Entertainment > Rocker Ruminates on Inheriting Mansion

Undecided on Inheriting Storied 13th-Century English Mansion

Cher accepts a lifetime achievement award Monday, Dec. 9, 2002, on Fox TV. Her use of the f-word that night was at the heart of a FCC profanity ruling announced this week. (Joe Cavaretta/AP Photo)

Isaac Slade, frontman for The Fray, says he hasn't decided whether he wants to inherit a $15 million English mansion from Sir Benjamin Slade, a 60-year-old aristocrat who may be a distant relative.

Slade, who has no children, is looking for an heir for the 150-acre estate, Maunsel House, located 140 miles west of London. The 13th-century mansion boasts three lakes, a ballroom and hundreds of cattle.

The Denver-based rocker, who contacted his namesake, said he and his wife, Anna, had visited Slade and his wife at their estate.

"We had a wonderful couple of days with Ben and Kirsty, who were amazing hosts," he said in a statement this week. "For now, we're all just getting to know each other."

The Fray also includes Joe King, Ben Wysocki and Dave Welsh. Epic Records released the band's debut album, "How to Save a Life," in 2005.

Benjamin Slade launched a well-publicized search for heirs because the estate faced an uncertain future.

"All my relatives in England have their own large houses and had no interest in taking on another place," he said.

He said many of his ancestors left England in the mid-17th century, some running plantations in North Carolina. An Arkansas-based society lists 5,000 Slades in the United States, he said.

Benjamin Slade said he had no firm links to the musician but planned further research to examine their lineage.

"We're trying to check our family trees at the moment," he said.

Epic Records is a unit of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a joint venture between Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG, a German media conglomerate.

On the Net:

The Fray:

http://www.thefray.net/site.html

2007-06-06