Michael Stonehouse, the former senior partner of Bernard Thorpe, has died aged 64.
Stonehouse, referred to by friends as “the last great gentleman of the property industry”, joined Bernard Thorpe in 1964 as a trainee, just as his father Frank was retiring from the business.
He worked briefly in house agency and commercial agency before qualifying as a surveyor and specialising in investment and development.
Stonehouse worked in various Bernard Thorpe offices, including the company’s Leeds outfit, where he worked on city-centre investment acquisitions. CIS was one of his big clients and Stonehouse was closely involved in its acquisitions and disposals.
In the 1970s, he moved back to Bernard Thorpe’s London office and was made a partner in the business. At that time, the firm had recently taken on a female chef to cater for the partners’ dining room.
Fiona, the chef, was involved in a car crash. She said she woke up from her ordeal to find Michael by her bedside. Shortly after that, the pair were married.
Stonehouse became managing partner in 1984, and was credited with taking the organisation from a group of eight partnerships into a single practice, managing the company’s growth from 150 staff in six offices to around 500 staff in 22 offices.
A tremendous sports fan, Stonehouse followed his father’s lead and became a member of Sussex County Cricket Club. He even had a trophy named after him.
He regularly visited Twickenham and was a big Brighton & Hove Albion fan.
He was also a huge advocate of the property rugby sevens tournament. During his first outing as a partner, Stonehouse displayed tremendous dexterity when he was knocked from the sidelines and flattened by a mammoth 20-year-old graduate rugby player, but avoided spilling not a drop of his pint.
He eventually retired in 1992 to practise as a private consultant, six years before his former firm was made part of DTZ.
He died on Saturday 25 March at home after battling several strokes and cancer of the pancreas.Michael Stonehouse, born 19 July 1941; died 25 March 2006; survived by wife Fiona, son Richard and daughter Samantha.
