A multimillionaire wine tycoon is locked in a High Court fight after his wealthy neighbour sued him for not putting up curtains in his £3.2m Kensington flat.
Rollo Gabb, 50, who owns the vineyards behind Journey's End and Kumala, drew the ire of businessman neighbour Meghdad Farrokhzad who said the wine importer had breached rules on what kind of curtains and floor coverings he could have in his 'high class' Kensington flat.
When Mr Gabb, whose celebrated Stellenbosch region wines are carried by Waitrose, M&S and Sainsbury's, bought the luxury flat in 2007, he agreed to rules in the putting limits on how he could kit out his property.
The rules said the luxury three-storey flat had to be carpeted and 'properly curtained in a style appropriate to a high-class private residence'.
But Mr Farrokhzad - who acquired the freehold of the building at the same time he bought an art gallery underneath Mr Gabb's flat in 2020 - complained that his new neighbour had broken the curtain rule, as well as others.
He launched a bid to strip Mr Gabb, 50, of his lease on the flat but lost his case in April last year.
But he is now himself being sued by Mr Gabb, who claims the curtain complaints were part of a 'campaign' to thwart his attempts to sell his apartment - either because Mr Farrokhzad wanted it himself or out of 'anger' following an earlier row.
Rollo Gabb, 50, (left) drew the ire of businessman neighbour Meghdad Farrokhzad (right) who said the wine importer had breached rules on what kind of curtains and floor coverings he could have in his 'high class' Kensington flat.
Mr Farrokhzad - who acquired the freehold of the building at the same time he bought an art gallery underneath Mr Gabb's flat in 2020 - complained that his new neighbour had broken the curtain rule, as well as others
Mr Gabb says that Mr Farrokhzad, 41, has behaved 'unreasonably' in blocking his attempts to sell the flat, causing one multimillion pound sale to fall through and putting another at risk.
He wants a judge to force the businessman, who has control over the transfer of the flat's lease, to approve the sale of the flat.
Consent to transfer the lease cannot be 'unreasonably' withheld and Mr Gabb claims his neighbour is doing just that in a bid to make the flat 'unsellable' due to their falling-out.
But Mr Farrokhzad denies he has done anything 'unreasonable' and, far from blocking his neighbour's exit, would be happy for him to leave and bring their 'strained relations' to an end.
Mr Gabb, part of a family wine dynasty which founded high street booze brands including Kumala, bought his luxury flat, which comprises the first, second and third floors of the building and boasts its own roof terrace, in 2007.
Mr Farrokhzad bought the freehold and the gallery in 2020 and the friction between the pair first emerged when Mr Gabb objected to his new neighbour's application to turn the ground floor unit into a licensed sushi bar.
The bad blood increased when Mr Farrokhzad brought Mr Gabb before a tribunal judge and tried to strip him of his lease for breaching the covenants.
Amongst other things, he claimed his neighbour had forfeited his right to the lease due to 'an absence of fabric curtains' - the wine boss having put up wooden shutters on some of his windows instead.
The shutters were, the businessman claimed, in breach of a covenant stating that the owner of the leasehold on the flat must 'keep the windows of the demised premises
