ISLE OF MAN — A STRATEGIC SOLUTION
A property strategy and sale engagement for a unique and extraordinary residence, completed in under two years.
A remarkable private residence, unsold after nearly seven years on the market — sold within two years of my involvement.
THE PROBLEM
Arragon Mooar is an extraordinary property: a large private residence on the Isle of Man, designed and built by its owner to his own exacting specifications, with a central elliptical hall and elliptical rooms arranged around it replicated across all floors. And it would not sell. Seven years on the market had produced no movement: the price was beyond what the market would bear, the listing was local rather than international, and the photography conveyed the owner’s personality rather than the property’s potential.
A long-standing client asked me to take it on. The brief was characteristically succinct: go and sort it out!
THE INTERVENTION
On initial impression this was not an interior design commission. It was a strategy engagement, and I approached it as one.
The first decision was representation. I met the international teams at Savills, Knight Frank and Sotheby’s International Realty, recommended Sotheby’s, and retained the incumbent local agent alongside them — Isle of Man transactions require local representation.
The second was presentation. I selected, briefed and managed a staging company, room by room, on what to transform and why. The lower ground floor and exterior buildings went further: I redesigned them entirely on paper — bar, cinema room, gym, yoga studio, treatment room and entire spa suite — and had the scheme produced as photo-real CGI, clearly caveated as indicative design, so buyers could see what the space was capable of becoming. New photography and videography followed once the staging was complete.
We launched the property to the international market six months after I took the brief.
THE OUTCOME
Sold for £13 million — a seven-year impasse resolved in under two years.
Arragon Mooar shows the other half of what I do — strategy, judgement and bringing the right people together to unlock the full potential of a property. Exceptional interior design is just one tool in the toolkit.
Once I got involved, we sold a property that had resisted every conventional approach. It was not the first commission from this client family, and the relationship has continued.
“Kate’s energy, initiative and ability to sift through complexity to formulate a clear and concise approach enabled us to finally sell our property after several years of frustration.”
— Private client, Isle of Man
In collaboration with:
Image Foundry
Koru Wellness Ltd
Cowley Groves
(lsle of Man partner real estate agent)
Burbeck Group
(for staging)
Sotheby’s International Realty