£10M Surrey mansion owned by the widow of Russian oil billionaire – who mysteriously died after falling out with Putin – burns down just one day after its three-year renovation is finished

A £10 million Surrey mega-mansion owned by the widow of a Russian billionaire who died mysteriously after falling out with Vladimir Putin has burned to the ground.

The large, modern dream home was completely destroyed just a day after completing a three-year multi-million pound renovation.

Owner Inna Gudavadze is the widow of Badri Patarkatsishvili, a one-time ally of the Russian dictator who became one of his fiercest critics – and who many suspect was murdered.

Devastated Gudavadze (67) had hoped to move into the beautiful country mound soon – until a huge fire tore through it two weeks ago.

Now all that remains of the super mansion are charred walls and foundations that have been reduced to rubble after the huge fire that gutted one of the UK’s wealthiest neighbourhoods.

Eight fire brigade teams were called on 23 September to try to bring the inferno under control – but they were unable to put it out in time and now investigators are trying to piece together exactly what happened.

The three-storey, nine-bedroom property – which took nearly three years to build – was destroyed in a matter of hours and was left a crumbling ruin.

Georgian-born Ms Gudavadze, who is worth an estimated £650million, reportedly saw the mansion in Leatherhead, Surrey, which boasts spectacular views of the North Downs, as her ‘dream home’.

She was preparing to make the move from her base in London with daughters Liana Zhmotova (43) and Iya Arkadyevna Patarkatsishvili (40).

The house, which is equipped with a cinema, a family room and a lift to a £1 million basement, part of which has been converted into a wine tasting and dining area, is built on the sprawling estate she inherited from her deceased inherited. man, Patarkatsishvili.

Billionaire oil baron-turned-politician Patarkatsishvili fled Russia in 2000 after falling out with Putin and being accused of fraud and of trying to organize a prison break for a fellow oligarch.

He moved into a mansion on the Surrey estate in 2006 and died there two years later after suffering a sudden heart attack aged just 52.

His death, which came so soon after that of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, sparked fears that he too had been poisoned – particularly as he had publicly revealed that he feared hitmen were coming to get him.

However, an inquest later found that he was suffering from serious heart disease.

Police searched the mansion for evidence of foul play, but found no evidence. But that has not dampened suggestions that the KGB may have been involved.

The new mansion that his wife had built is about 300 meters from the mansion where he died.

Ms Gudavadze – who was once Britain’s tenth richest woman – would not comment on the fire, but project manager Dean Windebank told MailOnline it was thought to have started from a parapet on the top of the roof.

The construction – which is estimated to have cost at least £5m so far – has now been temporarily halted while an investigation into the exact cause takes place.

Mr Windebank said: ‘It hit everyone very hard, a real blow after all that work and money spent.

‘We were almost there, the house was almost done. The superstructure was up, we had put in the belvedere tower just a few weeks before, the lift was in and we started to take down the scaffolding.

‘All we had to do was some finishing touches to the portico and add some windows and doors to some of the downstairs rooms and that was it.

‘The house looked fantastic, it looked beautiful and we were all very proud of the work, so to see it all go up in smoke like this is absolutely devastating.

‘Inna – like the rest of us – is devastated. It was really a labor of love and I think she was hoping to move in in a few months. I think this is going to be her dream home.

“But if there’s one positive to take away from this, it’s that no one was inside at the time and no one was injured.”

Mr Windebank said the house was largely built with a ‘timber frame with a 9-inch brick skin’. He added: ‘Wood can catch fire and go up quickly, but whether this fire would have been as devastating if more traditional materials had been used, it is too early to say.

‘The fire investigators are still looking into it, as are the insurers, but one thing is clear the structure that remains will be razed and we will have to start from scratch.

“Only the basement – we hope – can be saved.”

The mansion is built on a small hill overlooking Patarkatsishvili’s old mansion, which Ms Gudavadze now owns and has turned into a base for her staff and security.

Workers at the mansion raised the alarm when they saw smoke billowing from the new mansion some distance away on the estate.

At its height, the fire could be seen from around five kilometers away on Epsom Downs.

Neighbor Roland Davis, brother of Dragons’ Den presenter Evan Davis, said: ‘We were out when the fire initially took hold and came back to several fire engines parked in the tight country lane.

‘You could see huge plumes of smoke coming from the house, but the flames were only really high for about half an hour or so, which I find quite strange when you consider the amount of damage to the property.

‘The fire must have spread very quickly because it was largely extinguished after a few hours. The firefighters flew a drone over the house to help determine the worst affected areas.

‘They were pretty much here all night vaping. A few days later Inna showed us the damage to the house and it is very bad.’

The fire is the latest mishap to befall those exiled from Russia to London’s commuter belt after falling out with Putin.

Boris Berezovsky, a business partner and friend of Patarkatsishvili, was found hanged in his bathroom at his home, Titness Park, in Sunninghill, Ascot, Berkshire, in 2013.

And just last March, 66-year-old oligarch Mikhail Watford, formally Mikhail Tolstosheya, was discovered dead in the garage of his home in nearby Virginia Water, Surrey.

The cause of the fire is so far unknown, but Surrey Police say there do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances at this stage and the case has been handed over to Surrey Fire and Rescue Service.

A spokesman for SFRS said: ‘We received a call at around 6pm on Saturday 23 September to a report of a fire on Downs Lane, Leatherhead.

‘Eight fire engines were dispatched within the first hour along with an aerial appliance, with the first arriving at the scene at around 6.10pm.

A fire broke out in a residential building under construction. The fire was contained and crews began leaving the scene around 11:40 p.m., although some crews and equipment remained behind to monitor hot spots.’