Annabel Croft slashes £1M off the price of her Surrey ‘forever home’ – as she prepares to move on following her husband’s death
Heartbroken Annabel Croft has put her dream home on the market for a cut-price deal as she attempts to move on from the sudden loss of her beloved husband.
The tennis legend’s spouse of 30 years, ex-international yachtsman Mel Coleman, 60, died only 16 weeks after being diagnosed with stage four colon cancer in May 2023.
Grief-stricken Annabel admitted that she spent a long time crying every day with grief – but is now looking to move away from what she thought would be their ‘forever home’.
In a bid to get a sale, the sportswoman, 58, has now slashed £1.2M off the asking price of the stunning mansion in Surrey, where she lived with her husband for 24 years.
The six bedroom, four bathroom property is now on the market for £5.65 million.
This is lower than other comparative properties in the area – and considerably less than when she first put it up for sale in November 2022 for £6.75 million and then took it down.
Heartbroken Annabel Croft has put her dream home on the market for a deal as she attempts to move on from the sudden loss of her beloved husband Mel Coleman (pictured in 2021)
In a bid to get a sale, the sportswoman, 58, has now slashed £1.2M off the asking price of the stunning mansion in Surrey, where she lived with her husband for 24 years
Southeby’s describe it as a ‘wonderful family home’, close to the exclusive £30,000-a-year King’s College School, making it ‘highly desirable for families’.
There’s a huge open plan kitchen/dining area with a built-on conservatory leading out to a terrace and ‘one of the largest gardens in the area’.
Four of the bedrooms are en-suite and the master bedroom has a ‘walk-in wardrobe with bespoke built-in cabinetry’.
There’s also the possibility of extended the swish pad, as they’ve previously had planning approval for an additional garage or living space
While Annabel has slashed the asking price, she will still make a profit from the deal, having bought the home for just £1.3 million, in July 2001.
The Strictly star and her late husband were able to purchase the house at a cut price because it was in a dilapidated state after students had let a tap on and the place flooded.
She and Mel then spent time doing up the house together, with Annabel admitting she had become a ‘DIY fanatic’.
Yet Annabel confessed that the house, which comes with an all weather tennis court is too big for one person.
The six bedroom, four bathroom property is now on the market for £5.65 million. This is lower than other comparative properties in the area
Southeby’s describe it as a ‘wonderful family home’, close to the exclusive £30,000-a-year King’s College School, making it ‘highly desirable for families’
She now believes the time is right to move, telling the Mail’s Richard Eden: ‘I’m no longer crying every day, I’m now ready to sell.’
Last month, she spoke movingly on The Mid.Point podcast that she was helping her daughter move house and it had inspired her to clear her own home – but she’s unable to discard Mel’s old toothbrush.
She said: ‘I am looking to move. I want to move out of a family home that I’ve been in for about 25, 26 years but I’m just trying to do it slowly before D-day comes when I really have to move out.
‘It’s taken me two years to start addressing his (Mel’s) clothes in the wardrobe. I did that this week which was quite hard. I did his shoes a few weeks ago. It’s obviously a lot of memories. It’s painful.
‘When I move home of course I’m going to keep hold of a couple of things. It’s emotional but I think it needs to be done.
‘I still haven’t been able to clear his toothbrush. It’s put into a little cabinet in the bathroom. But I cannot bring myself to throw it every time I look at it and pick it up.
‘That’s the one thing I just don’t know when I can do that.’
Annabel confessed that the house, which comes with an all weather tennis court is too big for one person and she is now trying to move on from the death of her husband
