candidate to become the new official residence of the US Consul General.

A team of US Government advisers from Washington DC has visited around 14 country houses to view possible replacements for the Chelston residence in Paget.

The delegation has now returned to the US after arranging a series of meetings with Bermuda-based real estate agents.

But they are still understood to be eyeing Huntley Manor, built by a Welsh Army officer high on a hill above Hamilton Harbour in 1890.

The English Baronial-style house, which has been renovated and redecorated with murals, could become the Consul's new home if Pentagon chiefs give the go-ahead.

They have put the "for sale'' sign on Chelston, valued at $12 million to $15 million, as part of an cost-cutting exercise in the American diplomatic service.

But it is understood Consulate and Government officials are still two months away from making the final decision to sell Chelston.

Outgoing Consul General Robert Farmer would then move into the new residence, to be followed by his successor Vin Gupta.

Buying Huntley Manor would save the US Government millions of dollars and still provide the Consul with a huge luxury home.

It is still more modest than Chelston, which is set in 14 acres of landscaped gardens and has its own private beach and beach house.

But the Chelston house is thought to be worth $5 million on its own, set in around $10 million worth of grounds.

US advisers are now considering security arrangements, which rules out a house fronting a road or a property with a small garden.

The Royal Gazette revealed in December that Esmond Harmsworth, a relative of British media baron Viscount Rothermere, could be in the market to buy Chelston.

He runs the US arm of the Associated Newspapers media empire.

The future of Chelston was thrown into doubt in 1996, when NBC named it in a special report on the cost of the US diplomatic service abroad, called "The Fleecing of America''.

OUTGOING -- US Consul General Robert Farmer