The house at 498 Finchley Road in North London may look like just another suburban mini mansion but its striking facade and neo-Georgian stonework (pictured below)  hide a simple but unusual fact.

It is the first time this property has come on to the market for nearly half century and, despite the intervening decades, it’s the same agent selling the house today as did in 1966.

Leaf through the yellowed pages of the original brochure (pictured, bottom) and it feels like a different world rather than a different decade. Nothing is swinging or fab in the formal sales brochure (unlike the current one’s more relaxed approach) although the 1966 property market was fairly ‘radical’ compared to today’s.

That year’s average house price was £3,465 and values were rising by 6% a year. Today it’s £219,533 rising by just 0.9%.

But what’s changed most dramatically is the way homes are sold. We all take it for granted that property is bought on the open market by ‘private treaty’ using estate agents, but back then most were sold at auctions instead, and most ‘estate agents’ were in fact auctioneers.

“In 1966 it might have been advertised in a magazine but more likely it was marketed by hand written letters being sent out to potential buyers prior to an auction at a local pub – Jack Straw’s Castle in Hampstead – which in fact is now a block of flats,” says Phillip Green of local estate agent Goldschmidt & Howland.

But what has changed most is the Finchley Road, which has been transformed from a quiet thoroughfare into a busy main road clogged up these days by traffic from central London travelling to the bottom of the M1.

“In those days you were lucky if a family had one car but now it’s normal for them to have two or three around here,” says Phillip Green.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the property’s interior, which has been preserved in aspic since Goldschmidt & Howland last photographed it – most noticeably the beehive yellow parquet flooring, original cornicing and light fittings.

For more information phone Goldschmidt & Howland on 020 8209 9300.

During tough economic times you might expect everyone to feel the pain in the housing market as, broadly speaking, economic uncertainty drives down confidence and activity across the board.

But not so, our house price index show. The nation’s fiscal difficulties are rapidly splitting the UK housing market in half as house prices in the ‘general market’ edge downwards but the Prime, top end of the market continues to rise.

Last month Prime properties increased nationally on average by 0.5%, the seventh monthly rally in this market which has pushed the average prime property asking price to £472,340.

Prime property is the top 25% of any property market whether it’s Mayfair or Motherwell and our figures show that in villages, towns and cities across the UK the gap between the Prime and ‘general’ market has been widening since our index was launched four years ago. And it show no signs of stopping.

When the index was launched, the average prime property was on the market for £157,255 more than the average UK home whereas today that figure is now just over £250,000 or 115% more than an ‘average’ home.

It’s not just been Prime properties continuing to rise in value – the general housing market has been dropping away too. During September general house prices dropped by 0.2%, the second monthly drop in a row.

So what’s going on, you may ask. The straightforward explanation is that the recession has yet to significantly impact people who buy homes in the top 25% of the market and, to add fat to the fire, the supply of homes coming on to the market has slowed down, driving greater competition among Prime buyers for the properties that do come up for sale.

It’s a familiar story in today’s Prime property market – a Cheshire mansion bought for £1.85 million in 2007, bull-dozed, re-built and put on the market for £5 million. Two years and a price drop later Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff has finally sold his Prestbury pile – to another sports star, footballer Peter Crouch.

Apart from the set of cricket wickets carved above the front door and a mosaic of the Ashes urn in the swimming pool, this is the type of uber-luxurious house that was built for a footballer – even though it was actually built by a cricketer.

Flintoff bought the plot in October 2007 from ex-Fulham football manager Mark Hughes and after fights with locals and an initially refused planning application, he was able to knock down the existing property and build a six bedroom mansion akin to others on one of the UK’s most expensive streets, Withinlee Road, AKA Footballer’s Alley.

The house was designed for Flintoff family life and includes a large pool plus a smaller one for their three children. It also has a luxury gym and home cinema but the Flintoffs never lived in their made-to-measure home. Instead, they turned their attention to the dizzying heights of Dubai and their Cheshire mansion has waited patiently for two years for a buyer.

Despite being in Prestbury – the centre of footballer land (the Rooneys, Ferdinand and Tevez all live nearby) – Freddie wasn’t bowled over with offers for his £5 million pad. And only after changing estate agents, dropping the asking price by £500,000 – the price of a decent size house to most – plus the luck of footballer Peter Crouch moving Clubs, has the house finally sold.

Crouch is transferring from Tottenham Hotspur to Stoke City and moving up North with his new wife, Abbey Clancy and their six month old daughter and we have no doubt the house will suit the star couple’s needs perfectly, model Abbey will surely love the huge walk-in wardrobe (pictured above) and the WAG neighbours.

Dragon’s Den star Hilary Devey is selling up her Staffordshire home for £2.2 million, saying filming commitments for the hit BBC2 series prevent her spending much time at the property.

Devey, who is a publican’s daughter from Bolton, is the ninth dragon to join the programme and made her fortune in the world of freight distribution with a company she founded in 1996. Her personal style and tastes, though, are a world away from fork lift trucks and rumbling HGVs, particularly when choosing places to live.

The twice-divorced 52-year-old has been spending less and less time at at her home at Rangemore Hall, a large early-19^th century pile to the west of Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire in opulent surroundings that reportedly include a chandelier in the kitchen. She also owns an apartment in London as well as villas in Morocco and Spain.

Rangemore Hall, of which Devey occupies the largest wing, was built in the 1850s by the Bass brewing family to replace an earlier but smaller structure. An additional and Italianate wing was added during the late 1890s to accommodate King Edward VII, who paid a visit in 1902 and it’s this that Devey owns. She bought the property 2007 and has described it as being “over the top, like me”.

If this sounds up your tree lined drive and you fancy discussing the latest Dragon’s Den episode with your neighbour then Rangemore Hall’s Ewing Wing is up for sale at £895,000 and offers the sort of glamorous interior style (pictured, above) and views of the surrounding countryside as Devey’s home.

It’s been clear for some now that house prices at the top of Britain’s property market have survived the economic down better than the general market.

And in particularly this is true for the nation’s grand country estates. The latest example is to be found in the wilds of Lincolnshire, a hall that’s risen in price handsomely even though it’s a long way from the sought-after streets of central London or the white hot countryside of Surrey.

Holywell Hall - for sale with its estate in Lincolnshire

The Holywell estate includes a large Grade II* Georgian manor house, lavish and large gardens revived and redesigned by Bunny Guiness plus cottages, a fishing temple and lake, orangery, outbuildings, arable farm (with farmhouse) and shoot. Also, the main hall’s West Wing can be used as a stand-alone home.

But as well as a long list of features, Holywell also has a long and extraordinary history. This includes 11^th century origins and mentions in the Domesday Book before it was bought by Lady Mary Barnardiston for her nephew Samuel Reynardson in 1728. It then stayed in the family until the 1950s and has only had three owners since.

The orangery, for sale as part of the Holywell Estate.

The first of those is undocumented, but in 1994 the estate – which had fallen into disrepair  – was bought for £4 million by Jean Shanks,  who made a substantial fortune setting up a large clinical pathology business based in the London that was later floated on the stock market.

While studying chemistry at Oxford she worked alongside Margaret Thatcher and, after setting up her business, married a Russian prince and was also known as Princess Yuri Galitzin. Using both names she gave away millions to philanthropic causes including medical research and music.

And the Hollywell Estate’s superb condition today is largely down to Shanks, who lavished a fair slice of her £17m personal fortune on the property and gardens.

This included rebuilding the entrance, adding lavish chandeliers to the hallway, decorating the five reception rooms, ten bedrooms and eight bathrooms and upgrading the 810-acre estate.

One of the five reception rooms within Holywell Hall.

It was then bought in 2003 by Robert and Sally Gillespie for £7 million, an appreciation in price of over £300,000 year. But the Gillespie’s have done even better and, if they can sell it for their asking price, will have made nearly a million a year on the property which is probably a relief for the couple, who have carried on the improvement work of Jean Shanks, including adding land to the estate.

Holywell Estate is now on for sale with Bidwells for £14.5 million.

We have all seen House Doctor, Selling Houses and the host of other programmes telling us how to prepare our house to sell.  You know, the ones where the basic premise is to ‘paint your house magnolia’ and stick a new carpet in.

But while neutral colours do appeal to a mass market, how do professional interior designers suggest their prime clients prepare their homes for sale? After all, the more money you’re asking for a property, the harder you may have to work on presentation, right?

Before and after (below): How the lounge of a two-bedroom Georgian apartment in London was 'staged' for sale.

Our friends at Brahm Interiors say they are increasingly being asked to dress properties for sale or to let rather than just to make homes more beautiful. They say ‘don’t go for the minimal look but rather embellish and edit your possessions’.

Apparently a good edit of your possessions can do wonders. Coco Chanel once said “before you leave the house, look in the mirror and remove one accessory, less is always more”. The same can be said of interiors accessories.

Once you have had a thorough edit, it might be time to add. Whatever your property size or budget, a few savvy props can transform a home. The breadth of furnishings and accessories now available on the high street means that there are solutions available to give a property that elusive X factor. Brahm often utilise ‘statement pieces’ and simple accessories that work with the existing interiors. A large mirror, an sculpture or a prized antique can completely transform the room by giving it a focus. Tie in other items in the room and you end up with a coordinated scheme that will appeal to any buyer.

Recently Brahm were called in to revitalise a Georgian flat in London (see before and after pictures, above). They added a large rug to the living area to provide some warmth and a focal point to the spacious room. Existing furniture was joined by floor lamps to frame either end of the sofa. Light coloured cushions were placed to contrast with the sofa’s dark brown fabric while tired armchairs were swapped with two neutrally coloured ones that added ‘structure and sophistication’. They then positioned large vases of flowers in the centre of the room to provide drama.

Such simple additions can make a huge difference.

This is a Mayday call to the famously Welsh – and wealthy – actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. Catherine, your country needs you to save a historically important Welsh mansion that is falling into disrepair. Other buyers have so far shied away; one had hoped to turn it into a boutique hotel and golf course but then the recession hit. This huge restoration task desperately needs someone with millions in the bank and a passion for Welsh heritage.

The building in question is Piercefield, a Grade II listed forgotten country house. Although its history records date back to the 14th Century, what stands today was mostly built by 18th Century architect Sir John Soane, who also built the Bank of England. Sadly Piercefield is now just a shell; the outer walls remain mostly intact but there’s not much else left. But even with a crumbling facade, it stirs the imagination of what this handsome house might once have been like.

Set in 129 acres of parkland, with a gardener’s cottage, stables and other outbuildings (also in need of saving). It sits in a grand position at the end of a meandering drive way and overlooks the Monmouthshire countryside. Its position is considered the gateway to Wales and it’s close to the market town of Chepstow.

Despite its glorious setting, Piercefield has been left to rot. It hasn’t been lived in since 1921, when the last of the Clay Family died. The estate was then bought by Chepstow Racecourse Company. And, because the land now had a use, the house was left untouched – except for being used as target practise by American forces stationed nearby in the Second World War.

Now the racecourse want to sell the house and most of its land but as yet no one has stepped up to the challenge. In 2005 journalist Marcus Binney wrote an article for the Times and called it “one of the most challenging restorations of the 21st century” – and it is. We met selling agent Jackson-Stopps and Staff’s Dawn Carritt to find out more about this 17^th Century mansion.

It’s on the market for £2 million and Carritt says restoration costs will be between £7 and £15 million and when restored it’s not likely to be worth as much as it cost to repair.

So, who would buy a falling down mansion; spend their time and money restoring it to see no financial gain? “It needs someone with a big heart, as well as a big pocket”, says Carritt, “Someone who feels they have achieved everything in business will buy it as a way of restoring the heritage of Wales and putting something back in to the country.”

Our thoughts turn to wealthy Welsh people who are passionate about their heritage and would want to do something to save it. Catherine Zeta-Jones and husband Michael Douglas, who have a net worth of £180 million (according to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List) are an obvious choice.

Swansea born Zeta-Jones is proud of her Welsh heritage, she always talks fondly of her homeland, speaks the language fluently and supports several Welsh events and charities – the most recent was supporting the National Trust stopping Llyndy Isaf, a 614 acre farm in Snowdonia, ending up in the hands of developers.

Welsh pop star Tom Jones is reported to have £140 million and could also be worth sending the property details to.

Carritt says Piercefield’s restoration will be a challenge but the rewards would be priceless – we say they’d have to be.

The rumour mill in Surrey is in overdrive about the estate Chris Evans sold to exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky nine years ago.  Many locals believe the property has been sold on the quiet to F1 multi-millionaire Ron Dennis’ ex-wife, Lisa Dennis.

Ron, who is said to be worth hundreds of millions and who also lives in Surrey, split from his wife of 22 years in 2008, and one of the biggest divorce payouts in British history followed.

Chris Evans' former surrey pile

It’s no wonder his ex-wife has taken an interest in the property – for it has plenty of celebrity history. Broadcaster Chris Evans bought Hascombe Court near Godalming in Surrey for £6 million in 2000. He lived there for four years with then-wife Billie Piper and made a £4 million profit when he sold it in 2004 for £10 million.

At the time, like Berezovsky, Evans didn’t take the traditional sales route and instead made it known in his celebrity circle that the eight bedroom country mansion and its grounds were up for sale. Today, the 172 acre estate is likely to be worth £17 million.

These comings and going at the property have been under fierce debate at the most popular local, the White Horse Pub in Hascombe, where the villagers gossip about the area’s celebrities over a pint of bitter.

One subject being discussed at the moment is Berezovsky’s publicised cash–flow problems, which last year forced him to sell his £200 million super yacht.

Hascombe Court in Surrey

But Hascombe is a magnet for both celebrities and wealthy Russians. In 2009 TV presenter Anthea Turner sold her 102 acre Surrey Estate, Babbins Grange, to a ‘Mystery Russian’ for £11 million and bought Sundown, also part of the Hascombe Court Estate, for £6 million. That home was recently on the market for £5.75 million.

Hascombe Court is set in a 172 acre estate with grounds that were designed by Gertrude Jekyll and include a swimming pool, tennis court and equestrian facilities. The house, was built in the style of Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1906 and has eight bedrooms. It became a Grade 11 listed property in 2000 after concerns about Chris Evans’ impending restoration on it.

The bricks-and-mortar world of home ownership is many things, but seldom is it portrayed as a moral maze. But Primelocation’s brief talk with a friend over coffee yesterday revealed how dramatically people’s ethics are left at the front door when the home buying process is in full swing. Apologies for the unromantic tone of this blog on or around St Valentine’s Day.

Going behind people's backs: Can property buying lead to immoral behaviour?

My friend, let’s call him Mark, is selling his three bedroom 1960s semi in a quiet but not overly desirable suburb of south west London. It’s a buy to let investment forced on him last year by the soft local market – by which he means he couldn’t sell it so remortgaged, rented it out and bought his next home regardless. But now he’s keen to sell up as finances are tight and is keen to find a buyer – fast.

Viewings are not a problem for Mark’s currently empty ex-abode (the tenants were ejected to aid the sale) and last week eight were lined up for the weekend which, given the current market, was a promising start. But early on in the week one man said he was so keen to buy the house (which was on the market for £249,950) that he offered just under the asking price but requested, crucially, that he house be taken off the viewings treadmill.

Mark and his wife agonized over this for in the middle of a recession, who wants to turn down viewings?  But the buyer insisted. So off the market the property came and promises of financial fidelity ensued from both sides.

The weekend came and went but on Monday morning (today) the buyer phoned and confessed to a lapse – he had been seeing other properties and had decided to move in with someone else, he confessed and grovelled. Mark had lost a buyer and some seven or eight viewings and is now entirely averse to being led up the garden path, so to speak, by unfaithful potential partners in property.

But should you take your property off the market once a verbal offer is made, as Mark did?  The answer is definitely not and puts the balance of power even more heavily in the buyer’s favour.  But one question  my friend’s angst begs is why successive government’s over the decades – despite several failed attempts including Labour’s HIPs – have so happily encouraged or condoned betrayal on such a vast and expensive scale.

Why can’t we simply use the French system? Once you make an offer it’s binding and only subsequent planning or structural faults can break the promise, and the process moves forward to a sale. It would, at the very least,  cut out the naughtiness that my friend Mark has had to endure.

Prince William and Kate Middleton

We know about the engagement ring, the proposal and that the wedding itself is happening sometime next summer, but what we’re all still waiting to find out is where Prince William and Kate Middleton will make their marital home.

So far, it seems most likely the royal couple will put down roots in a house that the Prince of Wales has been building on his Harewood Park estate in Herefordshire, a farm he bought back in 2000 in border countryside between Monmouth and Ross-on-Wye.

William’s father is reportedly in the process of spending between eight and nine million pounds turning the once run-down estate into an eco-farm, including the creation of a ‘green mansion’ in an undisclosed location within its 900 acres of rolling countryside that is said to be earmarked for William’s – and now Kate’s – use.

The property – which is under construction – is a restored and enlarged six-bedroom farmhouse that’s also a model of environmental friendliness and will include a reed-bed sewage system, wood chip boiler, solar panels and walls lined with insulating sheep’s wool.

The really good news is that Ross-on-Wye locals are likely to welcome their new royal neighbours with open arms, according to Richard Butler, owner of the local Richard Butler Estate Agents, who says the property is worth in excess of two million pounds and is of a “phenomenal size”.

“It would be very good news for the area,” Butler says.

“Once it’s finished, it will probably be one of the better, if not the best properties of its style in the whole of Herefordshire.”

For the past year or so during their ‘extended courtship’ William and Kate have been living in a secret location on the island of Anglesey while William does a three-year stint as a search and rescue helicopter pilot at RAF Valley. The property, which is a whitewashed farmhouse, is being rented for £750 a month and very much off the beaten track and has access to a private beach.
 
Melfyn Williams, chairman of the Wales-based estate agent The Property People, says the island’s locals would also dearly love to the see the couple make their permanent home in Anglesey.

“It’s a lovely part of the country, it’s got sandy beaches and rugged mountains and is close to where Prince William is currently working.”
 
The Harewood Park estate won’t be the couple’s only likely address. When staying in London William and Kate will have an apartment in Clarence House to use as well, not to mention Kate’s parents’ place in Bucklebury, Berkshire, where until recently a bedroom had been set aside for her use.