George Michael’s abandoned home to be bulldozed and transformed into ‘Grand Designs’-style mansion worth £10MILLION
GEORGE Michael’s former North London home is due a date with the wrecking ball – before it gets a Grand Designs-style redevelopment.
The Fastlove singer, who died on Christmas Day 2016 aged just 53, bought the Hampstead property in 1987 and lived in it for years.
After moving out to spend time between his Highgate mansion and a country estate in Goring, Berkshire, the pad fell into disrepair.
In 2002, burglars ransacked the home while George was away.
They pocketed all of his expensive jewellery, paintings and clothes.
The heartless thugs even stole family heirlooms bequeathed to George by his mum, who died of cancer in 1997.
After emptying the home, they tore off in his Aston Martin DB7.
After he died, the Wham! legend, real name Georgios Panayiotou, left his £98 million fortune to sisters Yioda and Melanie.
The latter sadly passed away three years after George on Christmas Day 2019, leaving Yioda, 62, at the helm of the estate.
She has now been given the green light by Camden Council after architects BB Partnership vowed to make the crumbling home “habitable”.
This will include ripping out and installing a new roof which will have solar panels.
They will also change an adjoining garage into living quarters, add new doors and windows and install decking all round the back of the house.
The existing cement board cladding will be swapped for a more modern white aesthetic laminate board.
The planning application to convert two stand alone garages into one taller version suggests Yioda herself is moving in, as it says that it will “enable the applicant to store a larger SUV”.
The changes to the home, located in a conservation area around the corner from celebs like Harry Styles and Lewis Capaldi, were welcomed by planning officer Daniel Pope.
GEORGE'S EMPIRE
Hampstead wasn't George's only home, with the singer boasting an impressive property portfolio across the world.
It included a 16th century house in Goring, Berkshire, where he spent much of his time (pictured above).
George bought the home in around 2001 and lived spent much of his time there.
In 2004 the singer invited US TV star Oprah Winfrey for a tour around the house.
During the interview, revealed he carried out most of the renovation work himself.
He died at the property on Christmas Day 2016 and his family sold it in 2019 for £3.4 million.
The Careless Whisper crooner also snapped up Number 5, The Grove, in the wealthy suburb of Highgate, North London, in 2002.
The Grade II listed semi found itself at the centre of a planning battle in 2019, with neighbours up in arms over the new owners’ plans to change the frontage of their home.
New owners Stephen Cameron and wife Clare Harrison, who described themselves as George Michael “superfans”, later won planning permission to build a “super basement” under the front garden.
George didn’t just accrue three homes in London, he also bagged a stunning $6 million
The property, which went up for sale in 2019, is nestled in the foothills of Santa Barbara, Claifornia.
It features a pool, sauna and lighted tennis court and 25 car parking spaces.
The unusual home sits on 5.7 acres of land and boasts an unusual hexagonal living space which looks out over the Pacific Ocean.
He said the removal of a water tank and installation of solar panels, will provide low carbon renewable energy and “aide the borough’s decentralised energy network”.
There were no objections and Pope added: “Given the nature of the work and the distance away from neighbouring properties…
“The proposal is not considered harmful in terms of loss of privacy, outlook, implications to natural light, artificial light spill, or impacts caused from the construction phase of the development.”
Scaffolding has now been erected all around the property, which when completed could fetch upwards of £10M.
After rising to fame with UK pop duo Wham! alongside Andrew Ridgeley, George launched what would become one of the most successful solo music careers of all time.
His iconic 1987 album Faith spawned four number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100.
Throughout his career, he had eight Hot 100 chart-toppers and 16 Top 10 hits and is thought to have sold 125 million records worldwide.
Despite global success in the 1980s, he saw record sales dwindle.
From the late 1990s, he was beset by a string of personal crises and drug use, which got him in trouble with the law.
After being arrested for a “lewd act” in a public toilet in Beverly Hills, California in 1998.
TOP OF THE POPS
George Michael's top 10 biggest selling records:
- Wham! – Last Christmas – 2,002,570
- George Michael – Careless Whisper – 1,501,440
- Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go Go – 760,934
- Wham! – Freedom – 715,909
- Wham! – I’m Your Man – 608,287
- George Michael A Different Corner 547,047
- Wham! The Edge Of Heaven / Where Did Your Heart Go 519,894
- Aretha Franklin & George Michael I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) 515,114
- George Michael – Faith – 500,321
- George Michael with Elton John – Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me = 477,923
GOT TO HAVE FAITH
GEORGE Michael was Britain's biggest pop star in the 1980s, rising to fame with Wham! before launching a immensely successful solo career.
Michael’s songwriting gift gave him and band partner Andrew Ridgeley hits including Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and I’m Your Man.
George went on to sell more than 100 million albums worldwide with Wham! and under his own name.
His first solo album, Faith (1987), sold 25 million copies.
In 1996, Michael was voted Best British Male at the MTV Europe Music Awards and the Brit Awards
Despite global success in the 1980s, he saw record sales dwindle.
From the late 1990s, he was beset by a string of personal crises and drug use, which got him in trouble with the law.
After being arrested for a “lewd act” in a public toilet in Beverly Hills, California in 1998.
Having hidden his homosexuality for years, he came out aged 34 in an interview with CNN.
He told interviewer Jim Moret: “I want to say that I have no problem with people knowing that I’m in a relationship with a man right now.
“I have not been in a relationship with a woman for almost 10 years.
“In terms of my work, I’ve never been reticent in terms of defining my sexuality. I write about my life.”
George later revealed he wrote the 1983 Wham! song ‘Nothing Looks the Same in the Light’, from their debut album ‘Fantastic’, about the moment he realised he was attracted to men.
George died unexpectedly aged 53 of heart failure at his home in Goring, Berkshire, on Boxing Day 2016.
