A 20-bedroom mansion built by opium traders before being abandoned and used as a cannabis farm has sold for just £500,000.
The Flass, which boasts 52 rooms containing marble fireplaces and 15 acres of land, was this week auctioned off for only a third of its estimated value.
The grade-II listed property in the quiet village of Maulds Meaburn, Cumbria, fell from grace in 2012 after the £5 million cannabis operation was discovered within its walls.
The Flass, a 20 bedroom mansion in Maulds Meaburn, Cumbria, which suffered a spectacular fall from grace
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ShareA village resident who was at the auction in Kensington said he was happy the house had been bought.
'I would like the house to be used and employ lots of people. That's the main thing. It should be put back to a proper look.
'I don't know what they'll do with the house now but I think it's really important that it is restored and put back to rights. To just tear it down shows no appreciation for the history of the area.
The Flass boasts 52 rooms containing marble fireplaces and 15 acres of land, it was auctioned off for only a third of its estimated value
Pictures from an urban exploration in the house in 2017 shows thick, damp mold on the walls and exposed wires
A kitchen inside the huge abandoned property. The Flass was built by tea and opium traders Lancelot and Wilkinson Dent of Dent & Co in the mid 19th century
'I have lived in the village all my life and been in the house. I know every room in that house.
'It will be good for us. Down here it's very difficult to embrace change,' he said.
It is understood that four people bid on the property, with the house going to someone from overseas.
An old metal stove in the property which piqued the interests of four bidders, with it going in the end to someone from overseas
The Flass was built by tea and opium traders Lancelot and Wilkinson Dent of Dent & Co in the mid 19th century.
It was constructed in the Palladian style, incorporating elements of a previous house which dated to the 1700s.
The stately home has a pillar lined entrance, a marble front hall, a tower and 15-acres of land.
Flass House's condition in 2019 (pictured), after it was left to decrepitude and was used by squatters
The property was rented out to a London gang. They were arrested in 2012 for cultivating almost 300 kilograms of cannabis
Paul Davies (left), the ex-husband of one of Cliff Richard's songwriters, rented his ten-bedroom stately home to gang who transformed it into a £5m cannabis farm. Drugs gang members Dean Cameron, 53, (centre) of London, and David Lawrence, 32, (right) of Ilford, were each jailed for eight years.
Christine Holmes and her husband Paul Davies bought the house in 2000 and opened £9,750-a-year performing and recording arts academy.
Later that same year, however, the academy floundered when an 18-year-old student's left in tears just five weeks into her course.
Lancaster County Court heard in 2004 how Christine told students to 'lose weight' and 'wear more make-up' during the courses, and had not provided the exclusive lessons she'd promised.
Mark Gallagher, 49, (left) of Wolverhampton, and Philip Branigan, 32, (centre) of Banstead, Surrey, were both jailed for seven years. Branigan organised the installation of a diesel generator at Flass, which powered the cannabis factory. Charles Neophytou, 47, (right) of Banstead was sentenced to five years and six months in jail
The estate was bought by songwriter Christine Holmes in 2000, however it was awarded to her husband in a divorce settlement
Judge Mahon, ruling that the contract had been breached, awarded Kirby £33,000 plus costs of between £30,000 and £50,000.
The defeat had an irreparable impact on the house and the couple's relationship.
They divorced an Christine fled to France while Paul took possession of the then £1.3million mansion.
Flass House, a 20-bedroom mansion in Cumbria, suffered a spectacular fall from grace when it became a cannabis farm
The secluded mansion has been Grade II-listed because of its historical and architectural significance
Struggling to keep up with mortgage payments and the sizable upkeep costs, Paul turned to the cannabis trade.
Putting the house up for £5,000-a-month rent in the secluded village, he was contacted by a gang offering to pay more if they could use the house as a weed farm.
Paul, then 64, of Southport, Merseyside, accepted and the stately home was transformed into a £5million weed operation, churning out an estimated 260kg onto the UK black market.
Potted history of Flass House: From opium baron's 19th century manor to £5m cannabis farm
- Flass House built for the Dent family in 1851
- Sold by Sir Robert Dent in 1973 to historian Frank Walker
- Turned into a care home, before being sold to Christine Holmes in 2000
- Mrs Holmes transformed it into a performing academy
- It was awarded to her husband Paul Davies in a divorce settlement
- Davies turned the mansion into a cannabis farm in 2011
- The operation was shut down in 2012
- From 2014 to 2017 the home was overrun with squatters
The operation was unmasked in 2012 after neighbours reported a strange humming sound coming from the property.
At this time the house's white paintwork was already falling away but two well-pruned trees still stood either side of the entrance.
Paul was jailed for three years and eight months after admitting conspiracy to supply drugs between May 1st 2011 and May 31st 2012.
Fellow gang members Dean Cameron, 53, of London, and Dean Lawrence, 32, of Ilford, were jailed for eight years. Mark Gallagher, 49, of Wolverhampton, and
Philip Branigan, 32, of Banstead, Surrey, were jailed for seven years and Charles Neophytou, 47, of Banstead was jailed for five years and six months.
Each were either convicted of or pleaded guilty to conspiracy.
The mansion was then left in limbo.
Christine, now 68, who was well know for co-writing Cliff Richard's hit Devil Woman with Terry Britten in 1976, moved back in, but spent little on the upkeep.
The property began to attract 'urban explorers' who break into supposedly abandoned houses and upload their footage to the internet.
After the first break-in others quickly followed. Christine told The Westmorland Herald in 2017 that there were more than 12 break-ins over a two week period.
She claimed that every part of the mansion was ransacked and graffiti was daubed on the walls.
She said beer cans and broken bottles strewn across the floors, alongside discarded sleeping bags.
In 1973, a a treasure trove of Mughal Empire artefacts were found in the property's attic, which were sold for £220,000
The interior of Flass House prior to it falling into the hands of squatters. The tiles are now ashy and pock-marked
Flass House used to feature perfectly mowed lawns and shining white tiles (pictured). It was built in 1853 for opium magnates
Christine was forced out later that year and took shelter with local friends, before leaving the village entirely.
Now pictures show a dilapidated stately home; peeling paint, boarded up windows and spreading damp marks mark the outside.
The garden is wild while the lawn has turned into tufts with dead stalks poking out of it.
The Flass was repossessed by a bank when mortgage payments weren't kept up with.
It was sold in a Kensington auction on Wednesday. Harman Healy, who sold the property, said: 'The property is understood to be in a derelict condition and has been vandalised. It is in need of renovation.'
In 2014, the estate's library was adorned with a royal red couch and a wooden desk. The condition now may not be so grand
Along with the mansion, the new owners will also get a large range of items left in the house, such as miscellaneous head shots
Despite its decrepit condition, Flass House is still a Grade II-listed property. It even has its own DVD player and CRT television
Much of the furniture left in the mansion has been completely or partially destroyed by occupying squatters
This estate's grand piano is surprisingly still in marvelous condition and even has an in-tact piece of sheet music attached
An abandoned car adorns the estate's driveway among the dead grass and overgrown foliage that surrounds Flass House
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