LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The London home where British
singer Amy Winehouse died has sold for 1.98 million pounds ($3.2
million) at auction, after it failed to attract serious buyers
on the real estate market.
The semi-detached Camden Square house where the musician
died last year at age 27 had remained empty since it was put up
for sale in May for 2.7 million pounds, but continued to draw
flocks of fans paying tribute to the "Back to Black" singer.
Winehouse's family decided early in November to put the
house to auction after "the estate agency route didn't work",
property auctioneer Chris McHugh told Reuters on Tuesday.
Media reports suggested the family had been overwhelmed with
viewing requests from fans, but not real prospective buyers.
"We had probably 50 to 100 viewings and we showed people
around at all times of the day and night," McHugh said.
The 2,500-square feet (230-square-metre) four-storey
property features three bedrooms, a large dressing room, two
bathrooms and a sound-proofed music room and gym.
At an auction held on Monday in Piccadilly, bids started at
1.7 million pounds, reached the 1.8 million guide price and
stopped just short of the 2 million-mark beyond which a 7
percent stamp duty applies on UK home sales.
McHugh said a middle-aged couple had secured the house at a
price he believed was "about right" given property values in the
area and the fact there were only five serious bidders that day.
The auction catalogue had made no reference to the former
owner of the property, whose fans turned a nearby square into a
candle-lit shrine in the days following Winehouse's death.
Winehouse, famous for her distinctive voice, beehive
hairstyle and long battle with addiction to drink and drugs, was
found dead in the house on July 23, 2011.
An inquest into her death found she had more than five times
the legal driving limit of alcohol in her blood when she died.
($1 = 0.6213 British pounds)
(Reporting by Natalie Huet, editing by Paul Casciato)