Following a sharp increase in value from £7,000 to £9 million, four siblings have reluctantly decided to put their family home on the market.
Oswald Bailey, the British businessman in the camping industry, initially purchased the sizable detached mansion overlooking Poole Harbour in Dorset in 1945.
Following the passing of their parents, Stephen Bailey, Hilary, Alison, and Nicola have now listed the home for sale in order to pay a substantial inheritance tax debt.
Due to the prosperity of the Sandbanks real estate market, the 105-year-old mansion has increased in value by 1,200 times more than what was paid for it.
Stephen, 68, said: “We have never had any money out of the house because the home has always been the important thing, not the money. But inheritance tax is driving the sale now.
“It is very sad but we have accepted it now. It will obviously be a wrench for all of us, especially my two sisters who live there.”
The house where Alison and Nicola’s mother Lalage Bailey died away quietly five years ago still serves as their home.
Frank Bailey, their father, passed away in 2005.
One of Stephen’s sisters opposed the house’s demolition, he added, calling it “the most wonderful place to grow up in.”
But whoever purchases the six-bedroom home will probably tear it down and replace it with an ultra-modern, opulent mansion that blends in with the neighbourhood.
In 1949, Oswald decreased the price of the three-story house and sold it to his newlywed son Frank. Frank and Lalage then raised their family there.
Back then, Sandbanks was a barren sandy peninsula, a far cry from the upscale real estate destination it is now.
Before having to construct a sea wall in the 1960s owing to rising water levels, the family enjoyed its own private beach.
The family has witnessed the sandy peninsula’s tremendous transformation into a millionaire’s playground throughout their stay there.
Adrian Dunford, of estate agents Tailor Made, added: “We have had interest in it already and we have had a bid that hasn’t been accepted. That just shows the quality of the plot.”
Once constructed, a new contemporary mansion on the same land is probably worth roughly £13 million.
Oswald retained its internet company, which Stephen is still in charge of today, but sold its 20 stores spread across southern England to Millets in 2014.
