The "Magic Dust" of Ownership: Sporting Estates on Sale in the United Kingdom, Large and Small

Caroline McGhie headlines at the Telegraph in Sporting estates are the greatest prize that:

"Every self-respecting billionaire should own their own country estate – it’s the ultimate prestige purchase...."

And, indeed, we have been looking for suitable accomodations.

As McGhie writes:

"What makes the perfect estate? There must be a big country house, a few cottages, outbuildings and land, with the value split roughly half and half between the house and the land. Magic dust is supplied by a spectacular setting."

We love that last sentence about "magic dust". Is that not the elusive substance of dreams? No one buys just "four walls". Ownership means more than that. In the end, it is the "magic dust" that counts.

Currently, we have our eyes on this property, as McGhie writes:

"Some buyers like fast access to London. On the borders of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, 45 minutes by car from the capital, the Kingston Wood Manor Estate is being offered by Savills (020 7016 3780) and Carter Jonas (020 7493 0676) at £8.5-£9 million." [link added]

But if the bankers see it differently, we may have to settle, as McGhie writes, for this one:

"Small can be beautiful, too. At the other end of the country, in Cornwall, nine-bedroom Hamatethy farmhouse, with a pair of cottages, more than 500 acres and fishing rights on the River Camel is priced at £4 million." [link added]

Or perhaps, as McGhie writes:

"As the price of good arable land in England has soared in the past few years, reaching an average £6,000 an acre and performing better than gold, a balance has to be struck. "

Maybe real estate and especially "estate" ownership really ARE "magic dust", the dust of gold in the ownership of overpriced real estate properties.