The most expensive homes sold in St Albans during 2019 have been revealed – and this isn’t the top property’s first time in the spotlight.
5 Cunningham Hill Road, which changed hands for £3 million last May, belonged to John Blavo, whose St Albans law firm swindled £21 million from the Government for legal aid fees.
The former director of Blavo & Co was ordered to repay the sum in December 2018.
With a total floor area of almost 7,500 sq ft, his former property boasts seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms and five reception rooms, plus an indoor pool, Jacuzzi and cinema room.
Prior to this, the Edwardian home sold for £1,175,000 in 2004.
Second on the Land Registry list is 8 Abbey Mill End, which is tucked away on a quiet no-through-road between the Abbey Orchard and Verulamium Park.
Set in private grounds, it covers nearly 2,000 sq ft of living accommodation, and changed hands for £2,150,000 last October.
The five-bed bungalow is on the same street as St Albans' Grand Designs house, which featured on the Channel 4 show in 2017.
Interestingly, the fourth and seventh most expensive properties are both on Pondwicks Close, which runs opposite Abbey Mill End.
Number 8 sold for £1,966,675 in November, while number 5 changed hands for £1,800,000 in June.
Could the mass exodus from this small area be linked to the Xmas event saga of late 2018?
When Meraki festival organisers applied for planning permission to erect a winter wonderland on the meadow opposite Westminster Lodge, a handful of locals launched a campaign against the event, forcing organisers to split it between that and two other sites.
Concluding the top three is 6 Churchill Road, which sold for £1,980,000. Arranged over three floors, this six-bed home includes a master suite with dressing room and en suite, a games room and a huge 41ft kitchen/family room with bespoke furniture by De Mornay Boyes.
The fifth most expensive is 45 Marshal's Drive - arguably St Albans' most prestigious road.
The £1,875,000 property is set in attractive grounds, and boasts more than 3,200 sq ft of accommodation, including a 32ft sitting room, 27ft kitchen/breakfast room and four bedrooms.
19 Welclose street is next on the list, with a sale price of £1,850,000.
Tucked away between Fishpool Street and Lower Dagnall Street, this Grade II listed Georgian property has four bedrooms, five reception rooms and off street parking, all within a stone's throw of the Abbey and the city centre.
5 St Peter's Close is in eighth place, selling for £1,780,000. Set in a prime cul-de-sac location off St Peter's Street, this four-bed detached family home has a total floor area of more than 2,400 sq ft.
Little is known of 92 Clarence Road, the property in ninth place. Located on the corner of Brampton Road, opposite Clarence Park, the detached home home sold for £1,775,000 in January.
Finishing up the top 10 is 17 Old Harpenden Road. This five-bed detached house, with a total internal area in excess of 3,200 sq ft, sold for £1,695,000 in February.
This list has nothing on 2017's countdown, however - the most expensive home sold in St Albans that year changed hands for a staggering £7,100,000.
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