Havilland.
Five-time Oscar nominee Olivia de Havilland famously played Maid Marian opposite Errol Flynn in the 1938 film ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’, as well as appearing in ‘Gone with the Wind’, while her sister Joan Fontaine won an Academy Award for ‘Suspicion’.
Neither actress lived at Havilland Hall, however. Both were great-grandnieces of its original owner, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Fiott de Havilland.
Meanwhile Sir Geoffrey’s connection with the Bailiwick goes beyond his surname.
For more than 100 years his name has been synonymous with aviation, with companies bearing his name building iconic planes including the Tiger Moth (a training plane once used by the RAF), Mosquito (a World War Two combat plane), and the world’s first commercial passenger jet, the Comet.
But it is the name of a more modern plane that will ring a bell with islanders, especially those in Alderney – the De Havilland Twin Otter.
An estate almost as big as a village
The imposing Regency villa was designed and built in 1829-30, according to Saville’s, with its distinctive neo-classical architecture and pillared portico making it one of Guernsey’s most recognisable historic residences.
The property sits in the secluded Vauquiedor valley, on the outskirts of St Peter Port, and extends across more than 80 acres of formal gardens, parkland, agricultural land and a picturesque valley.
At its heart is the four-storey main house, offering approximately 17,178 sq ft of accommodation, with six bedrooms and five reception rooms, according to Savills.
Its grand interiors include high ceilings, historic fireplaces, intricate plasterwork and floor-to-ceiling windows, alongside a dramatic cantilevered staircase in the main reception hall.
An orangery opens onto a south-facing stone terrace overlooking the ornamental gardens.
The property has also been equipped for modern luxury living, with an indoor swimming pool, gym, sauna, steam room and changing facilities. There is even a separate padel court in the grounds.
Across the valley, a collection of former farm buildings known locally as ‘the village’ provides further accommodation, entertainment and business facilities.
These include Havilland Farmhouse, Orchard Cottage, The Lodge and The Beach House, alongside extensive office accommodation, meeting rooms and a boardroom.
There is also a detached two-bedroom cottage, two staff cottages, a temperature-controlled wine cellar and tasting room, games room, garaging, machinery barn and various operational buildings.
A history stretching back 200 years
The estate was acquired in 1922 by Count Lothair Blücher von Wahlstatt, a British Army veteran descended from the Prussian commander Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, whose forces helped secure Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo.
It became home to an exceptional collection of European art and antiques before being requisitioned during the German Occupation.
The property was returned to the family in 1945 and subsequently underwent extensive restoration and modernisation.
Its grounds include mature specimen trees, landscaped lawns, ornamental gardens, a traditional douit running through the eastern side of the valley and a substantial kitchen garden.
The highest point of the estate offers views towards the sea beyond St Peter Port, while pines and a palm-filled valley give parts of the grounds a distinctly Mediterranean feel.
Savills is marketing the property with a guide price of £65m.
Phillippa Dalby-Welsh, the firm’s head of Country Department, said: “Havilland Hall is a pre-eminent Channel Island estate.
At its heart is a distinguished Regency villa, with great provenance, alongside beautiful gardens, a wide range of ancillary accommodation, leisure facilities and the infrastructure to support a business operation.
“Estates of this scale are extraordinarily rare in the Channel Islands and it is likely to draw a global audience.”
Nick Paluch, head of Savills’ Guernsey open market residential business, said the island was seeing renewed interest from people looking to relocate.
He described the property as a “once in a generation opportunity”.
Havilland Hall is an Open Market Category A property and is designated as a Protected Building.
It is being offered freehold, with viewings strictly by appointment.
