A Few Words about
Property Developers
Are property developers a recent phenomenon?
Property developers are generally an unloved bunch these days.
Making money from the expanding London property market.
Buying up land, then moving people off the land.
Building extravagant properties.
Tearing down other beautiful buildings for their own ends.
Wanting to make a name for themselves. Buying friends and influence.
Becoming friends with the famous and intellectuals of the age.
A 21st Century phenomenon?
Not at all.
Beckenham has its own 18C property developer and speculator. He made his fortune in timber, sold his business and started making a name for himself, becoming an MP, becoming lord of the Manor.
This all culminated in him building his own country estate in Beckenham. He turned farmland into parkland and built a classic Palladian Mansion. I have recreated John Cator Esq.
I have told his story as he shows the public around his property as part of Open House London in 2018 https://openhouselondon.open-city.org.uk/listings/2082
I have been able to reprise the performance for the re-opening of the wonderfully refurbished Beckenham Place Park in July 2019.
