Their relationship began to unravel after Ms Blades, pictured, discovered Dr Rowland in bed with another woman
The jilted lover of a two-timing millionaire financier who was ordered to pay him £120,000 compensation for banning him from the house after catching him cheating says she has done ‘extremely well’ out of the case after she was allowed to keep half of the £2.8million mansion he bought for them.
Dr Chris Rowland bought nine-bedroom Tadmarton House near Banbury in Oxfordshire in 2009 and planned to use it as a weekend country retreat with eco-business executive Sharon Blades.
But in November that year, their relationship began to unravel after Ms Blades discovered the former City analyst in bed with another woman.
She banned him from the house until 2015 when his relationship ended.
Dr Rowland was initially awarded £59,958 to compensate him for lost time after being banned from the property.
He has now been awarded £120,000 at the High Court after Judge Milwyn Jarman found that the veto had meant he lost the use of a ‘grand weekend and holiday home’ for those years.
But speaking exclusively to MailOnline Ms Blades said: ‘I have done extremely well out of this settlement and that’s only fair and just.
‘I may have to pay out £120,000 but in the big scheme of things, I’m very happy. I don’t really see myself as the winner, but I could not have asked for a better settlement.’
Ms Blades revealed that Tadmarton House, which was purchased by her ex-partner for £1.6 million is on the market for £2.8 million and that a sale is imminent, of which she will receive half.
She added: ‘We’ve got a buyer and the paperwork is currently being done so it should be sold very soon. I just want to sell it as quickly as possible, get what’s mine and move on with my life.’
Tadmarton House in an imposing Grade II Listed family house has south facing views over the surrounding Oxfordshire countryside
The reception hall is leads to a door out to the lavender garden
Sharon Blades, a business executive, is to keep half of the mansion her ex-husband bought for them in 2009
Ms Blades maintained that there was nothing stopping Dr Rowland from visiting Tadmarton House after 2015.
She fumed: ‘I made it clear to him that I just didn’t want him visiting with his new woman. Once their relationship was over in 2015, he was free to use this beautiful property.
‘But he chose not to. Since 2015, I have been solely responsible for Tadmarton House.
Dr Chris Rowland (left) and business executive Sharon Blades (right) battled in court over the ownership of their £1.6million mansion after he cheated on her with another woman
‘I’ve paid all the bills, maintained the property, looked after the garden and even cleaned it myself.
‘It’s all been on my shoulders and it’s only right that I will get half of the value when it’s sold.
‘This was meant to be our dream home. It was the place where we were planning to spend weekends together and retire but sadly, things did not turn out that way.’
Despite discovering that he was cheating on her, Ms Blades only ended her relationship with Dr Rowland in 2011 when she caught him in bed with her love rival at his London penthouse.
The court heard Dr Rowland and Ms Blades had been charmed by 24-acre Tadmarton House, which they planned to use as a holiday or weekend bolthole, and where Ms Blades said they even spoke of retiring.
The property was built around 1830 by Captain Lampet who originally named it The Highlands
The kitchen is on the north side of the house with a back door in from the garages
The ‘Italianate villa’ – built in 1830 – is set on a hilltop and has captivating views over the surrounding countryside.
Dr Rowland once thought of cultivating elephant grasses in the surrounding fields as a sideline.
But their ‘dream’ hit the rocks when she discovered he was seeing another woman in 2009.
Judge William Hansen, ruling on the ownership dispute in March, said Dr Rowland had carried on seeing both women after Ms Blades discovered his dalliance in late 2009, commenting: ‘He then continued to see both for more than a year but in the early part of 2011, Ms Blades dropped in unexpectedly at his flat and found him in bed with his new partner.
‘There was an altercation that resulted in Ms Blades accepting a police caution for assaulting the new partner and Dr Rowland accepting a restraining order preventing contact with either woman for weeks.’
In court Dr Rowland, 65, admitted carrying on seeing both women for several months and acknowledged he was ‘not proud of that fact’.
‘But I was emotionally attached to both women and each of them wanted me to choose between them, and I had real trouble making that choice,’ he told the court.
Upstairs offers eight bedrooms, some with ensuite bathrooms and dressing rooms
The majority of the 24 acres of land comprises of parkland that stretches round the south side of the property with a number of mature trees and leading down to the lake
In March, Judge Hansen ruled against Dr Rowland, who had insisted that he exclusively owned Tadmarton House since he paid the full price out of his own pocket.
The judge said he and Ms Blades had taken on the property as joint tenants, although acknowledging: ‘In one sense the outcome is a harsh one for Dr Rowland who contributed the whole of the purchase price in acquiring a country house to be used as a weekend and holiday retreat by a couple who each had their own properties and who never saw fit to pool their resources’.
He judged that the property was owned in equal shares by the couple and ordered that it be sold with the profits split down the middle.
But he went on to award Dr Rowland just over £59,000 for his lost access to Tadmarton House between 2009 and 2015 when Ms Blades barred him from visiting with his new partner.
Dr Rowland said that in 2009 Ms Blades ‘vetoed’ him and his new woman from visiting the country mansion and had even written to him stating: ‘I’d rather you sell it and have nothing than have the risk of her going up there’.
The courtyard, with a car parking area and access to the triple garage and machinery shed with a gardeners’ WC in one corner
The property has an double electronically operated wrought iron gate, with mature oak trees lining the driveway
‘It was ‘our’ place and if nothing else I’d like to keep that memory even if I don’t physically have it or am able to be there anymore’.
Last month, Dr Rowland appealed the £59,958 award, asking Judge Milwyn Jarman QC to hike his compensation to what he claimed was the fairer figure of £216,199.
His barrister, Paul Dipre, argued that Dr Rowland was ‘effectively thrown out for the weekends’, and that Judge Hansen had wrongly assessed the loss he suffered