Property tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten and his son Max Hamilton speak out on future plans for huge family home one hour south of London in the sprawling countryside
At the pinnacle of his notoriety Nicholas van Hoogstraten was dubbed with competing titles as “Britain’s self-styled youngest millionaire” and “Britain’s most feared landlord”, famed for his reputation as a ruthless operator who seized homes within his property empire across the south coast from anyone unable to repay his high-interest loans.
Hoogstraten, now 80, built his business on the profits he made from selling his childhood stamp collection and reached the height of his fame in the 1980s. Even if you are unfamiliar with him by his name, there is a very strong chance you will recognise his renowned huge, half-built mansion that is a one hour drive out of South London into the Sussex countryside.
Work on the enormous £100 million Hamilton Palace that would have been bigger than Buckingham Palace began in 1985 but to this day it remains no more than a giant shell and has been branded the ‘Ghost House of Sussex.’ It is hidden off from an unassuming junction on the A22 south of Uckfield and the mansion is completely obscured by thick woodland.
Hoogstraten and his son Max Hamilton, 40, are keen to clear up any confusion about the fate of the family’s mansion, reports the Express. The neo-classical property sprawling across 100 acres of picturesque countryside was conceived as a tribute to a forgotten age of Georgian grandeur, featuring Romanesque pillars and brass cupolas.
However, work suddenly stopped in the late 1990s at the time when it seemed close to being finished and now 30 years on Hoogstraten and Max have broken their silence to reveal the precise reasons work came to a surprise halt and what plans the family still has for Hamilton Palace, which has been attracting unwanted visitors.
‘Round the clock security and staff on site’
“The thing that gets on our nerves is the number of people we have trespassing and the excuse is always ‘we’ve read it’s abandoned’,” Max states. “But this is an estate that has staff, round-the-clock security and things happening every single day.”
Max adds that anyone who does manage to get onto the grounds would be under no illusion that this is somewhere they shouldn’t be. The gardens are well-kept, there are hunts on the land, people stay there and there are clear signs posted on the boundary fence declaring it as private property.
Those who make it nearer to Hamilton Palace itself tend to harbour more sinister intentions, Max shares. Burglars have repeatedly targeted the unfinished mansion and the family regularly end up having to ring the police.
“It’s dangerous,” he continues. “These individuals are taking perilous risks, and someone will eventually end up injured. It doesn’t help that the trespassing laws are virtually non-existent and the criminal damage [penalties] are feeble.”
Father and son ‘convinced’ the mansion will be finished
There may be vegetation creeping around the scaffolding but both Hoogstraten and his son remain utterly convinced that the project will ultimately be completed. Max cannot provide a timeline for when this might occur because “it’s not on the agenda”. He explains: “We’ve just got so many smaller everyday things [occupying us]. My dad has every intention to finish it, but he still works 16 hours a day every single day.”
An estate agent informed the Express the mansion could command as much as £100 million if put on the market. However, the father and son duo simply appear puzzled by the notion they would ever consider selling Hamilton Palace.
“We’ve had all sorts of people trying to buy it,” Hoogstraten discloses, “people with mega money”. He added the reason builders were told to stop work was due to a series of errors. “There were major issues,” Max clarifies, “not just in terms of aesthetics but also in terms of [what it would take to] rectify [them].”
Hoogstraten recalls being furious about the placement of a column that destroyed one of the key features: an uninterrupted view from one side of the building to the other. Looking back, he blames the architect, even though he also says: “I designed every last bit of that building, [the architect] just did the paperwork.”
Beyond the troublesome pillar, the mansion’s owner remembers being annoyed when he discovered that the servants’ staircases were narrow and spiralling. This, he noted, was useless for staff carrying heavy trays.
Murder trial that took away focus when he needed to be on site ‘every day’
The reason these errors became fixed obstacles was due to the timing in Hoogstraten’s life when they occurred. He was facing a murder trial and then became preoccupied by on goings in Zimbabwe, where he owns enormous land holdings. “A number of things came together,” Max explains, “And it was a project you needed to be on site every day for. My dad’s attention was on investments in Zim.”
Initially found guilty of manslaughter, Hoogstraten was cleared on appeal, but feels his notorious reputation was present in the courtroom. “Everyone knew already that I was stinking rich and was in bed with Mugabe,” he says. When Max suggests his father’s life changed in the wake of the murder trial, Hoogstraten is dismissive. “The bigger picture was always Zimbabwe,” he interjects.
Hoogstraten’s connection with the country began in his teenage years when he purchased land in what was then known as Rhodesia from an estate, sight unseen. When he finally visited some years later, he “fell in love” with the place. It’s fair to say it’s been a contentious relationship. His vast land ownership and friendship with Robert Mugabe have often come under scrutiny.
“I’m seen as this white man who’s owned more of Zimbabwe than anyone else,” he shares. This, he argues, is an unjust portrayal of his interests. “I am responsible for thousands of people,” he states, “They are living on my land and working for my companies.”
The family claims these ‘responsibilities’ encompass healthcare and education, “we even give them hampers,” adds Hoogstraten. “I did something that nobody has done since the white farmers left and that’s providing everything for the black people.”
Despite all this, abandoning the costly construction of the Sussex mansion for such an extended period seems peculiar for someone who scrutinises every penny – Hoogstraten carries a Co-op loyalty card to secure the finest bargains at his neighbourhood budget supermarket and was renowned for reusing tea bags.
Assessing Hoogstraten’s precise wealth proves challenging. Currently, his enormous property portfolio and art collection have been estimated at figures that would easily establish him as a billionaire. He scoffs at personalities like Elon Musk, whose wealth depends on stock options, or Donald Trump, “who has everything mortgaged up to the eyeballs,” as not being genuinely wealthy. “People who have mortgages are just bulls***ers,” he declares.
In his view, the residences of today’s super-rich are crammed with costly pieces that lack enduring worth and “you’d be hard pushed to find any Louis XIV furniture anymore.”
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