THE record for the Island’s most expensive residential property transaction appears to have been broken with the £38m sale of The Grove in St Lawrence.
The property has been sold – along with a £5m piece of land next door called Mount Grove, which once had a house built on it – to businessman Steve Morgan, a once Jersey resident who has returned to the Island.
The £43m purchase of The Grove and Mount Grove, which overlook St Aubin’s Bay, easily trumps the £31m paid for Eden House overlooking Ouaisne in 2021 and the £31.5m paid for Coline de Lavande at Park Estate last March.
Maison de la Vallette in Trinity sold for an undisclosed sum in 2024 but was on the market for £32m.
The Grove, which is off Mont Cambrai, is a 19th century property and has long been one of Jersey’s grandest residences, although its previous owner, Andrew Pritchard, is understood to have invested extensively in the detached home and its grounds and gardens.
Mr Morgan is the founder and former chairman of the housebuilders Redrow. He first moved to the Island in the mid-1990s, buying Trinity Manor and assuming the seigneurial title that came with that property.
In 2001, Mr Morgan as Seigneur of Trinity presented a bemused-looking Queen Elizabeth II with two dead mallards during her Royal Visit to the Island, as part of a tradition of homage spanning back eight centuries.
His former wife, Pam Bell, is the current owner of Trinity Manor and Seigneur, running with her husband Paul the Island’s largest dairy herd there.
Mr Morgan was 158th on last year’s Sunday Times Rich List – moving up from 180th in 2024, with his wealth estimated to have increased by £73m to £988m over the preceding 12 months.
He is a former owner and chairman of Wolverhampton Wanderers and has previously tried to buy Liverpool FC. He is a noted philanthropist through his eponymous charitable foundation, which has donated more than £300m since it was set up in 2001.
Mr Morgan is also founder of investment firm Bridgemere, which teamed up with Dandara to build the luxury apartments overlooking Portelet Bay and those on the former Inn on the Park site in St Helier.
