Blairs Buy Gielgud Home

Tony Blair and his wife Cherie bought the mansion formerly owned by the late British actor John Gielgud for $7.9 million, the Mail on Sunday reported yesterday, without saying how it got the information.

The couple now own six properties, with two in London, two apartments in Bristol, and Blair's former parliamentary district home in Durham, the Mail said. Their latest purchase, called South Pavilion, is in Buckinghamshire, England, and was bought from Effie Lecky, the widow of John Lecky, the former chairman of the Canada 3000 Inc. airline, the newspaper said.

The house, built in 1704, has "at least" seven bedrooms, a 52-foot drawing room, ornamental gardens, two paddocks, and a four-bedroom outbuilding conversion, the Mail said. The couple bought the house before it was put on the open market, the Mail on Sunday said.

South Pavilion is overlooked by Wotton House, a stately home that is open to the public, which will make the Blairs' security "a challenge," the newspaper said.