Russia's richest woman buys $100 mln mansion in London
16:39 | 16/ 07/ 2008
LONDON, July 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's richest woman, the wife of the Moscow mayor, has bought the second largest house in London after Buckingham Palace for $100 million, British media reported on Wednesday.
Yelena Baturina bought Witanhurst, a Grade-II listed 18th century mansion with 90 rooms, just one year after it was sold to a property developer for $64 million, the Daily Mail said.
The property covers five and a half acres in Highgate West Hill, and is known in Britain as the setting of the BBC TV show Fame Academy, as well as several period dramas.
Baturina, the 45-year-old second wife of Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, has amassed billions of dollars through her construction company Inteko, formed in 1991. Forbes magazine estimates her wealth at $4.2 billion.
She has repeatedly faced accusations of using her husband's position to secure lucrative construction contracts, and has taken several newspapers and journalists to court over corruption allegations, winning every case so far.
Witanhurst, which has a 21-meter (70-foot) ballroom, 25 bedrooms, lavish wooden paneling, and oak floors, is likely to require vast outlays on repairs. The building reportedly has holes in the ceilings and crumbling plaster work.
The high price paid by Baturina for the property, which has had no renovation work since being bought by developer Marcus Cooper last July, comes despite a 9% decline in average U.K. house prices over the past year, and expectations that prices will continue to fall.