A house once owned by Harrogate’s wealthiest family was up for auction last week, but failed to find a buyer. 

Pineheath, a 17,000 sq ft, 40-room house on Cornwall Road, went for sale on Thursday with a guide price of £3.5 million, despite being in a derelict condition. 

The house has planning permission for conversion into 12 flats, and the lot included the adjoining former chauffeur’s cottage, which has been refurbished into a pair of semi-detached coach houses yielding rent of £51,000 a year. 

A 0.545-acre parcel of land behind the site, on Rutland Drive, is believed to be the last undeveloped parcel on the Duchy estate and was for sale as a separate lot with a guide price of £1.85 million, but also failed to sell. 

Simon Croft, partner at estate agent FSS, said: 

Pineheath was built in the 1890s and from 1927 was the Harrogate home of Sir Dhunjibhoy Bomanji, an extremely wealthy Parsee shipping magnate who divided his time between India, Windsor and Harrogate. A generous philanthropist, he was knighted in 1922 having apparently donated £1 million to the war effort. 

In its heyday as a family home, Pineheath was fully staffed and had gold-plated taps, a centrally-heated garage of Rolls-Royces, and its distinctive glazed cupola is said to have been covered in gold leaf. 

Following Sir Dhunjibhoy’s death in 1937, his charitable works were continued by his widow, Lady Frainy Bomanji, who threw herself into civic life, becoming became vice president of the Harrogate Festival of Arts and Sciences, president of the Harrogate Friendship Club and president of the Friends of Harrogate.

Affectionately known as Lady Harrogate, she was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough by Harrogate District Council in 1984. She died in 1986 and the couple’s legacy was continued by their daughter, Mehroo Jehangir, who herself died in 2012. 

Pineheath was sold the following year for £2 million to Jason Shaw, who planned to renovate the house and return it to its former glory as a luxury family home. But by that time, it was in need of a lot of work. 

Mr Shaw cut down protected trees at the property and was fined £24,000 by a court. He later applied to build two five-bedroom homes in the grounds of the site, but was refused permission three times by councillors, who felt the proposed properties were too big. 

He finally obtained the planning consent currently in place, for conversion to apartments, in 2016; it can be viewed online.

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