Real Estate

Wacky ‘death-defying’ house painted in 52 colours for sale for £1.9m



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    Multi-coloured

    The architects of Bioscleave House in East Hampton, New York, claim it will slow ageing and defeat mortality

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    Avant garde

    It was designed by avant-garde poet Madeline Gins and her husband, Japanese-born conceptual artist Arakawa.

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    Uneven

    None of the surfaces are level, with windows at varying heights and angled light switches and power sockets.

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    Hold tight

    Brightly coloured metal poles are on hand in case you feel unsteady.

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    Don’t let yourself go

    The idea is to provoke a constant sense of uncertainty in the house’s occupants, to stop them sinking into comfort and eventually, death.

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    More unusual homes: Own your own slice of paradise

    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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    Let inspiration strike

    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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    Buy a boat

    The estate can be reached on foot, but it’s a whopping 16-mile hike from the nearest road. Your best bet is to moor a boat in the sheltered harbour at the head of the bay, where a breakwater of boulders has been built.

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    Catch the ferry

    If you don’t have one, a ferry runs to nearby Sandaig…

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    Rough ride

    …but you’ll still need a 4×4 to drive four miles up a rugged coastal track.

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    Blue house, blue sky

    Impressive features abound inside the pretty, blue-fronted main house, which was converted from Saint Anthony’s Chapel.

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    Ecclesiastical excellence

    The vaulted, cathedral-style ceiling, minstrel’s gallery and magnificent open fireplaces are particular highlights.

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    Make it what you want it to be

    In the former lodge, the open-plan layout offers great versatility, with the fourth bedroom currently being used as a study.

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    Get decorating

    The interiors are dated throughout, but could easily be modernised.

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    Bask in sunlight

    The three-bedroom house and four-bedroom lodge have been linked together by a modern garden room to create one big home.

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    Keeping things separate

    However, the current owners have been using them as self-contained properties for two generations of their family, so there is plenty of flexibility to model the layout around your needs.

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    Earn some extra income

    If you’re interested in running a self-catering holiday let, there is a purpose-built annexe with its own kitchen, living room and two en-suite bedrooms adjoining the outer wall.

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    Green energy

    Electricity is provided by efficient solar panels and a 1,100 gallon oil tank with two generators. The house, lodge and annexe all have their own boilers.

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    Be at one with nature

    Outside, the sprawling moorland and woodlands take your breath away. Two small streams run through the land into the bay, adding to the peaceful, rural atmosphere.

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    Sail to the pub

    The Knoydart peninsula is famous for being home to the remotest pub in mainland Britain, found in its sole village of Inverie. Community life among its less than 100 residents centres around tourism and outdoor pursuits.

    > View more details…

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    More unusual homes: Shakespeare House, Bucks

    This Grade II-listed, part-Elizabethan, part-Jacobean home was once used as a halfway house by William Shakespeare.

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    Shakespeare House, Bucks

    Local rumour has it that Shakespeare House, and the quintessentially English countryside surrounding it, was where the bard first got his inspiration for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

    > Read more

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    Castlebar Lodge, west London

    A quirky top floor flat with access to its own unique viewing tower is for sale in Ealing, west London.

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    Castlebar Lodge, west London

    The private viewing tower offers 360-degree views across London. There is also a large reception room, two double bedrooms and a communal garden. It’s for sale for £699,950 with Hamptons.

    > Read more

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    Swingate Mill, Kent

    This converted windmill, minutes from Dover, was built in 1849.

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    Swingate Mill, Kent

    Overlooking the Kent countryside, the home has a bespoke curved kitchen, a first-floor lounge and a bedroom above.

    > Read more

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    The Old Post Office

    The Old Post Office, Brenzett, was converted into a residence in the early 2000s

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    The Old Post Office

    The property is on Romney Marsh, known locally as the Fifth Continent.

    > Read more

  • 29/60

    House full of secrets in Georgia, USA

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

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    Left unloved…

    It has been empty for 17 years after a fire burnt out the kitchen and left the rest of the property smoke and water damaged. The house has a storied history, starting when a young man named Legare Foster inherited a fortune aged just 23 and decided to build a home that celebrated the then-burgeoning aesthetic movement, championed by Irish playwright Oscar Wilde.

    > Read more

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    Be lord of the manor, literally

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

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    Host a party in the chapel

    The current owner has been using the chapel personally and has held a few services there, but it could easily be used as an entertaining space, too.

    > Read more

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    Historic Hastings gem

    Rock House in Exmouth Place, Hastings, overflows with history and character at every turn. It dates back to around 1835, but it wasn’t until 1880 that the world’s first qualified female doctor Elizabeth Blackwell moved in.

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    Untouched panelling

    In the living room/dining space, the room’s original panelling and paint have been left untouched for an authentic feel.

    > Read more

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    More unusual homes: A public loo with a view

    This public loo in south Cornwall is being sold freehold by the council for a guide price of £15,000, after government cuts made funding its maintenance tricky.

    Clive Emson Auctioneers

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    Right by the harbour

    The 330sq ft toilet block overlooks Newlyn’s picturesque fishing harbour. There is scope to extend upwards or replace it entirely, subject to planning permission.

    > Read more

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    The Gart, Perthshire

    Contemporary artist Stuart McAlpine Miller and his wife Nikki bought this turreted 13-bedroom manor in Scotland two years ago and have since been busy giving the interiors a colourful, pop art-inspired makeover.

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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.

    > Read more

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    Poitiers chateau, France

    This 19th-century chateau near Poitiers in western France could easily be mistaken for the Cinderella Castle at Disney World with its elegant white walls and pointed turrets.

    Christie’s International Real Estate

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    Poitiers chateau, France

    Within the beautiful grounds, through which a river runs, you’ll find a poolside summer kitchen, tennis court and a huge, lovingly restored 17th-century dovecote. There’s also a four-car garage for your carriages.

    > Read more

    Christie’s International Real Estate

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    The Tower, Sway

    This 220ft New Forest folly inspired by ‘the ghost of Christopher Wren’ has returned to the market with a £3.5million price tag after nearly being raffled off by its long-term owner.

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    The Tower, Sway

    Built in the Victorian era by a wealthy landowner who claimed the St Paul’s Cathedral architect told him to construct it during a seance, there are 330 steps up to the top. Once there, you are rewarded by panoramic views across the national park and towards the Solent and the Isle of Wight.

    > Read more

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    More unusual homes: Archway Studios, Southwark

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

    The Modern House

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    Archway Studios, Southwark

    Looking at it from the outside, you would never guess that its unconventional shell conceals 1,600sq ft of living space – or that it is bursting with light and fully soundproofed.

    > Read more

    The Modern House

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    Burnham High Lighthouse, Somerset

    This decommissioned Georgian lighthouse in Somerset – converted into a quirky eight-floor home – is up for sale.

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    Burnham High Lighthouse, Somerset

    The 1830s building is now a quirky three-bedroom home with round rooms and spectacular views over most of the Severn river and toward Newport, Cardiff and Nash Point Lighthouse.

    > Read more

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    Hadlow Tower, Kent

    Hadlow Tower in the Kent village of Hadlow has gone on sale for £2m and it has quite the dramatic backstory.

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    Hadlow Tower, Kent

    Folklore has it that a wealthy landowner built the 175ft building in the mid-19th century to keep an eye on his estranged wife after she left him for a farmer.

    > Read more

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    Ackergill Tower, Scotland

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

    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.

    > Read more

    Knight Frank

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    Solent Forts

    Originally built to repel invasion by Napoleon, the Solent Forts are now for sale for a combined sum of £11million.

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    Solent Forts

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

    > Read more

    Knight Frank

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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 is for sale for £3.95 million.

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    Harold Tower, Isle of Man

    Exciting design details include an arched entrance door, with the original coat of arms situated on each side and a light-filled entrance hallway with a traditional stone flagged floor.

    > Read more

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    Kemeys Folly, Wales

    Kemeys Folly is a former sheriff’s hunting lodge that was once featured on Grand Designs.

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    Kemeys Folly, Wales

    With views overlooking nine counties in both Wales and England, Kemeys Folly would make the ideal home for families looking to move to the country.

    > Read more

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    The Water Tower, Kennington

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

    Sotheby’s

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    The Water Tower, Kennington

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

    > Read more

    Sotheby’s

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    Eynsham Hall, Oxfordshire

    One of Oxfordshire’s “great country houses”, which is currently used as a 135-room hotel and lavish wedding venue, is for sale after its current owner gave it a £3million overhaul.

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    Eynsham Hall, Oxfordshire

    Eynsham Hall, a Grade II-listed Edwardian pile is on the site of a 1780 manor house which had a string of illustrious owners – including a London auctioneer and newspaper proprietor; a widowed countess; and the present freeholder’s grandfather, a mining engineer who made his fortune from copper in Portugal – before it was demolished in 1904.

    > Read more



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