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Typically, when a starry celebrity has lived in a home that comes up for sale, their very association with the property can add to its appeal for a potential buyer.
However, this is far from the case concerning the £6 million country mansion Lock House in West Sussex, which Adele once lived in for six months, and according to the owner, scared off future buyers by saying it was haunted.
The owner, Nicholas Sutton, has claimed in a planning statement that he has struggled to sell the Grade II listed house and is currently seeking permission to turn the ten-bedroom property into apartments instead because Adele made the home “unsellable”.
The award-winning “Rolling in the Deep” musician appeared on CBS’s 60 Minutes in 2012 and showed host Anderson Cooper around the home. During the interview, the singer-songwriter remarked she found the home “quite scary”, but did not say she thought it was haunted. A British tabloid published an article claiming the singer was convinced the house was haunted, while Hello! magazine included the home in a list of celebrity’s ghostly homes.
In a planning application presented to Horsham district council, Sutton said that the property operated as a convent in the Seventies before he purchased it in 2003.
When he became the owner, he carried out “significant refurbishment”, in which he converted the chapel into a family kitchen, and added a swimming pool. He claimed that since renting the property to Adele, potential buyers have been put off by her comments.
“Unfortunately, during an interview on CBS, Adele remarked that she believed the house to be haunted,” he said.
“This comment negatively impacted future marketing efforts and continues to affect the property’s reputation to this day.”
He said he has “actively tried to sell the property for about 14 years” despite it being “consistently marketed by top agents”, including Savills and Strutt and Parker. He said he has struggled to receive offers.
“The only offer received over the years was in August 2020, but the prospective buyer withdrew after learning about the property’s supposed haunted status, which was publicly mentioned by Adele during her tenancy,” he said.
“The first tenant, Adele, stayed for six months and blighted the property saying it is haunted.”
He urged Horsham district council to grant permission to convert the building into apartments. He said the application represents the “culmination of over 13 years of market testing” which shows there is a “lack of demand for the property in its current form”.
He said: “This proposal provides the optimum viable use of Lock House, preserving its historical significance while delivering much-needed housing.
“It offers a balanced, sensitive, and sustainable solution that aligns with both heritage protection and housing policies, ensuring the long-term preservation and vitality of this important historical asset.”
The council has yet to make a decision.
The Independent has contacted Adele for comment.
