Paedo Rolf Harris’ rotting riverside mansion is being ‘gutted’ by builders as new owners give creepy property makeover

PAEDO Rolf Harris’s former riverside home is now being “gutted” by builders after it was finally flogged at auction last month. The Sun can reveal the new owners have builders stripping the property that the pervert died in back in 2023 as part of a major makeover. Rolf Harris’s old home in Bray is being stripped out top-to-toe by the new owners Credit: no credit The disgraced TV star was convicted of 11 counts of indecent assault and sentenced to five years in prison in 2014 Credit: Getty These exclusive pictures show a skip piled high outside the property while workmen tear out the interior of the notorious home. One builder explained: “We are tearing all of the interior down so the new owners can make it their own. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! “At this stage I am not sure what they plan to do with it, but we will get further instructions as and when. “First thing’s first however is to strip everything back.” Building work has been going on at the eerie property for over a month Credit: no credit The mansion was initially listed on the market for £4million before the asking price was slashed Credit: no credit Workers are removing any trace of the disgraced TV star at the dilapidated mansion Credit: no credit After his release from prison Harris returned to living at the property and remained out of the public eye until his death in 2023 Credit: no credit The dilapidated four-bedroom property, on the banks of the River Thames in Bray, was listed in previous auctions with an asking price of £4million. Though it later went to auction with a guide price of £1.95million but failed to meet its reserve after bidding stalled at £1.52million. The asking price was repeatedly slashed before it finally changed hands under the hammer last month for around £1.6million. Land Registry records show Deborah Developments International Limited is in the process of completing the purchase. Most read in The Sun The company is run by Elaine Burke and Peter Titterell, whose catering business has worked on major films including James Bond blockbuster The World Is Not Enough. The sale comes after Harris’s only daughter, Bindi, inherited the property along with the bulk of his £16million estate – documents also show there was no mortgage secured against the house. The property was marketed as offering 6,440sq ft of living space, four bedrooms, numerous balconies overlooking the Thames and extensive riverside gardens. The sale listing for the Bray home carried an unusual warning which read: “Prospective buyers are advised that there is a sensitive matter regarding this lot.” The property sits on the River Thames in Bray, Berkshire and was bought by Harris in 1980 Credit: no credit The crumbling property recently sold to Deborah Developments International Limited, which is run by Elaine Burke and Peter Titterell Credit: no credit Rolf Harris walks up the rear steps of his house in Bray – he died in the property in 2023 Credit: Doug Seeburg – The Sun White screens were put up in the windows before Harris returned to the house from Stafford prison Credit: Doug Seeburg – The Sun One neighbour told The Sun the new owners are keen to give the house a fresh start. “We all want to move on and put this awful stage behind us,” the woman, who did not want to be named, said. “The man has been dead for several years now so I really hope now that the house has been sold we can finally move on. “This is a lovely area to live, but Rolf committing his crimes here has really marred the area. We all want to move on.” Unbelievably, one woman who lives nearby, when telling our reporter to leave, tried to claim her former neighbour Rolf had only slept with people “aged 18”. Our reporter and photographer pointed out that people do not go to prison for having consensual sex with adults. The woman then claimed she didn’t know Rolf “that well”, and when asked “how well” she knew the pervert, the neighbour declined to comment before marching off in a fluster. Another local previously branded the original £4million asking price “cuckoo”, adding: “The sins happened in that house – it needs knocking down.” The new owners are giving Harris’s Bray home a makeover Credit: no credit The asking price was repeatedly lowered before the home was eventually sold for around £1.6million Credit: no credit Sex offender Rolf Harris arrives at Southwark Crown Court Credit: AP Rolf Harris with his daughter Bindi who had inherited the house Credit: Alamy In March 2013, Harris was one of 12 people arrested for questioning over historical allegations of sex offences as part of Operation Yewtree. He was subsequently tried at Southwark Crown Court in 2014 on multiple counts of indecent assault against four female victims, aged between eight and 19. After undergoing a lengthy trial, Harris was convicted of 11 counts of indecent assault and sentenced to five years in prison. Following his conviction, he was stripped of his official honours including his CBE and Order of Australia and served nearly three years at HM Prison Stafford before his release on license in 2017. He returned to living at the property and remained out of the public eye until his death in 2023. WHO WAS ROLF HARRIS? ROLF HARRIS died in May 2023, almost a decade after he was jailed for a string of sex attacks on children. Prior to his crimes becoming public knowledge, the disgraced star was known for being a TV presenter, musician and artist. Harris was born on March 30, 1930, in Perth, Australia. His parents, Agnes and Cromwell, had emigrated there from their previous home in Cardiff, Wales. Harris showed an interest in art from a young age and was just 16 when a self-portrait he painted was exhibited in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. He was also a keen swimmer as a youngster. In 1953 Harris, then aged 22, left Australia to move to England and a year later he landed a role presenting a children’s art show on the BBC. Harris married Alwen Hughes, a Welsh sculptress and jeweller, while they were both art students in March 1958. He then returned to Australia to take on more TV work and start his music career. It was during this stint Down Under that he first began using his famous catchphrase – “Can you tell what it is yet?” – while on a promotional tour of Australia for Dulux. Harris returned to the UK in 1962 and re-recorded his hit Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport. Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport was a Top 10 hit in Australia, the UK, and the United States, and Harris even performed it with The Beatles. He went on to land a UK No1 with Two Little Boys in 1969 and a No7 hit with Stairway to Heaven in 1993. As well as becoming famous for his music, Harris became a popular television personality in the UK in the 1960s and 1970s thanks to his roles on The Rolf Harris Show, Rolf’s Cartoon Club and Animal Hospital. In 2005 Harris, who lived in Bray in Berkshire for more than six decades before his death, painted an official portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Harris had one child, a daughter called Bindi, with his wife. In 2023 it was reported that she had changed her name to Ava Reeves in an attempt to distance herself from her dead father. A recent documentary, Rolf Harris: Primetime Predator, revealed the house was searched by police during Operation Yewtree in 2013. It also claimed Harris was viewing indecent images of children there on the day of the late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert in 2012 before later appearing in a televised birthday tribute watched by millions. Following Harris’s death from throat and neck cancer, Alwen died after suffering a stroke in 2024. Harris bought the Bray home with wife Alwen Hughes in 1980 at the height of his fame.