Short of bungee jumping into a croc infested river, buying a home is renowned as one of the life’s most stressful markers. Mortgages, home reports, dodgy surveys, local schools and fluctuations in property prices all ensure fretful nights for most homebuyers. Surely if we were newly minted into the echelons of the super-rich all our problems would disappear?

What would buying a home look like if a couple of noughts were added to the budget? Does shopping in the super prime residential property market mean an end to compromise? What does value for money look like when you have £10+ million in your pocket?

We look at five ultra luxe properties in the UK to see how much bang you get for your buck:

A Home in Town

One Hide Park, London. Image courtesy Candy & Candy.

Since its completion in 2011, the lore surrounding One Hyde Park, where apartments sell for up to £140million, has grown at a rate matched only by – we imagine – the bank balances of its owners. Owners, who according to Land Registry reports appear in over 80% of cases to be unheard of non-resident, overseas registered corporations with quirky names more commonly found on betting slips: Smooth E Co, anyone? Sounds innocent enough.

Suddenly, our £10m budget doesn’t seem so grand. Will it even buy us into the world’s most expensive building?

Thankfully it will. Latest reports had prices at £6.5m for a one-bedroom apartment. For that you’ll get oak floors, mirrored corridors of anodized aluminum and padded silk, ebony, marble and extravagant contemporary art. Plus, guards trained by British Special Forces, your mail x-rayed pre-delivery, 24 hour five star service courtesy of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and of course the obligatory spa.

The Compromise

One bedroom may seem like a compromise but fear not, if you’re expecting houseguests you can always throw down an inflatable in the advanced technology panic room.

Home with a View

Eilean Aigas, Image courtesy Knight Frank.

Take a look at Eilean Aigas. What do you see? An immaculate historical property on a grand scale, the honeyed sandstone and skyscraping chimneys glistening amongst the trees, defiant and resilient in the face of the passing centuries.

Breathtaking isn’t it? Even more so when you learn that this home, which boasts 7 principal reception rooms and 9 bedroom suites, sits on a private island surrounded by crystal clear waters in which otters play and salmon leap. Fishing, hunting, hot and cold running luxury, and period features to boot. And you may just stop breathing altogether when you learn that the house was only recently built.

Eilean Aigas Interior, Image Courtesy Knight Frank.

Between 2001-07, Canadian Telecoms Tycoon Brendan Coulston reputedly lavished £20m on the finest craftsmen, designers and builders to create his earthly paradise. He also re-built and renovated other substantial properties on the 550 acres estate.

At offer in excess of £10million it begins to look like a bit of a bargain.

The Compromise

It’s a new build and for some this is just a step too far towards vulgarity.

Home with a Past

Whittinghame House, Image Courtesy Savills.

Completed in 1817, Whittingehame House is an elegant neo-classical country house. The perfect country setting in which to entertain esteemed guests, and over the years Whittingehame has played host to many big names.

It was home to AJ Balfour, British Prime Minister (1902-05), whose guests included William Churchill, Arthur Conan Doyle and HG Wells. But perhaps the most notable inhabitants of Whittingehame were the “150 little hoodlums” – Archie’s description and he should know because he was one of them – who ran riot within the house and grounds through 60’s and 70’s. And no, it wasn’t a reform school, it was the prestigious Holt School for Boys, Head Teacher, Lawrence Reid; school motto, Et de Stercore Manducare Dulcia which translates roughly as muck about and eat sweets.

Archie recalls how it felt to belong to a tribe of boys from all over the globe, whose priorities in life were skidding through the woods on bikes, stomping 3 miles cross country to the local chippie and squandering their meager pocket money on sweets. As soon as the irrelevance of lessons and prep was finished, the whole school, Masters included, would spill out onto the front lawns to play an endless, season long game of footie.

Holt School for Boys, Archie circled in red. You have to squint to really appreciate that hair!

On Saturday, after sport the boys were liberated to do they as pleased, which Archie and his chums seem to have interpreted rather literally. During one of their regular camping trips on the grounds of Nunraw Monastery, it must have seemed perfectly reasonable to nick some waste oil from the farm to start their fire. Who was to know it would end in a rampaging blaze across the fields that required 7 fire engines to bring under control?

Archie admits that academically the school was probably ‘rubbish’ but he remembers his four years as a boarder amongst his happiest and attributes his resilience and his social ease to the school. Once you’ve slept in a bed with rat poison beneath it and shared your study room with the son of Idi Amin’s top General then not much will phase you.

The Compromise

£1million for a 3-bed apartment in the glorious house doesn’t seem so bad, but you do have to live with the ghost of Archie past.

Home by the Sea

Tides, Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset.Swimming Pool. Image courtesy, Sotheby’s.

If you do like to be beside the seaside then The Tides may just rock your boat.

There is something very New England about the clapboard charms of The Tides, though the view from the terrace surrounding the heated swimming pool is unmistakably Poole Harbour.

Tides, Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset.Swimming Pool. Image courtesy, Sotheby’s.

It’s a tough call, whether sailing off from your own private jetty on the famed Sandbanks Peninsula is a more assured pleasure than sailing back to your £7.3m, 6 bed, 5 bath home with it’s vaulted ceilings. One can imagine a Gatsbyesque moment or two on the Jetty’s end.

The Compromise

Call the decorators; the home is drowning in the watery palate and endless soft furnishings.

Home with a Garden

Lady Hamilton’s Secret Garden at Tyninghame House. Image courtesy, Rettie & Co.

An important lesson when considering the purchase of a grand country property is that the acquisition is just the start, and very often the lesser expense. Maintaining a substantial historic home, estate and gardens is a fathomless commitment and buying into a shared property alleviates the pain.

The West Wing at Tyninghame House occupies the double aspect south and west corner of Scotland’s most acclaimed Baronial House, dating from 1829. The drawing room is the property’s grandest boast, it is undoubtedly opulent, as you would expect when for £1.1million, but there is warmth and a feeling that life is lived within the walls of this beautiful 4bed home.

The Drawing Room Tyninghame House West Wing. Image courtesy, Rettie & Co.

Outside the garden romps gloriously on for 38acres; a formal rose garden, long herbaceous borders, a walled garden and Lady Haddington’s Secret Garden filled with old roses and billowing romance. There are woods carpeted in bluebells, tennis courts and an avenue of beech trees stretching for an entire mile down to the seashore. And due to the shared costs it is all immaculately maintained and you need never pull a single weed.

The Compromise

Neighbours. No matter how splendid the surrounds residents will have to contend with the usual bureaucracy that attends collective living.

Traditionally, as the name suggests, a Hacking Jacket was a tweed jacket worn for riding. The key features of today’s Hacking Jackets remain unchanged and all owe their roots to maintaining a stylish appearance in the saddle.

The lapels on a Hacking Jacket meet mid-chest, the jacket is lightly tailored at the waist and there are three buttons. The origins of these features are functional and stylistic. All contribute to a secure, semi-fitted jacket that allows for free movement in the saddle. A longer lapel and any less than three buttons, and the jacket would be likely to gape.

A Hacking Jacket is traditionally cut a little longer, with a long single vent at the back. Again this is designed to create a more refined silhouette in the saddle. The single vent opens over the saddleback and the front panels sit neatly on the thigh. For the contemporary wearer the effect is equally flattering, creating as it does an elongated, elegant line.

The pockets are slanted on a Hacking Jacket to make it easier for a rider to access them in a seated position. Today they retain this heritage feature and you will also find an additional ticket pocket on a Hacking Jacket, just above the right pocket and slightly smaller in size.

Inside, a good quality Hacking Jacket should be fully lined and provide ample pockets for what would have been sporting needs but today will no doubt include a mobile phone.

The greatest change to Hacking Jackets in recent years has been the vivacity of the cloth and the increasingly tapered line of the cut. The Bladen Hacking Jackets are the finest 100% wool tweed cloth. The vibrant colours used in contemporary Bladen tweeds have brought new life to a heritage piece. Blue, pink and heather overchecks on pale grassy tweeds bring a fresh sophistication to the Hacking Jacket.

All Bladen Hacking Jackets are fully lined in rich jewel like shades of silk satin and discreetly labeled with Bladen branding: a small private reminder to the wearer alone of the integrity of your tweed jacket.

A Tweed Jacket will last a lifetime and is the greatest investment you can make for your wardrobe. And remember this is a jacket designed for a hard-wearing sporting life, don’t imprison it in your wardrobe and save it for special occasions. Take it out. Run it hard. A Tweed Jacket should be the hardest working item you own.

Coming up: The companion post – The Origins of The Sports Jacket.

When planting up pots for the warmer months the rows and rows of begonias, lobelia and petunias are a tried and tested way to bring colour and interest into the summer garden. But this year why not try something different.

Bee Wild

Annuals like the begonias, lobelia and petunias mentioned above aren’t much cop for bees. The pollen has either been bred out of them or buried deep within the frilled petals. What bees like are accessible open-faced flowers that they can gorge on.

One of the simplest container combinations is Cosmos ‘Sonata,’ a smaller form of the ever-popular ‘Purity,’ but bred for pots, with Cerinthe Purparescens ‘Honeywort’. The fanciful Louis XIV pantaloons of the Cerinthe pair beautifully with the simple daisy white flowers. This is particularly effective in an old zinc tub.

Or for a zippier combo with lots of clashing impact, plant Cerinthe with the orange Californian poppy. This planting suits wicker baskets.

Some of the more open-faced Dahlias and Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower) are also good pollinators. Like the cosmos and cerinthe they’ll flower for months on end giving you lots of cut flowers to bring inside.

If your style is more formal Dahlia’s are fabulous in mixed plantings for height and glamour.

Edible container garden

If you haven’t got space for a veg patch, or even if you do, growing edibles in containers can be very decorative.

Salad leaves at Wormistoune House, Crail, Fife. Image courtesy: School House Garden.

You can go for the swanky option and plant salad leaves in contrasting colours then place the bowl somewhere prominent and pinch leaves to eat in the passing. If you grow cut and come again salad leaves you can take a leaf or two from each plant without ruining your display and the leaves will soon re-grow.

Ruby Chard at Patrick’s Patch, Beaulieu. Image courtesy, School House Garden.

Ruby chard is a hugely ornamental veg, here is it grown singly but it sits well with companions – a few blue cornflowers and little alpine strawberries create an easy cottagey effect.

Mixing edibles and flowers will always be a winner; marigolds combine the best of both worlds and can tossed prettily over salads. Seek out Indian Prince, a wonderful variety.

Meadow Planting

Planted singly in pots grasses look contemporary and add a certain classy something to your plot. Use them for height and as focal points to create lines of sight and draw the eye further into the garden, or as punctuation points, or urban doorstops. This is Pennisetum Mountain Ruby Grass.

Smaller grasses like Brixia Media ‘Quaker Grass’, or Hordeum Jobatum, Squirrel’s Tail work well in containers.

Or, Lagurus Ovatum, ‘Bunny Tails’ with the swaying lacy umbels of Orlaya Grandiflora. There’s plenty of movement and if you toss in a few Oriental poppy seeds – the deep red flouncy petals of Scarlet Peony are very jolly – you’ll have colour and fun too. The seedheads provide added interest when the flowers are over.

Still Stumped for Ideas

Hostas are the perfect solution for cool green relief in shady spots. Old stumps are fairly easy to come by, hollow out a home for them in the stump and they’ll be quite content.

On first hearing there is a World Whisky Day you may be tempted to emit a long, weary sigh and we’d have a certain amount of sympathy for such reaction.  The day previously known as the 18^th of May has been hijacked by desperate marketing types. But that’s not quite how it happened.

Apparently, World Whisky Day is the brainchild of Aberdeen University student, Blair Bowman, genuine whisky enthusiast and not an industry employee – for the time being anyway.

Stylish blind tasting at Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

Yes, it’s a £5bn a year industry. Yes, there are always un-ending arguments about tax and big corporations like Diageo taking profit overseas. Back in February the BBC screened a documentary called Scotched Earth; asking ‘whether Scotland is getting enough back from whisky, and hear(ing) how we could cash in more on this amazing business success.’ But forget all that.

Why not celebrate whisky? It’s lovely. Salty. Peaty. Sherry. Honey. Vanilla. Iodine. What other drink can make you feel like you’ve been plunged beneath the waves off a Hebridean Island, or bitten deep into a great big, treacly Christmas pudding? Not to mention the medicine cabinet, or the school nurse.

Uisge beatha is a marvelous drink and it’s a shame there’s just the one day set aside for it’s enjoyment.

There are loads of events all over the UK and beyond so if you’re in a stepping out frame of mind here’s where we reckon you should be knocking ‘em back on World Whisky Day:

Scotch Malt Whisky Society Bar, Queen Street, Edinburgh.

Scotch Malt Whisky Society Members Room, London and Edinburgh

SMWS are hosting special WWD events in all venues. The Vaults, in Leith; Queen Street, Edinburgh; and Greville Street, London, are all opening their doors and bottles to anyone (non-members included) who wants to celebrate the greatest of spirits. A very generous malt of the moment will be available and the classic film Whisky Galore will screen all day in the Whisky Room. Society Ambassadors will be on hand to provide walking mini tastings. Expertly matched whisky and food platters will be served in the bar. Full details on the events page here.

Whisky Mavericks, World Whisky Day Tasting

Events in nine cities the length and breadth of the UK. Experts will guide drinkers through 6 malts and introduce them to some unusual drams that may just give your classic Scotches a real run for their money. So not just the classic Scottish Malts then. Full details on and booking on Whisky Mavericks.

For further details of events in your area see the World Whisky Day website.

Or, if you’re staying home but would like to raise a celebratory glass here’s our top five malts to enjoy on 18th May – the taste of each malt will alter depending which bottle you’re tippling from but generally speaking…

Caol Isla

Perfect as an aperitif to awaken the palate. Big swill of salted caramel and seaweed. Hails from Islay.

Highland Park

Smokey, honeyed and friendly. A restful dram. Orkney’s only malt.

Edradour

From Scotland’s smallest distillery; sweet, creamy and light. Quaffable in summer sun should we be so lucky.

Laphroig

A great big medicinal slap in the chops. Salty. Oily. This Islay malt is the marmite of whiskies – you either love it, or hate.

The Balvennie

Glory of Speyside malts; sweet heather-honey and often orangey notes. Rich and luxurious after dinner.

Introducing our New Scarves from Johnstons of Elgin

Scarves are the most versatile wardrobe asset and can transform an outfit with a single flick of a wafty tail.

At best there are four ways you can wear a bag: shoulder, hand, cross body and back but a scarf can keep you contentedly fidgeting in front of a mirror for hours on end. And we should know because that’s exactly what we’ve been doing since our new Johnstons’ scarves came in.

We’ve discovered that all it takes to crack effortless scarf chic is a little help from our newest online BFF, Wendy.

Take five minutes out to watch Wendy bounce through her routine and acquire instant style elevation. Magic.

Helpfully, we’ve also highlighted which scarf works best with which look.

Johnstons of Elgin Multi Layer Lightweight Scarf

This gorgeous scarf is made of extra fine merino and cashmere with a silvery slither of silk dividing the gentle colours. It’s the perfect shape and wafty weight for the DIY Infinity, The Celebrity and The Decoration.

Johnstons of Elgin Tumbled Fancy Stripe Scarf

A lovely, gauzy, 100% cashmere scarf with a light, summery, seaside rock stripe. The tumbled texture, pattern and shape make it perfect for rolled looks like The Mira and The Boa. The Magic Trick also shows off the stripes beautifully.

Johnstons of Elgin Extra Fine Merino Plain Stole

A scarf that is all about the volume, big beautiful and huggably soft. The lighter colours, duck egg, soft candy pink and pebble grey are perfect with dresses on cooler summer days. Wear The Waterfall, The Fake Knot or The Euro Loop and transform into The Wrap if the breeze picks up.

Since the nail biting conclusion to last week’s Badminton, when Kiwi newcomer, Jock Paget became this year’s surprise winner, we’ve been looking forward to a debrief with our old chum Cameron Crawford.

If you read our posts, Borders Talent at The Badminton Horse Trials and Badminton Trot Up – Timing, Flash and Bling, you’ll know that Cameron owns Onwards and Upwards, ridden by Caroline Powell. Cameron’s last, and only other trip to Badminton was as child to watch Ian Stark compete there at his first Badminton. Returning as an owner was a dream come true.

Caroline Powell competing on Cameron Crawford’s horse, Onwards and Upwards, in the Dressage, at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials.

He’d confided before he left for the 2013 competition that the goal was for Caroline and Onwards & Upwards to finish in the top 25. After one of only 6 double clears within time they were placed 21^st. So how does Cameron feel now and what does the future look like for horse and rider?

“The whole thing is surreal,” admitted Cameron, “Has been from the moment we arrived in the lorry park and I jumped down from the cab to be greeted by Sir Mark Todd.’

‘Badminton is unique compared to the other events – in a league of its own. The heritage is all around. The stable block is an incredible historical building and the competitors’ canteen is in the house itself. It’s the competition to win.”

The Eventing world’s Wimbledon?

“Yes,” Cameron agrees, “The riders are quieter than they are at other events. They set the tone. There’s a huge amount of pressure on them. Badminton is the oldest of the competitions. It has the reputation. It attracts the crowds. There were over 150,000 spectators for the X-country alone and record visitor numbers for the event over all. Having been there as a boy and returning as an owner, stepping under the rope and walking the x-country course was unbelievable. Something I’d dreamed of but never imagined would actually happen.”

Caroline Powell rode a clear round on Onwards and Upwards, in the X-country at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials. Photo courtesy, Al Crook.

Cameron is elated with Onwards and Upwards’ performance at Badminton. His double clear in both the x-country and show jumping marks him out as horse of huge potential. Cameron says he and Caroline always knew the dressage would be hard. He described a dressage element called a Flying Change and admitted that this was a weakness they knew they would lose points on.

“We expected to drop 3, or 4 marks on each Flying Change. There are 4 Flying Changes at Badminton, more than in any other dressage event, so we were always going to drop about 16 points.”

The summer is now all about working on the dressage and getting Onwards and Upwards ready for the big events of the Autumn. Caroline’s concentrated training has improved Flash’s Flat and Trot work and the focus is now to affect the same transformation in the other dressage elements.

It is according to Cameron, entirely doable. It’s all about hard work, training and remaining injury free. Injury is the biggest worry for horses and riders. Every mention of Onwards and Upwards’ future potential is prefaced with a proviso that his horse remains injury free. For every horse tipped as a future champion there are many who’ve gone unsound and never made it.

Within a day of concluding at Badminton, Caroline Powell made the move to a new yard at Marlborough, Bury St Edmonds. Here Caroline hopes to settle for the summer and work towards the big events later in the season.

She hasn’t yet decided if the next outing for Onwards and Upwards will be Burghley, or Blenheim followed by Pau, in France. There may even be a trip to Germany in July, to compete at Achen – the jewel in the German Eventing calendar. And it looks almost certain that Caroline will ride Onwards and Upwards at the British Championships in August.

Caroline’s future success on Onwards and Upwards is contingent on improving dressage performance. Cameron explains how training has transformed the horse’s Trot work:

“In the past he was getting 5s, and 6s, consistent work has elevated this to 7s and 8s. If we can do the same for his Flying Changes and the other elements then he’s going to be a horse to beat.”

It is Cameron concedes, all about chipping away. According to him, if anyone can take his horse to the very top of Eventing then Caroline Powell can do it, she has that unquantifiable extra something that sits just aloft the hard work, tenacity and self-belief that is takes to be a top level athlete.

This year Lenamore retired, the horse she won Burghley on in 2010 and her Bronze Medal at London 2012. She’s looking for a horse to take her on to the next stage of her career, perhaps even to Rio. She and Cameron both know this horse could be Onwards and Upwards, but, and it’s a very big but, there’s a lot of drama to play out between then and now.

In the meantime Cameron Crawford is working very hard to keep his feet on the ground.