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The legend of Leeds’ mysterious ‘White House’

It has captured the imaginations of locals for years.

Josh Teal - 4th June 2021

Back in the day, when I worked at a promotion company in Leeds, we’d go leafleting round the student areas, dropping dozens of Jungle night posters and zines through the letterboxes of seshheads across Hyde Park, Burley, Woodhouse and Headingley.

One day, on Estcourt Terrace, me and a colleague came across this house painted completely white. It had a motorised gate (also white) and a bronze bust of Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi beside the door. I’d never seen anything like it. 

I asked some others about it, notably graduates of Leeds Met and Uni, who said it was home to an eccentric who had a tendency to play classical music in the wee hours, sometimes accompanied by strobe lighting. 

It has captured the imaginations of locals for years. 

“I’ve actually been to a party he hosted,” one Redditor said. “He’s a very weird guy but hell the party was awesome. A few mates used to work for him and for my 18th birthday he took about 12 of us to a 10 course Chinese and paid for the lot.

“Nice guy, just super eccentric.”

That nice guy is a self-taught classical and jazz music conductor and pianist. He took his inspiration for the paint job from a small opera house painted white he saw in the USA a few years before snapping up the infamous property.

The owner, who likes to remain anonymous, said: ‘I just like a refreshing, modern look — it’s my idea of modern elegance.”

During the renovation, he arranged a room with a piano and space for his musician friends to come over for music sessions in his house

Other decor at the home, worth approximately £250,000, includes a silver model rocket.

The bronze bust next to the front door was actually unveiled by Leeds University’s head of music faculty with an open air concert.

“This design reflects my love of design engineering,” the owner said.

“I have always done a lot to the interior and have had a cocktail bar I call the ‘Blue Orbit’ built.

“This is all lit with classic neon light and I often have musician friends over for a jazz night. The open plan space is big enough for a small band, with guitar, drums, bass and me on piano. It’s a nice place to entertain and play music.

“But I think I am getting to the point now where it is getting saturated and I feel the work of art is complete. Now it is just about maintaining it.”

He’s not short of fans. One man wrote online: “If the owners like it what does it matter?

“People spend far too much time bothered about what others are doing and not enough looking at themselves.

“Let them enjoy their home how they want it.”