Mark E. Smith’s former house is for sale
The late Mark E Smith‘s house in Prestwich, Manchester is on the market. Photos of the property on the real estate listing showed that many of Smith’s possessions were still in the three-bedroom house — which he had shared with onetime Fall member Elena Poulou (who continued to live there after they split) — including a writing desk, tape recorder, books and clothes. It was listed for “offers in excess of £200,000.”
Seeing the listing with pictures of the house the way it was angered a lot of Fall fans, including Sleaford Mods, who wrote on Twitter, “Mark E Smith’s house should be left as it is. It’s total Fall innit. You couldn’t anymore Fall than that.” The Quietus, meanwhile, enquired to the listings agent about rescuing some of the items for preservation. The property has now been removed by the agent, but the listing and pictures remain on the realtor’s website.
The house, which Smith purchased with his first wife, Brix, is said to have been the inspiration for The Fall’s “My New House” from their classic 1985 album This Nation’s Saving Grace.
“Our biggest purchase together was a house. It was round the corner from Mark’s childhood home, where his parents still lived,” Brix wrote memoir The Rise, The Fall, And The Rise. “It was very comforting to him to live a block away from his mother. We bought the house from a Baptist couple. They had kind, calm energy and there was a good vibe in the house.”
Architecture is discussed in new book Excavate: The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall.
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