A last minute deal

The mystery of the auction of the Brontë Birthplace has been solved. The Yorkshire Post reports:

The house in which Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë were born was sold to a private developer, who put in a last-minute offer last night after it failed to make its reserve at auction.

Author and Brontë enthusiast Barbara Whitehead, 76, put the house in Market Street, Thornton, near Bradford, up for auction because of poor health.

Following worldwide publicity, auctioneer Tony Webber, of Eddisons, expected a number of enthusiasts to bid for the Grade II-listed property – and last night said he was disappointed with the lack of interest.

Only a handful of people were bidding and it failed to meet its reserve.

Mr Webber said: "It's fair to say the auction didn't go exactly as planned. The property didn't quite meet its reserve price. We had set a reserve of £180,000 but do not tell people what it is during the auction."The top bid was £178,000, which was hugely frustrating as the reserve was only a couple of thousand more, at what we thought was a reasonable price for the property, not even taking into account its Brontë links.

"We contacted Brontë Societies in America and Japan and I can't see why the house didn't capture more people's imaginations, I thought there would be a few more serious inquiries than there were."

Mr Webber said that the property would have returned to Mrs Whitehead but for a developer who approached the auctioneer afterwards and asked, out of interest, what the reserve had been."When we told him he decided that the property seemed like a good investment. He's an investor who is a regular buyer with us. He didn't say what he wanted to do with the house but as it is listed he will be quite constrained. Either he can rent it out or try and sell it on for profit."

Although it didn't make as much as it could, I'm sure Barbara Whitehead will be very pleased that it sold. I think this will be a great weight off her mind." (Tom Smithard)

Some more details can be read on The Telegraph & Argus:

Campaigners in Bradford today appealed to a property investor who bought the
Bronte's birthplace on a whim, to keep it as it is. (...)
Hundreds of bidders crammed into the banqueting suite of Leeds United's Elland Road ground as more than 80 properties, went under the hammer.
Prior to the sale the £200,000 guide price was reduced to £180,000.
During the auction, the price was further dropped to £177,000, which meant the property was initially not sold. But after bidding closed the buyer, who wanted to remain anonymous, came forward and met the reserve price.
Bill Petch, a consultant for estate agency Eddisons, which held the sale, said the new owner, a man in his late 30s or early 40s who lives in London, was a large property investor who regularly attends its auctions. He said: "The man just bought it on a whim and he doesn't know what to do with it yet, but he has told me that there will be no change to the property and it will still be kept as it is now."

The house has been owned in recent years by Barbara Whitehead, who has written numerous books including one about the lifelong friendship between Charlotte Bronte and Ellen Nussey.

She restored the property into a place which would have been recognised by the Bronte family. But due to ill health she has had to sell it.
After the auction Mrs Whitehead's son Roger Howson said: "I am delighted that the property has reached its reserve price. I am relieved. When it failed to sell, I was so disappointed, but then the purchaser came forward. I hope the owner will continue to make it available to the public."
John Jessop, who has been campaigning for Bradford Council and other groups to take interest in the property, said: "Although I am pleased for Barbara and her son, I am disappointed that the Council did not buy the house as a tourist attraction for the city. I hope whoever buys it keeps the interior as similar to how Barbara has it now. I would hate to think of someone tipping it all out and ruining all the hard work Barbara put in."
Bronte parsonage director Alan Bentley said: "It is good news for the people who have wanted to sell it. But it was a shame that the Bronte society couldn't take it on."
A spokesman for Bradford Council would not comment on why the authority
did not bid. (Ali Davis)

Picture Source: Staff from the estate agents inspect the property.

Richard Wilcocks on The Brontë Parsonage Blog gives also his opinion and complains about the Bradford Council's lack of initiative:

The Brontë Society is in no position to take it on. The local paper, the Telegraph and Argus, is polling online readers on whether Bradford Council should buy it and run it as a tourist attraction. So far, a substantial majority thinks it should. But then, Bradford Council tends to take Haworth and the Parsonage for granted, doing very little: the old toilets run by Bradford in the village are inadequate and dirty and the famous setts (cobbles) on Main Street are poorly looked after.

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