From the outside, Villa Horbury is one of those idyllic mansions in Notting Hill, equipped with a pool, gym, wine cellar, screening room, and a snoring room (a soundproof room for peaceful snoring). Its market price was 32.5 million pounds (39 million euros), a sum easily affordable for Iya Patarkatsishvili, the wealthy heiress of Georgian oligarch Georgia, Badri Patarkatsishvili, who was based in London after falling out with Putin and passed away from a heart attack in 2008.
Iya, 41, and her husband, dentist Yevhen Hunyak (50), visited their dream home at least 11 times to ensure everything was in order. They even consulted with a sound engineer to ensure the sound levels inside the luxurious interior were optimal for raising their children, Adrian and Amelia.
In May 2019, the affluent and happy family settled in Villa Horbury until one day when Iya herself alerted her husband: "I've seen a moth flying around". The household moths multiplied within days, appearing not only in closets but also in the children's cereal bowls, toothbrushes, wine glasses at dinner, and even fluttering over pillows before bedtime.
When they reached 100 dead moths in a single day, they concluded that the problem had been ongoing. They contacted the former owner, ex-Olympic rowing champion William Woodward-Fisher, who evaded responsibility, claiming it was not his problem. Tensions escalated, and the dispute over the "moth-infested" mansion has now reached the courts, making headlines in British tabloids.
Patarkatsishvili demands the rescission of the sales contract, which specified no infestations in the house, the return of 39 million euros (including taxes paid to date), and compensation for damages, such as 60,000 euros for clothes damaged by moths (her well-known preference for cashmere wool has come at a cost).
The wealthy heiress argues that the issue lies in the wool insulation in the mansion's walls, installed by the previous owner during renovation works in 2011. During the trial, William Woodward-Fisher admitted that the house had previously suffered a moth infestation. According to his testimony, they hired a pest specialist who even forced them to evacuate the house for thorough disinfection.
The problem was resolved before the mansion was sold, claimed the former owner, who has even hinted that the return of moths is more likely due to the negligence of the new owners, despite their efforts to combat the infestation with camphor and all available products from Amazon. Woodward-Fisher has even dared to recommend a total extermination method that would cost around 200,000 euros.
Iya Patarkatsishvili and Yevhen Hunyak's lawyer, John McGhee, vividly illustrated to the judge the nightmare that daily life in the Victorian mansion has become: clothes packed in airtight boxes, damaged carpets and furniture, and the constant onslaught of moths whenever someone turns on a computer screen.
This curious case has sparked much discussion and unexpected displays of solidarity. "Moths do not understand social class", writes Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett in The Guardian. "Like mice in the subway, they are an undeniable fact of life in London. Although you fight a daily battle against them, you eventually get used to it... until someone moves to the city and asks you, 'Why are there so many moths here?'. And that's when you remember that those pests are the true owners of the city."