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Property developer's £1.5 million Sandbanks mansion destroyed by fire
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A property developer woke up today to find out his £1.5 million mansion had burned down while he was on holiday with his family.
Mark Griffiths, his wife Caroline and daughters Chloe, 19, and Charlotte, 13, went by cruise ship from Southampton to New York and were due to set sail back to the UK this morning.
They were asleep in their hotel when they got the call from Mrs Griffiths' brother Eddie Argyle at 4am local time.
He told them their £1.5 million mansion in the exclusive suburb of Branksome, in Poole, Dorset, had burned down.
Mr Griffiths built the house himself around 18 years ago in the upmarket area near Sandbanks, where residents include Portsmouth football manager Harry Redknapp.
"I had to break the news at about 9am this morning, 4am their time, that their house had gone," said Mr Argyle.
"They were in total shock. I didn't know how to put it, I just put it as matter-of-factly as possible.
"I said I'm really sorry, your house has burnt down. It is unsalvageable.
"We are trying to convince them to take the cruise back. There's nothing they can do here. They have a five-day cruise coming back."
Luckily their pet dog was in a kennel and their cat was outside. No one else was inside the property.
Mr Argyle was amongst friends and family trying to salvage items from the four-bedroom house, which sits on three-quarters of an acre of prime real estate.
"We were just so happy to salvage some photos."
The family were understood to have left Southampton aboard the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship on August 1 for the six-night crossing, which was due to set sail back to the UK today.
The fire broke out at around midnight last night and fire crews worked through the night to try to bring it under control.
Building inspectors were called in this morning to assess the unsafe house.
Mr Argyle said: "They think it started off as an electrical problem in the downstairs office.
"We don't know if that means a computer was on or if some wiring went wrong. It doesn't look like arson."
He added: "The house is completely gutted and Mark is completely gutted. It is going to have to be rebuilt completely."
Viridian Homes - http://www.viridianhomes.co.uk
Commented 149 weeks ago
We are in the process of rebuilding a family home destroyed by fire in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Despite the issues of Planning Permission and the architectural designs needed by our clients to reduce their overall feeling of loss (they have gone for an “upgraded replica” of their original home), they will be back in their home within 12 months of the fire.
Our homes are in the same genre as Huf Haus – factory built and delivered on site to be erected and finished within a 10 week time frame. Almost all designs can be achieved and the resulting home is super insulated and eco friendly as standard. To put the levels of insulation and the relative impact on the environment into figures – our homes cost around £250 per year to heat (200sq m house with oil fired heating). If a client were to add a rainwater harvester and either a ground source heatpump or solar panels the house could easily achieve level 5 of the Code for Sustainable Homes (Level 6 is a “Zero Carbon” home). Our homes cost between £800 and £1000 per square metre for a bespoke design, although there are some stunning designs in our catalogue. Please visitour website for further details www.viridianhomes.co.uk
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Kind regards Graham Farrall 01407 720399
anglesey.homes@btinternet.com