A fire broke out at Richard Branson’s luxury Caribbean abode this morning, disrupting the holiday of British actress Kate Winslet and her family.
Winslet and her two children were among twenty guests holidaying at the Branson’s Necker Island retreat. Other guests included Branson’s 90-year-old mother Eve, his daughter Holly, and Winslet’s current boyfriend, Louis Dowler.
Branson, his wife Joan, and their son Sam were staying at another of the billionaire’s nearby properties.
Despite the property, aptly named ‘The Great House,’ being completely destroyed, all guests escaped the fire unscathed.
In a statement Branson spoke of the incident and the suspected cause: “We had a really bad tropical storm with winds up to 90 miles per hour. A big lightening storm came around 4 a.m. and hit the house.”
“The main house is completely destroyed and the fire is not yet completely out. My office was based in the house and I have lost thousands of photographs which is very sad.”
Guests have been moved to a nearby location on the Island while Branson, forever optimistic, has said he wishes to rebuild the house as soon as viably possible.
