ADELE’S “haunted mansion” is at the centre of a new explosive legal battle alleging the singer made the property unsellable.
Grade II listed ‘Lock House’ is situated in a tiny village in West Sussex, renowned for its spooky going-ons.
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The superstar singer rented the historic home and gave a tour to US TV saying it’s “all quite scary”.
Adding: “I’m not rattling around here on my own. It gives me the creeps.”
Adele rented it from tycoon Nicholas Sutton and his wife Ayse, a Turkish princess, who have been trying to sell the property since 2010 and put it on the market with agents Strutt & Parker, which deals in top-end, multi-million pound properties.
It was on for £6 million, but wouldn’t shift and Sutton blamed Adele’s comments saying: “[Her] comment negatively impacted future marketing efforts and continues to affect the property’s reputation to this day.”
Now Sutton is suing Strutt & Parker for “professional negligence” under its trading name, BNP Real Estate Advisory and Property Management UK Ltd.
Sutton and Ayse started proceedings on July 21.
Adele moved into the grand home in 2012 for six months after making a fortune from her album 21.
The mansion was built in 1900 and redesigned in the 1930s in an art deco style, but Partridge Green is notorious for ghostly tales.
A couple fled the village as their house was haunted by a face that would “fill the room” and the local pub The Green Man supposedly had a “cat ghost”.
And Strutt & Parker aren’t the only ones to be in a battle with Sutton.
The property developer has also been in a tussle with locals over a planning application to convert the home into three dwellings and a cottage.
Sutton blamed Adele for having to revert to this plan.
In his planning submission, he said that “the first tenant, Adele, stayed for six months and blighted the property by saying it is haunted”.
But locals reckon that it’s unjustified to blame her – and say one of the contributing factors is that the house was being offered at a too higher a price.
They filed a stream of objections with Horsham District Council.
One neighbour wrote: “One does have to comment on Mr Sutton’s repeated claims to have marketed the property assiduously to no avail. Marketing includes price.
“The price has barely changed in each of his attempts at sale – despite the apparent deterioration of the roof, and in fact the whole property… large houses are for sale at half the Lock House asking price.’
Another complaint stated: “The moot point is that the proposed market price for the house does not reflect the deterioration in the property.
“A more realistic valuation should be considered.”
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Formerly a convent, the Victorian property has ten bedrooms, an indoor and outdoor pool, staff quarters and a helicopter pad.
Sutton claims the conversion would help with a supposed housing shortage, but one villager retorted: “I believe this to be a ludicrous statement”.
Another added: “If permitted, [it] would consolidate an undesirable element of sporadic development in a rural area which would result in visual intrusion into the countryside to the detriment of the rural character of the area.”
Yet, in March, despite the opposition, it didn’t stop the local council giving the green light to Sutton’s controversial plans.
Now the property, which had been marketed by Savills and Knight Frank, has been taken off the sales market.
The Sun has approached Adele’s reps for comment.
Adele lands multi-million pound book deal for her autobiography – with a new album and tour in the works
SUPERSTAR Adele has signed a multi-million-pound book deal to tell her story for the first time.
The Sun can reveal that after months of talks, the Hello singer has agreed to write a tell-all autobiography about her rise to the top.
As well as the book deal, The Sun understands that discussions are ongoing about Adele touring the globe next year . . . potentially releasing new music.
Adele, who was born in 1988 in London, went to the Brit School for Performing Arts before signing her first recording deal in 2006.
She has now sold more than 120 million records worldwide and landed 11 Top Ten hits including three No1s with Someone Like You, Hello and Easy On Me.
A source said: “Publishers have been desperate to sign Adele to tell her story but she’s always said no.
“Finally she is ready and it will be Adele in her own words — beyond the headlines. As well as taking in her rise to fame in music, it will touch on her upbringing and her personal life.”
The singer’s last world tour ended early in 2017 when she had to cancel her final two gigs at Wembley due to vocal injury, and the star has spoken about the difficulties of life on the road.
Before the start of that tour she said: “I’d still like to make records, but I’d be fine if I never heard [the applause] again.
“I’m on tour simply to see everyone who’s been so supportive.
“I don’t care about money. I’m British, and we don’t have that thing of having to earn more money all the time.”
However, Adele agreed to a record-breaking Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace.
Weekends with Adele ran from 2022 to 2024 with every one of the 100 shows selling out.
Last summer she played a ten-date residency in Munich, Germany, for her European fans.
Adele is engaged to US sports agent Rich Paul and she also has a 12-year-old son, Angelo, from her first marriage to Simon Konecki.
The singer is understood to have spent the past year enjoying time at home with her family.
A source added: “Adele has been having a well-earned break.
“She loves her life out of the spotlight — but talks about another tour and even a new record have been happening.
“Fans should watch this space.”
