A stroll down memory lane

Regular contributor Trevor Cooper considers estate agents, past and present

THERE are currently 26 estate agencies in Guernsey and there have been many others in the past.

The longest-standing firm must be Lovell and Partners, which was established in 1879 when the family business known as Lovell & Co included a large furniture store next door to the present office in Smith Street.

Under similar circumstances stemmed Langlois & Co in La Plaiderie and Brennans of the Bordage. Their name changed to Brennan & Co when Nigel Brennan moved office from the family furniture store in upper Bordage to the corner opposite Elizabeth College, now a recruitment agency.

Tudor Estates had been part of Fuzzey & Co at the former Tudor House, 23, the Bordage, before sections of the business were broken up in 1960. The estate agency handles only lettings now and is based at Mon Plaisir in the Green Lanes, but for many years was at Hirzel House at the top of Smith Street.

As well as yours truly, other estate agents who launched their careers at Tudor Estates include Ross Le Marquand, an inaugurating partner at Cooper Brouard, Chris Shields, who started Shields & Co, and Peter Martel, who, with Clive Maides, founded Martel Maides in 1971.

Early days for Martel Maides were at first-floor offices near the top of the Pollet, and before taking up residence in their current location in the High Street, they moved to offices above Au Caprice in Le Riche House, accessed from under the arch in Lefebvre Street. This included Guernsey's first property showroom, an area with easy reference to property details.

Further expansion was reflected in their name, which at one time extended to Martel Maides Le Pelley & Moy when lengthy titles were popular. The perceived confidence of dealing with the names over the door has been superseded by some of the newer estate agencies that have adopted imaginative monikers for their businesses.

Sarnia Estates was established by the popular Noel Le Tissier before Alex Ford and Steve Le Cras ably took over in 2006. They recently moved lock, stock and barrel to larger offices directly across the road in Mansell Court. Well before Sarnia Estates, the building at 19, Mansell Street, known as Estate House and making the corner with Back Street, had previously been occupied by Huelin Estates and before that, during the 1970s, by Miller Clements & Co.

Delma Warren operated Town & Country Estate Agents, which later became Warren & Co at first-floor offices at 19, Le Pollet.

Another estate agency of the female persuasion that carved a successful niche in the market was Le Conte & Wright at Le Bourg in the Forest.

Similarly, Denise Fawcett created Chateaux Estates at 15, St John's Road off the Grange.

From those successful beginnings, Dave Corson moved Chateaux Estates to its larger and present home opposite The Pony Inn at Capelles – premises from where Ron Domaille once operated Brenton House estate agency.

There used to be Seaview Estate Agents at 5, La Salerie, and around the corner, halfway along Glategny Esplanade, stood Robin Stone Properties.

Vermeulen & Partners were in The Grange and Keith and Tracey-Ann Tostevin ran the Tostevin Partnership from Maison Saumarez on the triangle along Route de Cobo.

John Hunt pretty much had the north of the island covered from his estate agency at Vale Avenue. That later changed to Rutland Estate Agents, presently to form the rentals side of Shields & Co on the corner of Well Road and Glategny Esplanade.

H. J. Hamon & Co near St John's Church in Les Amballes became Allens Estate Agency, from where Peter Allen regularly holds auctions of mainly household goods.

Going further back in time but staying with auctioneers, the gregarious Idon Critchlow brandished his gavel over many years at Manor Place Auction Rooms, opposite the war memorial at the top of Smith Street. Fellow auctioneers Thos. H. Savident and J. O'Toole, had offices nearby in New Street and along Commercial Road in St Sampson's, respectively.

About that time Stan Torode worked from Rue du Presbytere but, if memory serves me right, he also had an office at Camp du Roi, now Country Butchers. The genteel Harold Midgley had Midgley & Co in St Julian's Avenue while Chas. K. Butt & Son's offices in Court Place, opposite the Royal Court, later served De Gruchy & Co estate agents and now, as in recent years, as advocates' offices.

Broadland Estates opened at 11, Mill Street before moving to Trinity Square. Philip E. Owens was upstairs at 19/21, Smith Street and Les Grands Moulins Estates opened in The Maze Arcade in Berthelot Street, now occupied by Goldridge Estates.

Someone who wrote regular property articles for the Guernsey Press upon bowing out as an estate agent was the much-respected John Neale, of John Wright, Neale and Partners, later Neale and Partners of 5, Mill Street.

Chez Cavalier was Graham Froome's delightful riding and tack shop in St Martin's, from where he dedicated one display window to his estate agency business. Cooper Brouard opened there in 1996 having taken over from acclaimed photographer, Mark Leightley.

With wonderful harbour views is Charman & Co's office at North Pier Steps, from where Cedric Brookfield used to run Brookfields estate agency.

There are many, many more to mention, such as Debrica Estate Agents, Premier Properties at the foot of the Rohais, La Fosse Estate Agency that specialised in hotels, and the Meerveld family's South Quay Estates, and I welcome hearing further recollections from anyone on these or any others.