All you need to live in Monaco . . . a lot more money than taste
WHiLe we wait to see if a Covidcrisis property crash is heading our way, the people of Monaco won’t be losing any sleep.
as we discovered in the final episode of Inside Monaco: Playground Of The Rich (BBC2), property prices grow by around ten per cent every year, no matter what’s happening in the rest of the world.
That was why the estate agents selling the £ 23 million Villa Troglodyte were confident they’d find a buyer for the new five-storey, 500 square-metre house that had been built in a cliff face.
it was dark, on a main road and had no views to speak of . . . but what did that matter? Pots of money may be a prerequisite for living in the Principality, but taste certainly isn’t.
a point proved by socialite Winny suffys, who was on the hunt for a new dress to wear to a party at Monaco Yacht Club. she told the shop assistant she was looking for ‘ bling bling . . . i want that everyone see me’.
Monaco being such a tiny place, poor Winny felt unable to wear the same dress more than once in case anybody noticed. and so set her sights on a new one selling for ¤16,000 (£14,500).
Graham Halsall, a former toy manufacturer from Merseyside, had retired to Monaco where he now flogs properties, including a two-bedroom flat overlooking a building site for £19 million.
it had a sea view but, as previous homeowners in the area have discovered, with new developments going up all the time, that can disappear in the blink of an eye. not even the lack of dry land can stop developers from making money. They’re now building new houses on giant platforms in the Mediterranean sea that will sell for £100 million.
Gawping at the lifestyles of the super-rich has long been fodder for TV documentary makers, but this one could easily have been whittled down to one episode.
By the time you’d seen one champagne reception, yacht party and pampered pet with a diamond collar, you’d seen them all.
Living far more fulfilled lives were the stars of Devon and Cornwall (Channel 4), which celebrates dayto-day life in the cosy south West.
Particularly charming were fatherandson wheelwrights Greg and Mike rowland, whose family had been handcrafting wooden wheels and horse-drawn vehicles since the 14th century and hold a royal Warrant. ‘i’m on imperial measurements, i don’t want to know about those damn French millimetres,’ said Mike, 82.
With endless scenes of rolling countryside, turquoise seas and picturesque villages, you can see why this series has proved a ratings winner for C4 during lockdown. Yet poor old Cornwall barely got a look-in last night, with most of the programme devoted to the people of devon and their beautiful county.
Crispin and steve alford were another father- and- son duo, this time sheep farmers whose animals roamed on dartmoor. steve also happened to be the fastest sheep shearer in the west, able to remove an entire fleece, in one piece, in lightning quick time.
His tips were to wear moccasins as they eased the strain on his back when bending over, and to keep the sheep warm as the wool peeled off a sweaty animal far faster than a cold one. There was something charmingly endearing about watching people perform skilled work in dying industries, living a simple life and yet getting so much enjoyment from it.
The citizens of Monaco would do well to take note.
CHRISTOPHER STEVENS is away.