Garden Lodge Listed For Sale at £30 Million

Wow.

Officially Happening.
Hope some next generation musician snatches it up and not some holding group who will build lofts or what not on the land after demolish


Who knows..

Eh. Things don't last forever I suppose but it's hard to acknowledge.

A good song WILL, however last forever

It was going to happen someday. I hope that whoever buys it doesn’t tear it down. At least the songs that came out of Garden Lodge will live forever.

Indeed... looking back are 5 years not that long, Freddie Mercury lived in this house. Maybe there´s a small chance now to visit all these rooms in the building. It´s a matter of who buys the mansion.

Couldn’t put it better myself.

I also think that there is a disproportionate view that this house somehow belongs to the fans as much as it does anyone. Yes it’s a nice property but Freddie only lived there for a short time and during the time he owned it he spent time living in Europe and America.
Montreux seems to be the official spiritual home as Garden Lodge is obviously a private residence which belongs to a very private person who has looked after it wonderfully through the years.

I think a lot of people forget that they didn’t know Freddie, yes they were fans as a result of knowing his music but being familiar with an artists art is very different to knowing the artist or being part of their private life and home.

But what a 5 years it were !!! If the walls could speak solely about the meetings organised round the piano with Freddie and friends.... The place is not some soulless freshly built building although I suppose that Freddie would be sad to see it stripped bare, rid of every little art piece that he had chosen with so much care. I won't be surprised if the next owner decides that not a brick will stand. The Garden Lodge that Freddie made famous among us may be one day turned into a little sign reading "A respectable musician lived here and enjoyed life... once".

For Mary and her children and Freddie's estate it would have been much much much much better to turn the whole thing into a museum to preserve memory of Freddie (that means no Sothesby auction). His taste in art, his taste in people (for better or for worse) and his visions of how a space where an artist could live peacefully should look like.

fans have no physical attachment to GL - our attachment is to the music - full stop. in truth, Freddie didn't write many great truly songs during his time at GL, his best work pre-dated GL residence by at least five years. i'd much rather the site/location (whether building remains standing or not) was just a Blue Plaque venue/location belonging to a private owner.

I know this argument has been presented by many previously (myself included), but: The house and all within it were/are Mary's to dispose of as she saw/sees fit. She's been a more than admirable custodian - though no such stipulation/request was ever placed upon her by Freddie. The property is not ours and we have no right to say what is "better". In truth what is "better" for Mary and her children is EXACTLY what she has done, and no amount of gainsaying by yourself or any other fan (no matter how well/ill-intended it may be) will ever be correct.

Bottom line: we don't have a say as we don't have a dog in the actual fight. I wholeheartedly agree with every action she has taken since 1992, but my opinion (like yours) is irrelevant, and all of Mary's actions (by default, as the only person holding a valid view/say) have been correct*.



* Even if at some point she'd decided to turn the place into a MacDonald's Restaurant.

Who wants to live forever in Garden Lodge?

It's just a house. At best, they could turn it into a museum, but clearly they want to bank on it.

Where exactly did I state that her or her family would have to oversee or still be the owners / custodians of said hypothetical museum ? If you have all the memorabilia, all the costumes, lyrics, fully designed rooms as Freddie had seen it fit then the museum is already there. They could sell it over /sign a contract with QPL and just profit from it being used / re-organised as a museum while living somewhere else and be free from "the lingering ghost of Freddie". I respect Mary's decision. Freddie left her GL in his will (among other stuff) and she has been a person who takes great care of such things. Don't get me wrong but I think that most of the things that had been auctioned will be treated with less care. It was Mary's wish for new owners (post-auction) to treat these items with the same amount of love that she had been treating them but it's a foolish wish. We're living in a capitalism. Most people will try to figure out how to profit from the items that they had spend so much money on.

Just think for a minute about Mozarthaus in Vienna... and it's only one floor and 4 rooms with only one being truly special. Yet... it works both as an idea of a museum and generates profits, brings together people from all over the world letting them experience the passion that they have for the composer.

doesn't appear to be one you're willing to let go, does it?
ONLY Mary's view is correct - it's HER house and her decision. Whatever her reasons, be they financial, lifting a burden of responsibility - or even just being sick to the back teeth of the place - it's NOT our right to have any kind of access to the place.
I think you need a bit of a wake-up call here. There are dozens of houses/mansions etc previously owned by folk more rich/famous than Freddie - and they change hands from owner to owner without the kind of "this should be a museum" fuss you wish for.
Where "stars" ex-houses DO become museums, then that's the choice of the owner - and wholly correct, because THE OWNER made that choice, and where they don't become museums - then that too is wholly correct - for exactly the same reason.

If you had a logical/moral argument folk might accept it, but truth is - your argument is old, tired and extremely stale. it's got no traction because there is no basis behind it other than that of fans who want access to everything and anything. enjoy the music, and let this pass, you'll feel better for it.

Just think for a minute about The Queen Experience in Montreux.

Unlike Mozart Freddie rarely if ever created alone. Motzart created music by writing pages of musical manuscripts Freddie for the most part went to other musicians with ideas who then created the work together.

So as a member of a group Freddie already has a museum dedicated to his work as an Artist.

If you want to see a house turned into a tourist attraction the person behind the ticket desk at Gracelands will happily take your hard earned dollars. I’d mush rather listen to some early Elvis recordings, I’m not interested in what was his home. The same goes for Freddie, give me Queen II any day over a one way system walk around Garden Lodge!

He might have a whip round in the pub.....

I would imagine the estate agents selling it will have to be very selective about viewings. Guess you'd need to prove you have the means to purchase before getting shown through the door.

leaving the USA will be a bit of a Sacrifice for Elton, but as GL is Made In England, i suspect his Ego won't be able to resist GL and its Empty Garden, yep GL is definitely The One.

not wanting to derail the thread, yep, you're definitely missing out on one of the greatest.
most folk are familiar with the hits, but there's some epic tunes lurking on the LPs

Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Heels of The Wind
Little Jeannie (one of the few songs Elt contributed to, lyrically)
Indian Sunset
Grey seal
Ego
I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
- or in the early 90s catalogue.
Something About The Way you Look Tonight
The One

and not forgetting, an absolute gem that deals with the fears of "losing fame" : This Train Don't Stop There Anymore