Moonraker Mansion: How a dreary office block became a Bond-themed home stuffed with enough gadgets to make Q proud
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Competitors on May The Best House Win – the popular Channel 4 programme in which four houseproud people judge one another's homes – generally abide by an unwritten rule. It states that when the show is over, all agree it was a fair contest and the winners deserve the £1,000 prize.
But nothing would persuade Robert and Lisa Foden, from near Warrington in Cheshire, to agree. Lisa, 34, who appeared on the show on May 20 last year, says they lost only because 'the two people who won gave everyone else rubbish marks'.
This may sound like sour grapes, but given the effort and ingenuity that went into the couple's extraordinary Bond-themed home, filled with high-tech luxuries 007 would be proud of, their angst is understandable.
Robert and Lisa Foden filled their Cheshire home with high-tech luxuries that James Bond would be proud of
Robert, 54, a builder and developer, bought the building that stood on the site – an unprepossessing office block – shortly before the couple got together in 2009. He didn't give much thought to it before they set off on a two-year, round-the-world trip, so it was in Majorca that he finally sketched plans for a wildly futuristic home.
'I had seen some wonderful modern houses when I lived in Jersey a few years back,' he says, leading the way up the drive as the electric gates shut behind us.
'I'd also seen showpiece new homes like Thunderbirds and Bowie in Sandbanks, Dorset, where all the football stars live, so I had a general idea of what I wanted.'
Irish slate and European oak in the exterior walls give a hint of opulence, but it is when you cross the threshold that you see what this house is all about.
Couple (pictured, Lisa) spent less than £1million building the house and are confident a buyer will snap up the property for its asking price of £1.45million
A spiral staircase twirls upwards, and mirrors in the style of the James Bond logo, etched with Welcome To Moonacre (a play on Bond film Moonraker), create an 007 vibe.
We turn into the kitchen, with its white central island and enormous units Robert bought for £35,000 at a Grand Designs show. Then he leads us into the drawing room.
The high-tech house is called Moonacre, a play on the Bond film Moonraker which starred Roger Moore as 007
'Seeing the old offices was surreal,' he says. 'Pens were left on the tables, coffee cups were half drunk, jackets had been left on the chairs; there were even personal files left behind. It was like taking over the Marie Celeste.'
Upstairs, the master bedroom has everything but a Bond girl in situ, while the children's rooms – for Daisy-May, one, and Frankie, two – lead on to a terrace enclosed by unbreakable glass.
But the room where you can most easily see Bond relaxing with a shaken-not-stirred cocktail is the nightclub. With a karaoke machine, kitchen, disco lights and wood-burning fireplace, this room attracted the most attention on May The Best House Win.
Mention of it brings a Bond-villain smile to Robert's lips.
'It was funny,' he says. 'Lisa must have spent two grand on entertaining the crew and competitors. She hired a white grand piano, brought in cocktail waiters and caterers, the lot. The prize was half that, and then she came third behind a terrace house and a man whose house was a kind of Santa's grotto.'
Nevertheless, creating this 7,000 sq ft home has been a shrewd investment. Robert picked up the site 'for a song' and spent less than £1,000,000 on the build.
One offer of the full asking price of £1,450,000 has fallen through, but he is sure it won't take long to find a buyer for his Bond fantasy-house with its gardens and acre of paddocks.
'Since the recession, the Government has encouraged people to build on brownfield sites,' he says.
'There are still lots of unused office blocks. Just go for it.'
Moonacre is for sale at £1,450,000 with jackson-stops.co.uk, 01625 540340.
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