Yahoo Finance Water towers, castles and Grand Designs greats: the best one-off homes on the market - and how to sell them
A home in the commuter belt usually means a house in a town with row upon row of well-loved, but unexceptional properties. But that’s not the case for Mirjana Baranos: far from living in an identikit home, she has a property that is truly unique.
Her vast 5,800 sq ft flat is in Wall Hall, a 19th century gothic mansion near Radlett. It looks the spitting image of a classic English castle, complete with castellations and mini turrets. Its history is no less startling than its appearance: in the Thirties it was home to Joseph Kennedy, the then-US ambassador to Britain and the father of JFK, as well as financier J P Morgan Jr.
After decades of closure before the millennium, it is now back in residential use, and with some style. There are 14ft-high ceilings with four bedrooms over three floors, plus drawing and dining rooms with a combined 50ft- long space. There’s also a private garden in addition to access of the nearby 55 acres of green space, a private gym and pool.
“It’s completely unique and regarded as a landmark in the area. The building is beautiful. I fell in love with not just the opulence, but the big doors, the feeling of space and so much light,” says Baranos, who is a part-time interior designer. It’s on the market for £3 million with Hamptons International, and it is a true one-off. It is one of a growing number of homes reflecting the ambitions of owners who want to stand out in an increasingly homogeneous housing landscape.
Yet it wasn’t always like this, says buying agent Stephen Rimmer. “Until the Nineties most people wanted purpose-built mainstream homes, period or new. Follies, castles and some self-builds were considered to be too eccentric, and conversions – even when the end result was a charming one-off home – were seen as inferior. Now, however, a highly distinctive ‘statement’ property is my number one request from clients.”
Although the odd water mill and lighthouse was converted in the post-war era, Britons’ increasingly individualistic streak has been accelerated by the wholesale changes to the physical and political landscape in recent decades.
Now a highly distinctive ‘statement’ property is my number one request from clients
Some 40 years ago, pubs and railway stations started being converted (in response to drink-driving laws and rail closures), then churches (due to falling congregations), and care homes and schools (which found it too pricey to meet health and safety regulations). Since the millennium, public sector buildings from loos to police stations have been gradually sold off to become houses and flats.
The trend continues today, as 10 per cent of “new” homes are actually formerly private sector office blocks converted due to permitted development rights, which are relaxed planning rules, says the Local Government Association.
Many larger converted buildings become mini-apartment blocks, losing their individuality, but those smaller ones turned into individual homes often fetch top dollar. On top of that, there are shows like Grand Designs – 160 episodes so far, with no shortage of unique properties to feature – inspiring many new buyers and builders to search for individualism.
There are plenty on sale: check Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket, or specialist sites like uniquepropertybulletin.co.uk, thespaces.com and upfs.co.uk. One-offs currently on the market include Hadlow Castle, described as the world’s tallest gothic folly, which towers above the Kent countryside. The four-bedroom house is set over five floors, and is £2 million with Strutt & Parker. Another circular property for sale is a set of two converted water towers in Colchester, one of which even has 200-ft deep well which can be viewed through the glass floor in the sitting room. It is on the market for £2 million with Essex Heritage.
However, estate agents’ usual methodology for setting a price – checking similar homes nearby to see how much was asked, how long it took to sell and then its eventual sale price – falls down when a property is completely unique. There’s nothing to compare it with.
“Taking into account the usual factors, such as bedrooms, square footage and location, we’d then consider increasing the value for its unique character,” says Belinda Hutchinson-Smith from Strutt & Parker’s Shrewsbury office.
“We work on the ‘you won’t find another’ principle, and people are prepared to pay a premium for something unique.” She should know: she has handled the sale of a house with its own private railway “halt” on a narrow gauge railway, plus a tiny castle sitting on top of a 60ft hill in Shropshire.
Estate agents’ usual methodology for setting a price – checking similar homes nearby to see how much was asked, how long it took to sell and then its eventual sale price – falls down when a property is completely unique
Because these homes are tough to value, some carry a guide price rather than a fixed one, allowing would-be buyers to be flexible with offers; others bypass agents completely and put such homes to auction, as happened recently with a 200-year-old Norfolk windmill.
There are undeniably smaller pools of buyers for one-offs than for mainstream homes, so agents often target marketing to focus on communities where interest might be strongest. That’s the approach of Sotheby’s International Realty to the sale of a flamboyantly converted Grade II listed water tower, featured on Grand Designs and located in Kennington in south London.
On sale at £3.6 million, it has views of the Shard, Parliament and Canary Wharf. But it seems that the unusual house and its five bedrooms over nine floors isn’t everyone’s cup of high-rise tea, and it has bounced around estate agents for months.
“The Water Tower has drawn many creative people due to its unique nature and we’ve marketed the property to reach this audience in particular. With one-of-a-kind residences it’s often out of the box thinking which leads to a sale,” says Sotheby’s Shereen Malik.
That’s the theory, anyway. The problem is, most of us either can’t afford a one-off or can’t persuade the rest of the family that an abandoned sea fort in the North Sea might just be the home we’ve always wanted. Oh well – we’ll have to settle for that conservatory to mark our home out from the rest of the street.
