Adele has found herself at the center of an unexpected controversy, this time related to a £6million mansion she once lived in.
The £6 million property in West Sussex, which the Hello hitmaker lived in for six months in 2012, has reportedly faced difficulty in finding a buyer, and one significant factor seems to be her comments about the house’s spooky reputation.
In an interview with CBS’s Anderson Cooper that aired the same year, Adele described the mansion as ‘quite scary,’ which sparked rumors that it might be haunted.
Although the singer never directly claimed that the property was ghostly, a publication ran with the idea, and Hello! magazine even included the mansion in its list of ‘celebrity ghostly homes.’
The implications of her remark, however, seem to have lingered far longer than expected.
According to current owner Nicholas Sutton, the rumors surrounding the house’s eerie status have significantly impacted its marketability.
Sutton, who purchased the property in 2003, claims that the alleged haunting has made it nearly impossible to sell.
He says that the mansion, known as Lock House, has been ‘actively marketed’ for over 14 years by top agencies like Savills and Strutt and Parker but has failed to secure serious offers.
‘The only offer received over the years was in August 2020, but the prospective buyer withdrew after learning about the property’s supposed haunted status, which was publicly mentioned by Adele during her tenancy,’ Sutton told The Independent.
He expressed frustration that Adele’s comment about the home has become a major stumbling block in his attempts to sell it.
Because of this, Sutton has proposed a change in direction for the property.
He is petitioning Horsham District Council to grant permission to convert the mansion into flats, citing the property’s lack of demand in its current form as a major hurdle to a sale. The planning application is still under review.
Sutton’s proposal aims to preserve the building’s historical significance while addressing the need for housing in the area.
‘This proposal provides the optimum viable use of Lock House, preserving its historical significance while delivering much-needed housing,’ he explained in the application.
The application, he said, is the result of over 13 years of market testing, which has shown that converting the property could provide a balanced, sustainable solution.
Interestingly, Lock House’s history adds another layer to the intrigue. It once operated as a convent in the 1970s, which could also play into the mansion’s spooky reputation, whether or not Adele’s comments were to blame.
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