The battle of the Britpop bands took place 20 years ago this week: Blur famously beat Oasis to the top spot in the singles chart on August 26, 1995, with Country House. Their lead singer, Damon Albarn, drew inspiration for the song from the former boss of their record label, David Balfe, who had quit the industry to semi-retire to the Bury, a seven-bedroom pile near Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire. The lyrics refer to a “professional cynic” tired of “living life at the limit”, and escaping to a “very big house in the country”. Balfe put the grade II listed house on the market in June for £2m, but has just cut the price by £250,000. It seems Cool Britannia no longer commands a premium.
01582 465000, savills.co.uk
Renaissance plan
Michelangelo once said: “However rich I may have been, I have always lived like a poor man.” Maybe so, but to modern eyes the Renaissance artist’s Tuscan estate, in Castellina in Chianti, is rather splendid. Set in six acres, the eight-bedroom house with a tower is on the market for €7.360m (£5.261m). Michelangelo bought it in 1549; according to local lore, he was partial to a drop of wine from the nearby vineyards. After his death in 1564, the property stayed in his family until 1867.
00 1 843 727 6460, handsomepropertiesinternational.com
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A place in the sun
Palm Springs was an oasis of Californian glamour in Hollywood’s golden age. In the mid-1950s, Elizabeth Taylor and her third husband, Mike Todd, rented this Spanish-style four-bedroom house, which has a pool with waterfalls; Kirk Douglas and his wife, Anne, had the place next door. It is now let out by Kathy Ireland Weddings and Resorts, with prices starting at $560 (£360) a night. Apparently it’s a favourite spot for nuptials: not a good omen, as Taylor was married eight times. But the actress later confessed that she’d been happiest with Todd, who died in a plane crash in 1958.
00 1 760 322 2500, ps4rent.com