The Shilpa Shetty Mansion, Raj Mahal, can now start her family
Luxury pad: The villa-of Shilpa Shetty style Weybridge home
Not many women would be happy to move into a house their boyfriend had chosen while he was still with his wife. Most would prefer their partner to make a clean break with the past, especially if he had started renovating the home with her.
But Shilpa Shetty put such concerns behind her when she saw the seven-bedroom home millionaire Raj Kundra bought three years ago in Weybridge, Surrey.
It’s on the exclusive St George’s Hill estate, an enclave for the rich and famous, and shilpa told Raj to hang on to the property after his marriage hit the rocks.
The high security on the estate is one reason the 33-year-old Bollywood star felt comfortable there but she also saw its potential as a family home.
The couple are now planning to marry in October and, having suggested changes of her own, Shilpa says she thinks the house is perfect for raising a family.
’This isn’t an engagement ring,’ she says, showing me an enormous heartshaped diamond he gave her that she is wearing on her ring finger. ’In India we do things differently - the engagement is left until just before the wedding. But we are planning to get married and it’s wonderful to know this will be our marital home.’
Shilpa adds: ’There is already a child’s bedroom here because Raj has a nephew and I can certainly see my children running around this place. And there is enough space for us to live at one end while Raj’s parents live at the other. In Indian culture you live as an extended family and this home is perfect for that.’
A household name in India, where she has appeared in more than 40 Bollywood films, Shilpa shot to fame in the UK in 2007 after her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother with Jade Goody.
Jewel collection: Shilpa Shetty shows off her diamond ring
But Jade was too ill, so Shilpa went home to Weybridge and was there when she heard the news that Jade had died last Sunday.
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From the pillared entrance, double doors lead into a grand hall with two reception rooms on the left and steps down to an indoor heated swimming pool.
All her own work: Shilpa Shetty was given a free
rein by Raj to furnish the home and make it snug and comfortable
There’s no doubt 34-year-old Londonborn Raj, whose Dubai-based business trades precious stones and metals, intended this house - his very own Raj Mahal - as a family home when he bought it for £3.2million in 2006, even though he had a different family in mind. He and his wife Kavita were living at the time in his parents’ fivebedroom home in Kingston-upon- Thames but Raj says he always wanted a house in St George’s Hill.
There are only 420 houses on the estate, where celebrities such as Cliff Richard, Elton John and John Lennon have lived. So as soon as he could afford it, Raj snapped up a house for his parents and his wife, pregnant at the time with their two-year-old daughter Deveena.
Double doors lead into a grand hall with two reception rooms on the left and steps down to an indoor heated swimming pool
He then began a £750,000 programme of renovations but when cracks began to appear in his marriage later that year his wife went to live with her parents in the Midlands.
Raj stayed at his parents’ and put the house back on the market for £5.5million in early 2007, intending to sell when the renovations were complete.
’It was about that time I met Shilpa,’ says Raj, ’and she said I must be mad to sell the house. As our relationship deepened she suggested making various changes and whenever she was in England we would go shopping for items of furniture and ornaments.
Now I feel she has gradually turned it into a proper home.’ Raj’s renovations had involved replacing the flooring, rewiring, adding state-of-the-art automated security, and installing new bathrooms.
Shilpa Shetty and Rag are planning to marry in October and think the house is perfect for raising a family
He also refitted the bedrooms, created a bar next to the indoor swimming pool and built villa-style window arches on to the front.
It is Shilpa, however, who added the curtains, plants, mirrors and ornaments.
But her input was not confined to soft furnishings. She also suggested converting the smallest upstairs room into a prayer and meditation space and levelling the sloping back garden by installing a raised deck where the ground drops away.
’My mother is trained in feng shui,’ says Shilpa, ’and when she came to see the house she walked in with her compass and noticed two big problems.
She said Raj would be losing money for as long as the garden was sloping away from the house. And in the kitchen, the cooker (fire) and the sink (water) were in the wrong place.’
Shilpa says: ’We changed those things and now you can feel the improved energy as you walk around, and it must have worked because Raj’s business has never been better.’
The garden decking, finished with steel and glass banisters, is a beautiful spot for barbecues.
And it could also have improved the value of the property, according to Jonathan Dyson, manager at estate agents Jackson- Stops & Staff.
’The most expensive properties are on flat plots on the north side of the estate,’ Dyson says. ’A level plot is always more valuable.’
Shilpa’s next project is choosing another home in Mayfair to use as a Central London base. Raj already has a three-bedroom house there, opposite Selfridges, that he bought two years ago but Shilpa feels it is ’too bitty’ and Raj has arranged a private sale for £2.95 million, which is the same price he paid in 2007. ’It takes nearly an hour to get into Central London from here,’ says Shilpa.
’I have to plan my shopping a day in advance if I do it from Weybridge. I’m used to being able to step out and just get something if I need it quickly.’
In Mumbai, India’s financial and entertainment capital, Raj has just bought a £1 million, four-bedroom house in Juhu, ten minutes from the home of Shilpa’s parents.
’Property is cheap at the moment, so it’s a good time to buy,’ says Raj. ’Juhu is really close to the airport and it’s also very close to the film studios.’
He has a 50 per cent mortgage on his Weybridge house and used the loan partly to purchase the house in India, where interest rates are as high as 12 per cent.
It all makes sound financial sense because although property values in England took a hit last year, St George’s Hill estate was insulated against the worst of it, according to Jonathan Dyson.
’Most owners on the estate don’t need to sell, so they can afford to ride out the storm,’ he says. ’And the estate is very exclusive - many of the properties we sell are not marketed openly at all and potential buyers are very thoroughly vetted.
’Pent-up demand has kept the values from falling more than ten per cent but transactions have slowed by around a third and rents have fallen by a quarter. Today you can buy a house on the estate for between £3million and £12 million.’
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