BELGRAVIA RESEARCH LTD
The idea of having a partnership-owned house in London emerged during a 1984 visit to the UK by Jinx and Max Morris along with Joannie and Martin Stein. After touring around southern England, they stopped for several days in London at the Royal Thames Yacht Club.
The first afternoon in London, Max and Martin walked over to the U.S. Navy Headquarters on Grosvenor Square. Max wanted to visit briefly with the admiral in charge who had been a colleague in past days. Max had been stationed at Grosvenor Square, too, during the four-plus years he and Jinx had lived in the UK.
During their walk, Martin asked how often the Morrises came to London, and Max replied that it averaged four times a year. Martin said, “You ought to buy a house here.” Max’s response was, “It would cost too much for the amount of time used.” And Martin said, “Why couldn’t we do it together and get some others to join in?” And the rest is history.
During that walk they passed 53 Green Street. Both families had stayed there in the past; the two walkers knew it was up for sale by the Charter Company. Martin suggested that Max pursue the purchase of Green Street on return to Jacksonville, develop a list of possible partners, and draw up some bylaws/guidelines for usage.
During late 1984, Max bid in on Green Street but, due to a mix of circumstances, not all of them attractive, he lost out at the last minute to a lower bid which turned out to be from a three-person consortium from California. The lead investor was Mr. Leonard Firestone. He was advised by Mr. Darius Keaton, a former officer of the Charter Company.
Somewhat piqued by not obtaining the Green Street house, the two founding partners decided to find another suitable London property for the “syndicating” they had in mind. Max and Jinx made two trips to find possible houses. Then Martin and Russell Newton joined Max in the spring of 1985 to view several top prospects. They finally decided on a maisonette at 14 Eaton Place, Belgravia, and purchased the 34-year leasehold in May1985. From this location came the name of the group when it incorporated later on.
Obtaining permission from the Estate to purchase the Eaton Place lease was not easy. The Duke of Westminster prohibits leases of residences to more than one family. This is to avoid de facto usage as small hotels or clubs. Max briefed Martin and the partners on this. They agreed to leasing the property in Max’s name. Telephones, utilities and rates (taxes) would be similarly listed. Then our solicitor prepared a trust deed wherein partners, including Max himself, share and share alike.
A maisonette in British usage is an apartment encompassing more than one floor, up and down. Our apartment at 14 Eaton Place was on two floors. It had four bedrooms and baths, an attractive living room and dining room with gas log fireplaces, and a charming small garden which opened off the dining room, kitchen and one bedroom.
By this time the group of partners (see list) had organized, funds were in place for purchase of the lease and initial decorating. All original partners remain today except for Martin Stein, Guy Botts, Billy Lovett, Farris Bryant, Albert Ernest and Billy Whitmire.
To get underway, Max and Jinx Morris, with two children and two children’s friends, flew to London in July 1985. They took the vacant but partly furnished place in hand and prepared it for occupancy. Working for two weeks, the Morris “team” had 14 Eaton Place furnished, utilities turned on, and ready for partners’ use by the end of July 1985. Considerable work remained in terms of details but those were put in the capable hands of the private concierge who was retained to act as part time manager of Eaton Place.
Several members had known Amanda from Green Street when it was owned by the Charter Company. Amanda had stayed on as manager of 53 Green Street for the new owner, Mr. Firestone, but had time (initially one day a week) to manage 14 Eaton Place for our group.
From the inception of the idea, the founding partners agreed that accountability of partners was absolutely mandatory. If any occupancy resulted in damage to the property or furnishings, the occupying partner would bear costs of repair/replacement. It was this imperative which resulted in a bylaw which stated that the presence of a partner or spouse, or one of their immediate family members, i.e. son, daughter, parent, brother or sister, had to be present and accountable during a period of occupancy. There could be no lending to friends or other relatives. There also could be no use of the premises for business activities.
This imperative of full, personal accountability for occupancy also undergirded the initial founding agreement that partners would only be residents of Jacksonville, this to preclude problems of quorums for meetings, quick action on decisions and safety of the premises, repair of damages, etc. The bylaws today are almost identical with the ones agreed upon by founders in February 1985 when preparing for the Eaton Place purchase.
Other rules including method of selection of times of occupancy, election of officers and need for extra help, are as worked out by Martin, Russell and Max at the beginning. Everyone also agreed to treat Belgravia assessments for operations as personal expenditures and not as business expenses/deductions. All this has remained in place and works well even now.
As months went by at Eaton Place, more and more use was made by partners. The maisonette was pleasantly located and was well suited for visiting London. There were, however, some continuing problems after a few months with the holder of the master lease, i.e. the person who owned the lease from the Estate on the entire building. For this reason, Max kept track of the situation at 53 Green Street, especially after it was learned that Mrs. Firestone had died and that one of the partners was having legal difficulties.
During the winter of 1986-87, Martin and Max, with the approval of all Belgravia Research partners, discussed the purchase of Green Street with its owners. After about three months, an agreement was reached which stated that Green Street (the leasehold) would be sold to Belgravia Research Ltd. for a fixed dollar amount, payable at closing no later than June 1, 1987. The house would be conveyed fully furnished except for a few special items.
Eaton Place was immediately placed on the market, using the same estate agent (Alan Russell of Russell Simpson Ltd.) we had used when purchasing the maisonette. After several false starts, a serious offer came in and the leasehold was sold to Maurice Fooks, Esq., a London banker.
The sale was, of course, in sterling. We had bought Eaton Place when the pound was down near its historic low. We bought some of the purchase money in 1984 as low as $1.15 per pound and the rest at $1.19 and $1.22. By May 1987 when we sold Eaton Place, the dollar had weakened to $1.52 so we had a large enough exchange rate gain to break even on the purchase of the house (in dollars) from the Firestone group. The idea of the almost six month delay between the two closings but at a fixed dollar price, was pure genius maneuvering by Martin. We obtained a substantial upgrade in residence quality by the trade at no material cost to the partners.
The same system of putting the lease in one name, then conveying beneficial ownership by trust deed to Belgravia’s partners was followed at Green Street since Mayfair, like the previous venue, is part of the Grosvenor domain. This is why utility bills, taxes, and ground rent papers from the Estate came in Martin’s name for awhile, then after 1988 in the name of our corporation.
With the purchase of the house at 53 Green Street, we gained the services of Amanda Jordan fulltime since Leonard Firestone had installed her as his house manager, living in the basement flat of the house. She, her husband Rupert and their son David live there today and are the best of neighbors. At the same time we acquired our daily maid, Lina. She also had been at Green Street with Charter and with the Firestones for a total then of fifteen years. She certainly knows the house intimately.
Our bylaws continued to operate well at Green Street as did our system of time selection for occupancy. The only real change was in usage: due to the larger size of the house more partners came over with guests for more of their allotted time.
The only major redecorating of the house took place in the fall of 1993. This was wonderfully supervised by Mary Jane and Jack Uible. They were painstaking in both the planning and the execution of this tremendous effort. It involved the entire interior and has given us a décor we enjoy more during every visit to 53 Green Street.
A less extensive but very necessary renovation of the exterior of the house occurred during the late spring and summer of 1999. This involved window replacement, roof and chimney work, pointing of masonry, and painting. With these two major efforts out of the way, the house seems well arranged for the remainder of our lease, which expires, as we know, at Midsummer 2007.
In retrospect, one cannot see any action we took that really went wrong, even though we did not get the house at first try. Even then we were fortunate, more or less, since we missed the massive water tank failure in the attic in 1986. As a consequence of this flooding, the Firestone group had to forgo the use of the house for some months while repairs to floors and ceilings at all levels were made.
We were fortunate in having a group of partners who are friends and who enjoy adventures like taking on a house in London. They share a common interest in keeping 53 Green Street a pleasant, attractive English-style residence. It is a relaxed alternative home as opposed to a hotel.
Thus far the collective ownership by our partners has worked out exactly as we all planned back at the inception of Belgravia Research Ltd. with all members enjoying their time in Mayfair. All of us hope that our past success during more than fifteen years continues for the remaining years we have the house.