Real Estate

Forbidding stone fortress conceals RIBA award-winning family home



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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    Following a total interior renovation, a once-neglected tower fortress on the Suffolk coast is for sale for £1.25 million.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    One of a number of fortresses originally built along the coastline of Suffolk, Essex, Kent and Sussex, Martello Tower Y was built in 1808 to ward off unwanted visitors in preparation for a Napoleonic naval invasion that never happened.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    From the outside, the Bawdsey property looks forbidding, but inside it’s a different story. Martello Tower was converted into a three-bedroom home in 2010 by its previous owner, industrial designer Duncan Jackson in collaboration with a former colleague, the architect Stuart Piercy and won a RIBA award in the same year for its innovative design.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    An imposing front door and drawbridge 20 feet from the ground hark back to the property’s fortress past.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    Entrance to the impressive property is via the first floor, through a narrow hallway with original tower wall. A revamped fireplace acts as a storage space for boots and shoes.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    A curved steel and plywood roof tops a second floor living space, with panoramic windows and skylights. The most dramatic addition to the property, the white roof appears to be suspended in mid-air from the outside.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    On one side of this circular room is an in-built curved kitchen, with rustic interiors and exposed brick. A fireplace here is used as shelving for kitchenware, while a circular metal and plywood kitchen island and units add modern convenience.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    Across from the kitchen is a sitting area, complete with circular seating, while a long dining room is situated at the centre of this open-plan living room.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    Glass doors lead out to a terrace with outside seating area, which offers 360-degree views over the sea to one side and rolling green countryside to the other.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    A floor below, a living room wraps around an inner, curved, funnel wall and central staircase, a modern addition to the property.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    The large living space makes a feature out of the centre wall and staircase leading to the bedrooms a floor below.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    This is a cosy room with lightwells dotted around to act as windows, but it creates quite a dramatic look.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    A wood-burning stove provides much-needed warmth in the winter months.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    White walls, exposed brick and wooden flooring are in keeping with the minimalist look of the inside.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    Three bedrooms can be found on the lower floor, with exposed brick at one end and white alcoves at the other.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    Bedrooms are strategically placed around the funnel wall to make the most of space on this level.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    Though small, the renovation has also made the most of the cavern-like bathrooms, which feature curved ceilings and skylights.

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    Martello Tower Y, Suffolk

    The property is on the market with The Modern House, for £1.25 million.

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    More unusual homes: The Thurland Wing, Thurland Castle

    A castle wing in Lancashire that comes with a Lordship title is for sale for £1.1 million.

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    The Thurland Wing, Thurland Castle

    The Thurland Wing, in Tunstall, is the principal wing of Thurland Castle, which was divided into 12 houses and flats in 2000. The property dates back to the 11th century, with evidence over some of the doors dating the stones back to that time.

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    Modern Torquay castle

    It may look like a medieval castle from the outside, but this unique property was only built in 1992, though the exterior walls and grounds were built in the 1920s.

    Innovate 3sixty

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    Modern Torquay castle

    Though the interior is in need of some updating, unique features in the property such as the curved walls of the sitting room offer plenty of scope for potential buyers. The impressive property is on the market for £1.5 million, through Absolute Sales and Lettings.

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    Innovate 3sixty

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    The Old Court, Temple Cloud

    An imposing Grade II-listed former court house – with jail cells converted into bedrooms – is for sale for £795,000.

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    The Old Court, Temple Cloud

    The original 38ft long courtroom – with vaulted ceiling – now serves as an impressive main reception room, while the former cells still have the hatches that were used to pass food to prisoners.

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    Boleskin House, Loch Ness

    The ruined remains of a Scottish manor house overlooking Loch Ness – once owned by Jimmy Page and said to be haunted – is for sale, for £510,000.

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    Boleskin House, Loch Ness

    With jaw-dropping views across the Loch, it would make an incredible renovation project for someone with the vision and funds to do so.

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    Brock Farm and Napps Field, Essex

    Brock Farm and Napps Field boasts one of the few licensed private airstrips in Essex.

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    Brock Farm and Napps Field, Essex

    The property features a lounge area with oak beams, while the games room has a full-size pool table.

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    Remote flatshare

    Billed as one of the UK’s most remote flatshares, a room in the cottage of a working lighthouse on the north Scottish coast is up for rent.

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    Remote flatshare

    The available double room has a lockable door, use of a private living room and sole use of a bathroom.

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    Callingwood Hall, Staffordshire

    The east wing of a pink castle has been listed for sale near Burton-on-Trent. It has been restored to its former glory, revealing many character details.

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    Callingwood Hall, Staffordshire

    Inside there is a large entrance hallway, featuring a chandelier and fireplace, while a smaller hallway down a set of stairs leads to the kitchen and sitting room.

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    Straw-bale house, Cornwall

    A quirky Hobbit-style property has been listed for sale in North Cornwall — ideal for a buyer on a quest for their next adventure.

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    Straw-bale house, Cornwall

    Set in the grounds of a four-bedroom home, which is also included in the package, the straw-bale roundhouse was built by the current owners and brings in a yearly short-let income of around £20,000.


    For sale for £600,000, the roundhouse and four-bedroom main house sit in just under an acre of land in St. Mabyn, three miles east of Wadebridge.

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    Golf Ball, Scotland

    The Golf Ball, in Kinross-shire, Scotland, was a NATO spy base built on the former Second World War airfield, RAF Balado Bridge, where Polish pilots trained on Hurricanes and Spitfires.

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    Golf Ball, Scotland

    The disused Satcom satellite ground listening station and the nine acres of land it sits on is for sale for £950,000.

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    Thames island eco home

    An eco-home accessible only by foot on a private island in the Thames has gone on sale for £1 million.

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    Thames island eco home

    The three-bedroom house,on the island of Wheatleys Eyot, by Sunbury-on-Thames, costs just £2.50 a day to run. It is heated with a pump that uses the same energy it takes to boil a kettle.

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    Converted Hampton Court chapel

    Starting life as a chapel, then a boat repair shop, this converted house has a characterful appearance.

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    Converted Hampton Court chapel

    Formerly made up of two buildings, the home is arranged over two floors, with a New York loft feel and original church fittings and ecclesiastical motifs throughout following a 20-year restoration.

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    Solent Forts, Hampshire

    Originally built to repel invasion by Napoleon, No Man’s Fort, Spitbank Fort and Horse Sand Fort went on sale for £11million.

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    Solent Forts, Hampshire

    The forts sit over a mile out to sea between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.

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    Knight Frank

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    Archway Studios

    The majestically quirky Archway Studios is architect Didier Ryan’s award-winning studio-cum-family home, built into a 19th-century south London viaduct.

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    The Modern House

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    Archway Studios

    A huge roof skylight draws light in from above, which bounces off the concave outer wall to brighten up what would otherwise be a gloomy space under the arch.

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    The Modern House

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    The Gart, Perthshire

    The Gart near Stirling in Scotland dates back to 1835, but it was substantially rebuilt and extended after suffering fire damage in 1901. It went on the market for £1,750,000 – less than the price of the average Kensington and Chelsea flat.

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    The Gart, Perthshire

    The 100ft long reception room and gin and whisky bar complete with bespoke seating, magenta pool table and statement copper lights are an entertainer’s dream.

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    Kaulbach Island, Nova Scotia

    This island went on sale for just over £4m. It was originally purchased in 1970 for just $11,000.

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    Coldwell Banker Supercity Realty

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    Kaulbach Island, Nova Scotia

    The house was built in 2002 by the current owners, in the grandest of Cape Cod styles.

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    Coldwell Banker Supercity Realty

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    A Swiss Chalet home in London

    Architect Myck Djurberg spent nearly £5million restoring a Swiss chalet which was moved to London in 1882. The master bedroom en suite has a gold parquet floor, and marble and 24-carat gold sinks.

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    A Swiss Chalet home in London

    This fantasy riverside home is constructed from a converted Swiss chalet that now has its own indoor beach.

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    Kennington Water Tower, London

    This £3.6million home was created inside a 100ft water tower built in 1867 and was extended with a stunningly modern, two-storey glass cube.

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    Sotheby’s

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    Kennington Water Tower, London

    The living room was converted from a 30,000 gallon water tank that supplied Lambeth workhouse in the 19th and 20th centuries.

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    Sotheby’s

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    Ladywell Water Tower, London

    Ladywell Water Tower in Lewisham was built between 1898 and 1900 by Earnest Newman, the founder of the Art Workers Guild, a professional body of artists, craftspeople and architects, which is still in existence today.

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    Ladywell Water Tower, London

    There are two flats in the Victorian tower, a one-bedroom flat spread over two floors plus the basement, which the current tenant uses as a music studio.

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    Halstead Water Towers, Essex

    The towers were built in the mid-1800s by successful Victorian industrialist and textile magnate Samuel Courtauld.

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    Halstead Water Towers, Essex

    The main tower – spread across six floors – features five-foot thick walls.

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    Harold Tower, Isle of Man

    Harold Tower is a Gothic castle that dates back to the 1830s and has plenty of impressive features, including spectacular views over the Isle of Man. It went on sale for £3.95 million.

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    Harold Tower, Isle of Man

    It include an octagonal reception hall, with five sets of double doors leading to downstairs rooms.

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    Ackergill Tower, Scotland

    This 15th-century Scottish castle near John O’Groats went on sale for £3.9million

    Read more

    Knight Frank

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    Ackergill Tower, Scotland

    Europe’s largest treehouse lies on the estate, providing a romantic hideaway for two away from the main house.

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    Knight Frank

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    The Old Station House, Shropshire

    This five-bedroom house was listed for £950,000. It was originally Coalport West station, which opened in 1862.

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    Nick Tart

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    The Old Station House, Shropshire

    The Great Western railway carriages in the two-acre garden were restored and converted into luxury holiday accommodation.

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    Nick Tart

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    Culdees Castle, Perthshire

    A seven-bedroom family home went on sale in Crieff, Perthshire…

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    Culdees Castle, Perthshire

    …and it came with its own 200-year-old derelict castle.

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    Burnaby Street, Chelsea

    From the outside, this end-of-terrace house on a residential street in Chelsea looks like any other nice Victorian family home.

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    Martin & Co

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    Burnaby Street, Chelsea

    But step through the door and a riot of pattern and colour transports you eastwards from genteel west London to India.

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    Enchanted Manor, Isle of Wight

    This 11-bedroom Enchanted Manor B&B in Niton on the Isle of Wight was listed for sale for just under £900k.

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    Neil Hunt Photography

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    Enchanted Manor, Isle of Wight

    The Enchanted Manor has two years left on its renewable wedding licence, allowing the next owner to continue hosting intimate weddings.

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    Neil Hunt Photography

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    Sir Peter Scott lighthouse

    This historic Lincolnshire lighthouse was designed by John Rennie – the engineer responsible for Southwark and Waterloo Bridges.

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    Sir Peter Scott lighthouse

    It sits close to the Norfolk border at the mouth of the River Nene Estuary.

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    Dinton Castle, Buckinghamshire

    This mini Buckinghamshire castle featured on Grand Designs in September.

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    Dinton Castle, Buckinghamshire

    It was built in the 18th-century as a folly to house a local gentleman’s fossil collection.

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    Channel 4

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    Fardel Manor, Devon

    Explorer Sir Walter Raleigh’s former family home was been listed for sale in Devon, complete with its own 13th-century chapel and official lordship of the manor.

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    Fardel Manor, Devon

    Grade I-listed, stone-built Fardel Manor is on the southern fringes of Dartmoor and has a fascinating history, dating back thousands of years.

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    The Wilde House, Georgia, USA

    The Foster-Thomason-Miller House, affectionately known as The Wilde House or The Masterpiece on Main, went on sale in the US town of Madison, Georgia, for just over £350,000.

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    The Wilde House, Georgia, USA

    Spanning 5,000sq ft, it would make a fabulous passion project for someone willing to invest significantly in its restoration.

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    Sandaig House & Lodge, Perthshire

    Sandaig House and Lodge on the Knoydart peninsula comes with its own private beach, Sandaig Bay, which reportedly once featured in a list of the world’s best beaches.

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    Sandaig House & Lodge, Perthshire

    Found on the hillside in an area known as “Britain’s last wilderness”, the £750,000 property and land was the setting for Gavin Maxwell’s bestselling memoir Ring of Bright Water, about a life spent there caring for his pet otters.

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    Luggala Lodge, Wicklow

    Seven-bedroom Gothic Revival house, Luggala Lodge, is the glittering jewel in the crown of the Guinness family’s Irish estate.

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    Luggala Lodge, Wicklow

    Luggala Lodge was originally modelled on Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham and is spread over 9,000sq ft.

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