Model Mandy Lieu is poised to swap the catwalk for muddy boots after becoming the new owner of Ewhurst Park, the former seat of the Duke of Wellington.
The 35-year-old, one of Asia’s biggest stars who has fronted campaigns for Dior and is also a TV presenter and actress, paid £28 million for the estate, reports The Times.
Ms Lieu, who was born in Malaysia but is currently based in the UK after moving from Hong Kong, reportedly received a £29.7million ‘break-up fee’ from married Macau hotel tycoon Alvin Chau, who has an estimated $2billion fortune, when they ended their five-year relationship last year.
Ms Lieu shares three children – a son and two daughters – with Mr Chau, 46, who is chairman of Suncity Group, which operates and manages resorts across Asia. Mr Chau also has two children with his wife, Heidi Chan.
Ms Lieu said she plans to transform the 925 acre Ewhurst Park in Ramsdell, Hampshire into an eco farm producing high quality organic food.
Model Mandy Lieu, pictured in June 2014, is poised to swap the catwalk for muddy boots after becoming the new owner of Ewhurst Park, the former seat of the Duke of Wellington
Ms Lieu hopes to attract experts in rewilding and regenerative farming when she becomes ‘steward’ of the land
She also hopes to introduce a micro-forest, run holiday lets and establish a four-bedroom home for families who are affected by motor neurone disease on the estate.
She told The Times: ‘I do not think myself a landowner. Instead I consider myself a steward of this land, working to leave it in a better state than I found it, and very soon I hope to open Ewhurst to invite as many people as possible to come on this journey with me.
‘I grew up in southeast Asia and was taught in my earliest years to respect food and the land that it comes from. Now, I am able to put my passion into practice in the UK.’
Ms Lieu hopes to attract experts in rewilding and regenerative farming. Writing in Sublime magazine yesterday, for which she is a columnist, she revealed she is interested to learn about how different ways of producing food can have different impacts on the environment.
‘In the coming weeks, I hope to have more news for you about my own plans to start off in the world of farming,’ she said. ‘The future of our farming must be sustainable and regenerative.’
Ms Lieu, who was born in Malaysia but is currently based in the UK after moving from Hong Kong, said she plans to transform the 925 acre park in Ramsdell, Hampshire (pictured) into an eco farm producing high quality organic food
Ms Lieu revealed she is interested to learn about how different ways of producing food can have different impacts on the environment. Pictured: a view of the estate and its grounds from the main house
As part of her plans, the model will open a farm-to-table deli in London’s trendy Notting Hill with further plans to include local milk delivery in west London.
She explained in a Sublime article: ‘My own effort at rebalancing our habits has been to launch a farm-to-table business, starting with my Notting Hill deli, which will support fantastic British farmers producing world-class organic food.
‘In doing so, I hope to help show people the breadth of seasonal produce that is on our doorstep, when to buy it and how to cook it.’
The estate itself was most recently sold in 2007 for a reported £12 million to American-born businessman Michael Cohen – former European head of the hedge fund Och-Ziff. He is believed to have bought it as a country pit-stop while overseeing deals from his London office.
The mother-of-three also hopes to introduce a micro-forest, run holiday lets and establish a four-bedroom home for families who are affected by motor neurone disease
Mr Cohen, who has dual British and US citizenship, built a large country house on the land, renovated its listed buildings and landscaped its expansive 18th century grounds.
Guy Bradshaw, the head of UK residential at Sotheby’s International Realty, told The Times that there had been a significant influx of wealthy Asian millennials keen to buy up a piece of the British countryside.
Ms Lieu regularly hit the headlines in Asia for being the mistress of married Macau tycoon and chairman of Suncity Group Alvin Chauc
‘We’ve definitely seen a lot of younger people from Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan coming through with quite substantial budgets over the last few weeks, looking for that lifestyle change,’ he said. ‘Their budgets start at around a million pounds upwards.’
Mr Bradshaw added that many are ‘shrewd’ investors looking to add value and make a return on their investment. He said he expects a number of Asian buyers will come over to the UK once Covid-19 travel restrictions are lifted.
Ms Lieu moved to the UK, but attracted criticism in September for an Instagram post on Sublime’s platform in which she welcomed readers to her new regular column discussing ‘sustainable food, lifestyle and family’.
Several people commented on her relationship with Mr Chauc, with one writing: ‘How could a mistress talk about family and children?’
History of Ewhurst Park and its connection to the Dukes of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington
Ewhurst is a large estate located approximately six miles north east of Basingstoke, within the North Wessex Downs.
The Domesday account sites Ewhurst as part of the estates owned by Earl Godwin, held by Walter of Hugh de Port in 1086. Pitt Hall Farm dates back to around 1327. Early lease documents from 1717 offer a description of the landscape which includes the old manor house and buildings, stables, orchards and fishponds, as well as early field systems and woodland boundaries. Its large lake make have been formed from fishponds in medieval times.
The estate was inherited in 1761 by James Chichele Plowden and sold to Robert Mackreth, who built a new house and stable block.
Between 1817 and 1943, the Dukes of Wellington were the principal land owners in Baughurst. Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesmen who became one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century in Britain – serving twice as prime minister.
He ended the Napoleonic Wars when he defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The Duke acquired the Wolverton and Ewhurst estate, encompassing some several thousand acres in the parishes of Wolverton, Ewhurst, Baughurst, Tadley and thereabouts (north-west of Basingstoke), purchased from Sir Peter Pole and his trustees in 1831/32.
The Ewhurst mansion house and church on the estate were rebuilt in 1872-3 by Mr W.H. Chichele Plowden.
In 1910, Country Life magazine described the estate as containing ‘a fine artificial lake of 18 acres surrounded by beech trees’. It describes the work of the then Duchess of Wellington, citing her rose and a walled garden ‘devoted to flower and foliage effects’.
Although the family seat was at Stratfield Saye, the 4th Duke of Wellington preferred to stay at Ewhurst until his death in 1934.
In 1943 the Ewhurst and Wolverton estates were sold by auction, and during the Second World War they were taken over by the Canadian Military.
Left empty and neglected it was bought in the mid 1950s, and the mansion reduced to a single wing. Its gardens were also reduced in size and complexity to take account of modern standards of management.
The original 18th century stables were retained and referred to as ‘impressive’ in Pevsner & Lloyd. In the 1970s the Church of St Mary was declared redundant and used as part of the house amenities.
The estate was most recently sold in 2007 for a reported £12 million to American-born businessman Michael Cohen – former European head of the hedge fund Och-Ziff. He is believed to have bought it as a country pit-stop while overseeing deals from his London office.