Millionaire couple lose case over dream home in Highgate that turned into £5m ‘disaster’

Stuart and Naomi Russell's dream home in Highgate
Champion News

A millionaire couple who blamed designers when their dream home turned into a £5 million “disaster” have lost a legal fight for damages.

Businessman Stuart Russell and his textile designer wife Naomi wanted a custom-built property with “a wow factor in every space” in an exclusive Highgate street.

But they claimed husband-and-wife design team Peter and Linda Stone had failed them as the project took a decade to complete and the budget doubled to £5 million.

Project manager Peter, 61, and quantity surveyor Linda, 62, advised on the home build between 2008 and 2012 and were accused of “failures” and lack of foresight which the Russells said “caused them to spend significantly more on their property”.

Businessman Stuart Russell and his textile designer wife Naomi outside London's High Court
Champion News

However, Mrs Justice Jefford has rejected the Russells’ £1 million compensation claim, ruling that the Stones’ company PSP Consultants was not contracted “on a basis that would make them liable for anything that went wrong”.

She said the couple “got what they paid for”, and rejected the notion that they would have revised the scheme if they had known the true budget as “wishful thinking with the benefit of hindsight”.

The Russells bought the Highgate house for £3.65 million in August 2006 shortly after they got married, and demolished it to make way for a bespoke four-bedroom home with a lower-ground-floor swimming pool and substantially landscaped gardens in 2010.

Inside the Highgate home
Champion News

“It was a very personal project for them,” said the judge. “Mrs Russell had a background in textile design and the house was an opportunity for her to bring her design eye to their home. She wanted a wow factor in each space.

“This case is about PSP’s responsibility and the extent of their responsibility for what went wrong.”

During a High Court trial, the Russells claimed that the Stones had failed to properly manage the hiring of the builders, who eventually walked off the project in 2012.

Consultants Peter and Linda Stone were sued over delays and cost overruns on the house
Champion News

But the judge dismissed the negligence claim and rejected the idea that the Russells would have “cut their cloth accordingly” if they had known the true cost of their dream home.

“It is highly unlikely that Mr and Mrs Russell would have decided not to proceed because of the sorts of risks that it is contended they ought to have been warned of,” she said.

“Even though Mr Russell took the advice of professional advisers, as I have said he was still able to exercise his own judgment.

“I do not accept that they would have done something different.

“The result is that they got what they paid for.”

The judge also dismissed the Stones’ counter-claim against the Russells for around £20,000 in “unpaid fees”.

The case was adjourned for a hearing on the legal costs of the court battle.

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