The highest paid businesswoman in the world has ordered the construction of an extraordinary glass home on a 52-acre estate in a small English village.
Denise Coates is splashing out £90million on her dream home which will include a lake with a boat house, a sunken tennis court, stables, walled gardens and a cycle path – all built around a statement glass home.
The three storey house in Cheshire is the product of an unusual partnership between Bet 365 owner Mrs Coates and world renowned architecture firm Foster and Partners.
Norman Foster’s firm is famed for skyscrapers, airports and commercial buildings but the betting queen has been able to hire them in for her domestic dream estate.
Gambling queen Denise Coates is so intent on privacy around her home she will have 200 trees planted and surround the entire thing with a 2m security fence, while employing 24/7 security.
And, to make sure she gets the slice of peaceful paradise she wants, Mrs Coates is even paying to get rid of neighbours who may be put out by the grand desgin.
Mrs Coates gave huge sums to farmers in homes around the original plot – a home which cost her £1.4million. However, the original buildings have been bulldozed to make way for the ‘statement’ home.
The Bet365 boss, who earned £265million last year, had been living in a converted barnhouse and was locally popular thanks to charitable donations to local causes.
The huge glass building is costing the Coates family millions. The multi-millionaire Bet365 boss has caused controversy over making money while people’s gambling debts spiral out of control
The stunning home is being built with a lake to the side which can be overlooked from the glass-sided home for the Coates family
The incredible home also includes a glass lake house on the water, built down from the home on the 52 acre site owned by the Coates family
According to locals as many as 30 construction lorries per day are coming down country lanes to bring materials to the sprawling site
The glass house will have a swimming pool in and will be built over three storeys with a huge living space overlooking the lake outside
The home is being surrounded by a ‘woodland belt’ which will hide the inhabitants from the world outside. There will also be 24 hour security
The huge statement glass home is being built after planning permission was granted in 2017 for the giant estate on 52 acres
The estate has been designed with a ‘sunken tennis court’ (pictured)
Mrs Coates, pictured with her father Peter, who is also a director of her betting company. Mrs Coates made millions when she mortgaged her father’s gambling shop
The Coates family, largely because of Mrs Coates, turned a modest family business into a global firm raking in millions.
And, they have brought more than 3,000 jobs to their native Stoke-on-Trent as a result after the huge Bet365 HQ was built.
They have also given away millions to charitable causes, with Mrs Coates being seen as a ‘local girl done good’.
However, the mother-of-five has caused upset with her dream home.
One family is said to have refused to move but when plans were approved in 2017 for the estate which surrounded their own house on three sides – they relented and sold up.
Last year, when permission was granted a family who refused to move told the Daily Mail they were not going to give in.
‘It seems that Denise Coates wants to be the lady of the manor around here, and with all the money she’s got she must think she can buy anything,’ one woman said.
‘But my husband was born in this house, my family live here very happily, and we’re staying put.
‘I think the way she earns her money is immoral, disgraceful. People get addicted (to gambling) and it puts pressure on them. They can lose their family and their home.’
Another person told The Times: ‘They offered us too much and we couldn’t refuse. It was stupid money.’
Jean Batchelor, 77, said the betting boss is also causing family rifts – because children want to sell and take the big money on the table but their parents want to stay put.
The betting queen has been hit with the backlash from locals while she has also sparked national controversy.
Architects Foster and Partners are behind the build – although the world renowned firm usually sticks to gigantic commercial projects
A walled garden is also a feature in the stunning estate as Mrs Coates and her husband plan to move from a barn house to the lavish estate
The grand estate in a Cheshire village is being built with privacy as a key element. Cash has been offered to buy up surrounding farm houses by the family
The estate will include a walled garden, a lake and boat house and stables. The family has five children, four of whom were adopted from the same family
A wildlife survey said the home would cause damage during construction but would ultimately serve to improve the area for species
A walled garden and a sunken tennis court are also being constructed as glass outbuildings and even a glass lake house have been added to the modern estate
The boss of gambling firm Bet365 has been accused of ‘living off the misery of others’ after her salary rose to £265million, making her one of the highest-paid executives in the world.
Critics called her earnings ‘obscene’ and ‘disgusting’, after it emerged the number of problem gamblers aged 11 to 16 had quadrupled in two years to 55,000.
Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth said: ‘From gambling to alcohol to drug misuse we face an addiction crisis.
‘Services are slashed, mental health services neglected. Lives are ruins while the CEO of a betting company is paid 22 times more than the whole industry ‘donates’ to treatment. Disgusting.’
The home at the centre of the row has been designed by Sir Norman Foster’s company and will include stables, a gate house and parkland behind 2m high security fences.
Other families have said they are upset over the huge lorries delivering to the house.
Up to 30 construction lorries a day travelling down country lanes, they said. One local businesswoman said her elderly mother ‘is in tears everyday’ over the chaos caused by the lorries which she said tore up grass verges.
The council also agreed to close a public road for up to two years.
According to the documents submitted to the council the creation of the estate will generate 12 jobs, including an estate manager and other staff.
World renowned architects Foster and Partners are also involved. Projects with their signature on include Kuwait international airport and the proposed Tulip skyscraper in central London.
Mrs Coates made millions when she mortgaged her father’s betting shop in 2001 and took the business online – before building the Bet365 empire.
Last year, more than £50billion was placed in stakes on the website started by the former Sheffield University student.
Her fellow executives at the bookmaker include her husband, childhood sweetheart Richard Smith, who serves as group property director, as well her father Peter and her brother John.
She and her husband met at university where she earned a first class degree in econometrics in the 1980s.
Returning to Stoke to work for her father’s company as an accountant, she saw the potential in internet gambling and convinced her family to mortgage all their betting shops to build an online business.
She then bought the Bet365 domain name for around £20,000.
She and her husband adopted four girls from the same family a few years ago and they also have a child of their own, but she had been described as ‘reclusive’ after keeping her home life well away from the limelight.
Neighbours say they have been offered ‘stupid money’ for their farmland so the dream estate of the Coates family can be extended and wrapped in a 2m high security fence
Foster and Partners: Who are the world famous architects and what have they designed?
The Tulip Building has been designed by Foster and Partners
Foster and Partners are behind some incredible and futuristic designs, including the proposed Tulip Building for London and Kuwait International Airport.
The firm is also designing the BBC Cymru headquarters and the refurbishment of the Snowdon Aviary at the London Zoo.
Foster and Partners is an international studio for architecture and design, with a headquarters in London. The practice is led by its founder and chairman, Norman Foster. They specialise in glass and steel builds.
What is the Tulip Building?
A planning application has been submitted for The Tulip, a new public cultural attraction next to The Gherkin. The 305.3-metre-high visitor attraction and event space is currently going through the planning process.
The building with moving pods on the outside would include a classroom with 20,000 free places per year for London’s state school children.
The Tulip seeks to provide an unparalleled vantage point to view London from a height of around 300 metres.
The viewing galleries will offer visitors an engaging experience with sky bridges, internal glass slides and gondola pod rides on the building’s façade that will appeal to people across all age groups. Visitors will benefit from interactive materials and briefings from expert guides about the history of London.